Sporting de Braga’s coach, Carlos Vicens, today considered it “human” that the players still have in mind qualifying for the semi-finals of the Europa Football League, but he wants absolute focus on hosting Famalicão.
On Thursday, the Braga team managed, for the second time in their history, to qualify for the semi-finals of UEFA’s second most important club competition, with a 4-2 victory at Betis, in a spectacular turnaround, after losing 2-0.
In the pre-game press conference against Famalicão, on Sunday, for the 30th round of the I League, the Spanish coach said “he doesn’t even remember the Europa League”, but admitted it was “human” that the players could still have this game and classification in their heads.
However, he left the warning: “yes, it is human, but I have already told them that my job is to tell them the truth and if they are not well prepared for this game, they will fall hard.”
The Spanish coach praised Famalicão, considering it “an aggressive team, which knows what it does well and has a very clear and defined organization”, with players who “will complicate” Sporting de Braga’s life.
“We’re going to finish preparing, recover well, to play a game at our level, being competitive, aggressive and with character to get the victory. We made a great effort, there are 53 games in our legs, but there are no excuses”, he said.
The Minho team will still play at least eight games in the space of a month, six in the championship and two in the Europa League, with the possibility of having one more, the final of the Europa League (May 20), always played every three or four days, in what will also be a record number of games in a season for the ‘arsenalist’ team.
“Undoubtedly [que é uma preocupação o aspeto físico e que tem que fazer uma gestão do plantel]. Famalicão has clean weeks to prepare for games, it can repeat automatisms, it has time to prepare games. We are used to having a busy calendar, now is the time to prioritize rest, and focus on training little but with quality, doing video and analysis work and the players making an extra effort”, he said.
Vicens also addressed the importance of mental work with players in a moment of euphoria, considering that “what defines great teams is when they are able to repeat high-level performances very regularly, adding to this emotional stability”.
“I know this, because I have experienced it in other roles. What makes you a high-level player and a great team player is when you maintain your level in a habitual way. If you are better today than you were yesterday and repeat it over months and years, that performance shows the player you are. You will go from being a very good player to a great team player”, he reinforced.
Arrey-Mbi was substituted after 20 minutes in the Sevilla game with complaints about his right knee, but the injury “does not seem alarming”, still in doubt for Sunday. Barisic is already doing work on the pitch, but remains out, as are Niakaté and Diego Rodrigues (injured) and Gabri Martínez (punished).
Sporting de Braga, fourth placed, with 52 points (and one game less), and Famalicão, fifth, with 47, will face each other at 8:30 pm on Sunday, at the Estádio Municipal de Braga, a game that will be refereed by David Rafael Silva, from the Porto Football Association.
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