In Faro, Roger Schmidt scored “an own goal” at the press conference. Are we facing the coach’s “definitive break” with Benfica?

Benfica’s 3-1 victory against Farense could even help calm the mood in Luz. After the elimination of Marseille, the triumph in the Algarve should lead to calmer days, perhaps waiting for a defeat from Sporting, at Dragão, to take the championship to the last three rounds with a four-point difference between the two at the front.

“Could” and “should”, but the hypothesis did not materialize. The possible calm turned into a real storm in the press room. Roger Schmidt’s collection of phrases was almost a declaration of war:

“Criticism? I cannot accept the way they did it. The players don’t deserve it.”; “But how the fans protest, how they behave, how vocal these negative people are… It’s not everyone, it’s a part of the fans, but they’re always the loudest, they attract the most attention. It’s not good for us.”; “At home against Marseille, in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, we won, but, in the last 20 minutes, the fans whistled the team and continued to whistle after the match”; “We hope that, on Saturday against SC Braga, only people who want to support the players will go to the stadium.”

In the podcast “No Princípio Era a Bola”, Rui Malheiro was blunt when talking about the German’s words, classifying them as “an own goal”. Tomás da Cunha, remembering that there were “excesses among fans”, referring to the throwing of goals, shared the analysis. “Schmidt took on the role of television commentator. That is not the role of the Benfica coach, as he is one of those most responsible for the season. That challenge, more than for the players, was for Schmidt”, considered the columnist for Express Tribune.