Farioli on edge over rivals: “We must stay hungry” | OneFootball

Francesco Farioli looked ahead to the new 2026/2027 season with the calm of someone who knows that the past guarantees no advantage in the future. When asked about FC Porto’s possible theoretical superiority given Benfica’s change of coach and Sporting’s major squad overhaul, the Italian manager dismissed any idea of favoritism and stressed that everyone starts again from the same point.

“I would say we are starting from zero again. What’s done is done. I think the lesson from last season has to be a strong warning for us because, when I arrived here, nobody could have expected us to be so quick in achieving what we achieved. This is proof that, in football, if you work well and are able to connect the dots in a certain way, you can make up for a possible disadvantage. So, in reality, today I truly believe that we all start from zero. What we achieved is already part of our history, the trophy is in the museum, and today we obviously have extra responsibility because we are approaching the season as champions.”

Asked about the differences in mentality between the previous season – marked by the need to quickly heal wounds – and the current one, Farioli explained that knowing the squad so well helps speed up the process, although it also increases the risk of falling into overconfidence.

“The fact that we already have a year of working together is an advantage because we know the players in detail and can move faster than we did last season. But, on the other hand, there is always the challenge of keeping standards high and raising the level. When you know someone so well, there is a risk of going on ‘autopilot,’ and that is something we really want to avoid. That is why, conceptually, we started from zero. It was important for us, in this first phase, to go back to basics, really to basics, and then build our process and add new things that will be important for the new season,” he said.

For the coach, the recipe for 2026/2027 is to regain the humility and hunger of those who have not won anything yet, without losing sight of the club’s historic identity.

“Right now, FC Porto has to have an empty stomach, with the desire to eat again, because what we won is no longer there. It is normal for us to have this extra responsibility, but we have to keep the same underdog spirit, the spirit of a team that wants to fight and accept the challenge, because that is our strength, our DNA, and what FC Porto has historically been. That is what we will do again this season.”

Farioli also spoke about the first official match of the season, against Torreense, in the Super Cup final: “The Super Cup will, in a way, be the final chapter of last season because, of course, to reach it we have to win something in the previous season. But after that, everything related to the 2025/26 season will be over. So now the focus is there: trying to win the trophy against an opponent that has already proved its ability to work magic, through the journey they made and their ability to beat a very strong opponent in a final. We have to be ready for that and, one week after the Super Cup, we will be in a race where we will face opponents who will be highly motivated to knock us off our perch.”

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