Luís Tralhão: “We know it will be very hard to stop FC Porto” | OneFootball

Luís Tralhão acknowledged FC Porto’s status as favorites for the Super Cup, but stressed that Torreense know their opponents well and remain fully confident in their own way of playing. The coach also emphasized that concentration and courage will be essential if the team are to fight for the trophy.

Knowing the opponent does not reassure Torreense

“Obviously, FC Porto have not changed many players so far. The expected starting eleven will be very similar to the one they ended the season with. André Silva could, of course, come in, as he has played several matches in that position, but it is not guaranteed that he will start. That gives me absolutely no comfort at all. The fact that we know what they do is important, but just as every Primeira Liga team knew and still faced many difficulties in every game against them, we also know it will be extremely difficult to stop them. We are talking about a world-class team that will compete in the Champions League. Regardless of knowing what they do, we have great belief in what we do. We know their patterns, we know their strengths and the aspects we can exploit. That is how we are going to prepare the match.”

Maximum focus at every moment

“I would say this game will be decided by the details, but for us, the details are everything, both big and small. Everything will matter: the team’s organization when we are defending, the way we attack, positioning, and the ability to quickly understand whether we can break forward more quickly or whether we need to keep the ball. In a game where the two sides are not evenly matched, I do not have the illusion of saying that we are at the same level as FC Porto. That would be completely out of place on my part. If I had to highlight one detail, it would be concentration throughout the entire game. When we play against teams of this level, especially in a match that decides a trophy, concentration in every moment is decisive. I think that was one of the factors that allowed us to win the Portuguese Cup: staying calm and composed throughout the whole game and not reacting too emotionally to what happens.”

The dream of repeating an unprecedented feat

“Why not? No team from the second division had ever won the Portuguese Cup, and we believed it could happen. I am not saying we had tremendous faith that it would happen, but we knew it was possible within what we stand for in our game and in our idea of how to play. We have a lot of confidence in what we can do. We can cause problems for any team and, on any given day, in any given match, anything can happen. That is what happened against Sporting. We are here because that moment happened, but also because of everything we did throughout the Portuguese Cup campaign. Against FC Porto, we believe we can make history again, and the players know that.”

A challenge with greater media attention

“Playing against FC Porto at this stage will probably mean facing the theoretically strongest opponent we will come up against during the season. But when we think about things and do our work, deep down it is a game like any other. It may sound simplistic, but in the end my job is the same: preparing this game against FC Porto or preparing any other second-division match. The difference lies in the media attention. There is one factor that helps us a lot: the players are highly motivated for this game. When players are motivated and focused, it is always easier for us as coaches to get the message across.”

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