Vitor Pereira: “FC Porto are flying, hungry and united” | OneFootball

In the preview of the first leg of the tie, scheduled for Thursday at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, the Portuguese coach admitted he feels emotional about facing the club where he worked for eight seasons again — the last two as head coach of the first team, in 2011/12 and 2012/13 — having won the national title in both.

“When you spend so many years at a club, the bond is strong. FC Porto are in a strong moment, you can feel the energy, the hunger for titles and the unity, so it will be a difficult game. For me, it will naturally be special, because of my return to the Dragão. But, with all the respect and gratitude, which will always stay with me, we came here to do our job,” he said at a press conference held at Porto’s stadium.

The last coach to win back-to-back league titles with FC Porto admitted he does not know how he will be received by the ‘blue and white’ supporters as an opponent, but assured that he will carry them “for life” because they were “fundamental” to his successes.

“FC Porto are a great club, with many titles, and they all live on victories. When they do not win, they go through periods of great turbulence. I watched those moments with a certain emotional connection, but now the club is in transition, renewing itself, believing again and recovering its mystique,” he said.

He believes the recent draw by the Portuguese Primeira Liga leaders against Famalicão (2-2) will serve as motivation for a response against Nottingham Forest, making the task even more demanding for his team.

“FC Porto are in a good moment. I believe the last result will be an incentive for them to show up tomorrow [Thursday] even stronger. On our side, we are here to do our best, with our supporters, who make a lot of noise as well, and try to win the game,” he assured.

As an assistant with the ‘dragons’, he was part of the club’s last European triumph, the 2010/11 Europa League, with André Villas-Boas, now president, then the head coach.

Vítor Pereira also spoke about the death of Pinto da Costa and the succession of his former coaching staff colleague in charge of FC Porto: “As for Pinto da Costa, I feel great sadness; he is incomparable for the titles he won and for what he gave to the club and the region. And now FC Porto have a new president, intelligent, with ideas, who is trying to get the club back to the top to compete for the Europa League and the league title.”

The game will also mark the coach’s reunion with Lucho González and André Castro, two former players he coached who are now part of the northern club’s coaching staff.

“They are two personalities who bring people together. Castro, even as a kid, was always a motivator, infectious. It does not surprise me at all that FC Porto have made use of his personality traits, even to bring in the club’s mystique, which he has in him. Lucho was a captain of the very highest level, extremely intelligent. I also had no doubts that he would become a coach; he has a lot to give FC Porto,” he said.

FC Porto host Nottingham Forest on Thursday at 20:00 in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals, with the second leg scheduled for 16 April on English soil.

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