Benfica coach, José Mourinho, admitted this Saturday (7) that a possible defeat against FC Porto takes Benfica out of the fight for the title of national football champion, but promised to go “with everything” in pursuit of this objective.
“Objectively, our distance to first place is seven points. Imagining that they can become 10, obviously, it would be a giant step for our chances of being champion to disappear”, recognized the coach, at a press conference, in Seixal.
Benfica remains in third place in the I Football League, seven points behind the leader, FC Porto, which they will host on Sunday, at Estádio da Luz.
Asked whether, on the other hand, not losing the game and maintaining a seven-point gap to their rival is a possibility or whether Benfica really has to win, Mourinho was not direct in his response, but promised not to give up.
“We fought hard to get to this game in conditions where we can still think we can [disputar o título]. So let’s go with everything we have until we think it’s possible.”he pointed out, in front of journalists, in the Benfica Futebol Campus amphitheater.
This objective, in fact, was what motivated the ‘reds’ when, at a certain point in the season, the games started “with a 10 point disadvantage” for the ‘dragons’, “sometimes with 13 or 12” when the rival played first and won their challenge.
“We’ve been winning games for months thinking about this game. One of the things that motivated us was being able to arrive at this game in a position to seriously fight for the championship”, admitted.
On the other hand, Mourinho repeated the idea that FC Porto “is an easy team to analyze”, but “very difficult to play against” and let it slip that, in addition to the “already known absence of Aursnes”, injured, “there will certainly be some others not known” for the same reason.
“I don’t give tangos, there are no lies and white lies. We are, in fact, in difficulty, with doubts, with a couple of players who are normally starters.”he revealed, without ‘opening the game’, but certain that they will be known until the time of the meeting, since “there is always some hidden ‘mole’ who will tell”.
Benfica hosts FC Porto on Sunday, in a match for the 25th round of the I Portuguese Football League, scheduled to start at 6pmat Estádio da Luz, in Lisbon, and refereed by João Pinheiro (AF Braga).
The ‘reds’ have not yet lost in the championship and are looking for their fifth consecutive victory in the only competition in which they are still involved, after being eliminated from the League Cup, by Sporting de Braga, in the semi-finals, from the Portuguese Cup, by FC Porto, in the quarter-finals, and from the Champions League, in the play-off to access the round of 16, by Real Madrid.
The ‘blue and whites’ are looking for their fourth consecutive victory in the I League, since the draw with Sporting (1-1), a rival with whom they lost at the José Alvalade Stadium (1-0), on Tuesday, in the first leg of the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup, and are in the round of 16 of the Europa League, a competition in which they will visit Stuttgart, on Thursday, in the first leg.
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