“Benfica won, that's for sure. Yesterday [Wednesday] was a historic night, in the sense that it was an excellent game, against a huge team, but which gave us only three points and we will have to continue on this path, game by game", said the former football player.

Asked if the club is at a turning point in relation to other weak European campaigns in recent years, Rui Costa said that it is games like Wednesday's that give Benfica the possibility to make their mark.

“We have to realise that to reach the level we want, we need more nights like this”, he said.

The ex-football player, who assumed the leadership of the club after the arrest in July of Luís Filipe Vieira and who is running for the presidency in the October 9 elections, also took advantage of the presentation ceremony, to appeal to the presence of supporters at the Stadium.

Rui Costa underlined that the match against FC Barcelona was not perfect because the stadium was not at maximum capacity, given the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The game and the result deserved the stadium to be full. On Sunday, it can be. I'm already thinking about Sunday's game, which is extremely important for us and I'm also calling for that, a full stadium”, he added.