After the latest round, Sporting de Braga closed in on FC Porto in third place, both with 59 points, and the coach assumes that this is clearly the team's goal.

"Yes, that is clear, we do not hide it. [Braga] is a big club and those who represent it must be aware that it forces us to work harder every day, to be serious, to want more to give consistency to the greatness of this club and to the steps forward that it has taken in recent years. It is good to depend only on ourselves, but we only want to look at the game with Vizela. We want to have a good final stretch of the championship to secure third place," he reinforced, in anticipation of the reception to Vizela.

Rui Duarte had asked for a different attitude and mentality after the defeat to Arouca (3-0, at home, in the previous round), in his debut in charge of the 'arsenalistas', and questioned about whether he feels that, after the victory on the ground of Estoril Praia (1-0), this change has been assimilated, the coach noted that "it does not happen overnight".

"[We want to] Create an identity, have values, the players understand what kind of leader is on this side, because there are different leaderships. But we created a good synergy, coaching staff and players, healthy, to work well, and everyone counts. In two games, only two players did not play and that shows that I am not speaking for free, but with conviction," he said.

To beat Vizela, Sporting de Braga "has to work hard and play a very serious and rigorous game, with a lot of commitment from everyone," noted the coach.

Rui Duarte does not want "facilitations" from his team because, "despite the position in the table, Vizela is not an easy opponent: "it has funny processes with the ball and makes it very difficult for the opponents".

"We have to be at our best, strong, courageous and organized to win," he reinforced.

The coach stressed that, in addition to the collective goals, there are players with individual goals. One of them is Banza, who is fighting to be the league's top scorer, being one behind the leader, Sporting's Gyökres (22/21).

The Congolese striker has been blank for two consecutive rounds, but Rui Duarte dismisses any anxiety in the player.

"Banza is doing his job, his colleagues have helped him a lot, because nobody scores goals alone, it's a team effort, and, for sure, the goals will come naturally to him or to Abel [Ruiz]", he said.

Rui Duarte 'fled' the controversy of Roger's 'relegation' to the under-23s, who was already out of the game with the Estoril players, allegedly for reasons related to the renewal of his contract.

"I can't explain anything. I can say that, when I arrived, the president asked me to work seriously, to be committed and to make everyone believe, because there was a clear goal within the group to achieve and, with the players at our disposal, we want to give a good answer tomorrow [Saturday] and keep the three points, that's all we think about," he said.

Sporting de Braga, fourth place, with 59 points, and Vizela, 18th and last, with 21, face each other from 8:30 pm on Saturday, at Estádio Municipal de Braga, in a game that will be refereed by André Narciso, from the Setúbal Football Association.

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