Mourinho watched Real Madrid v Benfica from team bus as media waited in vain | OneFootball

José Mourinho’s Bernabéu return, 4,652 days on, took an unexpected turn in the Champions League play-off second leg for a place in the last 16. Barred from the bench after his first-leg dismissal at Estádio da Luz, he watched Real Madrid v Benfica from the team bus rather than the press box, according to Marca.

Anticipation swelled on the stadium’s eighth floor, where more than 30 journalists crowded a narrow corridor awaiting his arrival. Booth six, the one Hansi Flick used during the last El Cássico, had been reserved, yet its door never opened.

At times the spotlight on Benfica’s head coach seemed to eclipse the match itself, a night that saw Real Madrid progress to the last 16.

On the pitch, Rafa struck for Benfica and Aurélien Tchouaméni levelled for Real Madrid. In the press tribune the vigil continued, with dozens of mobile phones trained on an empty booth.

The scene grew more surreal when UEFA stepped in to stop any filming of the Portuguese coach, who ultimately never appeared. His Bernabéu return was shielded from view, effectively invisible and almost clandestine.

Source: Glorioso 1904