Jose Mourinho gave an inspired speech to his Benfica players in the dressing room ahead of his winning return as head coach.
Mourinho, 62, was unveiled as the new Benfica manager last Thursday, signing a two-year contract at the club where he started his managerial career in 2000.
His return to the dugout came three days later as the 38-time Portuguese champions travelled to struggling Vila das Aves, aiming to return to winning ways after their devastating defeat to Qarabag in Bruno Lage’s last game in charge.
And that’s what they did. Mourinho’s second tenure got off to the perfect start as Benfica swept three goals past AVS without reply in what was a dominant display.
In the aftermath of the victory, Benfica’s social media team have shared Mourinho’s rousing pre-match speech on Instagram.
‘Winning at Benfica is beautiful,’ he told his players. ‘Playing at Benfica is f***ing tough. Losing at Benfica is f***ing tough. Winning at Benfica is f***ing beautiful.
Jose Mourinho made a winning return in his first game back as Benfica boss on Saturday
Benfica beat struggling Vila das Aves 3-0 to hand their new manager the perfect start
‘We’ve talked a lot, now we’re going there, now we’re going in there, and we’re going to kill them.’
Mourinho then went round and high-fived some of his players, before captain Nicolas Otamendi launched an energising monologue of his own.
The defender said: ‘The only thing that matters at this club is getting three points and winning titles. It’s the only thing that matters.
‘One for all, all for one, Benfica!’
The players have seemingly taken to Mourinho’s passion for the club, which stems back to his short stint as boss at the turn of the century.
The speech shows that the squad has been united once more, and their performance displayed that furthermore. They did take a while to find their flow in the match, but Mourinho was delighted with the character they showed throughout the night to get the three points.
‘I said we had to go in with a winning attitude, and confidence levels were high in the second half. I just had to release the boys,’ Mourinho said after the win.
That being said, AVS are at the foot of the Portuguese top flight and anything but three points would have been a huge disappointment. The new Benfica boss made that clear.
He added: ‘I told them at the end of the game: “It was good, but nothing extraordinary”.’
One of Mourinho’s many changes was to bring in Franjo Ivanovic and he repaid the faith shown by scoring
Mourinho takes his Benfica team to his former side Chelsea at the end of September
In the short time Mourinho has been back at the helm, he has sought to ‘solidify’ the team, according to Record. Perhaps his most notable change thus far is that he dropped Andreas Schjelderup for Franjo Ivanovic.
Ivanovic played in a front two with Vangelis Pavlidis, and the plan clearly worked as both forwards got on the scoresheet. Mourinho has reportedly been a fan of the Croatian attacker since his days at Fenerbahce, when he netted against the Turkish giants in September 2024 while playing for Union St. Gilloise.
The subtle change in the forward line is far from the only alteration Mourinho his made. He is believed to have transformed the club’s training routine, including allowing media to watch sessions before league matches, which is usually only standard practice ahead of European fixtures.
Mourinho has also moved the pre-match press conference 90 minutes, now addressing the media at 3pm on the day before the game.
Benfica’s next game is on Tuesday evening as they take on Rio Ave in what will be their new boss’ homecoming at Estadio da Luz.
But that’s not the only homecoming Mourinho faces this month. On 30 September, he will take his side to Stamford Bridge to face former club Chelsea in the Champions League.
By then, we should know how his changes have truly affected the Benfica squad.
