This Saturday (18h00, Sport TV), FC Porto will be playing matchday 29 of the League, against Portimonense. At the preview of the match, Sérgio Conceição talked of how the Dragons are focused only on the match against the team from Algarve and that the team will do everything to win the match.

The blue and whites are tied at the top of the table with Benfica, with 69 points. As for Portimonense, they are tenth, with 32.

Focus on the next match
“We kept an eye on Portimonense and we are fully focused on the importance of this match for us. We are halfway through the round in the Champions League, but that doesn’t matter, what matters is tomorrow’s match, the three points we have to win for our main objective, the championship.”

Identity to define the path
“It’s easy to see the individual quality in Portimonense, part of a team that works well, especially on the attack. They are a dangerous team, with good players, who have been scoring a lot of goals. They also have some weaknesses, but we’ll see how they play tomorrow, as we still remember the match at our home, when they sent in five players, with three central defenders. Still, we have to look at we have to do tomorrow, that is truly important. The team needs to remain true to its identity, capable of setting and walking the path of the match.”

Importance of the last matches of the season
“There is no management, all we care about is the vital match tomorrow. After the match against Liverpool, on Tuesday, the focus has been on Portimonense, the most important, as the championship is coming to an end and matches gain more relevance. We have to be prepared to win our matches and hope Benfica slips, but we are more concerned with us, with our points, and tomorrow will be on a difficult pitch, we are prepared to win them.”

Options in England
“I sent in all the weapons I could. There were bans and players who are in the squad, but weren’t registered.  I sent in the best team to win the match. We can’t prepare and win a match thinking of another match. It’s impossible, no matter how important the next match is. We don’t know what may happen in this match. If I’m thinking of two matches at the same time, I’m sure none of them will turn out well. We are fully focused on tomorrow’s match.”

Aboubakar recovering
“Aboubakar was out for almost seven months. He is available for competition as given by the report of our medical staff, but that’s just one part of it. The other part is finding his pace and the capacity to play a match. No matter how well he trains, after so many months, and that he does get some pace in our training sessions, those are always different from a match. We are aware of that. We don’t want to skip any stage in his recovery for competition, especially because we know how delicate his surgery was. And together, meaning medical staff, coaching team and player, when we feel it’s the right time, Aboubakar will obviously be in the choices for a match.”

Vital support to achieve objectives
“We have to do our job, first we have to win tomorrow, that’s what matters. We have to think match by match, that’s a reality. We can’t think in the six matches if we don’t focus on the one tomorrow. We have to give it all in these six matches so we can win all of them. If we can be successful in the rest of the championship, we may be happy when it’s all over. That’s what I believe in, that’s what my coaches believe in and that’s what my team believes in. I want to thank the support as well, as I know the tickets for FC Porto are sold-out. This confidence and proximity to the team must be praised, as it only shows that everyone with the club is confident that we can win the championship. It’s a clear objective in our team and, together, I’m sure we will be stronger.”

A season worthy of FC Porto
“We have to do our job and we will look at the numbers in May. There is no other way of thinking. Sometimes, the matches that are theoretically easier can get complicated. We ended up winning one of the, theoretically, hardest away matches, but tomorrow, a match that, in theory, should be easier than the one against Braga, may end up being more complicated.  We need to stay aware, of what we do and of what we want to do. We are FC Porto, we are a team used to winning, and this has been a season worthy of Porto. We reached the League Cup final, which we lost in penalty shootout, but we should have won it. We are in the final of the Portuguese Cup, we are in the semi-finals of the Champions League and we are tied with Benfica in the lead, with the same points. Whether you like it or not, this has been a season worthy of Porto. Of course I would like to be ten points ahead of the second, of course I would like to have won the League Cup, and in due time we will talk of the Portuguese Cup. We are in the fight for the championship and we will see if we win in the end. Last year, we had roughly the same situation. It was a season worthy of FC Porto, we won the championship.  We have that responsibility of winning titles, we play for FC Porto, so we are used to this. That’s our determination to work every day.”

Confident in obtaining results
“Confidence and the objectives we set must be part of the process and not results. I don’t believe confidence comes from results. That confidence must part of the process. Results are a consequence of that confidence, of seriousness and demand. Sometimes, there are results that aren’t in accordance with your work, but that doesn’t mean you should lose confidence or your way. The path is always done with confidence, demand, work capacity. Obviously, we want to win always, but we can’t be affected when we don’t win.”