Atletico Madrid Must Focus On Porto, Not Chelsea V APOEL - Quique Flores
The coach wants his team to concentrate on winning at the Vicente Calderon...
Los Colchoneros know that if Chelsea beat APOEL at Stamford Bridge, they will finish third in Group D and take the Europa League spot but the coach is determined that his team concentrate on getting their own result and not depend on Chelsea.
"We cannot look to Stamford Bridge. It would be dangerous to speculate about what might happen, we will try to repeat our habits, behaviours and do so against a top class opponent like Porto," Flores told a press conference, before adding that there is also a financial incentive for the club if they can win against Porto.
"We must depend on us and not look to Stamford Bridge. We have to play well and do better to gain confidence, but if we look at the pragmatic aspect, you can never have enough money in football and a win would be a few more important euros for the club."
Flores also stated that his team is closer to being at the level he wants to see following back to back wins and clean sheets in their domestic campaign.
"We are close to having a consistent, reliable performance level but all the pieces haven't clicked into place yet," he commented.
Paul Madden, Goal.com
Hosted by Stephen Crawford & Adam Scime
We've had two tremendous matches today, so lets hope the intensity keeps up in the next clashes!
Until next time, this is LIVE commentator Stephen Crawford signing off.
From everyone here at Goal.com, thanks for joining us!
Here's the thoughts of Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, who felt his side deserved a point from the game.
"They were the better team on the night and that's the story of the day.
"We have to keep fighting, pick ourselves up, get the confidence back and challenge in the other competitions and in the second leg of this tie too.
"They punished us on every occasion; they scored some quality goals and they deserved to win."
Full story HERE
“The score made it look like it was an easy game, but it certainly wasn't.
(Strange... it looked pretty easy from where I was sitting, but hey.)
“I do not think it's over yet. I remember a clash between Milan and Deportivo la Coruna when Milan was also ahead by four goals, and in the end Deportivo eliminated Milan.
“I went into the Arsenal dressing room after the match to speak to Robin van Persie. I had agreed with him to swap shirts – my sons are big fans of his and he brought two for them. They will be delighted.
Van Bommel went on to talk about a possible move to PSV in the future, but was quick to point out his terms for the move.
“I've spoken with PSV, but we don't have an agreement yet. The club has to decide what they want.
“If Louis van Gaal turns out to be the new coach, I won't go.”
"Tonight everything went in the right direction and we did a very good match. You don't start a match thinking to win 4-0, but at the end i think we deserved it coz we played very well."
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