Pepe: Being a defender is my passion

faced

in the first leg of the round 16 of the Champions League and managed to defeat the Italians 2-1 to have a significant chance to advance to the next round of the competition. The return leg match will take place in Turin tonight, and Juventus have no choice but to win to avoid an early elimination.

Porto experienced defender

believes it is now a good time to pass on to other players what he learned under former boss,

Jorge Costa

.

He told

:<em>

“When I was young at Porto, I had a lot of pressure.

“It was a great challenge to replace a great center-back like Ricardo Carvalho.

“Jorge Costa helped me a lot. He was a legend of the club, like Vitor Baia. He made me understand what it meant to wear the Porto shirt.

“They called him the animal, but he was our animal.

Pepe moved to

when he was 24.

“For a young player, leaving a league with less visibility and being able to play with Cannavaro or Sergio Ramos was a great challenge,”

he added.

“But I felt ready thanks to the experience with Porto. Being a defender is my passion, even more so for Real Madrid.

“One of Porto’s objectives is to prepare the central players for each match.

“I have to pass on what Jorge Costa taught me: I’m trying to do the same today.

“At the end of the game, I need to know that I gave my best, regardless of whether I won or lost."

Follow 

 for the