Farioli: 24 points left, nothing decided in Braga | OneFootball

Returning to the league with a trip to Braga to face “a team that is doing very well in both the League and the Europa League” (Sunday, 8:30 pm, Sport TV1), Francesco Farioli anticipates “a game as difficult and open as those played against VfB Stuttgart” between “two teams that go onto the pitch with the same desire to win” and an identity based on “bravery and courage,” which is why he warns of the need to “recharge the batteries and give everything” in Minho.

“Everyone recovered well” from the European match, “the only one still under the medical team’s supervision is Diogo Costa, who has persistent back pain and an inflamed adductor,” in addition to the “long-term injured players and Rodrigo Mora, who will be out for ten to fifteen days,” and the coach will “choose the players who will increase the chances of success” in 90 minutes that will be “very demanding physically,” but also “tactically, and will be determined by small details” in which “collective strength” will have to intervene: “The way the whole team has helped allowed us to reach the end of March in three competitions with the possibility and desire to win them. That says a lot about the work these players are doing, which sometimes goes unnoticed.”

SC Braga“They have been doing very well since the coach arrived, he is doing a great job and the team is performing very well in the League and the Europa League, a competition in which they reached the quarter-finals. They are an opponent that scores many goals, they are the team with the most possession in the league, very dominant in the opponent’s midfield, very aggressive. I expect a game as difficult as the one we had against VfB Stuttgart, although SC Braga is more possession-oriented, but it will be an open game between two teams that go onto the pitch with the same desire to win. We have to recharge our batteries after achieving the goal of advancing in the Europa League and give everything in Braga.”

Medical report“Everyone recovered well, we worked with everyone today. The only one still under the medical team’s supervision is Diogo Costa, who has persistent back pain and an inflamed adductor. We will make a decision in the final moments before the match, depending also on whether he feels comfortable enough to play. If not, others will certainly step in. I say this, but everyone knows we have the long-term injured and Rodrigo Mora, who will be out for ten to fifteen days.”

A trip of maximum demand“I don’t know who will play on their side, I can’t control that. On our side, we worked with the whole squad today and the players are prepared to compete at a good level. Of the 23 players ready to play, I will choose those I believe will increase our chances of being successful. They also come from a European match, although they played a day earlier and didn’t have a game the previous weekend, and they are fully entitled to that, so I expect a very demanding game physically because they share the top of the league with us in terms of number of runs and distance covered. It will be a very physical game, tactical as well, and it will be determined by small details. We are very attentive to these details that can change the dynamics.”

The recovery of Luuk de Jong“It’s almost impossible [to see him back on the pitch this season]. We have to face reality, he played very few games, was injured at two different times, and then we’ve also been without Samu since the beginning of February. We’re at the end of March and the team, somehow, managed to cover up these two big absences. We’re talking about those who, at the start of the season, were the first and second choices for strikers. Both are very good, so it’s hard to say who would come first, but today we have collective strength allowing us to cover for those absences. The way Deniz Gül and Terem Moffi, but also the whole team, started to help us allowed us to reach the end of March in three competitions with the possibility and desire to win them. That says a lot about the work these players are doing, which sometimes goes unnoticed. It will be difficult to see Luuk de Jong on the pitch before the end of the season.”

The Porto delegation in the Polish national team“We are very happy for the call-ups of Jan Bednarek and Jakub Kiwior, who are usually called up to the main national team, and also for Oskar Pietuszewski, who is doing very well. A few days ago I received a call from the Technical Director of the Polish national team, he was curious to know how he was doing, because on the pitch it was very obvious, so we wish them the best of luck for this qualification.”

Bravery and courage“I could take the press conference I did before the games against VfB Stuttgart and copy it, but the distance of their passes is much shorter than that of VfB Stuttgart, they play shorter, always try to stay in the offensive midfield and combine this desire to have the ball with a lot of aggression. The three forwards press a lot, the full-backs always step up aggressively to press, and the center-backs are very brave to chase the forwards all over the pitch. This leads me to believe that the game will be very open between two teams that, according to their identities, will play their football with bravery and courage. These are two words that describe both sides very well.”

Gabri Veiga“Gabri Veiga is progressing very well. After the ankle injury he suffered against Vitória SC in the League Cup, it took a few days for him to get back to the desired form. He came from his best game of the season against OGC Nice, where he did very well, the injury affected his progress a bit, but now he’s back at the top of his game and against Moreirense he had two or three goal opportunities, and the impact he had on the team was very positive. Of course I appreciate Gabri Veiga’s qualities and with Rodrigo Mora absent, hopefully only for this game, we’ll have to manage things differently. We’ll take Tiago Silva with us for the game, he’ll be part of the squad.”

Everything still open“How many games are left? How many points? The answer is there. There are 24 points left to play for, of course SC Braga is a very strong opponent, we can’t deny that, but we’ll go step by step and tomorrow’s game is very important, even if it’s not decisive.”

The postponement of Sporting-CD Tondela“It’s not about FC Porto being harmed, it’s about the League. It’s not us against them, there are teams fighting for the title as well as those fighting relegation. Last week, I think I spoke politely about the special treatment they received and I was heavily criticized by some of your colleagues, there was even a statement from the other side. I’m talking about facts, I already spoke about SC Braga, who received the same treatment. All of this works on the basis of priorities. First comes the protection of teams still in European competitions and that’s very good for Portuguese football, no doubt. So I’m happy that SC Braga had that postponement, even though now they have more rest than us, I never complained that we were more tired than them. On the other hand, when there’s no space in the calendar and a game is postponed without knowing when it can be played, I think it’s normal for there to be comments about special treatment. I can give you the example of the Premier League, a league apart from the rest, it’s about justifying the unjustifiable. I landed here from another country, but there are some very clear things: 15 minutes on VAR, this situation, we’re still waiting for the judgment of a player who made gestures in front of the cameras. We can talk about whatever you want, but there are clear things and, by postponing a game to an uncertain date, all that gets swept away and everything is forgotten. In a league where everything is so close, it’s played point by point, whether for the title or for survival, this adjustment can determine the final outcome of the competition. If we want to have a fair competition, this goes in the completely opposite direction. Hearing moral lessons or talking about ethics does not put you ethically above anyone else. I spoke of special treatment, I stand by my words and, after two weeks, Portuguese football has realized that I was not so far from reality.”

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