Rodolfo Reis: Who at Sporting pulled the strings in Portuguese football | OneFootball

Rodolfo Reis considers that Frederico Varandas was in charge behind the scenes of Portuguese football, but believes that José Mourinho - who was criticized by Eduardo Barroso's son - is being “smarter” and has been trying to take power away from the President of Sporting since the coach's return to Benfica in September.

According to the former Porto captain, the new leader of the eagles is following Rui Costa's directives: “Varandas has already realized that there is a tough nut to crack. Don't have the slightest doubt. It was Varandas who commanded football behind the scenes. That's my opinion. At the moment, Mourinho is heading in that direction,” he said on CMTV.

“Mourinho is in charge at Benfica,” stated Rodolfo Reis, emphasizing that Frederico Varandas has already realized that things have changed with the arrival of the ‘Special One’ at Luz: “In reality, he was ‘eating it up’ in a big way with ‘onion sauce’. Now, Mourinho is being smarter than everyone,” he declared.

On the other hand, the former footballer explained that Benfica has been winning games through the “class, category of its players and Mourinho's wisdom”. However, according to Rodolfo Reis, the eagles have also been growing based on what has happened in recent weeks.

The green and white emblem returns to the field next Thursday, December 14, against Santa Clara, in a match related to the round of 16 of the Portuguese Cup. The match against the team led by Vasco Matos will be played at 18:45, at the opponent's ground, in the Azores.

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