"Facing this match with great ambition"

PREVIEW

Bruno Lage wants Benfica to be able to “look at themselves as a team” to win the match against Barcelona on Tuesday, January 21, starting at 8:00 pm, at the Estádio da Luz, on matchday 7 of the Champions League. The Eagles' coach wants to see an ambitious team in front of the “very important” support of the Benfica fans.

Given that Benfica are up against a team that is the most prolific in terms of goals in the Champions League, how can they stop this goal-scoring machine without losing their identity?

Before I answer your question, I'm going to make a point about Leandro's [Barreiro] press conference,  because it was really good. There are two or three notes here that, said by a player, are good to hear and should almost be a lecture for many kids who want to be players one day. In particular, the answer he gave to CMTV's question. And this is a soldier, and this is a soldier that every coach wants to have in a team. Once again, I commend him. On the pitch he's doing his job, and off the pitch he's given a very good speech. About the game... I'm sure there are two fundamental aspects. The first is for us to look at ourselves, what we can do against our opponents, how to play, to understand very well when we have the ball and what to do when we have the ball in our defensive half, to understand very well when we have the ball in our attacking half, and how to create problems for a defensive line that normally plays high up. Then the other point, which is also very crucial, is the support we've felt at home, the support of our fans in Champions League matches is always special, so it's important to look at ourselves as a team and the support of the fans, which has been very important on European nights.

Taking your expression: is soldier Di María ready for tomorrow's game [Tuesday]? Is he fit enough to play the full 90 minutes?

We still have another day to analyze. The most important thing is that he's trained, he's been with his teammates, as you [journalists] have seen. He's an experienced player, tomorrow [Tuesday] I'll talk to him to see how he's doing. He's ready. He'll be as ready as he was to play Atlético Madrid, FC Porto. Finally, in the final [of the League Cup] with Sporting. He likes to play these games, but we have to understand what's best for the team and for the player's current moment.

I imagine he'll have a good headache for this game, with the return of Di María and Schjelderup, who has been in great form. Added to these two names is Aktürkoğlu. Will it be tomorrow [Tuesday] that we get to see the Schjelderup and Di María duo, or will Benfica benefit more from the Aktürkoğlu and Di María duo?

Of the seven [including Rollheiser, Prestianni and João Rego...], two will come out to play. We've already seen Di María and Schjelderup. Anything can happen. Now, what's important? It's what Barreiro just said. Regardless of their status, their age, it's about them being ready to play and me, as coach, having the ability to look at each one's moment and the strategy and figure out the best eleven. They're all ready to play, including [João] Rego. All the youngsters are ready, all the older players are ready. The challenge in this house is to prepare people, and preparing people isn't just about putting them in. Preparing people - I'm going to take advantage of your question, you've already asked two interesting questions, one to Leandro [Barreiro] and I hope to take advantage of your question to once again affirm this... The challenge is for us to “provoke” the player. To look at the player and understand how I'm going to envision the development of each of them. I spoke to Andreas' coach [Schjelderup] recently, and he pointed out two or three things that he needs to improve. So there's talent in every player we have at Benfica, because they all have quality. There's a plan for each of them to develop. There's a way of playing that everyone has to understand. And then there has to be the ability for them to work, to receive trust from us, everything he said in your question o I'm not repeating it, and to respond. When they're given the chance, they have to respond. Today we had 26 players in training, all of them of enormous quality. From the moment they get a chance, they have to respond.

In your mind, is the goal still direct qualification, since you're three points away from those places? Are you still counting on that direct qualification?

Our objective must first be to look at the game and try to win it. That's how we prepared. The second is to look at the points. There's a study that tells us that 15 points could be enough for direct qualification. We still have a chance of getting those 15 points, but what we have to do is focus on tomorrow's game [Tuesday], play well, create our chances, win the game, fight for it and then we'll see if we can reach that goal..

Given what Barcelona are doing, with a very high defensive line, are you considering changing anything strategically to take advantage of that defensive line, as well as to stop the possession that the opposition likes to have?

Strategically we have to change, because they are different games. What we can't change is what we've been building, which is our way of playing, our way of defending and our way of attacking. And then, strategically, we need to understand three very important things. Mainly in attacking terms, how to play with the ball in our half, when we have the ball in our half. How to play when we have the ball in attacking midfield. And, fundamentally, understanding how to create problems for a defensive line that plays very high up; how we can create problems and create our chances. That's what we did today. We prepared the team accordingly, and the players felt very comfortable with our idea. That's why tomorrow [Tuesday] it's there, at game time, that we have to put in the individual quality, our dynamic play and also the strategic side.

It's a European derby because of the transcendent weight of Benfica and Barcelona. What's it like for coach Bruno Lage to face Barcelona for the first time?

I think these are the games we want to play. You [journalist] weren't here, but I've already said this two or three times. I'll say it again, because the question is for you. A few months ago, I saw my children watching João Félix play in a Barcelona-Paris Saint-Germain match. I was in the stands and today I'll be playing against Barcelona. What I feel is that I too am fortunate to be at a great club. On the other side, Barcelona will also be looking at Benfica and will find the challenge very interesting, because Benfica are a great club, as you said, it's a European derby. It's going to be a very interesting game, and that's what we live for, these great nights. What we want is to contribute to a great European night tomorrow [Tuesday], look at ourselves and expect fantastic support from our fans.

After many years in which they haven't done well in Europe, this year [2024/25], given the way they're playing, do you think Barcelona are a candidate to win the Champions League again?

Of course, because of what they're doing at the moment and because of their record. They're a team of enormous quality, both in individual terms, with fantastic players, just like us, and then in collective terms... it's a mixture of what Barcelona's culture is, Barcelona's DNA, a team that likes to have possession, but you can also see the coach's imprint a lot - a game that's also more vertical, stronger in pressing, stronger in offensive transitions, exploiting the lateral corridors a lot, and the ability of the players who play on the wings in one-on-one. So they're a very competent opponent and we have to face this match with great ambition.

You're certainly not going to confirm Manu's arrival, but I'd like to ask you about the options you have for position 6 in the squad, in this case Florentino Luís, you also sometimes rotate Kökcü, for example, against Sporting, he played in that position. Do you have confidence in the options you have at the moment? And, at the same time, remembering that Florentino, in his first spell, ended up losing his place in January to Julian Weigl.

I have enormous confidence in our players. I'm not going to comment on any market situation. I think it's important for people to understand that what I want are neither starters nor substitutes. That's what Leandro [Barreiro] just said. His answer to CMTV's question is very good. The players have to be ready to play. You were careful to note that Tino [Florentino] lost his place in January. And tell me, did he play in October, November, and December? But he was injured, and he was injured for a long time. He got injured on the third or fourth matchday in Braga and had a knee problem.  But this is what I want: the players must always be ready to play every three days. This year, Tino [Florentino] has been playing, not playing. He's another soldier. He's always ready to play. That's what I want from my players, to always be ready and available to play, to always feel great confidence, and that confidence from coach to player and from player to coach comes from what they show at every moment, whether in matches, in training or in the opportunities they get.

Since the start of the season, 12 clubs in the Portuguese league have changed managers, including Benfica. The latest was FC Porto yesterday [Sunday, January 19], with the sacking of Vítor Bruno. How do you deal with this situation in Portuguese football as a coach? Bruno himself has also been somewhat challenged. Is it difficult to maintain confidence as a coach, looking at these figures?

I don't think so. Look, the first thing to regret is the departure of a coach. It's always regrettable, but our confidence must always be our own. We have to look at what we control and have the courage to do things the way we think. Because if that were the case, for example, Leandro [Barreiro] would never have played with Florentino. We're the ones who work with the players, we're the ones who watch the daily footage of the training sessions, of the players, understand what they're doing when they're attacking, when they're defending, understand very well what we control, believe very much in our ideas, in our way of working, and then always pass on a very positive energy to our players. And for us, that's what it's all about, knowing that when we're in a good moment we have to prolong it, and also knowing that when we're in a bad moment we have to click. 15 days ago, we left the Estádio da Luz with a defeat against Sporting Braga, 15 days later the team captain was showing off the League Cup trophy. So it's up to us at every moment - and our moment is getting shorter and shorter, it's every three days - to always give a good response, and the greatness of Benfica demands it, the responsibility of being a coach demands it. For people to look at us and feel: we have a coach who can solve problems, has a plan, has a path to follow and makes us believe that we can win titles.