Ricardo Sa Pinto hails "historic" win over "one of the best in the Premier League" after Braga beat Wolves
In the aftermath of a hard-fought victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in Molineux, Braga manager Ricardo Sa Pinto has been speaking with pride regarding what he sees as a historic result in the club’s history.
Braga went into the match as underdogs despite their wealth of Europa League experience, but managed to come out on top thanks to Ricardo Horta’s well-taken goal in the 70th minute of the match.
Wolves dominated possession and had more chances overall, but Braga, who came with a clear game plan to defend as a unit and counter when possible, managed to remain resilient and frustrate a Wolves side lacking the required final ball to come out on top against their Portuguese counterparts.
With 3 points on the board in a highly competitive group that also contains Slovan Bratislava and Besiktas, Braga fans are unsurprisingly delighted with the win, and manager Sa Pinto has been quick to also express great pleasure at the result.
“We were very competent in what was a very difficult game. We were warriors, as is the motto of this club. The players already deserved more luck in terms of results. We knew how difficult it was going to be to play here, but we got what we wanted. This is a beautiful day in the history of Sporting Club de Braga.”
“In the first half we played better, but in the second half they improved. But we knew how to suffer, we remained organised and stabilised until we got opportunities to snatch a goal. We knew how to control those moments and I think we deserve this victory.”
“Now we need to enjoy the moment, it's an historic day for Braga and an historic day for Portuguese football.”
Sa Pinto, who only joined Braga in the summer, also admitted that he would have taken a point, but did feel Braga had what it took to earn all three, saying: “Playing here, we were always looking to secure the best possible result, and would never give up on looking for all three points.”
“If we were to have gotten one point, it would have been a positive result. But I liked the team’s behaviour and realised that we could win the game, because we are a competenet team, both in defence and offense.”
On the group as a whole, Sa Pinto said: “The group is completely open. Today, we managed to surprise Wolverhampton. The target this season was to reach the Europa League group stage, we made it. From here we will enjoy the journey and dignify the image of the club in Europe.”
Sa Pinto also pointed out how this result was particularly important for Portugal as a whole, citing the UEFA Coefficient and Portugal’s ongoing battle with Russia.
Portugal currently sit in 7th in the rankings, behind Russia who sit in 6th. If Portugal manage to surpass Russia and leapfrog them in the UEFA Coefficient, Portugal will be rewarded with an extra Champions League berth.
Currently, only the winner of the Primeira Liga gets an automatic spot in the Champions League group stage, while 2nd have to go through qualification, dropping into the Europa League group stage if they fail to go through. 3rd then goes directly to the Europa League group stage, while 4th and 5th have to go through qualifying rounds to reach the Europa League proper.
However, if Portugal catch Russia in the UEFA Coefficient rankings, both the Portuguese champions and runners-up will automatically go to the Champions League group stage, meaning that 3rd and 4th place finishers in the Primeira Liga will be guaranteed at least a spot in the Europa League group stage.
Ricardo Sa Pinto during his time at Sporting CP. Photo author: Руденко Денис. License link.
