Mourinho backs Benfica player yet to impress fully: worked incredibly hard | OneFootball

On Wednesday, December 10th, Benfica secured their second consecutive victory in the Champions League league phase by defeating Napoli 2-0 at Estádio da Luz. After the final whistle, José Mourinho analyzed the match and praised Franjo Ivanovic, a forward who is still trying to win over the fans.

"We started very well. What we prepared happened. The players interpreted the game very well, they had the spirit, the demand, and the cohesion that defending well requires, but then they had class and confidence, they knew how to exploit the spaces, knowing that they focus a lot on man-to-man. We attracted many players to the midfield to then exploit the space. We played a great game, it's a great victory that keeps us in the fight. We will have two games of maximum difficulty, like this one, but we are there", said the coach to SporTV, then speaking about the Croatian forward.

"We, coaches, get it right most of the time. But then it's the players who make the choices look good or a failure. I know Antonio Conte well, this way of playing from Napoli, and I am getting to know my players better and better. We worked on this and things went well. Ivanovic worked immensely for the team. Then Pavlidis came in and he is a different player. The team was intelligent, the credit is theirs", pointed out the coach who addressed the numerical superiority in the midfield of the Neapolitans.

"The problem was the Napoli midfielders reaching the position of Sudakov, Barreiro, and Aursnes. When they arrived, they opened space behind. Ivanovic sought depth. Things went well, the players did an extraordinary job. It is unfair to say that this or that one was better".

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