Sergio Conceiçao’s strong words before facing Brugge
It was late yesterday afternoon that Sergio Conceiçao sat down in front of the press to preface this Wednesday’s poster. Once again, he highly complimented FC Brugge. “My analysis hasn’t changed,” the Porto coach said. “The facts have proven what I said before the first leg. The Club has a team with a winning mentality. It is a formation accustomed to imposing itself. The people of Bruges have won three of the last four championships. They have an interesting game, with and without the ball. They press high and know how to occupy spaces. The proof of their qualities is that they have not yet taken a but in the Champions League. It commands respect. »
“It will be up to us to offer something other than on the way out”
After carrying out a fine internal analysis of the heavy defeat conceded on September 13 (0-4), Sergio Conceiçao believes that his team will have to play differently.
“It will be up to us to come up with something else. The result of the first leg is not only due to the merit of the opponent, it was also our fault. We are aware of what we must do. Physical and mental fatigue cannot be an excuse. In the best competition in the world, it takes second place. We don’t have a lot of experience but we have quality. If the team plays well, we can get a good result that will allow us to approach the last match against Atlético Madrid, on November 1 in Porto, with the possibility of ensuring our qualification”, he added before to talk about Belgium and Standard, a club whose jersey he wore from 2004 to 2007.
“It’s a country that welcomed me in a fantastic way as a player and where I won the Golden Shoe trophy. This is also where I started my coaching career. I have always been treated in an extraordinary way. I want to thank Standard de Liège and Belgium for the way we were rejected, my family and I, for four years. »