After the frustrating defeat at the home of Manchester City, in the opening matchday of Group C of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League - 3-1, a result that doesn’t show the real value of either team in the full 90 minutes -, Pepe was devastated at the referee team led by Latvian Andris Treimanis. “It’s a feeling of helplessness”, the blue and white captain admitted, adding that the opponent “didn’t need that kind of help”. “They still have to go to our home, and I hope they don’t take the dream of qualifying to the next round from us, because we are going to fight for it. We are going to fight and never give up on winning. That’s what this club demands of us every day, that’s what we work for every day, and tonight we showed we can play anywhere and win”, Pepe concluded.

Brave and humble in front of an opponent with help
“I feel that was the case, with all the technology we have now, it was obvious. When we were on top of the match, we were playing well and aware of what we had to do on the pitch, playing as the coach asked us to play, and we didn’t let City play from the middle. We forced them to play from the wings. We were able to score, but, right after that, the referee wasn’t called to look at the footage, with all the technology we have now. That shows that the only reason we didn’t win tonight is because we weren’t allowed to win. That’s what I’m feeling right now, because a mistake like this in unacceptable nowadays. And that wasn’t the end of it, I was tackled for a penalty after that, as I was clearly pushed from the back. What else can I say? It’s a feeling of helplessness. We worked well, we were brave on the pitch, we were humble, we worked hard as a team, always respecting the opponent, but they didn’t need this help from the referee. That’s my point of view.”

A promise to fight for the dream
“The team is sad. Before the match, I stated we had the dream and the desire to win, as that’s what we work for every day. That’s all we can think about when playing for a club such as FC Porto, a club with this history. That’s what we were thinking of when we started the match, and we were very close as a team on the pitch. We made it 1-0, but the end result is sad, obviously. We have to react now, and think of the next match, so we can win it. They still have to go to our home, and I hope they don’t take the dream of qualifying to the next round from us, because we are going to fight for it. We are going to fight and never give up on winning. That’s what this club demands of us every day, that’s what we work for every day, and tonight we showed we can play anywhere and win. So we need to get up and rest, in the next days, so we get to winning in the Portuguese League.”

Referee stopped FC Porto from getting points
“I think we surprised Manchester City, that should be stated. Their middle play is strong, the coach warned us about it. We forced them to play from the wings and they almost didn’t have any occasion to score in the first-half. Still, we reached the break with a tie. From my point of view, considering what was going on during the match, Fábio (Vieira) didn’t make a foul. We conceded from it, the team didn’t have the same focus for five or ten minutes, but this club demands that we win, so we took some risks. Rodri should have been sent-of, as I believe he should have been shown the second yellow card, but the referee didn’t want it. It could have brought back to the match, and allow us to be on top again. Nowadays, with the technology we have, I feel we weren’t allowed to win. We weren’t allowed to do what we did in the first-half. That bothers me, as the VAR came to help football. But the VAR hurt us tonight. We have to look ahead, the season is just starting, we have to fight until the end. If they let us, we will fight for every point as if it were the last one.”