Jose Mourinhoโs Benfica face Antonio Conteโs Napoli in the Champions Leagueโs sixth matchday on Wednesday evening. Ahead of the clash in Lisbon, the โSpecial Oneโ addressed the media.
Mourinho began his press conference comments by touching on his previous Serie A experience. โKnowing Napoli well can help, but that doesnโt mean their quality is inferior. Theyโre a very strong team; theyโve won two league titles in a very short space of time.โ
Off the back of this, the Eaglesโ manager affirmed that these feats mean very little when they cross the white lines at the Estadio da Luz, as Sporting recently found in the 1-1 draw last Friday.
โWe played well against Sporting; we were stronger against an opponent who has won two league titles in a row. We were penalised early on by individual errors from two of our players, something that has happened to us in recent games.โ
Ahead of kick-off, Benfica are a lowly 30th place with one win and four losses in their first five games. Napoli enter the game inside the qualification places in 20th, after winning two, drawing one, and losing two in their opening five.
The topic of discussion turned to tomorrow nightโs visitors, Napoli. Just how much thought has the experienced given to Gli Azzurriโs absences? Well, no.
โDonโt make me laugh about the players theyโre missing, because not having De Bruyne is the same as having McTominay. I have some significant absences, but I donโt want to cry. Napoliโs bench is different; if you look at whoโs playing, you forget whoโs missing. By changing the system, theyโve become a better team.โ
Regarding McTominay, Mourinho is the man who gave the Scottish international his debut at Manchester United. He was asked as to whether this, and the reunion with Leonardo Spinazzola, added an exciting element to this fixture.
โNo, these exciting things are pre- and post-match. Nothing more. Itโs not like I think about these things during the game. We have to win this match against a very strong opponent; it will be a very difficult match for us. Weโll do everything we can to get the result we want.โ
GIFNย |ย Max Bradfield
