Marco Rose, coach of the English Bournemouth team, highlighted the quality of the players available on the bench, after his team succeeded in coming from a 1-0 deficit to win 3-1 over its host Sparta Prague, on Thursday evening, in the fourth round of the league stage of the European Football League (Europa League).
With this victory, the team nicknamed “The Cherry Pies” maintained its perfect start in its first European participation, achieving its fourth victory in 4 matches in the continental competition, bringing it to a series of 7 consecutive victories in all competitions.
Bournemouth is currently in second place in the Europa League standings, with 12 points, maintaining the full score so far, on goal difference behind Benfica (the leaders), who are on par with them on the same score.
Things were not easy for the team coming from the southern coast of England. Lewis Cook missed a penalty kick, before Sparta Prague took the lead with a clean goal in the 35th minute through Ebrima Sengati.
But the Czech team gave Bournemouth a chance to get back in the match after their player Tobias Goodall was sent off in the 37th minute.
Thanks to their numerical superiority, Rose's team gave a strong performance in the second half, and the substitutes brought in by the German coach played a decisive role in the match, as Tyler Adams, Evanilson and Ryan each scored the three goals for the English team, which gave them points in the match and maintained their perfect European record.
In statements to the TNT Sports network after the match, which took place in the Czech capital, Prague, Rose said: “When you have such quality on the bench, it gives you as a coach a feeling of calm and confidence.”
He added: “In the end, we gave a good collective performance from everyone. Returning the result away from home is a positive indicator for everyone in the team.”
He stressed: “We faced a strong opponent, who excelled in keeping the ball, and it was difficult to pressure him, and he also scored a wonderful goal. At halftime, we stressed the need not to be discouraged and to continue to have confidence in our abilities.”
The Bournemouth coach added: “We had to be more accurate in front of goal and increase the tempo of the game.”
This streak of seven consecutive victories is Bournemouth's best since 2014, but Rose stressed the need for complacency not to seep into his team's ranks, saying: "It is a great achievement, and we must continue on this path."
Rose concluded his statements by saying: “We must remain vigilant and fully focused. It depends on us to exploit this momentum, especially since everyone will try to beat us. “If we get into a state of relaxation or complacency, we will get into trouble.”
In the next round of the English Premier League, Bournemouth will meet its host, Ipswich Town, on Sunday afternoon, seeking to achieve an eighth successive victory in all competitions.
Although Portuguese Benfica continued its perfect start in the European Football League (Europa League), and achieved its fourth successive victory in the continental competition, maintaining the perfect score, its coach Marco Silva admitted his mistake during the team’s victory over its guest, Lech Poznań, Poland.
Benfica achieved a valuable 3-1 victory over Lech Poznań, on Thursday evening, in the fourth round of the league stage of the continental competition, to sit at the top with 12 points, after winning its first four matches in the tournament, superior by goal difference to its closest rivals, the English Bournemouth and Hungarian teams, Ferencvaros, who are equal to it on the same score.
Silva confirmed during the press conference that followed the match that his team achieved a well-deserved victory, but pointed out that he made a mistake in thinking about the team's next match after being confident of the victory, which could have caused him to lose at least two points.
Silva said: “It was a well-deserved victory. We worked harder to deserve this victory.” We were favourites, but I said last night that we have to prove it on the pitch, and that's what we did. We completely controlled the first half, and we started the second half in the same way, as we carried out quick attacks that we could have finished better.”
In the 72nd minute, while the result indicated that Benfica was ahead by two straight goals, Lech Poznań took advantage of a defensive error by the hosts, so that Leo Bengtsson was able to score the goal to reduce the difference.
Minutes before that, Benfica's coach had made several substitutions, including removing Thomas Araujo and bringing in defensive midfielder Joao Baleña.
The Portuguese coach commented: “After we advanced by two clean goals, we started making changes. “Some players were suffering from fatigue, while others had already received yellow cards.”
He added: “The first three substitutions were aimed at achieving some stability, but we conceded a goal after the fourth substitution. "Maybe I didn't help the team with that substitution. I was already thinking about the next match, and I didn't want to risk bringing Thomas on."
He explained: “I pushed Balenya, but our performance declined. It's not about Joao per se, it's about the other players not getting enough time on the pitch. Thomas was playing in his natural position as a centre-back, and I shouldn't have taken him out. However, we had achieved a well-deserved victory by all standards.”
Jakub Kaminski had returned to participate in matches with Benfica, last weekend, after recovering from injury, and there was a chance that he would get some playing minutes against his former club, but the Polish player did not participate, as the coach replaced him with Gianluca Pristiani and Dodi Lukebakio, and the former succeeded in scoring the goal that made the score 2-0 in favor of the hosts.
Regarding Kaminsky’s situation, Silva said: “He started the season as a starter, but the competition is very fierce. There are other players fighting for his position, and it will be difficult to dislodge them. We have four or five high-level wingers, each of whom has different characteristics, and even Rafa plays in this position as well.”
He continued: “He (Cuba) got his chance, and he performed very well against Milan, and gained some confidence, but unfortunately, he suffered an injury while participating with the Polish national team. What stopped his good career. However, his self-confidence remains intact. “It now depends on him to prove that he is an effective option, and that he has the necessary skills.”
Silva, who spent the past few years in England, returned to European competitions this season, and it is a return that has been crowned with success so far. He spoke about this matter, saying: “It is wonderful to participate in European championships, as we face opponents from different football cultures.”
He pointed out: “Lech Poznań, for example, completely dominates its local league, but we adapted to this situation without significant training. We have tools that help players understand the strategy, but there was not enough time for training.”
The Benfica coach stressed: “We have come halfway. Before that, we played 6 matches in the preliminary rounds. This allowed us to get to know the players better. “Some players played a lot of minutes, and we have to manage that.”
Silva concluded his statements by saying: “It is important to achieve victory and collect points. Appearing at the top of the standings does not give us anything tangible at the present time, but we are seeking to avoid playing two additional matches in the next stage of the tournament.”
Martin O'Neill, coach of the Scottish Celtic team, called on his players to focus on reaching the knockout stages of the European Football League (Europa League).
This came after the team's strong return in the second half of the match against its Turkish guest, Besiktas, to achieve a valuable victory with a score of 3-2, on Thursday evening, in the fourth round of the league stage of the continental competition.
After a match that brought back memories of the glory days that Celtic experienced against the elite of European clubs at Park Head Stadium, the Scottish team’s tally rose to 3 points, ranking 32nd, as it put an end to its losing streak that continued in its first three matches in the tournament this season.
The Scottish League champion won the three points in the match thanks to a decisive goal in the 87th minute scored by substitute Camilo Duran, who scored two goals in the match.
Celtic were trailing to a goal scored by Junior Olaitan, who followed a rebound after blocking a penalty kick, before O'Neill decided to bring on Doran, Callum Osmand and Colby Donovan after the hour mark, which completely changed the course of the match.
Ozmand scored the equalizer with his first touch of the ball, then Duran gave Celtic the lead in the 78th minute, and although Orkun Kukcu succeeded in adjusting the score in favor of Besiktas to become 2-2 in the 85th minute with a low shot, Duran came back to snatch the winning goal 3 minutes before the end, in a match that was characterized by excitement until the last minute, but it gave Celtic a much-needed victory.
O'Neill admitted that the atmosphere of the match reminded him of his first term in charge of the team at the turn of the millennium, when he led Celtic to achieve historic victories over clubs such as Juventus of Italy and Porto of Portugal, and reaching the final of the European Cup in 2003.
Now, O'Neill urged his players to focus on finishing the league stage in the top 24, to ensure a place in the qualifying round for the tournament's knockout rounds.
O'Neill said, in press statements after the meeting: “I was very pleased with the performance. It was really cool. We did everything we could during the match, and we played really good football, especially in the second half.”
He added: “At the moment when we thought we would lose two points, we came back strong to win. It was an amazing effort from the team. They showed a lot of spirit, determination, and desire to return to the atmosphere of the match, and to control it as well.”
The Celtic coach explained: “There was some tension; Because we had not scored any points before this match, but the match carried everything. We were responsible tonight, and we gave ourselves a real opportunity. We are still confident in our ability to qualify.”
He continued: “Most of the time, the audience gives us a strong boost, and tonight was very special. “It was another European evening that brought back memories of the beautiful past.”
O'Neill also defended his decision to exclude Duran, Osmand, Donovan and Egyptian Haitham Hassan from the starting lineup, preferring players such as Sebastian Toncti, Kasper Hogg, the record signing, who is currently suffering from a decline in form, and Jordan Lutomba, who caused the penalty kick that gave Besiktas the lead early in the second half.
O'Neill said: “This was Lutoumba's first major participation with us, and we are trying to learn as much as possible about the players. Some changes were made to the team to freshen up blood, especially since some players like James Forrest, who performed wonderfully, may not have been able to complete the match.
He pointed out: “We had to give the opportunity to other players, given that we played a large number of matches in a short period of time, and we are heading to another match on Sunday.”
