On a night that will go down in history, FC Porto lost in Turin to Juventus, but qualified to the quarter-finals of the Champions League
FC Porto eliminated Juventus (4-4) and qualified to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Sérgio Oliveira, scorer of two goals for the blue and whites in Turin (3-2), pointed out that this victory “is a reward for the club, for all the staff and fans, a deserved reward for all the effort” that the team has been showing on the pitch. Tecatito Corona said that the blue and Whites believed “until the last moment”, an idea that Pepe reinforced: “Being Porto is to never give up and to fight until the end”.
Pepe
“You always have a certain responsibility when you put on this shirt; now we have to focus on our work, and be humble. We are among the eight best teams in Europe. It’s rewarding and good when you win, but it’s difficult because we play every three days, and only one team in Europe, Bayern Munich, has this many matches. Our focus now is the championship and we want to reduce the points to our opponents. I think we are all to be congratulated because the team, when we play like this, is very hard to beat. We were very compact, despite the little time we had to work, but the team understood well what the coach asked of us, we lowered our lines well, and we never lost focus on the opponent’s goal. At the start of the second-half, we weren’t as good as in the first, but the team reacted well to the goals and we knew how to play the round, this was very important, we all knew we had to score a goal and that they were going to risk more as time went by, but we are FC Porto, and being Porto is to never give up and to fight until the end. Today the performance was spectacular. We played a beautiful match, with a lot of character, with a lot of passion. I think so. We are in the eight best teams in Europe, but everything is possible, we were a very good team in the group stage and today we eliminated a candidate to the title. We have to believe, we will go step by step, and, if we are always united as we were today, it will be very difficult to beat us.”
Sérgio Oliveira
“It’s a unique feeling to score two goals here. I’m very happy for the qualification, it’s a reason of pride for the club and the country. We had to suffer, often with lower lines, but we always wanted to score the goal, we had that will and focus, it ended up coming and we are immensely happy. What we said in our circle is for our ears only, we have to keep the best things to ourselves, there are those who don’t like us and there are many people who do, our words stay with us, and I want to dedicate this victory to our fans. Next we have Paços de Ferreira, which is the most important match, and then the rest we will see. It is a reward for the club, for all the staff and fans, a deserved reward for all the effort, for what we have been suffering during the season, for the fight we have been putting on and it is deserved. We knew how to face this difficult moment [Taremi being sent-off] to have more strength. We went through a few scares, we knew how to be under in the match and, depending on the time, we managed to prepare and go on the counter-attack. To come here, score two goals and reach the quarter-finals is a reason of pride for everyone. For me, it means I helped the club reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, it’s a reason of pride because I’ve been at the club for many years.”
Tecatito Corona
“The heart is still beating very fast. I am very happy for the result, for what we worked for, the circle in the end was greatly satisfying. Being the team that we are, always believing in ourselves and suffering when we had to, while supporting each other, was crucial for this result. We didn’t know if I would be able to play, but I gave my all, as everyone else, and I am very happy to be in the quarter-finals and to win this knockout round against Juventus. I want to dedicate the victory to Herrera’s family and to my mother, who celebrates her birthday today. It’s a good feeling, we’re very happy with the result, we came here to win and that’s what we did. We always believed until the last moment and fortunately we got that result. You have to believe, that’s what being FC Porto is, we have to keep improving, keep working to do good things. Thank you very much to the fans for believing and for being there in every moment.”
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