Benfica’s coach said this Tuesday that the match against Paris Saint-Germain, on Wednesday, is an opportunity to improve the team’s situation in group H of the Soccer Champions League, since it is played in Luz.
Roger Schmidt recalled, at a press conference in Seixal, that the Reds added “two wins in the first two games” and that, therefore, their chances of “qualifying for the round of 16″ remain intact, repeating the idea that ” playing at home, in a group stage, is always a good opportunity to improve the position”.
“As I said at the beginning, whenever you play at home and you’ve already won a game away, it’s a great opportunity to improve the situation in the group and that’s our focus. Using every game to show that we can play after Christmas in the Champions League too. It is our great objective”, insisted the German.
Benfica, however, faces “one of the best teams in the world” and, therefore, Schmidt believes that he does not need to motivate the players, since they “motivate themselves”, but he recalled that “motivation itself alone it does not arrive”. “.
“I think they have an extra space for motivation and we have to use this extra part to be tactically at the best level, to always be ready to influence the game in a positive way, use this extra quality to make a superior game tactically. Motivation alone is not enough. we need everything tomorrow [quarta-feira]”, he assumed.
And by “everything”, Schmidt means “a complete set” of the team’s “technical weapons”, to challenge Paris Saint-Germain “in defense, but also in attack and in midfield”.
The coach assumed that “you always have to make adjustments depending on the rival, especially when playing against a team with such individual quality up front”, but stressed that “the key will not be to have more players in defense”, but “to play a good game tactically” and “reduce one-on-one situations with a lot of space” on the contrary.
“Defending them one by one is very difficult, so we have to be very good in our tactical balance. We need support, to have players close to the ball to help each other. That is the key. We have to help each other, but also believe in ourselves, ”said the Reds coach.
Before Schmidt, Enzo Fernández was also emphatic in stating that “concentration” and confidence in the qualities of his own team are the key to defeating a rival like Paris Saint-Germain.
“Concentration. I think that concentration is the main thing. The attitude, the will, believing in ourselves, in the team we have and in our teammates. We form a spectacular group, there is a very good positive energy. We will do everything possible to achieve the result we want, which is to win”, said the Argentine midfielder.
Benfica hosts Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, in a match from the third day of the Champions League group stage, starting at 8:00 p.m., at Estádio da Luz, in Lisbon, and refereed by the Spaniard Jesús Gil Manzano.
The team led by Roger Schmidt remains in second place in Group H of the competition with six points, the same as the French, after beating Maccabi Haifa (2-0) and Juventus (2-1) at home in Turin while the Parisians beat the Italians (2-1) at home and the Israelis (3-1) away.
Source: Observadora
