Nuno Dias: “Our goal is to come first.”

The coach expects a “balanced” major tour, but is confident of progressing to the elite tour

Nuno Dias was the spokesman for Leo’s ambition in the main round of the UEFA Futsal Champions League. “The forecast is always the best. In every competition, athletes compete to win, and this is another one of them. I expect difficult matches in what seems to me to be the group that will achieve the most balanced results thanks to the value of the teams. “According to our analysis, we are against four strong teams, but our goal is to pass, preferably in first place, well,” said the Leonin coach, who will face the Ukrainians from FC Heat tomorrow (15.00) and also matches the Kazakh team MFC Ayat. (Thursday, 15.00) and Croatians MNK Ulisum (Saturday, 19.00), first group matches.

In a press conference, the leader of the Greens and Whites refuses to talk about absences from this stage of the race, such as Hugo Neves (suspension) and Bernado Paco (injury). “When there are players who are unavailable for one reason or another, others appear. We are calm on this aspect. The available players will be prepared and know the difficulties and our value. Regardless of absences or suspensions, whoever plays will be ready. “You will have to play more minutes than if they were all available, but for the players it is good.”

Bunny Varela also previewed the match, making the little time to prepare for the main round less valuable. “We will play tomorrow without excuses. As Zeke T says, we just have to respond with action and that’s what we’ll do,” highlighted the 34-year-old Leo player, who emphasizes that the Lions want to “feel a sense of responsibility”: “The story has been built by many athletes who have been through here. We want to honor her and write more pages. We cannot want to live in the past, only in the present and the future. This is what we live for: big competitions, big matches, and big wins. We know we won’t always win, but we have to leave with the knowledge that we gave and did everything.