Jesualdo Ferreira: “Ajax ghost could haunt Farioli” | OneFootball

Jesualdo Ferreira gave a long interview this Thursday to the program 'Bola Branca' on Rádio Renascença, in which he previewed the much-anticipated Classic of the 25th round of the I Liga, featuring Benfica and FC Porto, two teams he has coached throughout his career.

In the view of the 79-year-old coach, "just as, playing at the Dragão, the favorite could be FC Porto, at this moment, the favorite is Benfica," given that this "is a game where much of what the future holds will be decided," particularly "a spot that is open to play in the Champions League," in the 2025/26 season.

The Mirandela native added that he believes the recent difficulties of the Dragons may reflect the failure experienced by the Italian Francesco Farioli last season, when his Ajax lost the Dutch title to the historic rival PSV, despite having a nine-point lead.

Regarding this episode, he stated: "What happened at Ajax with the FC Porto coach doesn't happen often in a coach's life, and, therefore, that is a mark he has, and I think he has the capacity to overcome it, but it's evident that these results he achieved, which were very similar to those of Ajax, and then some setbacks that are happening now, may, in some way, not limit him, but worry him a lot," he reflected.

It should be noted that, at this stage, FC Porto has 65 points, Sporting 61, Benfica 58, and Sporting de Braga 45, with only ten rounds remaining, which keeps both the title race and the allocation of European spots open.

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