João Tralhão frustrated at Real Madrid-Benfica, but says: We drew | OneFootball

He lavished praise on the performance of Benfica at the Santiago Bernabéu. In the minutes following Slavko Vincic's final whistle – whose performance was evaluated by experts – the assistant coach, who replaced José Mourinho, stated that the Eagles played eye to eye with the Spanish giant.

"I would say more than 25 minutes, it was a great first half. At times in the second half, we also had control. I just spoke with the coach and we are proud, he is proud of the group, of our performance against a giant team. I would extend those minutes a bit more, it was more than 25 [of dominance]," he began by saying in statements to Sport TV.

"In the second half, we also had chances. We didn't feel that Real could score on many occasions, but in two details, they decided the game. We leave frustrated, but proud of the team," added João Tralhão, following the reasoning.

"They were not promises, we had said in the preview that we have an identity and we wouldn't shy away. We knew Real's weaknesses, as well as their strengths. We came here, we had a game plan that allowed us to dominate at certain moments. The players were extraordinary, they deserved much more in the first half. The goal right after the goal we scored was fortuitous, it came from an unexpected situation," continued João Tralhão, emphasizing that the team played without fear.

"The game plan worked [as we wanted]. Fantastic personality in the first half, the team showed personality. We know what group we have and we didn't expect anything else. It's a team that likes to compete, I refrain from describing the mentality. It's just pride. In the set of three games against Real Madrid in this recent period, we tied 5-5

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