"We have to redeem ourselves in the next games"

POST-MATCH

José Mourinho lamented his team's lack of effectiveness in the first half and how the 2-0 score affected the outcome of Newcastle-Benfica (3-0), on matchday 3 of the Champions League, held at St. James' Park, this Tuesday, October 21.

"I said I wouldn't speak to the team at the end of the game, and I don't usually do that, but today I did, and I told them very briefly that we have 15 points to fight for in the Champions League and that we don't need 15 points to qualify. I can't guess, but I would say that between 9 and 11 will be enough, I think, maybe not 9, but 10 or 11 points will be enough to qualify. We don't need 15 points, we don't need to win all five games. So it's not cheap demagoguery, or trying to motivate people by saying that we can definitely qualify, even though we obviously have five difficult games ahead of us. But for me, this was the most difficult one, given the characteristics of the opponent. I already told you that we have two games to play at home now, one for the Championship and one for the [League] Cup, and we have to redeem ourselves, because, ultimately, it doesn't matter that we played well in the first half, it doesn't matter that Newcastle has more power, pace, and speed than we do, none of that matters. What matters fundamentally is that we lost 3-0, and when you lose 3-0, we have to redeem ourselves. And we have to redeem ourselves up in the next two home games before we go to Guimarães means winning for the Championship and winning for the League Cup," he said.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TEAMS

"What does the level of this team tell me? What does the level of Newcastle tell me too? While the result was open, and I think it was unfairly open, because in the first half I think the team played well on the field, the players felt comfortable on the pitch, the fantastic atmosphere of this stadium was not felt, the danger they created for us was obviously from set pieces, from everything that was direct into the box, because it's difficult to compete with a team with this physicality, but we had great chances to score, I think three or four. Before they scored, we had Lukebakio's beautiful shot against the post, so I think that, in the first half, the result does not reflect what happened in the first half at all. In the second half, we conceded a goal that we shouldn't have conceded, which was a set piece in our favor, where initially our positioning for the transition was correct, but then we made mistakes in our defensive movement, and when we conceded that goal, the differences in characteristics between one team and another came to the fore. There is one team that has a much more powerful engine than the other, one team that has much more intensity, one team that has much more speed. As I said yesterday [Monday] – I think it was at the press conference; if it wasn't at the press conference, it was on some TV channel – they have four very fast forwards, not one or two, but four, and when you change two that come on in the 50th or 60th minute, when you change one and then later change another, we didn't have that, because we lost the compact game we had in the first half, then we were exposed, and we don't have the physical capacity – and don't get me wrong, because I'm not saying that the team is physically unfit or that it came in physically unfit from the past, not at all, no, it's simply a matter of characteristics: Elanga, Barnes, Anthony Gordon, all those players they have are so fast and intense that we can only compete if we are compact and organized. If we score before them, we go into halftime winning; if we go into halftime tied, we can continue with the same type of organization. Then, the second goal, psychologically, kills you. The players really felt that second goal, and then, from the point of view of the direction the game took, it was tough, it was really tough, the final part of the game."

THE REASON FOR NOT MAKING MANY SUBSTITUTIONS

"Dedic's substitution was due to injury. With no natural right-back on the bench to come on, I tried to bring Ivanovic into the game, who is a quick player, a player who could find depth and continue with Aursnes at full-back, similar to Dedic in some ways. After that, I didn't make any more changes because I couldn't, thinking and thinking and thinking and thinking—not only thinking myself, but also thinking with those on my right and left—I couldn't convince myself that any change could improve the team. Then, I also think it's very unfair, in the last 10/15 minutes of the game, losing 3-0, I think it's very unfair to put a player in. I could bring Barreiro on—unfair; I could give Ivan Lima 10/15 minutes... For a young boy, coming on when losing 3-0—unfair. So, I also thought it was unfair to the players on the bench to make any changes." 

THE MEN OF THE MATCH

"Nico [Otamendi] didn't refuse to speak at the end of the game. Nico was asked if he wanted to go straight to the flash [interview] or if he preferred to go to the mixed zone later, and he said he preferred to go later, when he was calmer, after resting a little, he preferred to go to the mixed zone. That's what Nico told me, so there's no problem there. The man of the match was Anthony Gordon, and rightly so, but for Benfica, based on the last 20 minutes, when the team was really struggling, I think Trubin was undoubtedly the best player."

THE ATMOSPHERE AT ST. JAMES' PARK

"It was beautiful, but to be honest, in the first half, St. James' Park was quiet. It was quiet. They felt that the game wasn't easy. They realized that Benfica was very close, closer than Newcastle. They brought a lot of excitement to set pieces. When you have a team of giants, you know that every set piece is a dramatic moment for the opponent; those were the only moments that brought excitement. We were very comfortable in the first half. In the second half, the second goal killed the game. And after that, it became easy for Newcastle to play, easy for the fans to enjoy themselves. But to be honest, the atmosphere was pleasant, it wasn't difficult. And it was beautiful in the sense of fair play, no problems, good refereeing. There were no disciplinary problems in that regard. I think it was a quiet St. James' Park."