After the blue and white victory in Barcelos (2-1), Sérgio Conceição analysed matchday seven, stating that the Dragons were “warned to the good organization of Gil Vicente and to the difficulty of playing in Barcelos”. In the second-half, the blue and whites created “many situations in the last third, some clear situations, the result is fair and the second-half earned it”. The FC Porto coach congratulated the players who went in during the match and reminded: “It’s proof that we have a strong group, everyone has the same goal: to play”. On the preparation for the match, the coach admitted that there are things that are impossible to control: “It’s hard to get inside the players’ minds, make them realise that we are playing in important competitions, and that our responsibility to win is big”.

Match analysis
“We missed a few things, we went in and scored the goal, then we had two shots 18 minutes in and two minutes later we conceded the penalty. It’s true that the score at that time was fair because Gil Vicente, every time they got to their last third, created danger for us. The team was very wide with the ball and the players didn’t play as we wanted in terms as dynamics when we had the ball. When we would lose the ball, there was space for them to exploit. We were warned to their good organization and to the difficulty of playing in Barcelos. We lacked something in the first-half, in the second-half we played closer than we normally do. We created many situations in the last third, some of them clear, the score is fair and the second-half earned it.”

The right substitutions
“I didn’t replace Vitinha and Fábio because they were playing badly, we just needed other things. We kept tweaking our game, thinking that we could give something more to the team. I want to congratulate those who went in, it’s a sign that we have a strong group, as everyone has the same goal: to play. So, be it on minute 90, 95, or from the start, we are happy. It was a good reaction to an unfavourable situation and the three points are important.”

Merit of the team, with individual highlights
“If we associate all the work we have to do as a team with and without the ball, the individual quality will obviously come up. We need to give more and be more rigorous and true to who we are as a team. If we deviate from our principles, it will be more difficult for us to win matches. As the coach, I didn’t do well in passing them the message to play a better first-half than they did.”

The players’ focus on the eve of the Champions League
“It’s hard to get inside the players’ minds, make them realise that we are playing in important competitions, and that our responsibility to win is big. We know that we have the Champions League on Tuesday and, despite knowing and reminding them that the focus was on Gil Vicente, there are things that we can’t control. The coaching teams are well prepared, the squads have good players.”

The decisions of the DGS on the capacity of the stadiums
“I think the most important thing is the health and safety of everyone. It’s true that, in some countries, the full capacity of the stadiums has already been authorized and I enjoy having full stadiums because I’m passionate about football, but I respect the decisions of the DGS [Health Department].”