Mourinho lines up Aursnes as Benfica captain for Porto cup clash

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·12 January 2026

Mourinho lines up Aursnes as Benfica captain for Porto cup clash

Mourinho has identified Fredrik Aursnes as his captain for Benfica’s Taça de Portugal clássico at Estádio do Dragão.

According to O Jogo, the manager is preparing for the tie with several doubts, and the Leiria armband handover to Richard Ríos was not intended, with Tomás Araújo meant to captain the final minutes against Braga.

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The move follows the absence of usual leaders Nicolás Otamendi and António Silva.

If Aursnes does not start, Mourinho would pass the armband to Tomás Araújo.

Aursnes has played 33 matches for Benfica this season, 17 in Liga Portugal Betclic, 10 in the Champions League, three in the Taça de Portugal, two in the Taça da Liga and one in the Supertaça. Across 2,808 minutes he has four goals and six assists, and is valued at 17 million euros.

Source: Glorioso 1904