"It's a special day for me and the whole team"

On a night when Benfica went to the Estádio do Dragão to beat FC Porto 1-4, in a game on matchday 28 of the Liga Betclic, Pavlidis, who scored a hat-trick, was voted Man of the Match. On a “special day” for him, for the goals he scored, and “for the team”, the Greek player highlighted the achievement of “3 points”.

In 73 fantastic minutes (he was replaced by Belotti) - scoring in the 1st, 43rd and 69th minutes - Pavlidis was the undisputed star of the match, becoming the first player in the history of Sport Lisboa e Benfica to score 3 goals at home to FC Porto.73. He also hit the post (39'). The 4th and final goal was scored by captain Otamendi (90'+4').

The Greek striker didn't hide his satisfaction with his performance, but preferred to highlight the important victory for Bruno Lage's side.

"[Better than in your wildest dreams?] I think so! Of course it's a special day for me, of course it's a special day for the whole team, who played very well. Scoring three goals doesn't mean as much as getting three points. We want to continue like this in the league," he told Sport TV.

In an analysis of the match, Pavlidis highlighted the eagles' “very quick” goal - from the first minute - and explained that the team's strategy was to “put pressure” on the dragons' backline and then win the ball back, “play offensively or restart the strategy”.

THE HAT-TRICK

While considering that FC Porto “played well in the first half”, the No. 14 noted that the eagles found “the moments to create many chances on the counter-attack”, a plan that had an effect: “We scored the second goal (43'), we had other perfect chances to score the third in the first half. It didn't happen, and sometimes you have to see how the game goes and adapt.”

The Greek striker explained where he believes the key to Benfica's success was in this match: “Of course, when you score in the first or second minute, it's different. I think 0-3 is also important because it gives us more of an advantage and makes it difficult for the other team.”

Pavlidis - who reached 24 goals with an eagle on his chest (14 in the Liga Betclic) on Sunday night (April 6) - said that neither he nor his team are thinking about that. “We're only thinking about our team, and we want to win every game. We're focused on ourselves and not on the other teams,” he said.

Recalling that the last time Benfica won at the Estádio do Dragão, they were crowned champions [2022/23 season], Pavlidis thought it could be a good sign. “I hope so. We have six games left in the league, and they're really crucial for us,” he said.