"Team focused, dedicated and playing a solid game"

POST-MATCH

With their 39th appearance in the Portuguese Cup final sealed after Benfica's 4-0 win over Tirsense in the second leg of the semi-finals on Wednesday, April 23, Bruno Lage highlighted the “fair result” achieved in the match played at Estádio da Luz.

THE GOAL OF WINNING THE CUP

"[Analysis of the game in which they managed to win and secure their goal of reaching the final of the Portuguese Cup] Hey, that's exactly what you just said. We're through to the final of the Cup, we really wanted to be in Jamor. It's our goal to win the Cup, for Benfica it's not enough to reach the finals, we have to win titles. Regarding the game, we played with the comfort of the result from the first leg, a lukewarm first half, but also because of the different positioning, we also wanted to create this dynamic. We'd already played in two systems, but we hadn't really played with both strikers at the same time. That's what happened, one positioning or another, both in terms of pressing and organization. In the 2nd half we had the chance to put things right, we created several chances, and it's only right that we won by 4. Looking back, I think we had a good run in the Portuguese Cup, and we really valued the respect we wanted, and we talked about this yesterday [Tuesday], to give Tirsense a starring role as well." 

"UN DÍA A LA VEZ"

"[The team's mentality to play two derbies at this decisive stage of the season] For us to prepare for these matches, we have to prepare in the best possible way for the match with AVS on Sunday. With that in mind, I'll repeat what I've been saying for the last few days, which is: un día a la vez [one day at a time]. So it's one day at a time that we have to prepare, be as focused as we were to play like this, focused, dedicated, that's what I saw today, the team focused, dedicated and playing a solid game. That's what we have to do until the end. We have four finals in the league and then a final at Jamor."

THE JAMOR DREAM

"[How do you think you'll feel on the day of the Jamor final] I've played in several finals, both as head coach and assistant coach, I've been to a final at Wembley, I've been to a final in Leiria, in the Algarve... The fact that I spoke about Jamor yesterday [Tuesday] wasn't because of anything special, I started my coaching career very early, at the age of 18/19. At the time, you know, I'm from Setúbal, opportunities to go to matches are more difficult, and after I started working, aged 18/19... I thought to myself: if one day I could go to Jamor, possibly as part of a coaching team or assistant, and play in a cup final... And that's how it happened. I've never been, for example, to watch a Lopes da Silva [Tournament], which is played there, I've never been, and I'm going now at the age of 49. It was a dream, but, of course, the dream now is to win titles for Benfica, and our mentality has to be to focus on what we control, which is our preparation, trying to motivate our players at all times. We talked about it today, there are five very important games until the final. I spoke to the lesser-used players, and they have to be motivated, and I used the example of Éder. I'm not going to ask who Tirsense's coach was again, but if I ask you, tell me one player who was a regular starter in the campaign in which Portugal won the European Championship. And maybe we'll say three, four, or five players, but everyone will remember Éder, who came on in the final and scored the goal. So many of these players have to be motivated and ready to be the heroes of our campaign."

PROTECT, SUPPORT AND CHERISH THE PLAYERS IN THE SQUAD

"[The possibility of Bruno Lage achieving the treble this season] Of course, we have to keep working. Because at the moment we've only won the League Cup and we're playing in the league until the end. And we're going to the Jamor final, so we have to focus on winning titles. It's not the coach who's looking for his own goal, it's the club and the team. So we're on that path. And that path, as I'm telling you, is four league finals and a Portuguese Cup final. And, as things stand, look at what's happened in the last three games. That's why we're never going to look at which game is going to be more difficult, which result is going to be tighter, where we can score more or less goals. What we control is how we prepare, so it's about preparing in the best way for the game against AVS now. As for the other question [Bernardo Silva and João Félix not being discussed at the moment], I always believe that the future lies with the youth system and the talent we have here. It's not closing doors, but I believe that, at the moment, there's talk of Bernardo, there's talk of João, just as there's been talk of Ederson, in short, so many of them are in a different dimension to Benfica. There may eventually be a return, but I don't believe it will be next season. So what we have to control, and right now, is what we have to do. To prepare ourselves in the best way possible with the AVS, to protect, support, nurture and motivate the players who are here in front of us."

A SYSTEM WITH TWO STRIKERS

"[Benfica's difficulties in playing in an organized attack against more closed teams] No, look, put yourself in the players' shoes. That's what I said. Two spearheads, two wingers. Play with two pure spearheads, men in the area, men who like to attack deep. Having two wingers, trying to find spaces in between. And with several changes to the team. It wasn't easy. That's why I'm telling you, the way we prepared for the game, the instructions we gave in the first half to correct one position or another, then the attempt to correct it in the second half, I think the team has grown. That's why dynamics don't happen overnight. We know very well which two systems we have, we know very well which are our strengths and which are our attacking spaces, but I think that, depending on the result, depending also on having Arthur [Cabral] and Belotti with us, this could be the game, not least because we're playing at home, for us to be able to experiment with this pair of spearheads, because eventually, in one of the next games, during a certain period of play, we can play like this. We've already done it, even in the home game with Arouca, we went two up and then even scored to make it 2-1. It doesn't reveal anything. What it does reveal is that the dynamics and interpretation of the themes come with work, a lot of work."