Pasteis de nata and desire for Champions. Fonseca sounds the charge for the Liverpool test

Liverpool test for Milan Paulo Fonsecawho after the first seasonal victory against Venezia must find continuity in the first match in the new Champions League. Below are all the words of the Portuguese coach in his pre-match press conference.

Will tomorrow’s match have an impact on the fans?
“Yes, the support of the fans is important to us. As it was for us before and during Venezia. Tomorrow it will be the same: we need to feel the love of our fans.”

What did the victory against Venice bring?
“Victory always brings confidence, but it will be a different game. It’s important to have won against Venezia. We are growing.”

What kind of Liverpool does he expect?
“For me, they are one of the strongest teams in Europe, with the individual players we know. We have to be perfect defensively to win this match. You can’t make mistakes with these teams. You have to be complete in defense and then attack with stability.”

Opportunity tomorrow?
“Tomorrow is an opportunity to show how much we are improving and growing. It’s an opportunity for me too. Liverpool are different to the Serie A teams.”

Did you speak to Cardinal?
“I always talk to him, before and after the games. I leave what we said between us.”

Did Ibra tell you something?
“I talk to him normally, about the games, the players, the atmosphere. There’s nothing new. They’re normal conversations.”

Same formation against Liverpool and Inter?
“The same players can play but I can also have the possibility of changing in my head (laughs, ed.). This week we have three games and I have to think about all the games. Tomorrow is the most important because it is the next one, but I cannot forget that we have the derby in the next Serie A game”.

Less domination and more balance?
“The first thing I tell my players is that the best way to defend is not to lose the ball. I really believe that this team, in the future, can be very dominant. I want to be more dominant than we are now. For me, defending well is not to lose the ball. When we don’t have the ball, we also have to, and this is a big flaw, defend together, especially in this type of match.”

Are Liverpool favourites?
“Words are words, what counts is what you do on the pitch. Favourite or not favourite? We have to think that we can win”.

Did you like the positions of Reijnders and Loftus against Venezia?
“I liked this structure, we can see it again in the future. Obviously every game has a different strategy. I liked it not only offensively but also defensively. Positional play is important for me. Now we have to improve the connections between the various players, but I liked it.”

What new things have you discovered about Fofana after a month of training him?
“Fofana arrived later, we don’t have much time to work with him, we can’t expect a perfect Fofana now: also because he plays a different role to the one he did at Monaco. He’s improving important details, I see him growing. I believe in him a lot, he’ll be very important for the team, but we have to understand that he arrived now and needs time to adapt to Serie A, which is different from France”.

Are you few in midfield?
“No, we have many midfielders. There was Bennacer’s injury, but we have valuable young players like Zeroli and Vos.”

A promise…
“If I win against Liverpool and Inter, I promise, I will bring pasteis de nata (a typical Portuguese pastry, ed.) to the conference.”

Morata intervenes:
“I’ll bring the jamon (ham, ed.)”.