The players' reaction: “Thinking about the next goals”

It was with “a bitter taste” after Benfica's elimination from the 2024/25 Champions League that Otamendi - scorer of the goal - Florentino and Barreiro analyzed the 3-1 defeat (4-1 on aggregate) against Barcelona in the second leg of the last 16.

OTAMENDI

"Looking ahead"

"It hurts because it's an elimination. This competition demands that you have expectations, that you want to compete and that you want to reach the final. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to win it [the tie] at home, we were at a disadvantage here. They created situations, we had more difficulties, which is normal. We have to keep going, we have a league match this weekend, we have to keep competing until the end. We have to think about our next goals. There are only a few days left until the league match, on Sunday [March 16] we have to keep competing. Rest, recover and look ahead. [Third game against Barcelona this season] In the other games, we created more chances at home. There's a bitter taste because in the home game we could have made the difference, scored a goal to come here and compete. Today, with an unfavorable result, with a goal conceded, we had to go out and try to get a bit more out of the game. They have good players, and we competed, we managed to get an equalizer, but unfortunately we conceded more goals. We kept trying until the end, but it wasn't possible. [Impact for the rest of the season] As I said, they're different competitions, let's rest and think about the next match, which is in the league. That's our main objective. The Champions League is a great competition, but we have to look ahead."

FLORENTINO

"Get our heads up, because we've already got another game"

"We knew we were up against a great team, Barcelona, but we tried to play our game. We created our chances and could have scored a goal or two, but we weren't fortunate enough. I think we battled until the end and had what we planned. Of course, it didn't go perfectly, because there were a few details that went wrong, but now we have to move on and hold our heads high, because we've got another game. I think they managed to break out of our pressure a few times, as we also managed to break out of their pressure a few times, but our plan was simple: to close down the middle well so that we didn't concede chances, which was their strongest area. We gave everything we had, we honored the jersey to the end, we're proud of the competition we played in, and now we have to hold our heads high and move on. [Impact for the rest of the season] Te're very clear in our minds that there are two competitions left, the Portuguese Cup and the league. Now we have to clear our heads, see what we did right and what we did wrong. We'll go on stronger. [Top contenders for the title?] We'll look at it game by game. Benfica goes into every game looking to win and, of course, our goal is to become champions, but we'll look at it game by game, with our feet on the ground."

BARREIRO

"Do our best to win titles"

"I always find it difficult to analyze a game immediately afterward, but the fact is that we've come out of this competition and today didn't go the way we wanted. Now we have to focus on the next game, focus on the competitions we're involved in and do our best to win titles. We wanted to win, but we didn't. There was a lack of goals, we didn't score, and the opposition scored three, which didn't help either. Barcelona is a strong team, we've played them three times, we know they're a team with a lot of quality, and today didn't go the way we wanted."