João Malheiro: Mourinho a perfect fit for Benfica | OneFootball

João Malheiro believes in the work of José Mourinho. In this Glorioso 1904 Exclusive, our newspaper spoke with the journalist associated with Benfica, who analyzed the performance of the Special One, the loss of points away at Tondela, the future in the Champions League, and the winter transfer market, which ended yesterday.

"In my opinion, José Mourinho, in addition to the year of contract he has with Benfica, should have at least two more. [José] Mourinho is a perfect fit for Benfica. What the club needs is stability, planning, competence, and authority. I am a staunch supporter of José Mourinho, who is one of the best coaches in the world, not just currently, but of all time," defended João Malheiro.

The former Benfica Communications Director, during Manuel Vilarinho's presidency, lamented the lack of effectiveness against Tondela last Sunday, despite a well-played match. "It is also true that Benfica did not play what could be called a bad game. I think it is hard to blame the players, who completely dominated the match. But the final pass and finishing resulted in an unfortunate and compromising draw".

"The next classic between Porto and Sporting is decisive. Benfica must have a goal and fight for it, which is to win the matches until the end of the season. They will also face Porto at home and Sporting away. I believe it cannot be ruled out that the objective is still the national title. But it will depend on the performance of the rivals and Benfica's behavior. It makes no sense to say that the season is over", he said, regarding the possibility of Benfica winning their 39th national championship.

Regarding the Champions League, João Malheiro believes in qualification against Real Madrid, despite the difficulties. "Real Madrid has five of the best players in the world (Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Júnior, Jude Bellingham - who might miss the play-off - Federico Valverde and Thibaut Courtois). They are favorites. However, in a knockout round anything can happen, and Benfica has no reason to consider themselves defeated. Therefore, they should approach the tie with a great desire to move forward. May those two nights (February 17 and 25) be nights of inspiration.

"I don't think it would make much sense, unless the money pointed towards making one or two more signings. Therefore, I am satisfied with this market, which, after all, was not financially very significant," concludes João Malheiro, who also approved the signings of Sidny Cabral and Rafa Silva, who will give "another dimension" to Benfica's squad.

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