Benfica sacked coach Bruno Lage following Tuesday’s Champions League defeat to minnows Qarabag, the club announced, with some media claiming that Jose Mourinho is in line to take over.
Mourinho actually began his coaching career at Benfica but quit after just two and a half months before making his name at the Lisbon giants’ arch rivals Porto.
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He was dismissed by Fenerbahce last month after just over a year in the job following the Turkish side’s elimination from the Champions League qualifying competition, ironically at the hands of Benfica.
The Eagles led 2-0 early on at home to Azerbaijan’s Qarabag on Tuesday before falling to a shock 3-2 reverse in their opening league stage game.
“We have just reached an agreement with Bruno Lage, who today leaves his post as Benfica coach,” former Portugal midfielder Rui Costa, the club’s president, told reporters late Tuesday.
Former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Lage, who was in his second spell at Benfica, was already under pressure after his team dropped their first league points of the season away to Santa Clara at the weekend.
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Costa said that Benfica expected to have their new coach in charge in time for Saturday’s league encounter with AVS.
All three of Portugal’s sports dailies mentioned 62-year-old Mourinho as a possible successor.
A Bola said that Benfica wanted to negotiate with the self-styled “Special One”.
Mourinho’s previous spell at Benfica lasted just 11 matches at the back end of 2000, but then, after impressing at Uniao de Leiria, he joined Porto and guided them to back-to-back league titles and the Champions League crown in 2004.
That set him on the path to a hugely successful career coaching Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid before his fortunes started to nose-dive after joining Manchester United in 2016.
Lage won the Portuguese Primeira Liga in 2019 in his first spell with Benfica, while last season he guided them to Portuguese Cup success.
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