José Mourinho weighs in on Newcastle v Benfica: He had quite a game... | OneFootball

One of the new features in the Benfica lineup was the adaptation of Tomás Araújo to the left side of the defense. In a press conference, José Mourinho analyzed the performance of the number 44 and admitted that the player did well, showing the ability to maintain balance in the central corridor.

After revealing what Benfica was missing, the Special One acknowledged that the center-back, often adapted to full-back, gave a positive response against Newcastle, despite the defeat: "It went well. He had a balanced game, and we ended up not conceding from set pieces".

However, despite not conceding any goals in those moments, José Mourinho recognized that Newcastle was very dangerous: "Even though we didn’t concede, I think it was clear that every set piece was half a goal, it was a display of dominance from a team with incredible physicality".

The fact that Benfica resisted set-piece situations ultimately justifies the choice made by the Special One to field the number 44 instead of the Swedish full-back: "If we imagine Dahl, that difference would have been even more pronounced. His passing quality was always good".

"We conceded three goals in transition. The first was a quick attack, Dedic lost Gordon on the diagonal move. It’s a team with fantastic pace", observed José Mourinho, analyzing the moments that led up to Newcastle’s goals.

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