Farioli issues warning: “We can’t lose focus” | OneFootball

FC Porto coach Francesco Farioli wants his team to remain fully focused on Sunday’s home match against Tondela in the 30th round of the Liga Portugal Betclic, putting the Sporting-Benfica clash in the background.

The 30th round could prove decisive in the race for the national title, with the Lisbon derby, scheduled for 18:00 on Sunday, taking place before the ‘dragons’ host struggling Tondela, who are still fighting to stay in the top flight, at 20:30.

“Of course it’s a big game [the derby]. But by then, we’ll already be in the dressing room preparing for our match. We can’t get distracted or have any kind of expectations. The most important thing is what we are going to do and how we are going to approach our game,” stressed Francesco Farioli at a press conference, recalling that the league leaders “control their own destiny,” regardless of what their rivals do.

Short preparation after Europa League defeat

After Thursday’s defeat in England against Nottingham Forest (1-0), a result that knocked the ‘blue and whites’ out of the Europa League, the squad has only three days to respond to the setback.

“We have a tight schedule, with only two days to prepare for the game, which isn’t much. There’s also not much time to look back. Since we returned yesterday [Friday], we shifted our focus to Tondela, who recently changed coach [Gonçalo Feio]. Our analysis was based on their last two games, but we also looked at his experience in Poland,” said Farioli.

The Italian coach also explained the recent squad rotation he has been applying across the various competitions, after making six changes to the starting eleven in the last match, in which Porto were fighting for a place in their first European semi-final since 2010/11, the season in which they won the Europa League.

“Above all, it means respect for my players. A few weeks ago, when we started this parallel universe between the cups and the league, we had many matches with eight or nine changes in the team. I’m lucky to have a group that manages the competitions so well, with great respect for the league, the Europa League and the Portuguese Cup. That’s what allowed me to make that decision,” he explained.

FC Porto in a good position despite rebuilding season

With five rounds remaining, he insists that nothing has been decided yet, but believes the work done so far has left the club in a “very good position”: “This was a rebuilding season, but with the work of the club and the players, this process was much faster than everyone expected. We are competing for titles, now it is time to finish the job.”

Martim Fernandes, the coach confirmed, is still recovering from a “serious” sprain and will miss the clash against Tondela, with hopes that he may already be available against Sporting in the second leg of the Portuguese Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, injured players Samu, Luuk de Jong and Nehuén Pérez will also miss the next match.

Primeira Liga leaders FC Porto, with 76 points, host Tondela, who are 17th and second from bottom with 21 points, in the 30th-round match scheduled for 20:30 on Sunday, refereed by Cláudio Pereira from the Aveiro FA.

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