FC Porto secured their place in the Round of 16 of the Europa League after beating Rangers FC at Estádio do Dragão (3-1), and Victor Froholdt did not hide his happiness at finishing the league stage “among the eight best teams and being able to skip the two playoff games.” “This is where we belong and the objective we set ourselves at the start of this competition,” said the midfielder, who is determined to “give everything to continue achieving our collective objectives”: “We have many difficult games to play and many difficult opponents to overcome if we want to reach the final.”

Turnaround headed to the Round of 16
“We had some difficulties at the start of the game, but we recovered, controlled the game, and managed to score three goals today that secured our place in the top 8, which was our objective.”

Among the top eight team in the Europa League
“It means a lot. It's where we belong, and it was the objective we set ourselves at the start of this competition to be able to skip two extra games. Now we have a period with many games in the League where we have to focus on fighting for the championship. That is our focus right now.”

The debut season
“I think I had a good start to the season. I integrated into the group early on and have already played a lot of minutes. A player, like the team, has ups and downs during the season, everything varies depending on performances. In some periods you are doing very well and feeling very confident, in others you are feeling more down, and I have been working to maintain my level and improve the aspects I need to develop to be in top form to help the team.”

Knockout stage
“It's hard to know how far we can go. The important thing now is to take each game as it comes. We're facing an opponent in two legs and our objective is to get through each round and not look too far ahead. We're focused on the next few games.”

The substitution
“I suffered a harder tackle, but it's not a problem. I've also been playing a lot of minutes and the coach wanted to protect me a little.”

No slacking off
“If I stop giving my all in training every day, I'll definitely fall behind. It's difficult to maintain the same level until the end of the season, but above all, we're in a good moment. There are four months to go, and we have to give everything to achieve our objectives.”

The World Cup
“The World Cup is a competition I dream of playing in. We have qualifying games in March, but for now I'm focused on the ones I have here at FC Porto and only then will I concentrate on those two.”

The quality of Portuguese football
“It's clear that we have a very high standard in Portuguese football, especially among the top clubs. You can see that in the league and now in Europe too. The other teams have also progressed in European competitions, which says a lot about the quality we have here.”

A dragon in heart and soul
“I want to stay here for many more years.”

Winning the Europa League?
“Anything is possible, but it’s still too early to say that. We have many difficult games to play in the Europa League and many difficult opponents to overcome if we want to be in the final. It’s clear to us that we want to be competitive to win this competition, but we’re only thinking about one game at a time.”