Benfica step in and deny Mourinho's controversial remarks | OneFootball

Benfica denied this Monday, in a statement sent to newsrooms, the words attributed by the portal 'Goal' to José Mourinho regarding the way Portugal performed last weekend in the friendly played at the Estadio Azteca, against Mexico, which ended in a goalless draw.

The club from Luz assures that "the statements attributed in recent hours to José Mourinho about the Portugal national team are completely false", since the Benfica coach "did not make any statements to anyone" during what is the final international break before the start of the 2026 World Cup.

At issue is an article claiming that the Special One said that "taking Cristiano Ronaldo out of the picture, Portugal look like just another ordinary team", since when the captain "is on the pitch", opponents think twice, whereas "without him, they do not think at all".

"People keep asking us not to call him up. Well, he did not play today, and you saw the result. No threat, no fear from the opponent. Just a team being put under pressure by Mexico", are other remarks attributed to the Benfica manager.

Benfica also denied alleged remarks by José Mourinho about Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti's decision not to call up Neymar for the friendlies against France (a 1-2 defeat) and Croatia (scheduled to kick off at 01:00, mainland Portugal time, next Wednesday).

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