Benfica head coach Marco Silva expects a tough challenge against AC Milan in tonight’s Europa League opener at San Siro.
Having replaced Jose Mourinho in the summer, Silva has made an almost perfect start to life as the new Benfica boss. The Eagles have won all but one game in the league and they have scored 21 times in their opening six matches, having netted 19 goals across their three Europa League play-off ties.
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Ruben Amorim, Goncalo Ramos and Diego Moreira all have a past at Benfica, while Manuel Rui Costa is someone Milan fans know and love. So, there are a lot of sub-plots to what is a game that certainly has more of a Champions League feel. The Rossoneri have never won this competition, too.
Silva spoke to the reporters who gathered at San Siro for his press conference last night on the eve of the game. His words were relayed by MilanNews.
How do you approach this a match like this?
“I keep saying we’re still far from our ideal, and I want to convince our players of this as well. It’s a good start, which doesn’t mean we’re not satisfied with what we’re doing and the team’s evolution: I’d be lying if I said otherwise.
“We’re growing and we’re satisfied. Just look at our first matches, but more generally at the overall evolution. It’s clear that the team is improving and creating the identity we want to see Benfica play with: in this respect, we’ve improved.
“I’m happy with the players’ behaviour, their growth, and the attitude they show up to training every day to improve, which is also being reflected in matches. However, I keep repeating it because that’s the only way it makes sense to me: we still have a lot to improve, both individually and collectively.
“If we improve every day, even just a little, within weeks and months this evolution will become evident to us, and that’s exactly what we want.”
How is Prestianni?
“Regarding the Prestianni issue, this start to the season has shown that he works very well on the left, without a doubt. If I told you otherwise, I’d be lying, because the data is there: you analyse the games and you see it.
“The reality is that he’s also better equipped to help the team in other positions. With us this year, he hasn’t started any games on the right, where he played practically every single time last year, but his performance has been excellent, like a player who is improving day by day, game by game.
“He can play through the middle, as he has done in the last two or three games or on several occasions with me this year, and that’s a decision we have to make. In many moments, this ends up being a good thing for us, because having him on the pitch means we can often change a player’s position without making substitutions.
“As we did last weekend, we could have put a more creative player on the pitch. In the last 20-25 minutes, we brought Lukebakio, with a more creative profile, into the space where Prestianni was playing, moving him to the left, and that worked well.
“He’s had a huge impact. The numbers are clear, I don’t think you need my answer for that. He’s more than ready to play in those positions behind the striker, on both flanks, or as an attacking midfielder for our team: he’s prepared to do so and is working on those roles in training too.
“To be honest, we haven’t had him work much on the right so far, partly because we’ve used Rafa [Silva] more in that space, and Lukebakio also naturally trains in that position. In any case, he’s a player who’s having a huge influence on the team, and that’s the most important thing for us.”
What are you expecting from Milan?
“A very difficult match, without a doubt. Two teams accustomed to playing in another competition and not in the Europa League, due to their history and the recent years in European competition. The reality, however, is that both are in the Europa League.
“We had to travel an even more difficult path, playing six games to be here, due to different circumstances. It’s a truly complicated challenge.
“Any team that plays here – both domestically and European – always ends up encountering great difficulties, because it’s a tough venue due to the quality of the home team. Just as if they came to play at the Estadio da Luz: they would encounter the exact same difficulties. Rightly so.
“Their coach knows us well: he knows Benfica well and knows the team well. Ruben and I know each other, and Ruben knows me, due to our short time in England and the number of times we’ve faced each other. These days, however, there are no more secrets.
“Even if we didn’t know each other or Ruben’s connection to Portuguese football, Finding information is easy. Preparation is now made easier by all the tools we have at our disposal. It promises to be a very challenging competition, and we hope to be up to the task, as we should.”
Amorim says Palhinha will play?
“It’s a conclusion Rúben has reached. Tomorrow you’ll see if he was right or not. What we can field or not tomorrow depends primarily on us and the sequence of matches we’re facing. It doesn’t have much to do with just Sunday’s game.
“It has much more to do with how we’ve played since we went to Madeira until tomorrow’s game: it will be 11 days in total. In those 11 days there have been three games, all three away from home. It’s almost humanly impossible to field the same 11 starting players for four games in 11 days.
“Playing every three days, or even less, requires us to be intelligent in our management. Today I had data on the players’ physical condition, tomorrow I’ll have more and I’ll make the best decision for tomorrow’s match and, above all, for the physical condition of some of them.
“We’re managing several of them and it was possible to do so, but we have other players who have already played ten games at this stage of the season. It’s not so much the total number of games, given that it’s still early in the season, but the intensity of the last four matches.
“Tomorrow will be a new match for us, in which we’ll analyse the team’s condition and choose the best line-up to start the game, taking into account both strategy and physicality, which will significantly impact our decisions.
How will you counter players like Modric and Rabiot?
“Milan are a top-quality team, so it’s difficult to press at any point in the game. We believe that tomorrow, given the size of the game and playing at home, pressure will likely be part of their strategy.
“However, they’re a team that, once that pressure is overcome, has the ability to regroup. That’s why I don’t see them simply as a team that constantly presses in the final third, looking at their last four competitive matches.
“It must be said that these were games of a different nature, some, or almost all, played away from home, so it’s difficult to predict with certainty what will happen, but it’s clear that they’re a team that wants to make progress in this area.
“Ruben himself spoke about it this morning and then mentioned the connections between the departments. They’re a different team if Rabiot plays in the two midfielders or if he operates in a more advanced position.
“As we’ve seen in the first few matches, playing higher up with those two inside midfielders, so to speak, they change the formation. When Rabiot, on the other hand, joins Modric or the other midfielder, the team takes on a different dimension in another respect, gaining a player with greater attacking skills even in the second line.
“It is therefore a team capable of changing, regardless of where certain versatile players are deployed, who can play multiple roles.”
