"May the 'Inferno da Luz' carry positive energy for us to win"

PREVIEW

Praising the opponent's difficulties, Bruno Lage wants to see players and fans with the “right focus” to “achieve the collective goals”, which include Benfica's victory against Arouca, in the match of round 29 of the Liga Betclic, scheduled for 6:00 pm this Sunday, April 13, at the Estádio da Luz.

How are you approaching the game with Arouca, knowing that there are six rounds to go?

Look, with total focus, and I think tomorrow [Sunday] is a good example of that: everyone, both us, the players and the fans, being in the right focus to achieve our goals. So, about the team, about the players, bringing the necessary confidence from what our performances have been, but also, at the same time, the respect we had today watching Arouca, and that this brings us the humility to face tomorrow's game. So that's what I also expect from the fans. Confidence, but also respect, because we're going to play a team that plays good football, a team that in the recent past has put in two good performances, against Braga and Sporting, with results of 2-2 and 2-1. So there have to be these factors on our part. Confidence in what has been the course, in terms of displays and the way the team has trained, respect for the analysis we've made of our opponents, and tomorrow tremendous humility to win the game... and from the fans the usual support, that tomorrow, once again, the Estádio da Luz will be the Inferno da Luz, and that from the stands to the turf we'll only carry positive energy to win the game.

In your opinion, are Benfica the top favorites to win the league at the moment? On the other side, with the overtaking that took place on the last matchday, did you feel that Sporting have shaken up and that Benfica are now a more confident team and in a better position to finish first?

We have to be the favorites at the moment to win tomorrow's game [Sunday]. That's why we're totally focused on that. We have very clear objectives for the team. Over the last few months, I've been talking about the four favorites, including Braga, and I wasn't wrong, because Braga are a excellent team. Once again, I want to reinforce what they've been doing, especially in games with the big teams: they've already beaten us in the league, they beat FC Porto, they drew with Sporting. And looking back at our journey, we have to be focused on our goals, and in order to be focused on our goals, tomorrow we have to be focused only on the game and be favorites to win the game. 

After the game with Casa Pia, he asked the fans to calm down, that he would resolve the situation and, in fact, he's in first place. Do you think that if Benfica become national champions, you will be the face of this title? Is Bruno Lage primarily responsible?

There is no face. The face is the quality of the players, the competence of myself and the coaching staff, as I've been telling you. Without them, I wouldn't be able to prepare the matches the way I do and make the team and the players grow the way I do. It's also the ability of the President, the sporting director and the general manager to look after the team and the way we made the adjustments we had to make in January. From a structure that is always there, supporting the team and pointing us in the right direction, and also from the way the fans have supported the team. It doesn't matter if you say you belong to A, B or C when we're playing a team sport. What is important is for people to feel that they belong to a great club, that they play for a great team, that they work for a great team, for a great club and that we all have a common goal. That's why I'm reinforcing even more what I said in the first question: tomorrow [Sunday], tomorrow's game is very important for all of us - both on and off the pitch - to feel that the focus is on our final objectives, and our final objectives are to win tomorrow's game.

From the experience we have in football, when you win and the way you win on a pitch like FC Porto's, I believe that within your team the players now have even more strength and an enormous desire to finish first. What can you share with us about how you're experiencing this moment within the team?

I'll repeat what I said: with confidence and, given the way we looked at the game today [Saturday] and the analysis we made of Arouca, with enormous respect. And the combination of that confidence and respect has to give us the humility that we've shown so that, at every moment, the team can respond with good performances and goals. That's what we want, and that's to live day by day. So confidence, but at the same time respect to give us the sufficient humility that we've had. The team always responds well in moments of pressure, in moments when it has to make a good statement, and that's what we want for tomorrow's game [Sunday].

Allow me to return to the subject of Bernardo Silva, not least because there is a situation you can control. Do you keep in touch with him? If so, have you discussed the possibility of him returning?

Look, I don't keep in touch with him, and the last time I spoke to him was to... I can't remember if it was to shoot him in the kneecap [smiles], because he was going to play against us, and, as a joke, because he's a talented player, the only way we could stop him, for Wolverhampton, was to shoot him in the kneecap [smiles]. It's like I said: he's a player the fans have a lot of affection for, he's a player I know very well, he's had a fantastic career. He and many others who have grown up here and triumphed, both here and abroad, have already expressed their desire to return. When? We don't know. The player's desire and the club's opportunity have to come together to make it happen. But that, I repeat, is nothing to take our focus off tomorrow's [Sunday's] game, because that's the most important thing and that's what I control.