Ex-player coaching Salzburg: “I owe a lot to Villas-Boas” | OneFootball

Those less attentive may not remember Markus Berger. The 40-year-old former center-back played for three clubs in Portugal - most notably for Académica - and had stints at Gil Vicente and Tondela, totaling four and a half years at Briosa. He currently resides in Salzburg, his hometown, which will host FC Porto's debut in the 2025/26 Europa League. A BOLA spoke with the former footballer, who, in flawless Portuguese, was amiable. "Académica is my heart's club, but in Portugal, my second club is FC Porto," he reveals.

First and foremost, recognition to the club that "gave him so much". "I was very happy at Académica, which was the club that gave me the opportunity to play in the Portuguese League. I am very grateful to the club. And I've always liked FC Porto. I keep one game in mind, when we beat them in the Portuguese Cup in 2011. We won 3-0 and they had great players. Otamendi, Hulk, Varela, Belluschi... They were very good and I remember that Cup game, in which we won without giving them a chance," he recalls.

Berger's curious connection to the dragons also involves a name: André Villas-Boas. Currently a youth coach at Salzburg, the former defender was coached by Villas-Boas at Académica in 2009/10. "I owe him a lot," he says. "I was going through a very difficult period at Académica. I played little, but André came and during a FIFA break, when we had two weeks to prepare for the next game, he called me and said, 'Markus, with me, you will play'. And I started playing with him right away. I have a lot to thank André for, I still keep in touch with him," he says, expressing a desire to "reconnect" with his former coach when FC Porto is in Austria. "If there's time... The last time I saw him, he was still at Marseille. They did a training camp in Munich and I went to visit him when I was doing my coaching training," recalls Markus.

Berger assures that at that time, Villas-Boas was not yet emerging as a president, but highlighted other qualities: "At that time, I could not guess that André would be president, but as a coach, he was fantastic. One of his strong points was his relationship with people. He is friendly and can give that click to teams. Everyone stands by him and that is very important. He has a big heart and shows it to people. At the time, he arrived after being José Mourinho's assistant and had a lot of football knowledge. He's the complete package. That's how you say it, isn't it?"

"Froholdt is a great player and I really like Alberto"

Markus closely follows football in Portugal and, based on what he has seen, he does not hesitate: against Salzburg, the favorite is "clearly" FC Porto. "I saw the game with Sporting, recently, and it was a great performance. They made great signings. I love Froholdt, he's a great player. I also really like Alberto Costa, but the most important thing is that, in the last two years, I have not seen this attitude in the team. The way they defend, the collective spirit... It shows a lot of soul. They have won all the games so far, but this attitude makes a difference," highlights the Austrian, who also makes observations about the dragons' opponent.

"It's hard to talk about stars... We have a good striker, Konaté, but I think he's still injured. Salzburg's strength is the collective. It's a young team, as it has always been. The club invests a lot in young people and it's in this philosophy that I also work. I love what I do," he says, before mentioning names. "I like Kitano, a Japanese who arrived this summer, and Bidstrup is a 6 who works a lot. Kjaergaard too. The midfield ends up being the strongest sector of the team," concludes Berger.

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.