FC Porto is in the Round of 16 of the Portuguese Cup. To qualify to the fifth round of the Cup, the Dragons beat Feirense 5-1 at Estádio do Dragão. After the match, Sérgio Conceição praised the “serious” composure of the team, who showed “respect for the opponent” and, in that way, made “the match easier”. “The group is very strong, united and knows that each battle has to be faced with maximum responsibility,” the blue and white coach added.

Maximum responsibility
“We played a very serious and competent match. We knew the value of the opponent, with several quality players. In terms of team organisation, we studied them with the utmost respect. The players were serious, although there were some negative situations, but today there were a lot of positive things. There are others that we need to correct. I don’t like conceding goals for being careless when we have the responsibility of not losing balls in a dangerous area. I can think of one dangerous situation in our area in the first-half. We, the coaches, are always looking for perfection. I know that doesn’t exist, and we have to be humble, but I think the players respected the opponent and made the match easier, by continuing to press and limiting their dynamics when they had the ball. Congratulations to the players, it’s a pity we don’t have more players on the bench to enjoy the atmosphere of the Cup. The group is very strong, united and knows that each battle has to be faced with maximum responsibility.”

Competence in almost every moment
“It was important to move on to the next knockout stage, which is an objective of the club. The victory was also important for the serious response the team gave. We saw teams from lower divisions beating teams from the first division today. In terms of motivational and emotional level for theses matches, there is always that situation where players from lower divisions look at this as an opportunity to show themselves. It’s normal, natural and we were warned about it. We faced a team that is doing an excellent season, but my players were competent in almost every moment of the match.”

Defeat in the Azores was a lesson
“They are different matches. We realised that we can’t make it easy at any moment. We know that in domestic competitions we have stronger individualities than our opponents. We’re a very organised team and then there’s the emotional aspect. You need certain characteristics to win matches. When a bit of that factor is missing, teams end up balancing the tables and we can suffer as happened in the League Cup.”

Francisco’s hug
“The first thing that came to my mind when Francisco came to hug me, excited for a goal he had been looking for for some time, was to tell him to thank Mehdi Taremi, as he was the designated penalty scorer. I thought at that moment I could give another striker that opportunity, and Francisco, for me, is the same as the others. Not at home, of course, but I can separate that very well. I am able to separate the role of coach from the role of being a dad, with Francisco and the other four wonderful children I have.”

Otávio leaving in pain
“At that moment, I thought it could be worrying, but it might not be. We’ll look into it, at the players with complaints, and start preparing for the match against Liverpool tomorrow morning.”