Jackson Martinez believes Porto must find greater midfield spark to claim Champions League victory over BATE Borisov.
The Porto captain fired his fifth goal in four games as his side laboured to a 1-1 league draw with Vitoria Guimaraes at the weekend.
The Colombian found the target on his 100th Porto appearance, but conceded his side will need greater creativity to claim a home victory over Belarusian opponents in Wednesday's opening Group H clash.
"We faced a good team that worked well at the weekend,'' he told the club's official website. "We had many difficulties and didn't have much room to play our football.
"We can't just assume there are teams that work less than we do and we must respect our opponents. Teams will always close us down, but it's up to us to deal with that and move the ball better to open them up.
"We need to have quicker tempo in midfield at the right times. We obviously still have things to improve but each game is a different story.''
Porto saw off French side Lille to qualify for this year's Champions League, and Wednesday's clash will be their first against Belarusian opposition.
BATE have reached the Champions League group stages for the third time in four seasons, though have never qualified for knockout action. Athletic Bilbao and Shakhtar Donetsk are the other sides in Group H.
Porto are expected to be missing injured duo Goncalo Paciencia and Oliver Torres, with Alex Sandro and Cristian Tello also doubts.Casemiro, on loan from Real Madrid, should start, with Bruno Martins Indi expected to be fit too.
Vitali Rodionov should lead BATE's forward line, with Andriy Yakovlyev for support. Midfielder Aleksandr Volodko admitted the international break disrupted BATE's preparations for their 1-1 draw with Torpedo Zhodzina.
"There are often problems after the national team break,'' he said. "It's not an excuse, but it's hard when a large group of players are away with the national team.
"The break affected us negatively. Hopefully extra time together as a group will pay off.''