SL Benfica’s Javi Garcia confident to eliminate http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/SC-Braga-c40460 to qualify to the UEFA Europa League final
SL Benfica’s defensive midfielder, Javi Garcia, is confident that his side will eliminate SC Braga and qualify for the UEFA Europa League final. The Eagles emerged victorious 2-1 narrowly over their fellow Portuguese Liga outfit in the first leg of the semi-final
on Thursday.
The 24-year-old defensive midfielder was pleased with his side’s performance on the pitch in front of their home crowd. He admitted that his side now have the better chance to progress through to play the final, despite Braga having picked up a precious
away goal.
Garcia said, “They have the advantage of an away goal, so the game there is going to be difficult. However, 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. We haven’t won away against Braga the last few times. Having won at home, we know how
to play in the away game”, he concluded.
The Spanish midfielder admitted that the Eagles have struggled to stage a dominant show on the road against the Archbishops in their last few games. However, he believes that it will be an entirely different game when they travel to Braga to play the return
leg next week.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jorge-c19120 Jesus, the Eagles' manager, was also delighted with his side’s win over their arch-rivals in the first leg of the Europe’s secondary club competition semi-final. Jesus praised his troops’ efforts on the pitch and admitted that his men staged superior
result in front of their home crowd and earned a deserving victory in the end.
The Eagles will have to play at their level best in the second leg of the semi-final in order to secure their place in the final. Jesus’ men know that the Archbishops have also a strong squad and are very dangerous while playing at their home turf. However,
they have every right to remain optimistic about playing at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
The return leg would be played between the two domestic rivals at the Estadio AXA on Thursday, May 5.
Tags: