Farioli on Europa League exit: “Not here, but at the Dragão” | OneFootball

Francesco Farioli, FC Porto’s coach, has already commented on the dragons’ elimination from the Europa League. Speaking to Sport TV, the Italian manager acknowledged that this quarter-final tie against Nottingham Forest should have been all but settled in the first leg, played at the Estádio do Dragão.

Match analysis: «I think everyone is wondering what these quarter-finals might have looked like if the game had been 11 against 11. At the Estádio do Dragão we put in a great performance, with lots of chances. Today, with ten men, the players went to their limit and in the second half we created a lot. Two shots off the crossbar, two big chances. Incredible spirit. We’re not happy about going out, but I’m proud to work with a group like this.»

Initial plan before Bednarek’s sending-off: «At the start, our strategy worked well. In six minutes, we had two chances. After the red card, the first half was not easy to readjust. We conceded a goal from losing the ball in a way that simply cannot happen. The performance was there, the spirit too. We have to accept the result. Even so, it’s worth remembering that only two teams in Europe were still in three competitions at the same time: FC Porto and Bayern Munich. That says a lot about what these players are doing. Our focus now has to shift to the domestic competitions.

What he said to the players in the dressing room: «I told them we didn’t lose the tie here, but at the Dragão. We missed too much in that game. Today we couldn’t have done any more.»

Players’ rest time: We don’t have time to rest. Tomorrow we’ll train, because in 70 hours we play against CD Tondela, there’s no time to recover. These players are used to recovering quickly. Those who played the full 90 minutes will rest, and the others will prepare for the next match.

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