The meeting is scheduled to start at 20:15.
FC Porto receives on Wednesday the Gil Vicente, at Estádio do Dragão, Gil Vicente, in a duel that defines a place in the final-four of the League Cup, which takes place in January in Leiria.
The blue and whites reach this stage of the competition after winning the group where were Mafra, Vizela and Desportivo de Chaves, while winning the group against Portimonense, Nacional da Madeira and Sporting da Covilhã.
Both teams come to this meeting with victories in the meetings that closed the group stage of the League Cup, with emphasis on the fact that the Gilistas are in the best phase of the season with three games in a row without losing.
In the preview to this match, Sérgio Conceição warned that this is a difficult match against an opponent who is in good shape recently.
The match between FC Porto and Gil Vicente is scheduled for 20:15 and will be refereed by Manuel Mota, from Braga Football Association.
Coaches in direct speech
Sérgio Conceição
Will the game serve to oil the return to the championship? “Making an analogy with cars, if we prepare the car for a next track that is more media-friendly than the one we have tomorrow, we run the risk of having an accident and having neither this one nor the other. I changed three players at half-time because they could give us something. They had different characteristics, our dynamic without the ball and it also had to do with what we are without the ball. Winning possession in different areas is different. The players that came in, not so much for them, but for me, in what was not that effectiveness in our dynamic. Anyway, I prepare the game thinking about Gil and not about the championship. Those who I think are better in physical and mental terms, are the ones who start the game. Others will be in the same condition, but they can only play 11 because we can run the risk of losing the game by entering with 12 or 13.”
FC Porto on alert for Gil Vicente’s recent results: “I stressed that earlier. Daniel came in three games ago and gave some confidence back to the team , but the results are true. Gil’s last result is very positive, and on top of that it was a good game. We have to be alert and connected to the game because it’s going to be a game that is difficult.”
What do you expect from tomorrow’s game? “It’s an elimination game. We have to win to be in the final-four. We hope to do it in the 90 minutes. Gil Vicente comes from two wins and a draw with Daniel Sousa. There are some nuances in the game that have changed. We know the team well, last year they did a good championship with many of the players that make up this interesting squad. They were a great surprise. It’s up to us to go looking for the result and look ahead to another final.”
Daniel Sousa
Goal in the competition: “We have the merit of being in this phase of the competition and we want to get as far as possible. Maybe at the beginning of the season it wasn’t an objective to win the League Cup, but, depending on the games, we can redefine the objectives.”
Team spirit: “You can already see some of the ideas I want for the team, but at this stage the most important thing is to change the ‘chip’ and the perspective, and aspire to other things. We still have to work, we have things to improve, but there has been evolution. We are competitive.”
What game do you foresee? “The thirst to win is one of FC Porto’s hallmarks. We know we’ll find an opponent who is difficult to counter and who has been on an impressive winning streak. On our part, I believe that what happens inside the four lines is the result of daily work, in training, and I found a group that likes to work.”
Last results:
FC Porto: V-V-E-V-V
Gil Vicente: D-D-E-V-V
Last eleven:
FC Porto: Cláudio Ramos, João Mário, Fábio Cardoso, Iván Marcano, Wendell, Pepê, Matheus Uribe, Marko Grujic, Wenderson Galeno, Danny Namaso, Toni Martínez.
Gil Vicente: Stanislav Kritciuk, Carraça, Lucas Cunha, Rúben Fernandes, Adrián Marín, Vitor Carvalho, Kanya Fujimoto, Pedro Tiba, Murilo Souza, Fran Navarro, Ali Alipour.
Absences:
FC Porto: Meixedo, Pepe, Zaidu and Eustaquio.
Gil Vicente: (-)
Lew Hawk