Benfica’s Javi Garcia is confident that the Lisbon power-house would make it to the finals
Benfica's midfielder, Javi Garcia, has expressed full faith in his team and believes that they could actually outclass the Sporting Braga and deprive them of a place in the UEFA Europa League final. The midfielder was talking after Benfica’s 2-1 win in the
first leg of their semi-final tie against Braga. The tie took place on Thursday, April 28 at in Lisbon.
The SuperLiga champions recorded a narrow win over their rivals, but there is a firm belief in the team that they could make it to the finals of the competition. When quizzed about the away goal advantage that Braga will have in the reverse fixture, Garcia
claimed that Benfica are currently in control of the situation and knows exactly what to do when the two teams meet again in a weeks’ time.
The 24-year-old added, "They have the advantage of an away goal, so the game there is going to be difficult. But the victory is the most important thing, because we could have easily drawn. It's always important to win since this was our home game. After
Braga scored, we came back and showed that we believe we can reach the final. We're a lot more mature than last year. We know how to cope with pressure."
Garcia praised the efforts of his team after they made a come-back and has demanded the same sort of determination and effort in the second leg of the tie.
The Spaniard admitted that playing away at Braga is not an easy task at all but insisted that his side are well equipped this time around and possess that quality which is required to stop Braga from advancing into the finals.
Former Real Madrid man concluded, "We haven't won away against Braga the last few times, but this is going to be completely different. In a European competition, having won at home, we know how to play in the away game."
Benfica will now travel away to Braga to take on their domestic rivals in the second leg of the semi-final tie, to be played on Thursday, May 5.
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