Porto coach Sergio Conceicao on Thursday reviewed the derby match against Benfica, which is scheduled for 6pm on Friday, after giving an update on the status of Diogo Costa, Pepe, Zido, Joao Mario and Evanelson, who were injured.
“There is always a way to act regardless of one situation or another [lesões]. Modus operandi, even if it’s a throw-in from the sideline. Now, he wanted the entire agent. In the last two days we had time to work on strategic issues. But I wanted everyone to be at their best and have a competitive pace. Let’s imagine, we can count on Pepe tomorrow, but he hasn’t competed for a month. I trust the physical trainers. The game is the game and it’s different, I want it to be similar to training but different. We will never be at the top. I have never used the excuse of not having one or the other player, although I know the importance of tomorrow’s match.” He began by saying, returning to the topic later:
“Let’s go to the last one, honestly. Diogo looks a lot better to me, Pepe too, Evanilson will have to wait, Zido is a little better, Joao Mario is a bit more complicated. Diogo Costa and Pepe look ready », he noted.
