Benfica's Jesus focused on the task at hand
Monday, December 9, 2013
Article summary
"We will have to be at our absolute best," said Jorge Jesus, who is urging his SL Benfica players to forget events in Piraeus and focus on Group C winners Paris Saint-Germain.
Article top media content
Article body
SL Benfica will leave nothing to chance in their bid to finish second behind Group C winners Paris Saint-Germain when the sides meet on Tuesday.
Those were the sentiments of coach Jorge Jesus, whose team must pick up more points than Olympiacos FC do at home to RSC Anderlecht to remain in the competition. "At Benfica, we always play to win – that responsibility remains the same," he said. Paris, meanwhile, will use the Lisbon encounter as an opportunity to nurture future talent without hindering Laurent Blanc's desire to make history.
Benfica
Jorge Jesus, coach
Disregarding the fact that we are dependent on the result in the other match, we have to work the same way we always do, with the will to win. At Benfica, we always play to win – that responsibility remains the same. To beat Paris we'll have to be at our absolute best. Both sides have injuries, so we are equal there, but both have alternatives too. The motivation is the same for both teams.
It won't matter what happens in the other match if we don't win ours. With time we'll see what we have to do here depending on what is happening in Greece. It was there where we may have lost our big chance to qualify. We played very well and didn't deserve to lose. A draw was the least we deserved, but we lost, which was unfair. For how we performed in Greece, we deserve to have more points in this group.
Weekend result
Friday: Benfica 2-2 FC Arouca (Rodrigo 40, Lima 83pen; David Simão 18, Serginho 74)
Artur; Pereira, Luisão, Garay, Cortez (Sulejmani 46); Fejsa (Cavaleiro 85), Pérez, Gaitán, Marković (Funes Mori 62); Lima, Rodrigo.
• Rogelio Funes Mori made his senior debut as Benfica failed to win a league game for the first time since the end of September.
Team news
Jesus says he will be without Óscar Cardozo (back) and Rúben Amorim (knee) through injury.
Paris
Laurent Blanc, coach
We want to maintain our high standards and win. A French side has never won here so that gives us great motivation to do so. It's difficult to play without any pressure and without the need to collect points, but the players that feature will feel good for it.
It's a fantastic stadium with great history, so it's an ideal environment for players who have yet to play in this competition to learn. There will be some future international players on show. We are here to enjoy the ride.
Weekend result
Saturday: Paris 5-0 FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (Thiago Silva 14, Lavezzi 47, Cavani 62, Ibrahimovic 86 90+1)
Sirigu; Jallet, Alex (Marquinhos 60), Silva, Maxwell; Verratti, Motta, Matuidi (Pastore 73); Cavani, Ibrahimovic, Lavezzi (Lucas 79).
• Paris bounced back from their midweek defeat by Évian Thonon Gaillard FC – their first in any competition this season – with their biggest league win since April last year.
Team news
Gregory van der Wiel and Marco Verratti are both suspended. Blanc has no fresh injury concerns but is expected to field an experimental lineup.
Match fact
• Paris recorded a 3-0 victory in the 2 October meeting between the sides, Zlatan Ibrahimović scoring twice and Marquinhos getting the other in the opening 30 minutes.
