In the game that closes the 34th matchday and also the 2023/24 Football First League, only a victory interests Sporting de Braga to surpass FC Porto and repeat the classification of last season.

"We left Guimarães [2-1 triumph, in the previous matchday, with the second goal arriving in injury time by Rony Lopes] with a feeling of power and capacity [very great], so if we don't manage to do it after everything we've done, it's a frustration, obviously yes. I would like to end up giving this prize to everyone, especially the players, members, staff and management. We're going to fight to make it happen, we can't be afraid", he said.

The coach said he expects "a difficult game with a very strong and very well-guided team", in which the Minhotos, with one less point, will have to defeat the 'dragons' to take the last place on the podium of the First League.

"It's an all-or-nothing game for us. We fought hard to reach the last game with the possibility of fighting for third place and we have to leave everything on the field until the last drop of sweat", he stressed at the press conference preview.

Rui Duarte praised FC Porto, "a great team, with very unique characteristics, very intense and aggressive, very strong with and without the ball".

The coach believes that Sporting de Braga has to face the game with the Portistas "as a final", since only a victory interests him, noting that FC Porto can play with two results (draw and victory), and refused to assume any kind of favoritism.

"FC Porto is a very strong team, it plays in any stadium with a very strong identity, based on what its coach is", he noted, appealing to the team's "concentration" and "rigor", and stressing that playing at home with the support of the fans can be important: "If we want to get ahead, we have to show it in every move, we have to be very strong and focused, have a lot of rigor to overcome ourselves".

Rui Duarte recalled the time when Sérgio Conceição was his coach at Olhanense, leaving words of praise for the 'dragons' coach.

"He's a person I like very much, he's a friend, he's one of my references as a coach. I really enjoyed training with him", he said.

The Disciplinary Council of the Portuguese Football Federation has opened a disciplinary process against Rui Duarte for invading a technical area in the recent Minho classic with Vitória de Guiamrães, but the coach downplayed the situation.

"Probably, it was because I entered the locker room too early to celebrate. I'm very undisciplined [laughs]. But, I'll be on the bench tomorrow [Saturday], it won't have any influence on the game", he said.

Álvaro Djaló is part of a list of pre-called players for the Spanish national team for Euro2024 which, for Rui Duarte, is a "source of pride", but it is also a "sign of the quality" of the 'arsenalistas' players and that Sporting de Braga "works well in training".

Paulo Oliveira and Álvaro Djaló are back in the options after serving a suspension.

Sporting de Braga, fourth classified, with 68 points, and FC Porto, third, with 69, will face each other from 8:30 pm on Saturday, at the Braga Municipal Stadium, in a game that will be refereed by Nuno Almeida, from the Algarve Football Association.

Leia Também: "Ultimatum" by Bruno Fernandes to Manchester United is news in England (Portuguese version)