Mourinho has only just arrived and is already talking about leaving Benfica | OneFootball

José Mourinho returned to Portuguese football more than 20 years later and made his debut this Saturday on Benfica’s bench with a 3-0 victory over AVS. At the end, in the press conference, the coach once again highlighted Benfica’s “giant” stature, spoke about Porto and Sporting, and admitted that his return to the National Championship is not definitive and he may ‘emigrate’ again in the near future.

The coach made one thing clear: he did not return to Portuguese football to annoy the blue and white rival or to wage war. “If you ask me if Porto is one of the biggest clubs in the world, I say yes. If it’s a giant, I say yes. I didn’t come to Benfica to annoy Porto, I came to coach a great club with big ambitions. I hope they’re not upset with me. Porto is part of my history and I am part of Porto’s history,” he declared, also alluding to the insults he received in chants from Porto fans during the Dragons’ match against Rio Ave, the day before.

The coach again emphasized that he had hoped his return to Portuguese football would one day be through the door of the National Team and that Benfica was an opportunity to coach “a giant of world football.” He also revealed that, after signing with the club from Luz, he spoke with the presidents of rival clubs, whom he considers friends.

“After coming to Benfica, I spoke with Villas-Boas and with Varandas. The fact that I’m Benfica’s coach doesn’t mean I came to wage war. Do I think I’ll be cheered again at the Dragão? Obviously not (…) The fans gave me that fantastic reception, which I think I deserve, but now we’ll be enemies for 90 minutes. Sporting enemies, that’s all. Porto wants to win and I want to win. Nothing more than that.”

Furthermore, the coach made it clear that he is not back in Portugal for personal reasons. “My home is in London. This is not a definitive return to Portugal. It’s a two-year contract with Benfica and then we’ll see. I came because it’s a giant. I was at Real Madrid, at Manchester United, at Roma — huge clubs — and now I have the opportunity to coach another giant. It’s not because I’m 20 minutes from Azeitão, it’s because I feel the challenge and want to put myself to the test again.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.