João Tralhão on Real Madrid v Benfica: winning mentality like Courtois | OneFootball

Just as had happened in the pre-match preview, João Tralhão attended the post-game conference in place of José Mourinho. At the Santiago Bernabéu, where Benfica was defeated 2-1, the assistant coach spoke about the frustration of the elimination, the performance of some of the players, and the UEFA decision regarding Gianluca Prestianni. Check out everything that was said.

THE "FANTASTIC" BENFICA FANS

"Before analyzing the game, I wanted to say a word to the fantastic Benfica fans. They came here to the Bernabéu today, followed the team as always, were with us from start to finish, and gave us extra strength. As always, this is the DNA of Benfica. We are grateful to them".

WINNING MENTALITY

"Regarding the analysis [of the game], we feel we created enough today. I just spoke with Mr. José Mourinho, and we feel very proud of our performance, very proud of our team. The players were extraordinary. We are frustrated with the result precisely because of that. We arrived, dominated from the start, scored, conceded a goal against the run of play, as you could see, and yet we maintained our personality, character, and winning mentality, as we had said in the preview. Indeed, the game was decided in some details. We could have scored, we created enough chances to score. Real Madrid, obviously, has a great team, but they had a giant in goal, who did not allow us to convert the chances we had, but we leave here proud of the team".

"PERFECT SYNCHRONIZATION" WITH JOSÉ MOURINHO

"[Coordination with José Mourinho] The synchronization was perfect. We were prepared. Obviously, it was not a situation we wanted. Mr. José Mourinho did not want to be out of the game. We feel it was an unfair situation, but our synchronization was perfect; it was not today, it has been. We have always planned by anticipating scenarios. This is a situation, obviously, new this season. We were not thinking that we might have the coach out, but he was, he was expelled, we anticipated the scenario. The synchronization was perfect from the start of this preparation, today it remained perfect, and the decisions, obviously – I had told you –, are always the coach's, but always supported by his technical staff. And I am here to represent the technical staff, and therefore, that coordination was perfect, in my opinion".

PLAYERS WHO INTERPRET WHAT IS ASKED

"[Aspect in Benfica's game prioritized for improvement] It's a good question, it's a more technical question. Obviously, we know that when we face opponents of Real Madrid's level, they expose more what we can do well and what we need to correct. We have a detailed daily analysis of what we need to correct, I think we have many more things well done than those we need to correct, and today we demonstrated that. In the game, we showed that we are a very well-prepared team. We have extraordinary players who are not only interpreting well what is asked but also bringing all their talent onto the field. Today, indeed, we are much happier with the way we did things well than with the things to correct, which we have, obviously, and we will have until the end of the season".

REPRESENTING BENFICA WITH PRIDE

"[Leading the team] I had already said yesterday [Tuesday] that it was not a personal matter, I am not here to represent João [Tralhão], I am here to represent, first of all, the coach José Mourinho, who is the coach, is the leader. I am obviously representing Benfica, because I am here in front of you, but indeed, my personal matter... I did not experience it differently from how I experienced the last games, or the other games we went through, and how I will certainly experience the next ones. The leader is José Mourinho, he is our coach. I have the pleasure to tell you that we work very well, we are talking about one of the best coaches in history. Therefore, it is not a personal matter. First of all, the coach is José Mourinho, and we are working together. That, obviously, gives us support for everything else. But indeed, we are also representing Benfica, and today we represented Benfica in a way that makes us proud, that certainly makes all Benfica fans proud, but we leave frustrated with the result. That is a feeling that cannot leave us".

UEFA DECISION WITHOUT COMMENTS

"[Rejection of Benfica's appeal of Prestianni's suspension by UEFA and Sidny's request to swap shirts with Vinicius Júnior] I will divide these two questions into three. I think the first is a more technical question, whether Prestianni could indeed play or not. He was with the delegation for some purpose. When we appealed to UEFA, we were hoping for a positive response, and then the decision was technical. Whether he played or not was a technical decision. The decision does not arise because, indeed, when we appealed, UEFA's decision was negative. I will not go into details, that is not what interests us. Regarding Prestianni and UEFA's decision, it is not up to me to respond. I am here to talk about the game. Benfica, at the right timing and in the right place, will respond to that issue. Regarding the third question, the shirt, obviously, I will not comment because, indeed, it is not a topic that concerns us at this moment. What concerns us, or at least what takes our focus away at this moment, is the frustration of not having won here against Real Madrid, because we showed that we could have won".

RICHARD RÍOS' PERFORMANCE PRAISED

"[Option for Richard Ríos in the lineup] Technically, when we opted to put Ríos on the field, we knew that having one more player in the interior areas, we could take advantage, not only defensively but also offensively. Richard Ríos is a great player, he interprets well any position he has to play on the field, and today he demonstrated it. He played a huge game. Obviously, at certain moments, we felt that his adaptation had some details that need correction, which is natural, but he played a great game. We felt it was the right option and, indeed, from a strategic point of view, it was to gain one more player in the interior area of the field. We achieved it, he created many imbalances, opened the corridor also for Amar Dedic, and in the end, the assessment we make of his performance and the team's is very positive. We really liked his performance".

THE GOAL OF THE SUBSTITUTIONS

"From our experience, we knew that in this type of game, the intensity at which it is played, for any player who comes in, is a very difficult pace to keep up with. We know that. The pace was high, the game was very divided, Real Madrid managed to defend deep and quickly transition, we managed to defend deep and bring the game in a more supported way to Real Madrid's midfield. We knew the pace was high and, at a certain point in the game, we tried to maintain that solidity for as long as possible. It is not that the players from the bench did not bring us solidity, no, we knew what bench we had. The bench is full of good players, who are prepared to come in and show that they are integrated into our process. It was not because of the players, it was because of the situation of the game. Regarding Ivanovic, he brings us speed, verticality, that unpredictability without the ball that we needed. Regarding [Sidny] Cabral, he opened up the right corridor a bit: instead of attacking more, especially with Amar Dedic, on the right corridor, we attacked with two players. But indeed, the substitutions allowed us to be near Real Madrid's goal. We could have scored, we didn't, and we leave frustrated".

COURTOIS' PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTED

"[Plan in the absence of Mbappé] Mbappé is a great player, a huge player, a player who has a lot of influence on Real Madrid's game, but he is not totally decisive. Real Madrid has a squad full of great players, they have shown that over time, and indeed, his absence was not felt as much – obviously, he is a great player and always makes a difference –, because Real Madrid is full of great players. But I, especially today, would highlight, obviously, Vinicius, who scores the decisive goal and takes us out of the tie, out of the game, but I would especially highlight Courtois. It was he who prevented us from being more involved in the game, from converting the opportunities we had. Today he was a giant in goal. More decisive than [the absence of] Mbappé, we consider it was Courtois".

KEEPING THE GAME ALIVE AND COMPETING FOR THE TIE

"[Feeling when seeing Rafa's shot hit the crossbar and where José Mourinho watched the game] I can already answer the second question. I think you will know later. I think it is not interesting to know, in my opinion, in my analysis, where he watched the game. Important, yes, was that we were always synchronized. That was very important. Synchronized, but it was not today, it was in the preparation. Regarding Rafa's shot hitting the crossbar, I think it was not the only [occasion]. We had many chances to score. We felt we could be close to keeping the game alive, to at least go into extra time and compete for the tie. But indeed, when we felt that ball hit the crossbar, we felt we could have scored, we could be close to scoring, and the energy was there, the personality was there, the way we were playing, from a technical point of view, was there. We were structured, we had enough dynamics to get close to the opponent's goal and convert the chances we had. But unfortunately, we couldn't, but we were very close".

SHARED FEELING OF PRIDE

"[Words exchanged with José Mourinho] First, obviously, I spoke with him. The first word was with him at the end of the game. We shared and shared the same feeling. First of all, frustration with the result. We did not want at all to leave here with this result. We wanted to leave here with the victory and that was what we prepared for. But we also shared the feeling of pride and personality that the players had today. Therefore, we felt we could have left here with the victory, we could have left here with the tie on our side, but that feeling was shared between the two of us, and I think not only by the two of us, by the whole group, by the technical staff, by the management, by the players, by the fans. Everyone today shared the same feeling, I believe. Regarding Mr. José Mourinho not being present, of course, he would like to be present, it is a special game. I have no doubt that in his feeling he wanted to be here today. I am absolutely sure, we are all sure. But regarding returning to the Bernabéu, I think you have to ask him, not me".

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