Francesco Farioli praised Porto’s reaction, tactical flexibility and growing maturity after their 3–1 win over Danny Rohl’s Rangers, a result he believes carried significance beyond the match itself.
Porto fell behind early following what the coach described as a decisive mistake, something he framed as part of football at the highest level.
James Tavernier managed to win possession with a high press, before Findlay Curtis managed to find Djeidi Gassama with a pin-point cross to give Rangers an early lead.
“At this level it’s normal that you concede one chance and there is a big possibility it costs a goal,” Farioli said.
“But the reaction has been brilliant.”
He felt his side had already threatened before equalising and that the shift in momentum was clear once they levelled.
“We made it 2–1 and then 3–1, and this helped us put the game in a certain direction.”
Farioli singled out the quality of Porto’s build-up play for both Rodrigo Mora and Francisco Moura’s goals, describing them as structured attacking patterns rather than isolated moments.
“Two very interesting situations of building up,” he said.
On Moura’s goal, he pointed to the variety of movement in the box.
“We had three or four different runs to stretch them, then the right pass and the right timing.”
Against Rangers approach, aggressive early pressure before dropping into a 5-4-1 block, Porto showed composure in multiple game states.
“We had three or four very good actions against high pressure,” he explained, “and we attacked well against the low block.”
Defensively, Farioli acknowledged Porto had to adjust after the break as the physical demands of their pressing model accumulated.
“The way we play is very demanding. We are never waiting - we go high, we try to recover the ball high,” he said.
“In the second half we had to defend a bit lower because it was difficult to keep the same intensity.”
He rejected the suggestion that European matches have exposed a drop in Porto’s intensity, arguing instead that game contexts differ from domestic fixtures often shaped by “long balls and dirty balls.”
With no UEFA Europa League play-off tie to negotiate, he sees a physical benefit ahead.
“We will have clean weeks to work and put some petrol in the tank,” he said.
Farioli also used the result to stress the wider strength of Portuguese football, pushing back against any notion that Porto operate on an easy domestic platform.
“We are competing with two giants, both qualified in Europe. Braga are in the top eight, we are in the top eight. It says a lot about the level of the league,” he said.
Despite Porto’s direct path to the UEFA Europa League round of 16, he refused to talk about winning the trophy.
“I don’t like to make calculations. The trip is still very long.”
What pleased him most was adaptability.
“One of the main points of tonight was the capability to play different types of games in the same game,” he said. “The team showed maturity.”