Vitoria Guimarães are as important as Manchester United, says Benfica manager Jorge Jesus – Report
Benfica manager Jorge Jesus has claimed that the weekend clash against Vitoria Guimarães is of the same importance as the lucrative tie with Manchester United. He also said that he will not rest any players in the Portuguese Primeira Liga fixture.
The Reds were seeded in the same UEFA Champions League group as last year’s runners-up Manchester United alongside Otelul Galati and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Basel-c39079.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men travel to Lisbon to take on the Portuguese giants at Estadio da Luz, however, his opposing coach claims that the match holds the same importance for him as the Vitoria Guimarães game.
Speaking to reporters, Jesus said that their home game against Vitoria was as important as their UEFA Champions League commitments because they were targeting the Liga Sagres title this year and would have to pay more attention to domestic matters.
"This game is as important as that of Wednesday. Our goal is the championship and we will always have more responsibilities in these games. We also have responsibilities in other competitions, so there will be differences in the preparation of the team.”
Lavishing praise on his Portuguese counterparts, he said that the Sadinos have strengthened their team over the summer with quality additions like Nuno Assis and Urreta, which makes them a tougher team than last term.
"Vitoria Guimaraes have strengthened well this summer and have hired two players who have been mine, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nuno-c28232 Assis and Urreta [on loan from Benfica]. We had high expectations for both of them but they wanted to play in a side where they were first choice.”
“Vitoria have a strong squad and a team that can place many difficulties to the three major title contenders,” the trainer was quoted as saying.
While Benfica will face a quality opposition this weekend in the shape of Vitoria Guimarães, the Minhos are nowhere near the calibre of Manchester United and will provide a lesser challenge than the English outfit.
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