Pedro Neto previews the champions league visit of Benfica

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Pedro Neto previews the champions league visit of Benfica  29/09/2025  Stamford Bridge, London, UK

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00:00OK, everyone. Thanks for joining us. We'll follow the same format as we just did with

00:16the manager. Take questions in English and Portuguese. Who would like to get us underway?

00:20Nizar.

00:21Pedro, I just wanted to ask you, you kind of played well against Brighton, but didn't

00:30get the result. But I just wanted to sort of ask you, how's the feeling around the club

00:34at the minute and how tired are you as well? Because you and a few of the players are playing

00:39a lot of minutes at the moment.

00:42The first question, I think the environment of the club, it's really, really positive.

00:46I think it's in the eyes of everyone that a lot of our points lost was because we had

00:52our own mistakes. In the last game, you could see that we were controlling most of the game

00:58and not blaming anyone. But as everyone knows, our own mistakes have been taking point from

01:04us. We know the quality that we have. We know the control that we have been having from the

01:08games, even Brent for the way we were winning to the last minute. And we can see the goal

01:12because our focus was not 100%. So the club is really positive. The players are really

01:17positive. And tomorrow we have an opportunity to show what we can do one more time and we

01:22go with everything to win the game.

01:24And as me, I'm really fresh. I feel really good. I enjoy to have these kind of games because

01:31it means that we don't have to train as much as we do. So it's really good to be playing football

01:36at week in, week out in the middle of the week. So I really just want to enjoy football.

01:42Simon?

01:47Hi, Pedro. You set such a high bar as a team in the Club World Cup final against PSG.

01:53Do you feel you've reached that standard since then? And do you also feel that there's an

01:58extra target on your backs as Club World Cup champions?

02:01Oh, thank you for that question. It's a really good question. To be honest, I want to do better.

02:09I think we as a team, we want to do much better as well. It's not about the target. I think

02:15it's the standards that we put, like you said, are really high. And I think we have been doing

02:21that. We have been playing well. We have been doing a lot of good stuff. And like I said before,

02:26it comes from our own mistakes. And that is what we have to improve. I think last season

02:31we showed what we can do. We showed in the World Cup what we can do. And this season is

02:36what we are going to do. We will show what we can do. And we will do great stuff, believe

02:40me.

02:45Hi, Pedro. How are you?

02:46Good. And you?

02:47Yeah, very well. First of all, do you think the lack of concentration in recent games is

02:54because you didn't have a summer off and you played in the Club World Cup? And secondly,

02:59what will it be like facing a legend, Portuguese legend, Chelsea legend, Jose Mourinho tomorrow?

03:05So the first question, I think that is one of the points. Like I said, even on the last

03:13game, we had Riz out because of an injury. He was out for some seconds. And I think, I

03:22don't know if it's lack of concentration of sometimes thinking the game, but the way

03:27that we concede the red card, it's an unbelievable way to concede from the way that we were controlling

03:35the game. But like I said, we are not here to blame anyone. I think it's a thing that has

03:39to come from us as a team. We have to go to the game with more focus. And in the Premier

03:45League, in the Champions League, in these kind of competitions, you cannot rest one second

03:49because in one second you concede, you give away presents and you are dead to the game.

03:55So I think it's a thing that we have to learn. And the second question, of course, it's as

04:01a Portuguese, it will be like a pride to play against as a manager like Mourinho. What he

04:10represents to the club as well, what he represents to Portuguese people, the opportunity that he

04:14gave to Portuguese people to go around the world and play on the best teams and to the

04:20managers to coach the best clubs. We are really looking forward to play against them. And like

04:27I said, it's a very good opportunity to others to bounce back as well.

04:32Pedro, just following up on that, as someone who grew up with Mourinho already being a big

04:36personality in World Football, how big a personality is he back in Portugal? And does he divide opinion

04:43or is everybody in Portugal behind him?

04:46I think you cannot have a divided opinion on him. What he did for Portugal, what he did in

04:52terms of people knowing who he is for what he won. It's not easy words that he did. So

04:57people in Portugal, they respect him a lot and they know the value that he has. They know

05:04this is why Benfica as well hired him for that reason. And as I said, he's one of the biggest

05:11names in Portugal with the Ronaldo, Figo, Ozebio. So he's in the top of the list and Portuguese

05:17people respect him a lot. Jacob.

05:22The manager just said that he accepts that he needs to do better when the team is down

05:28to ten men and some of the decisions that he made. Can I just ask, were you surprised

05:32to be taken off after the red card against Manchester United?

05:37No. It's his decision. If you ask me if I liked it, I never like to go off the pitch. I always

05:45want to be there. So it's his decisions. He knows what is better for the team and we accept

05:49what he does.

05:52It's a similar theme, actually. Sorry, Pedro. I was just going to ask, as Jacob said, the

05:58manager was very honest about him wanting to learn to cope with playing with ten men more.

06:03Would you like the team to remain more attacking if you do go down to ten men? Because it's

06:09felt in the last two games that maybe the red card has prompted negativity.

06:17I will be honest with you. I think even with ten men, of course, you like. You always like

06:23to attack. You always want to keep the positive mind. We have a good example, as in my mind

06:28I have the game, for example, with Newcastle and Liverpool, that Newcastle score one goal against

06:33Liverpool and they want one man down. But in my mind, what I think as well is that if

06:38we are Chelsea and we are one man down, we cannot concede so easily three goals at home

06:42with our fans. And we have to do much better as a team, despite the options that the manager

06:48takes. If it takes off a winger, if it takes off a centre-back, it doesn't matter. But as

06:53a ten man in the pitch, we are all behind the line, so it has to be much difficult for the

06:57other teams to score goals against us.

07:03Davide?

07:04Hi Pedro. Asking about Maresca. He came with a clear idea in mind of how he wants you guys

07:10to play. How long did it take for you guys to absorb what he wanted? And how much did

07:16you grow into this model he has in mind?

07:19So, it takes a while to, as normal to every team, when you have a new manager to, how do

07:29you say, to have solid, to be solid on the performance and the ideas of the manager has.

07:35But I think as we showed last year that we brought a lot of his ideas, we were into it

07:40and we were really fast because, as you know, last year we were second for a long time.

07:47And then, of course, we had a bad moment like everyone does. And like I was saying, I think

07:53we were really fast to get solid on these ideas and we did a really good job. And we are doing

07:58that as well. It's like I said, it's just missing this key part of not making mistakes and for

08:02short the things will go back to us again.

08:03Gary.

08:04Hiya. Thanks for your time. Surrounded, obviously, by managers holding Premier League trophies,

08:15three of Jose. He's obviously a legend here. The fans still love him or most of them still

08:21love him. But Maresca and you guys have won a couple of big trophies already. The fans don't

08:27seem to have warmed to the manager in the same way as previous trophy winners. Why is that,

08:33do you think? And is it disappointing? And what can you as players do about it?

08:36Sorry, I didn't understand. Can you repeat the question?

08:40Trophies all around the walls here, including obviously Jose, who's a legend, coming back.

08:45The fans love him. Most of the fans love Jose. You, as a team and management, won a couple

08:51of big trophies as well. But it doesn't seem to be the love for Enzo Maresca as there is for,

08:56say, Jose Mourinho among the fans. Why is that? And what can you as a team do about it?

09:03Football is like that. In one day, you are the best. If you lose, in the other day, you

09:08are the worst. So when the manager won, he was the best in the world. And now he is losing.

09:12He is the worst in the world. As a player, it's the same. When we won the World Cup, we

09:16were the best and now we are the worst. So Jose is part of the story of the club. He's not

09:22here to win or lose games. And Maresca is here to do his best. And he cannot do better

09:29than what he's doing because it's not only him that is his fault. It's the

09:34player's fault as well. We are on the pitch. We have to take the blame as well. We have

09:39to do much better. And as a team, we have to focus on ourselves and learn from our mistakes

09:43and learn from our mistakes to the next games do better.

09:46Okay. Just in front here.

09:48Pedro, boa tarde. Henrique Mateus, da TV e da CNN de Portugal.

09:52Pergunto-lhe se houve um efeito Mourinho na preparação do jogo do Chelsea

09:56pela história que ele tem no clube. E se me permite outra questão sobre o Enzo.

10:02Ele saiu do Benfica aqui para o Chelsea. Se falou com ele sobre este reencontro e o que

10:10ele está a sentir neste momento. Quanto à preparação do Benfica do

10:15Mr. José Mourinho, sinceramente, ainda vamos falar hoje. O Mr. costuma falar

10:19de dois dias e, às vezes, no dia antes do jogo, ainda não temos muito a essa

10:23preparação. E quanto ao Enzo, já tínhamos falado sobre o Benfica no

10:27Mundial de Clubes porque tivemos a felicidade de frontá-los e foi um jogo

10:30muito emocionante porque o jogo teve parado não sei quando, teve também devidas

10:33às condições climáticas e foi, como o Enzo diz, é sempre um clube muito difícil

10:40de frontar. É um dos melhores clubes do mundo. Temos que ser sinceros. O Benfica está

10:44sempre sendo nestas competições. Todas as pessoas que estão na estrutura do Benfica

10:47percebem muito bem este tipo de competições e o que se tem que fazer, mas nós também

10:52já estamos num grande clube, num dos melhores clubes do mundo também e estamos cientes

10:56do que temos que fazer. Temos que estar focados em nós próprios e preparados para jogar

10:59contra uma grande equipa e esperemos trazer os três pontos.

11:08Olá Pedro, boa tarde. Luís Rocha Rodrigues do 00.

11:12Primeiro, gostava de lhe perguntar se 2025 está a ser o ano da sua vida

11:15do ponto de vista fotobolístico. A firmação na seleção com um título, a firmação no

11:20Chelsea com um título e depois gostava de recuar aqui uns anos. Houve uma altura,

11:25salvo errantes do Wolverhampton, que se falou da hipótese de poder representar

11:28o Benfica. E eu gostava de lhe perguntar se amanhã não gostaria mais feliz do outro lado

11:38do que do lado onde vai estar.

11:42Quanto à primeira pergunta, como é óbvio, foi um ano espetacular.

11:46Foi um ano em que felizmente também me consegui afastar um bocado das lesões.

11:49Um ano em que consegui ter muita consistência a nível de tempo de jogo.

11:52E sem dúvida a nível coletivo e a nível individual foi um ano muito bom.

11:56Espero que hajam anos muito melhores.

11:59E quanto à segunda pergunta, acho que essa história é pública.

12:04Havia a possibilidade de ter ido para o Benfica antes de ir para o Wolverhampton,

12:09mas as coisas no futebol mudam muito rápido.

12:11Felizmente as coisas correram muito bem.

12:13Foi uma grande opção.

12:14Estou muito contente do lado que vou representar.

12:17Acho que as coisas estão vindo a correr muito bem.

12:19Estou muito feliz por levar este símbolo ao peito.

12:21E vou continuar a honrá-lo com todo o orgulho e com toda a força que tenho.

12:26Tem tempo para um pouco mais, mas vamos começar com essa.

12:34Pedro, tudo bem?

12:36Você ainda é muito jovem, mas você já foi um garoto que saiu de Portugal,

12:40primeiro para a Itália, depois para a Inglaterra.

12:42Eu imagino que tem uma empatia com essa chegada do Estevão, tão jovem por aqui.

12:47E eu queria te perguntar como que você está vendo esse início dele,

12:52já há bastante minutagem, e como que um dos representantes da pequena,

12:56porém feliz comunidade lusófona desse elenco,

12:59está ajudando o Estevão na comunicação, no inglês e nessa adaptação aqui no Chelsea?

13:03O Estevão é um miúdo que felizmente gosta muito de aprender,

13:09é um miúdo com muita garra, é um miúdo que nota-se que quer trabalhar muito,

13:13é um miúdo com muita qualidade, e sem dúvida esperemos que possa dar muito à equipa,

13:19porque sabemos a qualidade que ele tem, e a única coisa que ele tem que fazer

13:22é continuar a ser ele mesmo, um miúdo que veio do Brasil, com alegria de jogar.

13:25É isso que nós no clube, como colegas de equipas, tentámos fazer por ele, ajudá-lo.

13:30No inglês é um bocado difícil, então ainda temos que fazer muita tradução,

13:35mas acima de tudo estamos focados em dar-lhe um ambiente para que ele nos consiga ajudar,

13:39a levar o clube onde nós queremos levar.

13:41Ok, temos tempo para dois mais, a primeira.

13:44A primeira.

13:46Pedro, boa tarde. Valério para a RTP.

13:49Duas questões. A primeira relacionada com o seu percurso aqui,

13:53se um dia, e por elogios que já fez ao José Mourinho,

13:56um dia gostava de ser treinado pelo José Mourinho,

13:58se tem esse objetivo de carreira, seja em que situação for,

14:00no outro clube, na seleção nacional, e depois relativamente a esta partida,

14:04por comparação com a do campeonato do mundo de clubes,

14:07se acha que vai ser um jogo completamente diferente?

14:11O Benfica tem uma equipa renovada, muita gente saiu, muita gente entrou,

14:14e também tem um técnico novo, ou se encontra aqui algumas semelhanças,

14:17até porque o José Mourinho não está assim há tanto tempo na equipe?

14:21Quanto à primeira pergunta, devido à história do Míster,

14:27devido às aprendizagens e devido à experiência que ele tem no futebol,

14:31como é, haverá sempre um privilégio de ser treinado por ele.

14:34Quem não gostaria de ser treinado por um dos melhores treinadores de sempre?

14:37Neste momento, como é, estou focado no meu trabalho aqui e somente aqui.

14:42E quanto à segunda pergunta, é isso que está a dizer, acho que em termos táticos,

14:56como é óbvio, o Mr. Mourinho já meteu as suas ideias ao trabalho,

15:02enquanto os jogadores também mudam muito, por isso estamos à espera de um Benfica diferente,

15:06um Benfica com ideias diferentes, mas acima de tudo sempre com a mesma vontade de ganhar,

15:09e isso é o mais importante, sabemos o que Mourinho é capaz de fazer,

15:14mas, tal como eu disse também anteriormente, estamos focados somente no nosso trabalho,

15:17na nossa maneira de jogar e sentes do que também queremos muito esta vitória.

15:22Ok, final, back in English here with Ben.

15:26Hi Pedro, just coming back to the red cards, if I may.

15:30Historically, Chelsea have always had player leaders like Lampard, Terry, Silva.

15:36Now, when you have a number of red cards, can you give an insight into who's leading in the dressing room

15:42to try and restore order, and what kind of conversations are taking place,

15:46not between manager and player, but between players and players?

15:49The conversation has been made by all of us, to be honest.

15:54The leaders, we have always our captain, Ries, and he already has made himself clear.

16:00Of course, I will not tell everything that we talk about, but as I said before,

16:05we are aware of what we are capable of doing and what we have done till now.

16:11And I think it's on the eyes of everyone.

16:13Like I said, the games that we had before, we really control the games.

16:16These mistakes came from our own focus, like I said before,

16:23and what we have to do is try to reduce these mistakes and be more aware of it,

16:29because with that, we lose a lot of points and a lot of matches like it happened in the recent times,

16:34that the five losses that we had lately, four of them was with four red cards.

16:40Thank you, guys. Cheers.

16:42Thank you very much, guys.

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