This Thursday, FC Porto beat Casa Pia (3-0), in Lisbon, for matchday two of Group D of the League Cup, and depends only of itself to reach the Final Four of the competition. At the end of the match, Sérgio Conceição praised the performance of the team and admitted he wants to add the trophy to the FC Porto Museum.

The victory and the League Cup
“I am pleased with the result and with the performance. It’s never easy to face team from lower divisions, as they are highly motivated and organized. They did what their coach asked and that made our life harder, but we had opportunities to score. The players were connected and did well in the match. It was a fair victory against a worthy opponent. The entire team did well. It was important to win to depend only of ourselves for the last matchday. We want to be in the Final Four and win the League Cup. This is a trophy FC Porto doesn’t have and we want it.”

Improving the finishing
“Many of the things we were doing in the first-half had to continue. We needed to be calmer setting the final play and shooting for goal. We also wanted to add more men in the shooting zone. The team increased the pace when they had to and remained wide, to find spaces in the back of the defence. We knew it would be difficult for Casa Pia to keep the intensity of the first-half. I’m happy with how the players faced the match.”

Tomás Esteves debuting and the others
“We ended the match with five players from the youth squads, and Bruno Costa also played. I’m not doing anyone any favours If they have quality, they will play. All these youngsters have to continue their path. There is quality also in the Under19 team and we are keeping an eye on it. The growth is natural. I have a good relation with Rui Barros and Tulipa. We don’t just call the players, we call them because they are talented and capable of playing.”