Vítor Pereira: “I have great respect for FC Porto’s display” | OneFootball

Vítor Pereira admitted that Bednarek’s sending-off, right at the start of the match against FC Porto, had a major “impact”. Speaking to Sport TV after the 1-0 win over the Dragons and the resulting qualification for the Europa League semi-finals, the Nottingham Forest manager also spoke about Chris Wood’s physical condition — the player who suffered the foul from the Polish centre-back of the blue-and-whites — and also acknowledged that FC Porto could have wrapped up the tie at the Estádio do Dragão.

Analysis: “The sending-off had a big impact. We could have made it 2-0 in the first half. In the second, when the game goes on and you don’t make it 2-0, it stays open. FC Porto hit the bar and that could have taken the game to extra time.”

Contenders to win the Europa League? “I’ll be honest, in my head it’s Sunday. I had these five minutes to celebrate, but now I’m worried about the next game.”

A natural outcome? “We took a lot of risks in the game there, FC Porto had the chance to score more than one goal and could have decided the tie. We felt we had the responsibility to come in as a team. The sending-off helped. That’s football.”

Absences for the end of the Premier League: “Chris Wood has a huge lump on his knee, it’s a very large hematoma. He was already coming off a knee problem. I hope he recovers for Sunday. Hudson-Odoi is a big miss for us, but it’s possibly a muscle injury.”

Meeting FC Porto again: “A very competitive team. Today we showed our quality and ambition. FC Porto also worked until the end. Two teams that deserved to go through, but we were the ones who did.”

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