Benfica’s coach Jose Mourinho said ahead of today’s match with Ajax that Croatian football striker Franjo Ivanovic is “a great guy who gives his all in training and matches”, thereby dismissing media reports that he is out of favor.
When they always hit the same thing, I don’t like it, but I understand. When they lie, it bothers me, and it bothers me a lotthe 62-year-old Mourinho said at a press conference on Monday.
On Friday, the Portuguese replaced four players, including 22-year-old Ivanovic, at half-time during the Cup match with the third division Atletico, with the score 0-0. After the meeting he said he wanted to replace nine players due to insufficient commitmentbut he couldn’t change them that much. Benfica eventually won 2-0.
Ivanovic works hard and gives his all in training and matches. The fact that I replaced it has nothing to do with commitment, Mourinho pointed out in Amsterdam ahead of the match with Ajax in the Champions League.
He is a great guy who works hardhe added.
Ivanovic came four months ago from the Belgian champion Royal Union Saint-Gilloise for 22.8 million euros, which was the biggest transfer of a Croatian footballer this summer. Under coach Bruno Lage, he played in the starting line-up, but at the end of September, Mourniho sat on the bench and changed the formation.
In the one-striker system, the advantage is given to the Greek representative Vangelis Pavlidis, so the Croatian striker played a total of 14 minutes during the last four league games. On Friday in the Cup, Ivanovic played together with Pavlidis in the attack in a slightly more offensive system.
Ivanovic didn’t do well, but he did impeccable when it comes to professionalism. When someone makes up something about players that I like, it bothers meMourinho said.
Pavlidis also came to the defense of the Croatian representative.
I was in his shoessaid 27-year-old Pavlidis, who joined the club a year before Ivanovic.
Things will get better in the second part of the season. It takes character to play at Benficaand also time to adapt to a new environment, a new coach…, he added.
In 80 games for Benfica, Pavlidis scored 45 goals and registered 16 assists. Ivanovic has participated in 20 games so far, coming off the bench lately, scoring 5 goals and assisting once. Last season in Belgium, he scored 21 goals in 47 games, with seven assists.
Ajax and Benfica, the only teams in the Champions League with all four defeats in the first four rounds, will compete tonight starting at 18:45.
Benfica is in third place in the Portuguese championship after eleven rounds played, six points behind leaders Porto.
Ajax, for which Croatian defender Josip Šutalo plays, occupies sixth place in the Dutch championship, 14 points behind PSV.
(Hina | Photo: X)
