Football | OneFootball

At the press conference regarding the match between Benfica and Chaves, which takes place this Friday, the 16th, at 7:30 PM, at the Municipal Stadium, José Mourinho once again criticized the refereeing and Sporting, saying that the "Reds" should have been the winners of the last edition of the competition - which was won by the Alvalade Club.

"Benfica has one less Cup than it should have, last season it should have won. Benfica has a Cup tradition, I went to Jamor countless times with my father, it still means something to me. Having never played a Portuguese Cup final as Benfica's coach... I would love to. Today, the Portuguese Cup is more important than the Champions League", he began by saying.

The coach speaks of an "unfortunate job" by the referees in 2024/25: “I limit myself to being a coach and watching the games with a coach's eyes, even when I'm not the coach of the teams involved, I can't look without a coach's eyes. And last year's Cup final was an unfortunate job by the refereeing team, including the VAR who are sometimes more important than the referees on the field," he stated.

José Mourinho downplayed the controversies between directors: "The problems between the presidents are already historical, but then when the emotions fade, comes the feeling that they have to be united for the sake of Portuguese football and in solving some problems. It's nothing new or alarming. It's good for you, it helps you in your work. Sometimes referees make mistakes and sometimes in a decisive way. I look at it from the coach's perspective, we all make mistakes, but when the mistakes result in significant changes to the truth of the game, it's harder to accept. But I look at it with a coach's eyes," he concluded.

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