Benfica coach Nélson Veríssimo said on Tuesday that they knew the difficulties they would face against Liverpool at Anfield to restore the quarter -final tie, after starting with a deficit of two goals from the first leg (1 -3 was the result, in favor of the ‘reds’), but he made sure his team would go as ambitious as possible. The Benfica coach said he had studied “the weak points of Alexander-Arnold and Konaté”.
“We’re going with the natural ambition of someone who believes a lot in what he’s doing. We know we have two goals but we believe things can change,” Verísissimo told a press conference before the quarter-finals of the Champions League second This leg was played on Wednesday at Anfield.
The incarnate coach considered that, despite Liverpool’s “quality of play” and the “individuals”, there would be “situations and spaces” that Benfica would be able to take advantage of.
“We need to be effective at the end and very consistent in our defensive process with how Liverpool play,” Verissimo said.
“The goal is to be able to score a goal, because that’s what gets us in the tie, being aware that we can’t get them,” he said.
With two-goal lead, “we can’t throw ourselves into the game in a very open way because we’re going to make spaces for Liverpool to take advantage of, but we need to have that consistency to stay because we believe we’d of Liverpool to fix the game in the first few minutes.
“Later, our moment and our goal will come out,” he assured.
Benfica could not count on Rafa Silva, who was absent at the last minute due to physical problems, but Veríssimo pointed out that “there are solutions in the team that will provide a positive response”.
Going there is Uruguayan Darwin Núñez, who became the star of the team thanks to his consistent scoring, and aroused the interest of big clubs from several leagues in Europe.
The Benfica coach stressed his “great evolution” this season and his “native quality”, but considered that they would have to accept if Darwin were to stand in another destination: “This is the law of the market”.
Brazilian Everton Cebolinha were also at the press conference, explaining that they studied Liverpool well after the first leg.
“I tried to better analyze their individual characteristics, Alexander-Arnold and Konaté, to see where they were struggling and weak points that I could take advantage of to have a fun evening,” he said.
Source: La Verdad
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