Ahead of Casa Pia-Benfica, Mourinho eyes 1,000-day streak | OneFootball

With the international break over, Benfica return at full strength for the clash against Casa Pia. Despite having one or two absences, José Mourinho - linked with the Italian national team - will try, against the geese, to keep the Eagles’ spotless record intact and, at the same time, avoid repeating the feat that led to Bruno Lage’s departure.

According to newspaper A Bola, Benfica have not lost the first match played after an international break for around three and a half years. The last time that happened was in December 2022, after the World Cup in Qatar, when the Eagles, then coached by Roger Schmidt, crashed heavily at the Pedreira against Braga (3-0).

Since then, Benfica have recorded only victories, a run that José Mourinho will certainly want to continue on the trip to Casa Pia’s ground. On the other hand, it should be remembered that it was precisely on the last visit to the geese’s 'home' that the Eagles went through a highly turbulent spell: the surprising 3-1 defeat triggered the leak of several audio recordings, in which Bruno Lage, the coach at the time, could be heard making various criticisms during an interaction with some fans in the garage of the Estádio da Luz.

As for the last international break of the season, Benfica have dropped points on only two separate occasions. The first came on 1 April 2017, when the Reds drew with Porto (1-1), but also on the same date, this time in 2022, when they suffered another setback at home to Braga (3-2).

With their eyes on the final stretch of the season, José Mourinho continues to prepare Benfica’s strategy for the difficult trip to Casa Pia. Besides looking to maintain a run that has lasted for more than three years, the Special One also wants a different response to the 2-2 draw recorded in the first half of the season. The match is scheduled for Monday, 6 April, and will be refereed by Hélder Carvalho.

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