Players' reaction: “Fight to win at home”

Pavlidis, Dahl, Ivanovic and Dedic believe that Benfica will decide this playoff for the Champions League group stage in the second leg, following a (0-0) draw against Fenerbahçe in the first leg on Wednesday, August 20, at the Sükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium in Istanbul.

The second leg will be played on Wednesday, August 27, at 8 pm, at Estádio da Luz (see tickets here).

PAVLIDIS

"We had some good chances"

"[Difficult atmosphere in the stadium] We knew the atmosphere would be like this, and that it would be very aggressive. I think we controlled the game in the first half; they didn't create that many chances. We need to play a little more offensively, we need to be more aggressive and more creative in attack, but I think it was a normal, difficult game, and we knew that. We had three cards in midfield [to the three midfielders], and we weren't as aggressive as we wanted to be. But I didn't feel that they created that many chances or that they were much better. I think we also had some good chances, some good moments, but we couldn't score or be more creative as we wanted to. After the red card [Florentino in the 71st minute], it's normal that we stayed in a low block to keep the score at 0-0, thinking about the home game and to fight for the Champions League there."

DAHL

"Win at Luz"

"[A fair result for both teams?] Yes, it was a difficult game, we knew that when we came here, but we've been playing well, without conceding any goals, and, yes, we feel good. [Impact of the red card] Of course, that made it more difficult for us. We wanted to win, but after that we had to change and focus more on keeping a clean sheet. Now we have one more game to play, we hope to win it and we hope for all the support we can get at home, and we'll have a great night. [Expectations for the second leg] Of course we want to win, and that's always the goal and the mindset. I hope we can have a good night."

IVANOVIC

"Score goals"

"It wasn't an easy game. In the first half, we started well, in my opinion, we played a good game. In the second half, we received a red card, which was difficult, we suffered a little. But we played a solid game. There are 90 minutes left, at home, so we'll see next week. [What do we need to do?] We need to score goals from the chances we create, try to be more dangerous in front of their goal – that's our goal for next week, and I'm sure we'll achieve it."

DEDIC

"Show patience and work hard"

"It was a difficult game. You could feel the atmosphere here, they wanted to win, we wanted to win too, but with the red card it became much more difficult. But now we're playing at home and we'll give everything to win the game. We want to play in the Champions League, so we can't wait to play in our stadium. We knew it would be difficult here. We knew it wouldn't be easy, it's the last round [of qualifying] for the Champions League. [5th game without conceding a goal] As a defender, it's good not to concede goals. Yes, we have to score, but we need to show patience, we need to work hard. We trust our team, our players, and we will score goals. [Do you dream of playing in the Champions League?] Of course, it's always a dream to play in that competition."