Villas-Boas urges unity for the “last step”, hits rivals: “Trauma lasts” | OneFootball

With the national champion title just one win away, FC Porto president André Villas-Boas is calling for unity for the “final step”. “At this stage, the league is not ‘played’: it is won,” he said in the editorial he signed in the April edition of Dragões magazine.

“At FC Porto, we only celebrate when we win,” the official stressed, underlining that the club’s 31st national title is “both so close and so far away at the same time”.

In a hard-hitting text aimed at rivals, especially Sporting, Villas-Boas recalled that “with or without VAR, there was one reality those ‘wronged parties’ had to swallow: in their time, FC Porto won the European Cup, won the Champions League, won the UEFA Cup, won the Europa League and lifted the Intercontinental Cup twice! It was national champion, two-time champion, three-time champion, four-time champion, five-time champion. And that trauma, apparently, does not go away. It causes itching. It bothers them.”

The FC Porto president also denounced “personal and professional attacks on Francesco Farioli by various ‘pundits’” and recalled, ironically, the elimination from the Portuguese Cup in the semi-finals against Sporting.

“In the ‘Sporting Cup’, against Sporting, we were knocked out. And, once again, what we have been feeling throughout the season was laid bare: FC Porto has to overcome not only its opponents, but also the unpredictable and chaotic side of the game, in yet another match that makes you want to say: ‘It’s rare, but it happens a lot,’” he wrote.

Taking the handball Clássico all the way through the courts

André Villas-Boas also assured that “FC Porto (is) absolutely calm and cooperating with the authorities” following the complaints made by Sporting members before the national handball championship playoff game on March 28 about an “intense smell” in the dressing room assigned to them at Dragão Arena, a situation that led the Lions’ coach Ricardo Costa and Christian Moga to miss the match.

“Those involved who chose insult and the attempt to tarnish the Institution will answer for it to the fullest extent,” the FC Porto president guarantees.

There was also room to praise the “incredible achievement” of the women’s team, which were crowned II Division champions and promoted to the top flight for the first time. “It is an achievement that honors the club and shows the strength of an idea when it is developed with ambition and competence,” noted André Villas-Boas.

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