The Benfica coach didn’t take for granted the return of David Neres for Friday’s match (7 pm) with Portimonense, at the Estádio da Luz, in reference to the 15th round of the championship.
“It’s developing well. He made progress and returned to training, but for a short time. Only tomorrow (Friday) will we make a decision on whether to call up or not. But he will soon be back in the team and ready to play,” the German said at the press conference.
Recovering from a traumatic injury, Neres played his last match for Benfica in late November, against Penafiel, for the League Cup.
When asked if Benfica depend on some, Schmidt recalled Rafa’s absence and shooting: “I think all teams depend on some players, it’s part of football. The quality of the players is fundamental. To have a good team, you have to combine everyone’s qualities. Whoever played the most in the first half of the season played because they were doing very well. They are used to playing together and have shown quality. My choice of who plays is always thinking about what is best for “Benfica is the best approach to win matches. Players are important and we need to make sure they are in good shape and those on the bench have the opportunity to show off. We don’t have Rafa tomorrow, he’s suspended, we need to find a solution. He’s a very important player, but we played some games without important players and we managed to win.”
