Farioli: “It’s too much to say Porto v Benfica is decisive” | OneFootball

Francesco Farioli, FC Porto’s coach, looked ahead to the clash with Benfica, corresponding to the seventh round of the league and scheduled for Sunday at 8:30 pm at the Estádio do Dragão. The coach dismissed the idea that the match is decisive at such an early stage of the season, without downplaying its importance in the standings and emotionally. And he assured: “it’s an important game”.

At the press conference ahead of one of the most intense fixtures on the national calendar, Francesco Farioli focused on the balance between the magnitude of the moment and the need not to turn the clássico into a verdict on the championship. For the coach, the Dragão will have a special role, both because of the competitive demands and the energy expected from the stands.

Asked about the weight of the duel with Benfica, Farioli rejected any dramatics, although he acknowledged the importance the match holds for the Porto world.

“It carries the weight of any important game. The fact that it comes so early in the season means that calling it a decisive game is, I think, too much, but of course it is an important game for the standings and for the value it has for the club, the fans and all of us.”

The message is clear: a lot is at stake in the clássico, but not everything. Farioli frames it as a significant test, without giving in to the temptation to present it as a full stop or an irreversible turning point in the title race.

On its direct impact on the title race, the coach admitted the particular nature of clashes between contenders, but insisted on the principle of treating every match with the same seriousness.

“It is an important game, like all of them. Of course, in head-to-head clashes we have the opportunity to take the full result, by winning points and stopping our opponents, but it’s something we don’t pay much attention to,” he explained. “For us, as you know, we try to approach every game in the same way. Of course a clássico and a derby, wherever they are played, but especially at the Dragão, are special, they demand more from us, and the fans will also give us that extra fuel to go the extra yard and make the extra effort, and especially tomorrow even more so.”

Farioli thus separates the mathematics of the title race from the way he wants to see the team approach the match. The clássico will carry its own weight, reinforced by the setting and the fans, but the response he is looking for lies in extra effort, not anxiety.

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