Benfica need points: Mourinho's full preview vs Santa Clara | OneFootball

launched the match against Santa Clara, which will be played at Estádio de São Miguel. On the morning of this Thursday, February 12th, the Benfica coach highlighted the need for points to stay in the title race and confirmed an important return to the squad. Check out everything the Special One said.

What kind of game do you expect?

"They need points, but we need them more than they do. They have a good team. Obviously, they are in that situation, but they will get out of it. I don't think they are a team to have problems. We, on the other hand, desperately need points to be able to look upwards. If we looked down, the distance that separates us from the fourth place is significant, but we look upwards, and by looking upwards, we are the ones who desperately need points. The field is certainly a problem. There are stadiums in the First League where the 'standards' are truly low for a league that wants to be high-level, and also with the weather conditions of the past weeks, it might be even worse than it usually is. But, well, we also worked this week thinking about that, on the best way to overcome these extra difficulties. We travel to the wonderful Azores with the aim of fighting hard, working hard, so we can return with the points we need".

Benfica getting closer to the leadership

"It was always something I said was part of my own culture and professional ethics, which aligns with the culture of Benfica, which is, regardless of rankings, objectives, and whether the moment is better or worse, there are things that are non-negotiable and unacceptable, and one of them is lowering the levels of motivation, concentration, and work because the moment is not good. The fact that we have now slightly approached the first and second places does not motivate us to work. This team always works hard. Since I arrived, it has been one of the things I have had absolutely no problem with. The team works well, almost always has a good attitude, and now we have a period with two very important matches for the championship, this one and AVS, in Lisbon, interspersed with two more Benfica - Real Madrid, which are a joy to play".

Medical report

"Lukebakio is going to play, he has already passed that period where... Bah and Ríos are. Lukebakio is going to play, Ríos and Bah have started that period which will extend for another week or two. It's good because, at the moment, they are already working with the team. Banjaqui and José [Neto] are integrated, without any problems, but this week, we have Santa Clara, in the Azores, and Felgueiras, here, on Saturday. We have to think carefully about where we are going because our B team also matters to us. Dedic is better. We are speaking before training, where we will evaluate all these small things. I have already guaranteed Lukebakio, because he is already at a stage of the process where he trains without any limitation. Let's see".

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