FC Porto coach, Vítor Bruno, considered Benfica’s triumph (4-1) at Luz to be fair and takes the blame for the defeat.
The game
“A fair victory for Benfica. A divided and balanced first half. It’s true that Benfica scores first, they have the opportunity to make it 2-0, they don’t, we react well and score the equalizer. At the beginning of the game it even seemed to me that we started the game not too badly, we have a move from Galeno with a dangerous shot on Benfica’s goal, but the first half seemed divided and balanced to me, FC Porto with more possession of the ball, but with statistical data with one team very close to the other”.
“In the second half, we tried to correct another positioning, especially when with the ball, on the way out, with the ball from Diogo, but from the moment we conceded 2-1, the team didn’t find its place and it seemed to me Benfica is always fresher, quicker on the ball, more intense. The two goals in a row, 2-1 and 3-1, ended up conditioning the rest of the game. 3-1 with some degree of unhappiness, with Nehuén’s own goal.”
“Afterwards we always tried, we went on the more emotional side, not very rational, the team became very disorganized in many moments, which is not normal for us. We have to rethink a lot of things, today we end up not being Porto”.
FC Porto concedes four goals
“It was my fault, it’s no one else’s. I am ultimately responsible, if the onus has to be placed on someone, it is on me. The decisions were mine, I made them myself. We had one or two mishaps. When the game was launched, Pepê found it very difficult to play, which is why he didn’t start the game. We had to redefine the strategy that was set up for the game here, but that’s no excuse. The team became very inert, very amorphous.
“The four goals come in the wake of what we have never been like as a team in defensive organization. We are too unprotected, especially on our left side. Benfica always started easily with Di María always as a target to attack our goal. We were not competent at the organizational level and we were not competent from the point of view of aggressiveness and intensity, in what has to be a strong Porto brand”.
Are there emotional consequences?
“It’s always tough, we’re going to be in agony for a day, two days. Let’s try to attack in the next training session and understand that we are in the 11th round, there is still a long way to go in the championship. Not everything was perfect until now, now everything is not wrong either. These are games that we don’t want to happen, today it touched us, but it’s true that we have to leave a different mark”
