MY ACCOUNT
Roger Schmidt hopes his Benfica players are ready to rise to the challenge of a Champions League quarter-final against Inter in a fixture that has historical significance for the two sides.
The teams have been drawn together in the last eight, paired in a wide open half of the bracket that also sees Inter’s Serie A rivals Napoli and Milan meet.
Any one of those four teams might hope to go all the way to the final – a stage where Benfica have played Inter previously.
The only prior clash between the sides in the European Cup was in the 1965 final, which Inter won 1-0 at San Siro.
Benfica will return to Milan next week but must first play the first leg in Lisbon against an Inter side winless in six across all competitions.
It was put to Schmidt that Inter’s form might make Benfica favourites, but the gravity of the game was his primary focus.
“We’ll see if it’s favourable or not. The draw is the draw,” said the Benfica coach. “Both teams have quality and deserve to be here, there’s no doubt.
“Just look at their squad. They are experienced players with so much quality.
“It’s a very special game, also for the players. What I hope is that my players will be more motivated because it’s a big game, but I also expect that of the Inter players.
“They will be ready, they will cause difficulties, and we have to find solutions and accept the history of the game.
“We have to try to play a good game tomorrow and in the second leg in Milan.”
Both Benfica and Inter will be boosted by having seen how their opponents fare against domestic rivals. Benfica won home and away against Juventus in the group stage – only their third and fourth European Cup wins against Italian teams – while Inter eliminated Porto in the last 16.
“Of course we considered the games against Porto,” Schmidt said. “We analysed the team in their game but not only in those two games.
“Inter are a team with a lot of experience, who know how to play both attacking and defensive football.
“They won the first game [against Porto] at home 1-0 and then came to defend the result in the second leg. It’s a bit of the Italian style, and I know they can change that style.
“We are prepared for anything, and we want to play at our best.”
Benfica themselves played Porto on Friday, beaten 2-1 at home for just their second Primeira Liga loss of the season, but Schmidt has no concerns.
“It’s part of football to lose games,” he said. “On Friday, we lost an important game, but I think we had won a lot before.
“We grow with victories and defeats. We can use defeats to grow and create something positive. I saw my team leave behind what happened very quickly, and in the last few days we have been concentrating on Inter.”
Schmidt will be without Nicolas Otamendi, but Alex Grimaldo is fit to play, although that was as much information as the Benfica boss was willing to part with at his press conference.
“I’m not going to announce the XI,” he said. “If you tell me Inter’s starting XI, maybe I can say mine.”
