FC Porto coach Sergio Conceicao believes the best defence will win the ‘decisive’ match against Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday. ‘We face one of the most successful teams in the world’.
Conceicao spoke at a press conference ahead of the European match against Milan and, like Milan coach Stefano Pioli, stressed the third game in Group B will be decisive for the final outcome.
“We hope to have a good match and a good result,” Conceicao said. “It’s a very important evening, decisive for the advancement from the group stage.
“We face one of the most successful clubs in the world and we aim to win. How do you go from a match against a small team to a match against Milan? I think the opposite is more difficult.
“I believe the whole team get excited as the level increases. It’s an opportunity to do what we have prepared during the week.
“The thing that matters is identity. You can win or not, but the identity matters.”
Porto arrive from a 5-1 defeat to Liverpool in the second round and Conceicao hopes to see a reaction from his lads.
“You learn from every game. In the game you can do good things and less good things,” he added. “At this level, you face opponents who don’t forgive you for the slightest mistake.”
Conceicao then spoke about the task in hand against Milan at the Estadio do Dragao on Tuesday night.
“They are very strong, they haven’t lost in the League and have already played against big teams like Juventus, Atalanta, Lazio,” he said. “They are a very strong team, they could have won against both Liverpool and Atletico Madrid.
“I don’t think absences will upset their dynamics, they have young players of the highest quality. It’s a team that knows how to play, that has great champions.”
Conceicao believes the team who ‘defends better’ on the night will win the match in Portugal.
“It’s a match there the winner is the team that defends better,” he said. “As for Pioli, everyone knows him.
“We don’t need to talk so much about him, but about his team, which, in the end, is a derivation of him.”