Arthur Jorge wants Braga to play in Dragao with the same “personality” that he had in Lusha

Coach Artur Jorge said today that he wants Sporting Braga to bring the same “personality and courage” they showed to Lusha in the Portuguese Cup to their First Football League stronghold of Porto.

Previewing the matchday 17 match, a few days after the Cup elimination against Benfica (3-2), on Wednesday, the coach said he hoped to see much of what the team had done on the pitch repeated at the Stadio Dragau. earth, embodiment.”

“We want to play a very competent game in Dragao and take a lot of what we did in Lusha: competence, personality and courage. This will be extremely important,” he said at a press conference announcing the third leg of the match. and the fourth classified, separated by two points.

Both teams were drawn in the championship, both with a score of 1:1: Sporting Braga with Vitoria de Guimarães (at home) and Porto with Boavista (away).

The coach praised Porto as an “extremely difficult team” but noted that a win would take Braga into third place.

“We know the challenges we will face as we have two good teams going for the win. I expect a good performance. We will face a very competent and strong FC Porto, which cannot do without one of its main characteristics, namely its combativeness. we must be able to live up to it. We have studied the opponent well so that there are no surprises, and we know their strengths and weaknesses,” he said.

Arthur Jorge wants to maintain his productivity in attack (he is the best striker in the championship with 40 goals) and improve his defensive performance.

“This is one of the things we insisted on the most and I hope we can quickly find that balance so that we don’t have to score two, three or more goals” to win, stressed Arthur Jorge.

According to the coach, the goals conceded were often the result of “some individual and behavioral errors” that shaped the team: “In some games we lost points that would have put us in a different position at that moment because of that lack of ability.” not allow as much to the enemy.”

Arthur Jorge also believes that Porto’s SAD administrator Vitor Bailly’s recent statements regarding arbitration “cannot and should not” affect Helder Malheiro’s performance on Sunday.

“I may think that there are happier times than others, but we, Sporting Braga, had a very correct attitude” towards the referees, says the coach.

Additionally, he commented on the “very popular case” against Benfica, referring to a move in which Di Maria received a yellow card after touching the assistant referee with his head in protest at a decision.

“It was an episode that would probably have had different consequences if it had been a Sporting Braga player.” I don’t want to talk about refereeing, that’s not my profile, I have great respect, I always hope that they will be fair and fair. competent, I believe everyone is doing their best and knows what high-level Portuguese football is,” he said.

Without Niakate and Banza, who will compete in CAN2023 for Mali and Congo respectively, the coach will not be able to count on the injured Al-Musrati and Bruma.

Asked about the situation of Al-Musrati, who has been out since December 12 when he played about 20 minutes in Naples in the Champions League, the coach stressed that the Libyan midfielder suffered a muscle injury after recovering from a knee injury.

Sporting Braga, in fourth place with 33 points, and Porto, in third place, with 35 points, will meet on Sunday at 20:30 at the Dragao Stadium in Porto, in a match that will be refereed by Hélder Malheiro. , from the Lisbon Football Association.