Mourinho pleased with Benfica win, but says star looked a bit tired | OneFootball

Benfica had to sweat to beat Nacional 2-1. At the end of the match, José Mourinho considered the victory “very well deserved” and even emphasized that only the Eagles wanted to take all three points. The coach also praised the performances of Gianluca Prestianni and Andreas Schjelderup coming into the match and noted that Vangelis Pavlidis was “a little tired.”

“Very well deserved. It’s one of those wins that, if it had been a defeat, I wouldn’t have a single word against my team. They played well from the first minute. When Nacional scored, it was tough emotionally, because you’re the only team that’s almost winning and conceding a goal is hard, but the team picked themselves up and went after it. Ok, we won the game in dramatic fashion, by the skin of our teeth, but it’s super deserved,” he began his analysis to Sport TV.

The Eagles’ coach pointed out that only one team tried to win: “During the league, you lose points at the end and you gain points at the end. I don’t know any team that always wins at the end or always loses at the end. Today, Benfica gained two points in the final minutes, but it’s hard for me to say that. The victory started in the first minute, the team was solid, well organized, and completely dominated the game. Nacional had half a shot on goal during the match, easily saved by Trubin. It was a great display of dominance by Benfica, I don’t want to say for 99 minutes, maybe 20, because perhaps there wasn’t more than 20 minutes of actual play, but it was dominance from start to finish and a super deserved victory.”

The coach addressed the substitutions of Gianluca Prestianni and Andreas Schjelderup: “They came in well, but those who came off also played a good game. During the match, I never thought ‘we’re not going to win this game.’ I always had hope that we would win. Of course, when they came on, they were fresh. Each one on a wing. Ivanovic also brought a lot of mobility, Pavlidis, a little tired, stayed there in the central area... But the team played a very good game. Ok, the three points are the most important, that’s what matters, but I liked the organization of the game and the psychological strength to withstand a negative result, in a match where we already knew, by the way it started, that it would end badly. With lots of stoppages, very little effective playing time. But I think it’s very well deserved.”

José Mourinho spoke about the calm he showed at the moment of the second goal: “Euphoria sometimes also means a loss of organization. We were playing completely wide open and at that moment I wanted to reorganize the team for the final minutes. The feeling was obviously ‘there’s no turning back now,’ but football is treacherous and something could happen. My experience... Obviously I was happy, but experience and responsibility gave me calm.”

The coach was asked about the next clash with Sporting: “Now it’s time to rest. Not to think too much about football. The boys had two tough games. There are some here who ran 12.5 kilometers at Ajax and today it wasn’t easy for some. We won, that’s good, the victory against Ajax was important, this one was also very important. These wins strengthen bonds, there’s a lot of joy in the locker room, but there are still many days to go before Sporting. Tomorrow is a well-deserved rest,” he concluded.

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