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 introduced as Benfica’s new manager last Thursday, inking a two-year deal with the club where he launched his managerial career back in 2000.
His return to coaching happened just three days later as the 38-time Portuguese champions competed against struggling Vila das Aves, eager to bounce back from their crushing defeat to Qarabag in Bruno Lage’s final match.
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 incredibly tough. Losing here is extremely tough. But winning here is simply 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 highlighted a rekindled unity within the team, evidenced by their display on the field. Though it took some time for them to find their rhythm, Mourinho was pleased with the determination they showed to secure the win.
‘I told them to enter with a winning mindset, and our confidence grew in the second half. I just had to let the boys play,’ Mourinho remarked after the victory.
Nevertheless, considering that AVS are languishing at the bottom of the Portuguese league, anything less than three points would have been a letdown. The new Benfica boss made this point 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.
