Schmidt doesn’t expect to lose Benfica players, including Enzo Fernandez.

Benfica coach Roger Schmidt said this Wednesday that he does not expect to lose a single holder in the current football transfer market window, including Enzo Fernandez, but he is “realistic” about Grimaldo’s situation.

Asked about the future of the Argentine midfielder, the red coach quickly replied that “yes, of course”, he expects Enzo to stay at Benfica and expressed his confidence in other players most used this season.

“When I look at Enzo [Fernández] Playing for Benfica, I see a player in great shape, very happy that he plays for the club and thinks of nothing else. I don’t expect to lose any of the players who are usually in the starting lineup. I can see that they are very focused and so I hope he stays.”

As for Grimaldo, he acknowledged that it was “difficult” to renew the left-back’s contract because “he is a great player and his contract ends in the summer”, but highlighted the Spaniard’s “attitude and motivation” and stressed that Benfica are doing everything to save it for the coming seasons.

“For my part, I want to continue working with Grimaldo, but I am a realist, I know what football is. We try our best, and then the decision remains with Grimaldo, and we will accept any of his decisions. I hope he stays.” will not stay, he will do everything possible until the last second for Benfica. I am 100% sure of this,” he admitted.

On the other hand, Schmidt previously explained why Benfica are so active in signing and releasing players in the current transfer market, noting that having 39 players in training, as it was in the summer, “is too much” and that, consequently, the club is trying to ” reduce as well as improve” composition, but this process is not yet completed.

“We are in full swing. There are still a few days left, we have already made some decisions, some players have left, others have joined, let’s see if anything else happens. But now we are very focused on the games, because this is the decisive moment of the season,” Schmidt explained.

In this sense, Benfica will visit Pacos de Ferreira, the last place in the league, on Thursday in an early match of the 20th round of the Liga I, in which most of the games will only take place on the second weekend of February.

Regarding the match, Schmidt recalled that teams fighting for maintenance are “always dangerous, especially when playing at home”, emphasized that he did not evaluate Pacos de Ferreira “by classification”, and considered that the team coached by Cesar Peixoto , indeed there are “every possibility of obtaining content.”

“They have individual qualities, a game idea, a lot of experienced players. Let’s not underestimate them, we need a great game tomorrow.” [quinta-feira] so that we have the opportunity to add three points,” he praised.

Benfica’s visit to Pacos de Ferreira will begin on Thursday at 20:15 at the Stadio Capital do Movel, with Luis Godinho (Évora) refereeing.

If they win, the team led by Roger Schmidt increases the lead over the second Sporting Braga to seven points and to eight points over the third Porto, but one game more than the pursuers.