Silaidopoulos slams Rio Ave, says they respected Benfica too much | OneFootball

Sotiris Silaidopoulos admits that Rio Ave did not start the match well. In the aftermath of the game, where Benfica came away with a 2-0 victory, the Greek coach did not hide his frustration with the less positive result and stressed that his team 'respected the opponent too much'.

"In the first half, we respected Benfica too much and we couldn't deal with the overloads they had in the central area," Silaidopoulos began by saying in statements to Sport TV, echoing the words of José Mourinho about the match in Vila do Conde.

"We were late to the balls, the distance between our lines, the communication about who should step out, it wasn’t at the right timing. In the second half, I think we improved, but congratulations to Benfica," said the Greek coach, clearly dissatisfied with Rio Ave’s performance.

"The effort was there... It wasn’t for lack of effort, it was not understanding, arriving late, the timing, coordination between the lines. These are things we improved a lot in the second half, that’s why we put in a better performance," acknowledged the coach at the end of the match.

"We have to keep the positive things we did, the confidence we had in keeping the ball, the confidence in our way of playing, the courage to keep the ball and move it from one side to the other, the courage to attack the final third," he concluded, leaving a promise for the upcoming matches.

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