Benfica head coach José Mourinho attended the post-match press conference following his side’s 1-1 late equalizer against Rio Ave.
On the Late Equalizer
“The result is extremely unfair; one team wanted to win, the other wanted a draw. That decision was really bad, and the opponent scored a technically brilliant goal with their only shot on target. From Benfica’s coach’s perspective, we shouldn’t concede a goal in the 90th minute—after all, we had played 45 minutes of high-quality football.
We did everything we could to win. We scored a goal; when you’re leading 1-0, you can’t concede. At that stage, you might concede, but in a different way—not when there are six of our players around the opposition’s ball-carrier, who was Barrechelia or Rios, if I’m not mistaken.
Only three players were naive. This reflects our lack of collective experience and our lack of understanding of the game. We should have completed our passing and receiving without creating any threats, and that’s exactly what we did wrong in the first half. The unfairness of the result is heartbreaking, and the way we conceded is just as painful. In the first half, we had possession but lacked much objectivity. In the second half, with two substitutions, the team played differently and started to create chances.”
What Do You Think of the Disallowed Goal?
“If this is football today—if a goal gets disallowed because of a stepped-on toe or a pulled jersey—then I don’t like today’s football.
The main character of this game was the person who was at Football City at the time; he called the referee over to look at the footage we all saw, and in the end, the referee showed no humanity—as they usually do. When I saw him being called onto the pitch, I knew the goal would be disallowed.
We gave everything we had in the second half. We’re not a team with a strong presence in the penalty area; we lack an edge in both physical duels and penalty-area attacks. We scored a wonderful goal, yet we dropped two crucial points.”
The Growing Pains from Coaching Staff Changes—Are You Worried This Will Become a Setback?
“I think this second half was better than the second half we had away at AVS. It was of higher quality and more consistent. We played 35 minutes of truly excellent football.
The stats for ball losses and ball recoveries were good. If we split my two games into four halves, this is clearly the best one. Scoring a winning goal late in the game is one thing; conceding in the 90+1 minute and dropping two points is another.
If this isn’t naivety, then it’s a lack of understanding of the game. It’s frustrating, but that’s the reality—we have to move forward.”
How Do You Manage a Team That Didn’t Have Pre-Season Training and Has Varying Levels of Fatigue?
“Today, the entire team was full of desire to win, to get a good result, to give their all, and to represent Benfica well—and that masked some physical limitations. They only played two days ago.
I can’t pinpoint exactly how their training was structured after pre-season, but given how many games there are—every two days—you can tell they lack a bit of freshness. I don’t want to change; I want to continue the performance we had in the first game.
From their perspective, that goal felt like the winning goal, but they didn’t change their approach. They didn’t adopt the mindset of ‘now is the time to see it through,’ didn’t defend, and instead took different positions and made mistakes.”
You Don’t Agree with Football Today, But This Is What Football Is Now…
“This is modern football, and I’m under no obligation to like it. I don’t like goals being disallowed like that—regardless of which team they belong to. That doesn’t mean I’m criticizing.
To be honest, I don’t think such goals should be disallowed. Five minutes into the game, a player makes a feint outside the penalty area and gets a yellow card?
I don’t even know if it was a feint. But some players wasted time throughout the entire game… Still, that’s the standard. I don’t like it, and this isn’t how things should be—the referee didn’t make us not win.”
Mourinho ended by taking a swipe at Rio Ave.
“Rio Ave should be held responsible for their tactics of gamesmanship—they tried to disrupt the game and slow down the tempo.
The referee is also responsible. I said to him at half-time: Why didn’t you show the goalkeeper a yellow card in the 15th or 20th minute?
Because if you had, the game would have been completely different. Referees also have a responsibility to elevate the level of football, and so do we. I’ve done the same thing before, and maybe I’ll do it again in the future.
We barely cut inside. We won the ball back but didn’t take control of the situation—instead, we just kicked it back. The pitch was perfect for fast attacking play… That’s my fault too, because I selected this team.
Lukaku was indeed not in the right position, but I was very satisfied with his performance in the second half. If I could have ended the game with a goal… I would have been very happy with how we played in the second half.”
