This Wednesday, FC Porto lost to Chelsea, 2-0, at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, and is behind in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. After the match, Sérgio Conceição praised the performance of the players, who were “fantastic”, but regretted the wasted opportunities and the mistakes made that led to the opponent’s goals. “In terms of strategy, determination, ambition and game quality, we were better than Chelsea”, the blue and white coach stated, now hoping to fight for the round in the second leg, scheduled for next Tuesday (20h00), April 13, again in Seville.

An undeserved defeat
“I feel the result is extremely unfair, but the goals are all that matters, they scored and we didn’t. The team played a great match, always consistent on the defence, creating danger on the attack and aware of when to press high and when to lower the lines. Considering what was planned, the players were fantastic. Their first shot was on minute 32 and they scored. Still, we didn’t feel the blow and always aimed for goal. The second-half was pretty much the same, as we created opportunities, but couldn’t score. The result is all that matters in matches. We don’t deserve to be two goals behind at the halftime of the round, as we showed personality and character. Our performance as a team was strong and we lost because we made two individual mistakes, but we have faith in what we do and in the group.”

Better in everything except the score
“The strategy was set, with Luis Díaz playing close to Marega and Otávio in the middle. It was a good match in terms of strategy, we did well, it just wasn’t excellent as that would mean we had won. Chelsea felt many difficulties with us, and this is just halftime in the round. We have to believe that we can score two goals in the second leg and fight for the qualification. We know how strong they are and we saw the world class players that went in, while we were sending in our boys.  We have different weapons, but in terms of strategy, determination, ambition and game quality, we were better than Chelsea. But winning is winning and the result is all that matters.”

Sérgio Oliveira absent and Marko Grujic in the starting team
“They are different players. Marko Grujic had a good performance, as did the entire team, which pleased me. But what matters is to look at the strategy and, having the entire group available, I have to choose the players that offer me the best guarantees to the strategy. If we had been efficient on the attack, we could have had a different result, but “if” counts for nothing. This is football at the highest level and we paid for two individual mistakes. Next week, we have the capacity to be competent and to honour the club we represent.”

Unfriendly refereeing
“We are the only team in the quarter-finals of the Champions League that doesn’t come from the top five championships in Europe, and you can feel that. Azpilicueta, for example, did many fouls, but didn’t even get a yellow card, and then there’s the penalty on Marega. There were situations that obviously didn’t please me, and we feel the refereeing wasn’t up to standards. We don’t play in any of the so called Big 5, but there must be respect for an historical club as is FC Porto.”