Schmidt considers qualifying for the Europa League as Benfica’s goal

The Benfica coach set his sights on Tuesday on qualifying for the Europa League by finishing third in Champions League Group D, consigning his four defeats in the tournament to the past.

At a press conference dedicated to the match with Inter Milan in the fifth round of the “league of millionaires,” Roger Schmidt admitted that he was not “satisfied with the situation in the group,” but recalled that the meeting on Wednesday is “a great opportunity.” defeating “one of the best teams in Europe today.”

“Now we need to play a good game tomorrow. [quarta-feira]. We don’t have to think too much about the situation in the group. We want to qualify for the Europa League, that’s absolutely clear. When we can’t play in the Champions League, in second place [competição europeia] This is the Europa League. This is our goal now. The four previous games are a thing of the past,” said the Seixal coach.

To do this, it is important for Benfica to beat Inter Milan, an opponent they have already met three times in 2023, with a draw and two defeats, including a 1-0 score in the second round of Group D this season. , in Italy.

Schmidt recalled that he had to make “three substitutions due to injury” in that match, he admitted that the team aims to “learn from previous games” in order to “perform better and win”, but recalled that it is “always difficult to beat” Inter Milan”.

“Just look at their results so far. They are difficult to score goals from because they are very compact, very disciplined, with five defenders, three midfielders and two strikers who are very physical and capable of winning duels. When we play against Inter we have to fight for victory and the same applies to us,” he warned.

However, the German showed confidence when commenting on the recent tactical changes he has made to the team, with the deployment of Florentino and Joao Neves in central midfield and Morato’s “slipping” to left back, which has given “stability in difficult games”.

“We have to believe in ourselves and play our football, even against a very strong Inter team. If we don’t believe, we have no chance,” he said.

In front of the coach, Morato himself commented on his adaptation to a “different position” and stated that he is “ready and willing” to play where the coach sees fit, and has also set himself the goal of moving to the Europa League.

“If we want to continue working in Europe, tomorrow [quarta-feira] This is a big step towards this. [Jogar a Liga Europa] It wasn’t our goal at the beginning, but now it’s a goal we have and we have to strive for it to continue playing in Europe,” the Brazilian defender said.

On Wednesday, Benfica will host Inter Milan in a match of the fifth round of Group D of the Champions League, which is scheduled to start at 20:00 at the Estadio da Luz stadium in Lisbon, under the refereeing of Latvian Andris Treimanis.

The Roger Schmidt-coached side no longer have a mathematical chance of continuing in Europe’s premier club competition but can still qualify for the Europa League if they finish third in the group stage.

To do this, the Reds, who remain bottom of Group D, without points and with just one goal in four matches, need to achieve at least the same result as Salzburg achieved away at Real Sociedad to discuss the qualifying match . in the last round against the Austrians, who remain in third place with three points.