Roger Schmidt believes that Benfica faces a difficult, but not an impossible task. The Portuguese team must overcome a 2-0 defeat on Wednesday evening when they visit Internazionale.
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"It's not easy, but it's not impossible," said former PSV coach Roger Schmidt on Tuesday at Benfica's press conference. "I believe in my team and anything is possible in football, even if we don't start with fifty-fifty chances."
Benfica, still the leader in Portugal, was having a strong season until losing to FC Porto on April 7 (1-2). Inter won 2-0 in Lisbon and last Saturday Benfica lost 1-0 to Chaves due to former FC Utrecht and FC Twente forward Issah Abbass. "It's very strange to lose three games in a row and totally unexpected, especially since we had only lost once before this streak."
The Portuguese media is already talking about a crisis, but Schmidt doesn't want to hear it. "The players have done fantastic things all season and that means something. Even though Inter won 2-0, the statistics show it was a fairly balanced game and we also had our chances. It's impossible to be too pessimistic after a season like this."
Although A Bola also writes about Benfica's crisis, the newspaper sees opportunities. "Benfica has never beaten Inter in their history and being obliged to do so in Milan doesn't help. But the victory already achieved this season in Turin (the first of the 21st century in Italy), when they defeated Juventus 1-2 and repeated it in Lisbon with 4-3, shows that it's within reach of the best version of Benfica to surprise this Nerazzurri team."
Updated: 10:58, 19 Apr 2023
