Mourinho left fuming, says Benfica midfielder looked like a grandad | OneFootball

After Benfica’s triumph against Gil Vicente (2-1), José Mourinho acknowledged that the team did not perform at the required level. The coach also spoke about the inexperience of many substitutes, noting that Leandro Barreiro looked “like a grandfather” among so much youth.

"Overall, this is not the Benfica we want, not me, not the players, not anyone. What was Benfica-like was the effort, commitment, sacrifice. The team is exhausted. There are players who are truly worn out. Gil is a great team, but these great teams have a week to prepare for matches, details, set pieces. It’s something I experienced as coach of Leiria. I lived through this and played eye to eye with the big teams. The pressure is tremendous.

The coach admits there is a lot of work to be done: "There are players struggling. Fortunately, for the next match there are three days. We lost possession, we had little of the ball. The points remain, which at this moment are extremely important, breaking the streak of not winning at home. People are exhausted, but with character. I take pleasure in defending those who are attacked. Richard Ríos brought a certain security, in a midfield without Enzo," he explained.

Mourinho kept trying to make changes and give more comfort to the midfield, and explained the idea: "Sudakov was struggling. Schjelderup is Schjelderup. He’s a player who has difficulty lasting 90 minutes, difficulty with intensity, with the sacrifice of transitions, he’s a player who likes the ball at his feet. Lukebakio... said his fuel wouldn’t last. I could have had him on the bench, but I preferred to start with him and look at the bench and see Barreiro at 25 years old being the grandfather, because the rest were between 19 and 21 years old."

"With this kind of atmosphere, putting the kids in was complicated. Barreiro came on to provide solidity. Tomás isn’t a full-back, but he’s strong in the air. As I told them, whenever we can play forward, we play. When it gets to the 80th/85th minute, you can’t concede goals and today there was more pragmatism. Three points, which is the most important thing," he said.

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