Beyond Mourinho, Benfica sign coach who was in the lower leagues in 2021/22 | OneFootball

Benfica announced on Thursday the signing of José Mourinho as the head coach of the club's senior football team. Along with the Portuguese coach, his technical team also joins, which also signs with Rui Costa. Among them, one of the highlights is Pedro Machado, the assistant coach who, in 2021/22, was coaching in the Porto district leagues, for Freamunde.

The young coach, only 40 years old, had a hard-earned rise in football. After starting and going through several Portuguese football clubs as an assistant, he began his adventure as the main coach at Freamunde, which competed in the Porto district championship, in 2021/22.

In the same season, he received an invitation from Vila Meã, for the Championship of Portugal, but, still in that sports year, he took another step forward, and signed for Anadia, which competed in Liga 3. He managed to achieve maintenance, which, upon his arrival, seemed very complicated.

In 2023/24 he returned to the Championship of Portugal, to guide São João de Ver. A fantastic start, with only one defeat in seven games, took him back to Liga 3, to the technical command of Oliveira do Hospital. In a club that faced many financial difficulties, he managed to secure a valuable maintenance in professional football.

In the last season, in 2024/25, he started at Académica, leaving of his own accord. He received several invitations, including some abroad, but decided to wait, and meanwhile met José Mourinho, through the agent Paulo Madeira. The connection between the two coaches was almost instantaneous, and the Special One invited Pedro Machado to head to Istanbul with him, to join his technical team - this is how he now arrives at Benfica. He is responsible for tactical systems, set pieces, and defensive organization, and will be part of the team that also includes João Tralhão, Ricardo Formosinho (analyst), and António Dias (physical trainer).

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