Pavlidis on team-mate’s struggles after Ajax–Benfica: “Not easy” | OneFootball

Vangelis Pavlidis believes that Franjo Ivanović needs time to adapt to the reality of the Eagles. At the end of the Ajax – Benfica match, which ended with the Eagles' victory, 2-0, the Greek international commented on his teammate's 'crisis' and expressed confidence in the Croatian.

“I don't think I'm the right person to talk about Ivanović. You have to ask the coach. He's a great player, part of the team, and we need him. He will find his moment, just like I did last season. He needs more time, it's not easy to come to a club like Benfica, a big club, with pressure, where the team doesn't play to help me. He needs time,” Vangelis Pavlidis began by saying.

“If you end up with the three points, it's always nicer. Mourinho didn't say much after the game. We didn't give Ajax much space because we know how well they play with the ball. The first goal helped us a lot, we controlled the game defensively, but we had counterattacks, like the second goal,” analyzed Vangelis Pavlidis about the Ajax – Benfica match.

“We got the three points. It was difficult, in the first four games we didn't score. Today we defended more, but we took the three points, that's the most important thing and we focus game by game. Napoli will be another final for us, we want to continue in the Champions League,” concluded Vangelis Pavlidis.

This season, playing for Benfica, Vangelis Pavlidis – valued at 35 million euros – played 24 matches: 11 in the Liga Portugal Betclic, nine in the Champions League, two in the Portuguese Cup, one in the League Cup, and another in the Super Cup. In the 1,931 minutes he was on the pitch, the forward scored 15 goals and made two assists.

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