Carlos Vicens, Sp. Braga’s coach, speaking to reporters after the draw against Benfica at the Luz stadium:
We came with the intention of mathematically securing fourth place. The team had played a lot of games recently. It’s true that we were in a critical situation regarding player availability. Today we played our 60th game. The team gave everything on the field, despite being at the limit of their energy. We were competitive and united against Benfica.
Regarding Zalazar, who was a substitute and only entered the game in the final stretch.
Zalazar had been feverish since we arrived from Germany. He couldn’t train with us on Saturday and we had to send him home with a penicillin infection and some nasty tonsillitis plaques on his neck. Only yesterday [Sunday] was he able to work a little, but paying the price for the fever. And since he was coming off a recent injury, we had to be cautious and not put him on the field for too many minutes. We are happy with the team’s performance.
I haven’t been following the news. We were very focused on securing fourth place. This season came with a new idea, without me knowing the league. The first official matches were extremely demanding. The schedule was demanding. By September we already had 10 official games. Regardless of the games, we always went in to win. Next season we will try to take advantage of the experience we gained this season. We will maintain the desire to win every game. The future is to continue this line of work. We will try to win more games than this season.
