FC Porto started the 2020/21 edition of the championship with a victory. At the opening matchday, the Dragons beat SC Braga 3-1 at Estádio do Dragão, with a performance that pleased Sérgio Conceição. Talking of a deserved victory, the blue and white coach praised the attitude of the national champions, who scored two goals in the stoppage time in the first-half and reached the break in the lead, also praising the debuts of Zaidu and Taremi.

Quality in football
“It was a good football match. Every player had a good performance. We went in eager to score, and we had good occasions to do it thanks to good positioning. On they only shot on goal Braga had, they scored. We were aware of the depth and width their fullbacks give to the team, and we weren’t able to counter that when they scored. After that, we decided that we wouldn’t go to the break losing, and we did it. At the start of the second-half, Braga had a good opportunity to score, but, after that, the game was ours. If we had been more accurate, we could have won by different numbers.”

Deserved victory
“It was a great match from the team, but not a spectacular one. We were smart. I sent in a team I know well, against a Braga that plays slightly different from the other teams in the league. They aim at holding the ball, with width, and so we had to be cohesive on the defence and play close to each other, so that we could then find space in our offensive midfield, to hurt them. We fully deserved this victory. The team did well, and the players that went in also played well. “It’s never easy to play with this crest on the chest and we had two players debuting tonight.

Alex Telles’ possible transfer
“That has nothing to do with me, I’m not a director, I’m the coach. Obviously, I wish I could count on everyone in the team right now, and I wouldn’t mind if more people joined us.”

Zaidu and Taremi
“Zaidu went in for a position where he played sometimes at Santa Clara last year. We realised that we would need someone to cover Alex Telles when he moved up. He is a fast player, with quality, talent, but he obviously needs to learn some things. As for Taremi, I want to praise his intelligence and motivation. When I was asked about Taremi, I stated that he thinks as a player in a great team, and that was clear tonight, in the way he won that penalty. But the team is what matters the most.

No fans at the stadiums
“Football is a very controlled activity; I’ve been tested 23 times already, even more than Carlos Carvalhal, and I have family working in the Health field that haven’t been tested yet. I’m sorry that the fans can’t watch good matches like this one. It’s a different atmosphere, but, with the commitment of the players when the referee starts the match, it all goes away. It’s bad for what football is, and I honestly hope that a balance is found, so that we can have at least some audience to watch the matches live.”