Arthur Jorge said this Monday that he would like Sporting de Braga to “cash in” on their league victories and beat Union Berlin in Germany on Tuesday, in the second round of Group C of the Champions League.
In the first round of the group, Sporting Braga lost at home to Napoli (2-1), as did Union Berlin to Real Madrid (1-0).
The German team is going through a performance crisis with five defeats in a row (four in the league and one in the Champions League), but Arthur Jorge underestimates the Germans’ current situation.
“If we look at the moment, we might be tempted to say it’s more fragile. In my opinion, this is not the case, and it is in this sense that I spoke to my players, saying that this is a very strong team.” – said team coach Minho at a press conference on Tuesday to preview the game.
The coach wants the team to “earn” two victories in a row in the championship (4-1 over Boavista and 4-2 away over Estrela da Amadora).
“We have to be an extremely competitive, serious and determined team because we will be facing an established opponent of high quality who has been together for several years with the same coach and is well established,” he said, highlighting Bonucci. Lucas Tousart, Gosens and Volland are “players who add quality.”
Arthur Jorge recalled “two very balanced games, decided by the smallest of margins” with 1-0 wins for each team in last season’s Europa League.
“I recognize the same quality and we have the same respect, even if I am not in the same position as last year. We are participating in a competition where all the players want to overcome themselves, and we want to be stronger than the opponent has to beat,” he said.
Arthur Jorge also stated that Sporting Braga is prepared for the absence of Victor Gomez due to injury, and recalled the games between both teams in the first round.
“This will be a game between two teams that feel a little unfair compared to what happened in the first round, who played well and ended up losing. We played a great game against Naples and had the opportunity to see the good game we played. Union Berlin played against Real Madrid. This game is not decisive, but it is important to secure our position in the group with a win,” he said.
Sporting de Braga scored a lot of goals, but also conceded in almost every game.
“Balance is always the key to everything. We played a great attacking game, although people still say we are not as effective as we could be. The same efficiency is important on the opposite side, we must be stronger.” in defense, concede fewer opportunities and keep the balance constant, but the most important thing will always be to score more than the opponent,” he said.
Around 75,000 spectators are expected at the Berlin Olympics, which for Arthur Jorge is “motivation” and works more as a feeling of competition at the highest level, rather than as pressure.
The coach recalled the game that took place in Greece against Panathinaikos in the second leg of the Champions playoffs in front of about 60 thousand fans, in which the Braga team won with a score of 1:0.
“It would be good if we continued what we did in Athens, maintained the same personality and character of the team, the same combativeness, patience and intelligence in the game and could come out with the same result – victory,” he stressed.
Sporting Braga and Union Berlin will meet on Tuesday at 17:45 at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. This game will be refereed by Serb Srdjan Jovanovic.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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