Players' reaction: “We're happy, it's a boost for the rest of the season”

Penalty shoot-out was needed to find out the big winner of the 2024/25 edition of the League Cup. Against Sporting, after the 1-1 at the end of regulation time, Benfica were stronger and, at the end, lifted their 8th title, cementing their status as the most decorated club in the competition.

After the final whistle at the Estádio Municipal de Leiria, Trubin, Kökcü and Florentino (voted Man of the Match), spoke to Sport TV and also to BTV.

TRUBIN

"I feel we're stronger"

"I'm happy to have won my first trophy here, for this great club. I want to keep making the fans happy and us players happy too. [Saving the decisive penalty] I did what I needed to do. I saved my team. My teammates scored seven penalties and I only had to save one. We won! It's a fantastic feeling. [Impact for the rest of the season] It's a good start and I hope this is the first of many. I'm very happy, last year we didn't succeed, but now I feel we're stronger and we have to keep working."

KÖKCÜ

"Show off our football even more"

"We wanted to win in regulation time, penalties can go either way, we were the luckier ones, Trubin made a great save. [Importance of the trophy] It's great to win this trophy, we were already motivated, we've come from an 11-point recovery, we've got closer, unfortunately, we've lost the last two games in the league [National Championship], but it's another motivation. [Bruno Lage] We have a good relationship, he's a very good coach, he knows how to motivate us, and now we have to keep improving and showing our football even more, and I believe we're going to achieve that. [Fans] Thank you to our fans who were here and supported us, now it's on to the league and the Portuguese Cup."

FLORENTINO

"Our club thrives on titles"

"It's my first League Cup, and I'm very happy to have won it. It was a very good game, winning Man of the Match is an individual award, but it was only possible with the help of the team. We were very compact from start to finish, even if we didn't dominate the whole game, but in the parts where we did dominate we were very compact, we knew what we had to do, attacking and defending, and I think that was crucial to our victory. [Team moment] We look at our defeats, and I think everyone does in their lives, as learning moments. And they were learning moments because there were things we didn't do very well, and I think we grew at that moment. Now we're looking ahead, we've just had the chance to play the opponents we lost to [SC Braga and Sporting], it wasn't a rematch, it was to show our work, what we've been doing and to show the personality that the team has, to face the most difficult moments with a lot of quality. [Individual moment] It's a very good moment for me, especially as I'm at Benfica, the club of my heart... there's no better place to be. Now we have to keep going, be constant in our work so that we don't have ups and downs and maintain a continuous line. [Future] Our club thrives on titles. We're going to keep looking game by game, because that's the only way we're going to achieve more. We're very grateful, I think it's a boost for the rest of the season, but we're going to keep our feet on the ground because there's still a long way to go."