Soccer

Porto manager insists they are not looking for revenge

‘We don’t need to be obsessing about that, negative thoughts are in the past’

The Porto team train at Anfield ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final. Photograph: EPA

Tue Apr 9 2019 - 12:31

Porto manager Sergio Conceicao insists revenge will not be the motivating factor for their Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool.

Last season the pair met in the last-16, but a 5-0 drubbing in the Estadio do Dragao in the first leg meant a goalless draw in the return at Anfield resulted in an early exit for the Portuguese side.

As humiliating as that defeat was, Conceicao insists it has been forgotten.

“I’ve heard you constantly ask this question, ‘Liverpool, will it be revenge?’ I didn’t talk about it, you keep asking me about it,” he said.

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“There is no question of revenge, it is a game of football. All games have a history to them, some different to others.

“No single game can change the characteristics of our team. What happened last year was last year, end of story.

“I don’t like losing. No-one likes losing in the final stages of the Champions League, particularly the first leg at home.

“But we don’t need to be obsessing about that, negative thoughts are in the past. You don’t measure the value of teams by that one day.”

Porto have not won a European tie in England in 19 visits attempts, avoiding defeat on just three occasions.

But, despite being huge underdogs, Conceicao remains confident.

“I don’t think anyone wanted to draw Liverpool,” he said. “But I think it’s possible to win here tomorrow.”

Midfielder Danilo agreed.

“I’m not going to point out their weak spots because they are strategies, we have but we aim to exploit them and take them by surprise,” he said.

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