Football | OneFootball

José Mourinho may be about to embark on a second stint with Benfica. After the humiliating defeat against Qarabag, the management opted to dismiss Bruno Lage, where the former Fenerbahçe coach has been pointed out as the likely successor. In his first stint at Luz, in 2000/01, a match against Sporting ended up dictating his 'goodbye' to the club.

On October 18, 2000, the board under then-president Vale e Azevedo decided that Jupp Heynckes should leave the technical command of the eagles and, for his successor, launched Mourinho, who had major credentials in his career with stints at Sporting, Porto, and Barcelona as assistant coach to Bobby Robson: “He is a young coach with great ambition. We are convinced that he will be a winning bet.”

Three days later, José Mourinho had his first match in charge of Benfica, where he lost 1-0 to Boavista. His time at Estádio da Luz ended up lasting only 11 matches. Interestingly, his last match as coach of the eagles was a 3-0 victory against Sporting.

His confrontation against the lions took place during the eagles' election season, in which Manuel Vilarinho became the new club president. The newly elected top official of the eagles soon hinted that José Mourinho was not his coach and that it would indeed be Toni.

In order to feel legitimized, Mourinho requested a contract renewal from Vilarinho and, when it was refused, he resigned. “As we felt like temporary coaches, Carlos Mozer and I presented the board with a proposal to renew for one season, but it was rejected,” said the Special One in a clarification conference.

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