Sporting Braga’s coach says he is very proud of the team.
Statements from Sporting Braga coach Carlos Vicens in the press room after the 3-1 defeat against Freiburg in the second leg of the Europa League semi=finals :
Game and incidents:
There were many unfavorable events. In the first leg, we could have made it 2-0 from a penalty, there was a misunderstanding that led to the opponent’s goal, we lost Ricardo Horta, and today, the sending-off. The opponent’s first goal happened in a way that’s hard to understand, then the second, then a chance of ours that hit the post… it’s an accumulation of unfavorable events. It makes it more difficult because these are split knockout rounds in a high-level competition. Very difficult, but despite everything, we didn’t use it as an excuse. These guys turned the page and continued throughout the tie, as well as in the last few weeks, where things happened that weren’t favorable to the team.
Very proud, they didn’t stop insisting and pressing even with one less player. They didn’t stop attacking and creating chances in the final stretch. Very proud of this team, sometimes in life we fall, some stay on the ground and this team has already shown this season and will continue to do so, that in these circumstances it’s about getting back up. These experiences will make us more mature and wise, and we will use this for when we face another setback.
And another thing I take away from this period is that it shouldn’t take so many years for Sporting Braga to return to the quarter-finals or semi-finals of European competition. Let’s all learn, at all levels, that this is something we achieve through our daily effort and that it needs to happen more often.”
If the team is galvanized for Monday’s game against Benfica, even though they haven’t yet secured fourth place:
Let’s see, there will be 24 hours in which we need to turn around what happened tonight. We’ll be sad, which is normal because we really wanted to be in the final. It’s a matter of everyone making a mental and physical effort to prepare ourselves on Saturday and Sunday and travel to Lisbon on Monday, so that the team can give a competitive performance, with personality and character, because the game will be difficult. It’s time to lend a hand to the players. They have shown throughout the season, with so many circumstances, that they don’t give up. And we need to approach this as an important game for us, which it is.
How did they try to reduce Freiburg’s space on the wings?
You’re referring to ten, right? Because that didn’t happen with 11. It was about having a structure that allowed us to be together in everything we did. What we always did was try to ensure that our efforts, in one way or another, allowed us to get to the right places. Then, we moved Zalazar a little to the right to combine play with Víctor Gómez, because Pau Víctor, with Beste having more depth on that flank, had more experience and was more used to repeating efforts, in addition to that dynamism between Víctor and Rodrigo. We maintained the idea of, whenever possible, pushing Freiburg back. With ten men it’s difficult, but when we managed it, more things happened in the opponent’s midfield. But I believe we created uncertainty on the scoreboard, discomfort for the rival, and we closed the gap on the scoreboard. Of course, the 3-0 scoreline caused damage, but the team went to the end with the mentality of trying for the goal that would force extra time.” We continue on, and we should be proud of this team.
I wanted 65… because I wanted to reach the final of the Portuguese Cup and the Europa League. I don’t know how it weighs on us, we have games every three days, we’ll try to manage it as always, manage the training load so that on Monday we can give a good performance from the team. More than seeing it as something negative, we should be proud that we will be the Portuguese team with the most games in history in a single season. We will give them credit for what they are doing, for what they experienced with the fans despite losing 3-1, because the team never stopped wanting and fighting.