João Pereira: “FC Porto? We must stand firm against €100 million spending” | OneFootball

“It’s a highly demanding game, against a team that isn’t in our league, but we want to go head-to-head, just as we wanted to against Sporting, but couldn’t manage. We have another opportunity to surpass ourselves and show the courage that was missing against Sporting. We need to be very brave to play more, because I believe that in terms of organization we can make up for the difference,” he said.

In a press conference previewing the clash with the ‘dragons’, João Pereira recalled the reception in the first round against the two-time champion Sporting, in which the ‘gansos’ lost 2-0, and assured that the ambition is to win all three points.

“The favoritism has to be on the opponent’s side. In practice, if we are very organized, courageous, ambitious, and believe in ourselves, that’s half the battle to come away with points. I speak in the plural, with a more positive mindset. We’re aiming for more rather than less. That’s the mentality we bring here every day, so we can stand up to a team that invested 100 million euros,” expressed the Casa Pia coach.

João Pereira also highlighted the youth he shares with FC Porto’s coach, Francesco Farioli, emphasizing that both are “curious and like to learn,” especially at the start of such a demanding season.

“Playing away again is a big challenge for us. We want to take advantage of the demands of these first three rounds to fuel the team’s growth even more, which is constantly being reshaped and molded into what we want,” he stressed, about the start against Sporting, AVS, and FC Porto.

During the week, Casa Pia saw central defender Isaac Monteiro and Brazilian midfielder Pablo Roberto leave the squad, and João Pereira admitted that there could still be more changes to the group, given the increased “internal demands.”

“The internal demands are increasing, with more and more criteria. There’s a foundation from last season and continuity in the management and technical staff. Without them, we can’t succeed. Whoever comes in, comes to add. Whoever leaves, let it be along the same path of growth and appreciation, which is the goal,” he emphasized.

Goalkeeper Ricardo Batista and forwards Kelian Nsona and Clau Mendes will miss the match due to injury, while midfielder Yassin Oukili remains doubtful.

With three points, Casa Pia will travel to Estádio do Dragão to face FC Porto—one of the leaders, with six points—at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, in a match for the third round of the Primeira Liga, which will be refereed by Sérgio Guelho, from the Guarda Association.

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