Manuel de Almeida / Lusa
José Mourinho during Casa Pia-Benfica
New Real Madrid coach says Benfica’s undefeated season “counts as ninth title”.
José Mourinho didn’t win the championship with Benfica, but he looks back on the Reds’ last season as if he had.
In an interview with former striker Adebayo Akinfenwa’s YouTube channel, the Portuguese coach stated that finishing the I League without defeat gave him a feeling similar to winning another national title.
“I won eight championships, but never undefeated. Last season counts as the ninth”, said Mourinho, who moved to Real Madrid this summer: “I didn’t win the title, but it was a good feeling, it alleviated the bad feelings.”
Mourinho took charge of the Eagles only in the sixth round and finished the championship in third place, behind Sporting and champions FC Porto, whom he recognized for his merit.
“I didn’t start the season, a few games had already been played, and we were never at the top of the championship. We had a pretty good season, but this FC Porto, despite having lost one game or two, won, won and won, and we didn’t always win. Whenever we drew, the distance increased, and we couldn’t catch them. But the undefeated status felt good”, he told Akinfenwa.
It is worth remembering that Mourinho did not lose in the Portuguese championship with Benfica last season, but was defeated in six of nine games in the Champions League and lost twice in a row in January in eliminations — against Braga (1-3) in the Allianz Cup and against FC Porto (1-0) in the Portuguese Cup.
With Mourinho, Benfica did something that they did in Europe: they were undefeated in third place in the championship and achieved the double without a title.
