Porto starter slams penalty decision against Sporting, calls it poor | OneFootball

Present in the mixed zone after the Sporting - Porto (1-0) match, which was the first leg of the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup, Alan Varela shared his thoughts on the penalty awarded by Cláudio Pereira, which was taken by Luis Suárez, also emphasizing that the "tie is not closed".

"They scored a penalty goal that perhaps if the referee had called the foul on Pêpê, it wouldn't have happened. The game would have ended 0-0, all tied. But it was a bad decision by the referee and there's nothing we can do about it", he began saying in the flash interview after the match.

Despite the defeat at Alvalade, the Porto midfielder is already focusing on the next goal: "Now it's time to think about the classic against Benfica. We are also expecting a very difficult game, but we are all very prepared for what's coming"

"Obviously, the tie is open. Anything can happen. As I said, we go game by game. Now we think about the classic against Benfica and then we'll see", emphasized Alan Varela, dismissing any notion of giving up by the blues and whites in the second leg.

Finally, the Argentine midfielder highlighted the importance of the result and the consequent focus on the upcoming challenges: "No, this result will not have an influence. They are the last champions of the League and the Cup, we fought on equal terms and there wasn't much difference. That's how I feel. I believe we have to keep working, improving day by day, and fight until the end."

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