Vicens: “Fans have the feeling that the team fought for them”

Game analysis

“It’s complicated, because you’re playing against Rangers, this is Ibrox Park, this is the Europa League, this is elite European competition, and you can’t expect things to go exactly as you want throughout the entire game. We had already spoken with the team about the fact that there are moments here when you’re going to have to suffer. Braga already has experience, they’ve been here three times, and you know that every time you come here it’s a difficult pitch. It’s a difficult pitch for everyone. It’s true that this good start by the team doesn’t come with a reward, and when, in these types of games, against high-level opponents, you don’t convert your chances, you end up having an important missed opportunity. The team remained alive, it’s true that we reached the final stretch almost like in Genk. In Genk we had dominated the first half more, we even generated more than today, but you get to the last minute of the first half and, again, two consecutive corners cost you that penalty for Fran [Navarro]’s handball, and you go into halftime with an adverse result.” I think that, after what happened in the first half – because it’s true that we lost a bit of control and that, at times, Rangers attacked us, but without really creating great opportunities – we knew how to suffer and maintain control within the instability of having to defend, without conceding goalscoring chances, apart from those two corners and the penalty. It’s again a tough blow for the team to go into halftime behind on the scoreboard, when it wasn’t an easy game, but we also didn’t deserve to be losing. We came out for the second half and the team became ambitious again, tried to chase the game, because you have to turn it around, and obviously found itself in a situation you never want, which is being down to ten men, with Rodrigo [Zalazar]’s sending off. And I think that’s what we saw from then on, because we can’t forget that, with the added time, which was six minutes plus an extra minute for Moscardo’s substitution in stoppage time, we played from the 61st to the 97th minute, 36 minutes with one less player. “And if we look at the statistics from the second half, the team with the most possession in the second half continues to be Sp. Braga. This demonstrates what these guys are capable of, and we saw that on the pitch: even with one less player, they went forward pressing, not letting the opponent get out, trying to corner the rival, trying to find the second goal, and twice we had the 2-1 after Gabri [Martínez]’s goal. I think that, beyond what we can value in terms of the result, the image of this team, which never stops chasing the game, which is our ambition, which leaves everything on the pitch so that the fans who come here to brave the cold from Braga have the feeling that the team fought for them, for this club, for this institution, to have a good Europa League campaign, which is a competition in which we have many hopes. Therefore, I think that, after all this, I would have liked to win, of course, but I have to recognize the merit of this team in everything it did.”

The right message at critical moments.

Ultimately, when the sending-off happened, we had two substitutions prepared to try and turn the game around. Of course, we had to pause and reorganize with one less player. You have to keep a cool head. After all, the players’ heart rates are higher, and you have to be able to stay there on the sidelines with slightly lower heart rates and try to find what’s best for the team. And then, another thing that happens when you’re down to ten men is that the effort is greater, and you have to be very attentive, in this new situation, to who is getting more tired. Why? So that the substitutions you might have planned, you might have to rethink them. Why? To keep the team as fresh as possible. That’s why we also took a while to decide what to do, to see who would break down first physically. And we found ourselves with Gabri [Martínez]’s card, who had to be very attentive to many defensive contributions. “And, so as not to be down to nine men, we opted to take Gabri off, because the truth is that he was also giving us a lot when we recovered the ball on that left flank, and he even came close to giving us the second goal. Well, it’s our job to respond to adversity. It’s our job to give the team alternatives when the game unfolds in a way that forces you to adapt, and that’s where we focused our energy.”

Criticism of arbitration

“I prefer not to speak, because I think I would say things that wouldn’t be positive for anyone when it comes to refereeing. Therefore, I’m focusing on the team, which is what I can control and over which I can have an impact in the coming days. To continue training, to continue improving, we have to do things… continue doing things better. We have to be able, in that first half where we lost a little control, to keep possession of the ball for longer.”

Are you satisfied with the result?

“Well, I would have liked to win. I wanted to come here to win and, after what I saw, I’ll tell you… You could have lost, because in a game where you’re down to ten men and you play 36 minutes like that, you can lose. But I also think we could have won. And therefore, I think you’ll rarely hear me say that I’m satisfied with a point. We come together in games to win. Now, if I have to talk about whether I’m satisfied or not with the performance, the work, the fight and the competitiveness of the team and the players, of course I am.”