João Malheiro on Benfica’s results: lacking maturity | OneFootball

João Malheiro analyzed the latest performances of Benfica, which in the last three games at Estádio da Luz drew two and lost one

September 25, 2025 | 03:00 |

Benfica's reception to Rio Ave last Tuesday, September 23, ended in a new slip of the eagles, who suffered a draw by a ball at the fall of the curtain after, in the two previous games at Estádio da Luz, they suffered a late defeat against Qarabag and a draw also in stoppage time against Santa Clara. In this Glorioso 1904 Exclusive, João Malheiro analyzed the performances of the reds, showing confidence in José Mourinho and the new reinforcements.

"As coach José Mourinho mentioned yesterday, there is a lack of maturity and understanding of the game. I confess that I have been following Benfica for decades and I do not remember in three consecutive games, two for the Championship and one for the European competitions, Benfica having conceded goals in the absolutely terminal phase of the matches. In two of the cases, which were the national league games, when it was ahead in the score. It is something that can never be repeated and the players must have the ability to understand that there are moments when they have to worry about having the ball, exchanging the ball and preventing the opponent from making any progress in counter-attack", began João Malheiro.

Next, the journalist gave a vote of confidence to the new coach of Benfica: "If it's not Mourinho [the right coach], who could it be? José Mourinho is one of the greatest coaches in the world, he knows Portuguese football very well, even blindfolded, and it is obvious that yesterday's result is cruel. There is responsibility in everyone, including the coach himself, because he is the one who guides. Now, let's realize that José Mourinho has been at Benfica for less than a week, has already played two official matches and at most will have done four training sessions, two of which for recovery. It is clearly impossible to show his ideas to the working group in a significant dose. I do not believe that this situation, which occurred in the game with Rio Ave, as in the game with Santa Clara, will repeat itself in future challenges played at Luz".

Regarding new signings, João Malheiro highlights the latest performances of Sudakov in service of the reds: "They arrived [Sudakov and Lukebakio] with high expectations from the fans, especially Sudakov for being more coveted. But both, in my opinion, will be extremely important in the course of the season. I think it is relevant that Sudakov already has a record of two games two goals, still in an embryonic phase of adaptation to the team. What I said before about Mourinho I would also say about Sudakov".

Finally, João Malheiro also considered that the entry of Lukebakio was decisive to impose a higher game pace against Rio Ave: "Regarding Lukebakio… He played the first minutes with the Benfica shirt in a match where the performance was frankly poor in the first half, but improved a lot in the last thirty minutes, except for the goal conceded, much also due to the wide inclusion on the field of a player with his characteristics and values".

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