Gabri Veiga: “FC Porto are back, and that might annoy certain people” | OneFootball

Gabri Veiga was one of the standout names in the campaign that returned FC Porto to the national title and, on the eve of the trophy presentation and celebrations, looked back to recall the moments that, in his view, defined the season. The Spanish midfielder spoke of suffering and unity, of setbacks that did not knock the team off course, and of victories that became even more valuable as the pressure grew. At the heart of everything was one simple, firm idea: “above all, not falling.”

On the brink of the final celebrations, Gabri Veiga spoke to the press with the calm of someone who had already gone through the most demanding part of the journey and was now trying to organise the memory of the decisive days. The protagonist’s full name appears here effortlessly: Gabri Veiga was invited to look back on an important season at FC Porto, and his response always followed the same thread, that of the emotional stability of a team that knew how to withstand impact, noise and expectation.

When asked to highlight a match, a win or a decisive moment, the Spaniard did not want to reduce the season to a single image. He preferred to describe it as a sequence of tests of resilience, between scares, signs of strength and matches in which the margin for error seemed to grow ever smaller.

“For me there were several moments. Jorge’s death, which was a moment that brought the team closer together, especially at the start; then the defeat against Casa Pia… In a team without as much personality, without that work behind it, confidence and unity, you would never know where it might go after that defeat,” he said. “And with everyone saying that Sporting were going to regain first place, etc., etc.; then I also think the win against Braga was very important, one of the rivals that surprised me the most, one of the ones I liked the most – a word for them, because they played, at least against us, admirably –; finally, the win against Estoril. Sporting had a game in hand and, if we had lost, it would have been a moment when they could have overtaken us. Estoril were also a very strong team, something that surprised me about Portuguese teams, the level really is very high. Those were the victories, those were the events and, above all, not falling.”

More than a simple chronological sequence, the answer paints a portrait of the competitive spirit that, in the player’s view, sustained the journey. Veiga underlined what distinguishes a team that wavers from one that can absorb the blow and keep going, making it clear that the title was also built on the way FC Porto reacted when the situation threatened to become complicated.

Asked whether the defeat against Aves SAD tarnishes the campaign, the midfielder dismissed the idea without hesitation. He did so pragmatically, recalling that even champion teams fail when they drop their level and that, in such cases, the warning can be useful.

“No, I don’t believe so. In fact, this Wednesday we had another example at the highest level: Barcelona, who two days ago were celebrating, lost to an Alavés side fighting to stay up,” he explained. “Aves had nothing to play for and we had that desire to equal the points record, as well as personal goals, but these are things that can happen. It is a lesson to understand that, when we are not at 100 per cent, if we drop off a little, every team is competent enough to give us a bad afternoon. It is something we have to learn from and not lower the level next year.”

The remarks reveal the demanding way in which the dressing room views its own work: without dramatising the slip, but also without hiding it. In Gabri Veiga’s reading, the defeat does not erase the journey or undermine the legitimacy of the campaign; rather, it serves as a reminder that at the top, any advantage never allows for complacency.

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