Benfica sack Bruno Lage, Mourinho set for sensational return | OneFootball

Benfica’s shock defeat against Qarabag in Lisbon tonight, on the back of the draw at home to Santa Clara last Friday after playing for an hour with an extra man, have resulted in the dismissal of coach Bruno Lage.

In a press conference that began at 1.20am, Benfica president Rui Costa announced an agreement had been reached with Lage to rescind his contract.

Costa added that a new coach would be in the dugout in time for Benfica’s match at AFS in Vila das Aves in northern Portugal on Saturday, without saying who it would be.

Costa was directly asked if the next coach would be José Mourinho but refused to confirm the strong rumours that the former Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid manager (among others), who started his career as a head coach at Benfica in the year 2000, was lined up to take over the Lisbon giants.

“The profile of the next coach will have to be a ‘winning coach’,” was as far as Costa went in relation to his choice of the next manager.

However, moments after the press conference finished, Portuguese TV channel CMTV claimed they had confirmation that everything was agreed with Mourinho to return to the Estádio da Luz.

All this is being played out in the backdrop of the upcoming presidential elections at Benfica, in one month’s time, with Costa currently lagging behind João Noronha Lopes in the polls.

Costa is no doubt banking on what would be the spectacular appointment of Mourinho “saving his skin” in terms of the presidential election in addition to bringing success back to Benfica, who have won the Portuguese championship in just one of his four years at the helm.