Jose Mourinho: Back at Benfica after 25 years, but a risk for both?

Costa said when he sacked Bruno Lage following a 3-2 defeat by Qarabag in the Champions League on Tuesday that a “Benfica coach’s profile must be that of a winner”.

Mourinho’s last trophy, however, came three years ago, winning the Conference League with Roma. Before that, it was the Europa League with Manchester United in 2017, and his last league title came at Chelsea in 2015.

He did end his tenure at Fenerbahce with a 71.1% win ratio in the league – only bettered by his time at Porto (75.9%) and Real Madrid (76.3%). But, having finished second behind Galatasaray last term, Mourinho was sacked when Fenerbahce were knocked out of this season’s Champions League play-offs by, of all clubs, Benfica.

“Benfica needs a new coach, needs a different approach, needs a strong figure on the bench,” adds Oca. “The majority of Benfica fans think Mourinho is a good choice.

“The problem is the timing. It is a very tricky situation. We don’t know about the future. It is a very risky move for Rui Costa but also for Mourinho.”

Costa has insisted appointing Mourinho is a sporting decision, rather than a high-profile move to help him get re-elected.

“I’ve never put my interests ahead of Benfica’s, and I’m not going to do so now,” he said.

According to a poll on Portuguese TV on Wednesday, the current president sits second out of six candidates before October’s elections – though some suggest it is too close to call between the top three names.

“The other candidates are saying that this is not OK,” explains Ingles. “If there is a new president, which is very likely, it will be a hard situation for both – Mourinho has a new president and the new president is stuck with an expensive manager.

“There are a lot of doubts, this feeling that Rui Costa is doing this as a Hail Mary for his re-election, because in four years he has only one championship and it’s not good that you sack your manager at the beginning of the season.”

Beyond the political argument around Mourinho’s arrival, there is of course huge intrigue and expectation.

“If you said to me or to any Benfica fan that Mourinho would be coming five or 10 years ago, we would be ecstatic, we would be so thrilled,” says Ingles.

“Without a doubt, he’s the best Portuguese manager of all time and he was one of the best managers in the world, but I’m talking about the past, so there will be a few doubts if he’s still the great Mourinho that he once was.

“Journalists are ecstatic in Portugal that he is coming back. Of course, there will be a lot of attention and a lot of curiosity to see if he can still make a statement in Portuguese football, which I think he can.

“Benfica has very good players and if Mourinho doesn’t win the title, it will be considered a failure.”