Petit assumes devaluation: “His career as a player was like that too”

Far from the podium: “Benfica distanced itself from Sporting, but it also distanced itself from Santa Clara, which was also competing there. We are in the place we deserve to be because we work every day. We presented the football we presented today against a title candidate.”

Analysis: “We were superior in the first half, we scored a goal, we had more situations and our goalkeeper didn’t make a save. In the second half, before the equalizer, we had a great opportunity, Tiago tried to make the pass and could have made it 2-0. Then the equalizer came, but Prestianni left Pedro Ferreira’s marking and Benfica reached equality. Then the ball fell to Prestianni and Benfica reached the second goal without doing much to deserve it. Then there was a save from Lucas (France) later, but I think it’s an unfair result.”

Benfica: “We knew that Benfica pressed in 4x4x2 and we tried to have the midfielders wide enough to drag Palhinha and Aursnes so that Fernando could appear. We have fast players and we chose to bring the marking to appear in the back. We had those opportunities and in defensive terms we opted for a double pivot, Sudakov joined Pacheco, lowered Pavlidis and we corrected that. We were intense, aggressive, we didn’t let the Benfica thinks. In the second half, we conceded two goals in four minutes. This team is happy to work, this frustration has to transfer to the game against Marítimo so we can look for three points.”

Promise of a great season: “We promised to evolve, to grow. On the bench we had 11 boys under 22 years old, some play for the under-23s and for the B team. This is the club’s project. We have two players signed who came from League 2, another came from League 3, we have players who came from SC Braga B. These are players who will have the opportunity and it is part of their growth. We believe in the process. We are frustrated, sad because we could have had the opportunity to achieve another result.”

Petit undervalued: “It’s normal, my career as a player was also like that. There was little talk, but I had the career I did. I have been a coach in the Liga Portugal for 11 years, with many young people. I have always fulfilled my goals, in difficult clubs, some are no longer in the Liga Portugal. I have an ambitious project at Santa Clara and I am helping them evolve and grow.”