The FC Porto players celebrated the qualification to the Round of 16 of the Champions League and the lead of Group D, guaranteed with the victory over Schalke (3-1), when there’s one matchday left to play.

The strong group spirit was clear in the picture taken after the match, in the locker room. Talking to journalists, the blue and white players praised the good performance and the lead of the group.

Jesús Corona
“We are happy with the qualification and the lead. Now we need to start thinking of the match against Boavista. Taking the lead is great, that was our objective. Scoring is always special and if it helps the team, I’m happy. I immediately saw that Brahimi would return the pass, these are plays we do in training.”

Felipe
“It was a deserved victory. We worked hard to qualify and the team should be praised. We created several goal opportunities, had ball possession, as the team has been working on, and it paid off tonight. We had a good performance, but there were other we can also place at the top. Schalke has quality, they work on the ball and then aim at long passes. We managed to neutralize that weapon and that was vital for the match. Militão? He is 20 and it’s not easy to adjust to European football, but he understood what had to be done and he is fitting in well. He has what it takes to get good things.”

Danilo
“We knew they would try to be intense, pressing right from the start. We had a hard time early in the match, but then we took more risks, got the ball and ended up controlling the match. I’m not saying it was our best performance so far, but we are growing and it was a positive match. We already knew we had qualified and were relaxed at first, but kept improving and it’s important that we already have the lead, so we don’t have to go to Istanbul with the pressure of winning.”

Óliver
“In the second-half, we were able to apply pressure higher on the pitch, have more possession and get more balls. Overall, it was a good match. We won, and that was our main goal. We will be going to Turkey to win as well, but, for now, what matters is Boavista, which will be a hard match, on a complicated stadium. We will focus on the championship, and on this very important match for us. I am happy to help the team and I will work harder and better so that the coach keeps trusting me.”