Mourinho returns to Benfica
Return
Abuja, September 18, 2025 (BBC/CrestNewsOnline.ng) Portuguese clubside Benfica on Thursday announced the appointment of Jose Mourinho as their new manager until the summer of 2027.
Mourinho, 62, succeeds Bruno Lage, who was sacked after the shock UEFA Champions League defeat against Qarabag on Tuesday.
The former Chelsea helmsman returns to management less than a month after being dismissed by Fenerbahce following a Champions League play-offs defeat by his new club Benfica.
Mourinho began his managerial career with Benfica in 2000 but took charge of only 10 games and left following a dispute with the club president.
“The promise is very clear —- I will live for Benfica, for my mission,” he said on Thursday.
“I’m not the important thing —- Benfica is important.”
His new deal at Benfica includes an option for the club and Mourinho to decide not to continue for another season up to 10 days after the end of the 2025/2026 campaign.
Lage was sacked despite losing just one game across all competitions this season and Mourinho inherits a side that sit sixth in the Primeira Liga, five points adrift of leaders Porto, but with a game in hand.
His first game back at the Lisbon-based club is on Saturday when they travel to 17th-placed AVS.
The Portuguese, who famously gave himself the moniker “the special one” in 2004, returns to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the Champions League on September 30.
Mourinho’s managerial record
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Porto (2002-2004) |
Primeira Liga (twice), Champions League, UEFA Cup (now Europa League), Portuguese Cup |
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Chelsea (2004-2007 and 2013-2015) |
Premier League (three times), FA Cup, League Cup (three times) |
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Inter Milan (2008-2010) |
Serie A (twice), Champions League, Coppa Italia |
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Real Madrid (2010-2013) |
La Liga, Copa del Rey |
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Manchester United (2016-2018) |
Europa League, League Cup |
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Tottenham (2019-2021) |
None |
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Roma (2021-2024) |
UEFA Conference League |
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Fenerbahce (2024-2025) |
None |
Mourinho made his name during a spell with Porto between 2002 and 2004 where he won six trophies, including the Champions League in 2003/2004.
Since leaving his homeland in 2004, Mourinho has managed Chelsea (twice), Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Roma and Fenerbahce.
Mourinho said “none of the other giant clubs” for whom he has worked since he left Benfica have made him feel as “honoured, responsible or motivated”.
He added that he is returning as a “less self-centred” person who thinks more about the “joy” he can bring to others.
After sacking Lage on Tuesday, Benfica president Rui Costa said the new manager must have the “profile of a winner”.
Mourinho certainly fits that brief, having won 21 major trophies, with his most recent success coming in the UEFA Conference League with Roma in 2022.
That haul includes two UEFA Champions League crowns and eight league titles in four different countries, though his last trophy before success with Roma was the 2017 Europa League at Manchester United.
“In some people’s minds, I have two resumes —- one that lasted a certain period and another that represents, let’s say, a less happy phase of my career,” said Mourinho.
He added that in this “negative” part of his career he has reached two European finals in the last five years, with Roma losing to Sevilla in the 2023 Europa League final the year after their UEFA Conference League triumph.
Benfica also travel to Newcastle and host another of his former teams —- Real Madrid —- later in the league phase of the competition.
They finished second in the Portuguese top-flight last season and last won the title in 2022/2023.
Mourinho endured a turbulent time in Turkey and was often at odds with the standard of refereeing.
In November, Mourinho blamed Fenerbahce for only telling him ”half the truth” about the level of officiating and said referee Atilla Karaoglan was “man of the match” after his side scored late to beat Trabzonspor.
He filed a lawsuit against rival club Galatasaray in February after they accused him of making racist statements.
Meanwhile, back in Istanbul, there is a feeling of betrayal with his time there and now movement to Benfica.
When Mourinho was appointed Fenerbahce manager in June 2024, millions of fans dared to dream.
One of the world’s most famous coaches had arrived to end a decade-long title drought and perhaps deliver glory in Europe, so they thought.
But that dream quickly collapsed.
More than a year on, those hopes have largely turned into frustration.
Mourinho failed to win an Istanbul derby and could not deliver the league title.
And now he has joined the very club that knocked Fenerbahce out of the Champions League play-offs.
For many Fenerbahce supporters, this feels like a betrayal.
They believe Mourinho not only abandoned them, but played them for fools.
Gokay, a life-long Fenerbahce supporter, said: “From the very first day, Mourinho was interested in everything except football.
“He played down Turkish football and served up one of the worst styles of play in Fenerbahce’s history.”
(www.crestnewsonline.ng)
* Edited by Olawale Lawanson Alabi
