Coach Montalegre prefers to “break down rather than cheer up” in a difficult match with Porto

Coach Montalegre said this Thursday that the game against Porto for the Portuguese Cup will be “exceptional” for a team that he wants to see true to itself and with the motto “it is better to break than to support”.

With the club, which celebrates 59 years of history this Thursday, enjoying its best stage of the season, unbeaten in six matches, and with its entire squad available, Tony da Silva believed there was “no better or worse moment” to meet with Porto, although he admits it will be “exclusive” for everyone, especially the players.

“This is a game where we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. This is the message I conveyed to the players. We know that because of their DNA, Porto never makes it easy, we know in advance.” difficulties we will face, but we will all learn from this game. As a coach, I will take a lesson from Sergio Conceição, but I will never ask my goalkeepers to defend like Diogo Costa, I will never ask my strikers to be like Taremi or Evanilson,” he clarified.

At the same time, coach Barrosoins said that he wants the team to remain true to itself and apply the motto “it is better to break than to support.”

“I want my players to enjoy the game, be like themselves, play with courage and enjoy what they do. We know it’s extremely difficult, but like any bully, we’d rather break down than cheer up. We will do our best, we will play our football and play for Montalegre,” he assured.

Without forgetting the difficult journey the team went through to reach the fourth round of the Portuguese Cup and the daily difficulties of “being a football club within the country”, the coach said that the most important thing is that the team continues to be “worthy of the color and symbol of the club”, very similar to the inhabitants Barroso.

At the same time, he did not hide that victory would be the best of three possible results.

“A good result is a victory. We are expected to wear our club colors. We will definitely play a great game,” he assured.

The coach assured that the preparation for the match is the same as for other matches, considering that “working differently just because it is Porto does not make sense”, but added that it is necessary to “stop” the players’ “good” anxiety .

“As soon as the draw became known, the normal euphoria came over me, and I had to slow down because there were a lot of training and a lot of games left until today. [do jogo com o FC Porto]. We have very clear goals for the championship. [de Portugal] and we looked at the calendar game by game and it was difficult to stop this euphoria. If we were knocked out, we wouldn’t have this feeling,” he emphasized.

Tony da Silva gave the credit to the players, reiterating that seeing what this clash could bring them and take them to other “levels” at the end of the season would be the “biggest title” they could win.

Edu Machado recalled the 2009/2010 Portuguese Cup final in which he played for Desportiva de Chaves, namely against Porto, as a “dream come true”, considering these clashes “always special” but noting that ” war” Club Tras-os-Montes is the champion of Portugal.

“These games are always special, I try to pass that on to my colleagues. I tell them to be calm, enjoy the game and be like themselves. We know that this is a game that brings visibility, but after this game we have our war, our championship,” he emphasized.

The captain also assured that the team is motivated, the players know what they need to do and will fight for results.

“There is no pressure on us to beat Porto. We know that it will be a difficult game, we know that our team’s chances of passing are slim, but we will fight for a draw as long as we can,” he concluded.

Montalegre, third in Serie A of the Portuguese Championship, visits FC Porto of the I League, winners of the Portuguese Cup 19 times, the last time in the 2022/2023 season, on Friday, at 20:45, at the Estádio do Dragao stadium, in the city of Porto.