"It's going to be a great game of football"

PREVIEW

It was a message of confidence and ambition that Bruno Lage gave at the press conference ahead of the 8 pm match on Wednesday, March 5, between Benfica and Barcelona in the first leg of the last 16 of the Champions League, stressing that the goal is to win at the Estádio da Luz.

Is the approach you've prepared for this game different from that of the Champions League group stage because it's a two-legged tie?

The approach is similar, the strategy for tomorrow [Wednesday] is to try and put into practice what we feel is best for the game. We know we're up against a great team, one that scores a lot of goals, but we've also looked at the positive things we've done against our opponents. For the goals we scored, for the chances we created, for the many times we put our players in isolation in front of the goalkeeper. Look at all that and, as such, we believe we can go through in the tie.

Barcelona has a very peculiar strategy that is rarely seen in Portugal and for Portuguese clubs, with a very high defensive line and often in midfield trying to prevent space to build, but at the same time leaving a lot of space at the back to exploit. I'd like to ask you: what challenges does this Barcelona approach create for the strategic preparation of the game? And, from a more general point of view, without going into Benfica's strategy for the game, how important could Benfica's midfielders and full-backs be, given that, projecting from back to front, they will never be offside?

That's exactly what you've just said. We look at our opponent and then try to find the spaces they offer us. As much as I'd like to talk to you about your question and go into it in depth, I'm not going to. Maybe after the game we can talk about it a bit more. But it's at every moment, your question is very interesting, but at every moment we, as coaches, especially in attack, understand what spaces are offered to us and how we can take advantage of those spaces, what kind of movements we can make, with how many men we can make them. It's a very interesting question and one that, before answering it here, we'll have to answer on the pitch.

For you, is it essential to win tomorrow [Wednesday] in order to go on to the next round?

No, because I believe the tie will be competitive. Tomorrow's result is important, but the result of the second leg will be decisive.

Can you give us any information about Di María and Florentino?

Di María and Florentino are not available for the match.

Is Renato Sanches in the squad list?

He's in the squad. And I'll take this opportunity, because we haven't passed on any information, to say that there's no problem with Bruma. It's just that, as he's not available for the game, and as he did in the previous game [in the Champions League], he trained with the B team.

Benfica didn't play this weekend in the league. Yesterday [Monday], Sporting played, won, Gyökeres seems to be getting back into a good rhythm, and Sporting gained, in a way, an advantage, because they have a game in hand. How did you manage all that? Did you watch the game yesterday [Monday]? Did you worry about that, or did you just focus on the Champions League?

Just focus on what we're doing. We're committed to tomorrow's game [Wednesday]. After tomorrow's game, we have the [National] Championship game, and if your question with the other question, a 4-4 game, we have a corner, what are we going to try to do? We're going to try to win. Because that's the only way to get good runs of results. That's what we have to do until the end of the season. So what we have to focus on is what we're going to do in the next two months. And for a long time now... I said it a lot four years ago, and I'm going to say it for the first time today, it's training by training, game by game, prepared to win. Because that's the only way we can go on winning streaks and win titles. 

In the game a few weeks ago there were a lot of goals, a score of 4-5. Do you think there will be the same number of goals in this one, or fewer? And for Benfica to have a better chance of going through, would you like a tighter result?

I can't predict how many goals will be scored in the game. What I can foresee is that I think it's going to be a great game of football, because they're two teams that like to attack, that have their eyes on the ball, and that was proven with the goals and chances that both teams created in the [Champions League group stage] game. And, as I said, I don't think the decisive game is tomorrow, it's the second le.

Trubin stopped for two games, playing Samuel Soares. Trubin will return for the Barcelona game, how do you expect your goalkeeper to perform?

At his best, because he's had the chance to rest and train, and he's trained very well, he's put in some good performances for Benfica. We all have moments when we need to rest, to train, to play. We've done that with practically all the players. We hadn't done it with Trubin yet, and we've taken advantage of it now, not least because Samu has done a fantastic job. The proof of the work he's been doing, invisible in training, is that he's played two very good games, and it doesn't allow Trubin to rest assured either, because he has a worthy competitor. Both Samu and André [Gomes], who is a valuable youngster and has done a very interesting job with the B team.

Florentino was very important in the first game against Barcelona this year. How will you ensure the same stability in Benfica's midfield, this time without Florentino?

We're counting on another player, I won't say who. The most important thing is for the team to work as a unit, that's the only way we can then say that a certain player had a good display because he worked as a team. That's what I want, for the team to work as a team tomorrow.