Farioli: Primeira Liga is more competitive than people think | OneFootball

Francesco Farioli commented on FC Porto’s 3-1 victory over Rangers, which secured the Dragons’ qualification for the Europa League round of 16. The Italian coach praised the performance and highlighted the recent results of Portuguese teams:

“I think the reaction was good. The first few minutes were okay, we conceded the goal, but we picked up the pace and that paid off. Tonight is important for Portuguese football. Yesterday and today were very important. The Primeira Liga is still not seen as competitive enough. And that’s not true. Benfica and Sporting proved their worth. Braga did as well today. It’s a great achievement for Portuguese football, we also overtook the Netherlands.”

The coach explained the changes he made:

“In the press conference I had to mention that we often underestimate what we do. The games are not easy and we have to do our job. We are facing two giants. Now we’ll focus on Casa Pia, our next Primeira Liga match. We brought on Alberto because of the yellow card situation. Victor Froholdt had a minor issue and was left out as a precaution. Francesco Farioli downplayed expectations about FC Porto as a Europa League contender:

“For us, it’s not about putting ourselves too far ahead. The journey to Istanbul is very long and we have a long way to go. Now we are focused on the league. We’ll think about the Europa League again in the round of 16. It’s time to recharge and be ready for Monday.”

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