Football is about moments, and no one is better at providing them than the great José Mourinho. His first few months back at Benfica, the club he started his incredible career 26 years ago, could certainly be described as a rollercoaster.

By Alex Roberts

It hasn’t been great. Out of both Portuguese cup completions and despite still being unbeaten in the league, Benfica are third by quite a distance. Mourinho was in need of one of those famous moments to help save his first season at the Estadio da Luz. He’s already stayed longer than he did during his first spell, however.

Ahead of their crucial Champions League clash with Real Madrid, around 200 Benfica ultras blocked the entrance to their training ground in Seixal, protesting poor results and demanding a meeting with management.

Just a few hours ahead of their game against Estrela Amadora, Mourinho gave them just that, talking with the fans for over an hour in what has been reported as a ‘productive’ meeting. Still, fans heading to the training ground isn’t exactly an indicator of a healthy club.

The message was clear, results need to improve, and quickly. Benfica beat Estrela da Amadora 4-0, but that was to be expected, the real test would come a few days later when Real Madrid made the journey across the Iberian Peninsula to Lisbon.

Benfica were the better side in the opening 30 minutes, but when Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring, the mood amongst the fans dropped. Six minutes later, Andreas Schjelderup eased those nerves with the equaliser, before Vangelis Pavlidis’ penalty gave the home side the lead heading into the break.

Shortly after half time, Schjelderup bagged his second, lifting Benfica into the play-off spots. Alas, Mbappé was there again to kill the vibe, making it 3-2, and putting Marseille above the Portuguese side on goal difference back in the league phase mega table.

Mourinho didn’t know that though. Clearly convinced his side would still make the play-offs with a 3-2 win, he brought on Antonio Silva and Franjo Ivanović for Schjelderup and Pvilidis to try and kill the game.

As the camera panned the stadium, it looked like Mourinho was the only person there not aware of the situation. President Rui Costa was apoplectic, yelling towards the bench in an attempt to try and tell them they needed one more goal.

Finally, the message got through, and with Real Madrid down to nine men, Mourinho told goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin to head up and make a nuisance of himself from a free kick. Trubin did more than that, he scored the goal that saved Benfica’s Champions League campaign.

That was the moment. Every reaction felt like an underreaction. Mourinho ran down the touchline and was hugging a ball boy, who will not doubt remember it for the rest of his life, but it didn’t feel like enough, Mourinho should have lifted the young lad onto his shoulders and given him his watch or something, that would have been more appropriate.

Even José was amazed by what he saw, telling Paramount+ after the game: “I’ve won and lost many matches, but I had never won one with my goalkeeper scoring in the last minute. I thought I had seen everything in football, but in the end, I hadn’t.”

So, what next? Well, it was one hell of a moment, but once the dust settled, there was still plenty of work to be done. Benfica travelled to Tondela for their 20^th Liga Portugal game of the campaign, and it ended in a really frustrating 0-0 draw.

It’s been the story of Mourinho’s time at the club so far, false dawn after false dawn. Just when it’s looking like they’re going to push on, a bad result against a side they should be comfortably beating sets them back. At the time of writing, Tondela are 17^th in the league with just 13 points from their 20 games.

Elimination from the League Cup and the Tace de Portugal came in consecutive games. José loves a cup competition, the high stakes, the mind games, and everything else that comes with them.

Following their 3-1 defeat to Braga in the first of the two, Mourinho had his players stay at the training ground ahead of the game against Porto in the next, with every intention of making them feel the result.

“I hope the players will sleep as well as I do — which is to say that they won’t sleep at all.” He said.

They probably didn’t get too much shut eye considering Benfica lost the game 1-0. And when asked about his team selection, Mourinho answered in typical fashion: “You have to ask whoever is talking. I don’t understand anything about tactics and dynamics. 

“Those who talk about these things are the people who know a lot. It’s better to talk to them. I understand little about it.”

For all the negatives, there have been positives outside of Trubin’s goal too. Mourinho has leaned into Benfica’s incredible academy, giving several young players the opportunities he didn’t at former clubs.

Arguably the best has been young right back Daniel Banjaqui. The 17-year-old has started their last two Liga Portugal games and has looked completely at home. His performance in the win over Estrela da Amadora was particularly impressive.

Banjaqui ended the game having won four tackles, made three recoveries, three passes into the final third, three successful dribbles, created one chance, and won the most duels in the game (11).

He isn’t the only one, Anísio Cabral also looks like a tidy little player. After staring in the Under-17s World Cup last summer, he came off the bench for the final few minutes against Estrela da Amadora to make his debut, scoring Benfica’s fourth goal.

It’s been reported that there is a break clause included in Mourinho’s contract, meaning either party could walk away within ten days of the 2025/26 season’s end. Whether he remains beyond that is the big question.

Mourinho hasn’t been a success at Benfica, yet anyway, but so long as he’s at the club, there will continue to be moments that often define careers and lives.

(Images from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Liga Portugal on FotMob – with in-depth stat coverage, xG, and player ratings, where available. Download the free app here.