The coach of FC Porto, Francesco Fariolidevalued this Saturday, February 21st, the 39-point difference to Rio Ave, the ‘dragons’ opponent in the 23rd round of the I Football League, with the setback against Casa Pia as a warning.
After the triumph suffered in Madeira, against Nacional (1-0), which ended a series of two games without winning, the ‘blue and whites’ face a Rio Ave in crisis, with five defeats in a row, but the coach refuses a complacent approach.
“Casa Pia was also not in a good moment and managed to have a great performance. We have to focus on ourselves, on the way we approach the game, with the maximum intensity possible. We expect a team to do something different, as happened against Moreirense“, he highlighted, in a pre-game press conference on Sunday, at Estádio do Dragão, in Porto.
With several absences due to injury, Farioli will still be without Martim Fernandes and Kiwior, despite the “fantastic evolution” of the Pole, hoping to have both players available in the “next few days”, while Thiago Silva, revealed the Italian, had a “small problem” and will be evaluated before the match.
In the last nine games, FC Porto scored just one goal in seven, with the coach assuming that there is room for improvement in the offensive chapterbut remembering that “you just need to score one more goal than your opponent to win football games”.
“I already mentioned the fact that we pay attention to what we do badly and not what we do well. On one level we have the result, on another the performance. All teams play against us with a high level of respect and don’t move even after conceding the first goal. We want great results, but in reality, the games are much more demanding“, these.
The Porto team does not have its main goalscorer, Samu, until the end of the season, which creates problems in the attack, also missing Luuk de Jong. Reinforcement Terem Moffi is still looking for the best condition and even midfielders Rodrigo Mora and Gabri Veiga are considered for the ‘9’ position.
“Terem is working hard. He’s almost at the point of being a starter. Right now, we have Deniz Gül one step ahead in terms of condition and knowing what needs to be done. In the coming weeks, we’ll need both of them”, he stressed.
The FC Porto coach also commented on the case of Gianluca Prestianni’s alleged racist insult to Vinicius Júnior, in the Benfica-Real Madrid match, on Tuesday, counting for the Champions League, referring only to the problem as a whole.
“I’m not here to give classes on the topic, but I have to say that I’ve worked in six countries and I know the difference between whether you feel welcomed or not. Our ‘staff’ has seven nationalities, the best way for us to learn and improve is to be open to diversity. (…) In 2026, being judged by skin color or religion should not be a topic of discussion“, he concluded.
FC Porto, leader of the I Liga, with 59 points, will host Rio Ave, 15th place, with 20, starting at 8:30 pm on Sunday (22), in a game counting for the 23rd round of the competition that will be refereed by David Rafael Silva, from the Porto association.
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