The club where José Mourinho began his coaching career 25 years ago welcomed him back – and he marked the start of this new chapter with a win.
Benfica announced Mourinho as their new coach on Thursday. On Friday, under his guidance, the team trained for an hour and a half. By Saturday, they were on the pitch demolishing their opponents. Twenty-five years after starting his coaching career at Benfica, Mourinho began his second spell with a resounding victory.
On Saturday, Benfica beat AVS Futebol 3-0 in a Portuguese league match.
Mourinho had to leave Turkish club Fenerbahçe at the end of last month, but he didn’t stay unemployed for even a month. After an unexpected Champions League defeat, Benfica dismissed coach Bruno Lage and brought back Mourinho after more than two decades.
This marks Mourinho’s return to coaching in Portuguese football after 21 years. He last worked in Portugal in 2004 when he managed Porto. Since then, he has coached Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, returned to Chelsea for a second spell, and later managed Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Roma, and Fenerbahçe. Now, at 62, he is back coaching in his home country.
After the win, Mourinho expressed gratitude to his players:
“Yesterday we worked for an hour and a half. I want to thank the players for their professionalism, their commitment to the club, and the way they welcomed me. They embraced everything we worked on brilliantly, and that’s it.”
But the coach isn’t getting carried away with the result, urging his players to stay sharp:
“If we had lost the match, it would have been a disaster in terms of points. Winning may not be something extraordinary, but it’s the best thing we could have done. After a bad defeat, this victory was also psychologically important.”
“After the game I told the boys, this is a good win but not something extraordinary. Stay ready. Tomorrow morning we train again.”
With this win, Benfica are now second in the Portuguese league with 13 points from 5 matches. Porto lead the table with 18 points from 6 matches.
