Pepê hails Champions return: “FC Porto deserve to be up there” | OneFootball

After the warm-up match, Pepê praised the quality of the opposition and the way the Dragons managed to put into practice the work done throughout pre-season, in comments to Sport TV: «Aston Villa’s players have above-average quality, which is normal for a Premier League team. I think we played a good game and managed to put into practice what we had been preparing during pre-season», he said.

With the Super Cup drawing ever closer, the winger admits there are still details to correct, although he highlighted the group’s progress ahead of the next challenge. «We already have a final to prepare for, and we are becoming more and more ready. We know we made some mistakes during this game, but we have to value what we did, considering it was the first game of the season», he explained.

The Brazil international also stressed the need to maintain daily commitment and pointed to the squad’s unity as one of the foundations of the success achieved last season: «We have to keep doing what the coach asks, keep performing at our highest level, and keep dedicating ourselves in training», said the winger.

On FC Porto’s return to the Champions League, Pepê highlighted the importance of competing once again in Europe’s main competition and underlined the stature of the blue-and-white club: «It is very important to be back in the Champions League. A club the size of Porto deserves to always be up there, and to always honour its name», he said.

Looking ahead to the new season, the Brazilian winger hopes to deliver a better performance than in previous years: «A season even better than all the others. I’m someone who always tries to improve, and I think I made many mistakes last season, but I’m sure this season will be even better both individually and collectively», he concluded.

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