"This League Cup isn't for fun, it's for playing"

PREVIEW

Without taking anything for granted, and aware that Benfica always enters competitions to win, José Mourinho sees the home game against Tondela – scheduled for 8:45 pm on Wednesday, October 29, for the quarterfinals of the League Cup – as the beginning of a journey toward winning a trophy that is still missing from his extensive resume

Tondela is not having the best season, for example, in the Championship it has only 1 win in 9 games. What conclusions did the coaching staff draw from this opponent in the quarterfinals of the League Cup?

A cup is a cup. They are obviously different competitions, with different characteristics and different ways of thinking. It's true that they are in a difficult position in the table, but normally, promoted teams need some time to adapt before they find their stability in the following season. But we don't want to take it easy, we want to reach the final four. We won, and deservedly so, playing well in our last home game of the Championship, and we want to continue that form and win the game. I know we have a very difficult and important game in Guimarães on Saturday, but we prepared ourselves today—that's why I asked you to leave... We prepared ourselves with a good training session to try to be at a good level tomorrow [Wednesday] and win the game.

Let me quote your statements here, I think from last night, at a gala held by Corriere dello Sport, where you joined via video call and explained your absence. I will quote in free translation: "Fortunately for me, one of the most important clubs in the world, which set a world record with 85,000 people voting to elect the president, gave me the joy of returning to football through this giant door." Would you like to elaborate on that statement? Explain, in depth, how you feel.

As you know, I left Fenerbahçe. When I left, I didn't expect to return so quickly. I wanted to, of course I wanted to, but I didn't expect to return so quickly. I wanted to be very selective in my choice, I had prepared myself psychologically to say “No, I don't want to, I don't accept” many times, because I wanted to accept something that I felt was truly a motivation, a responsibility. That's why I said that when Benfica came along, I was so quick to say “Yes.” I had confirmed to Corriere dello Sport that I would be attending the gala. It was a way of being there without being there, and it was also a way of expressing my pride in being Benfica's coach. That election process has had an extraordinary impact abroad, especially in the football community. It's not that I follow social media or the media very closely, but my contacts in football, as you can imagine, are many. It was an extraordinary impact, and I took the opportunity, on the one hand, to emphasize my pride in being here, and on the other hand, if I can also be a vehicle for promoting and projecting Sport Lisboa e Benfica, I do so with the greatest pride.

Otamendi scored in the game against Arouca and became the oldest player to score for Benfica; he is also the team captain and a regular starter, not to mention undisputed. Knowing that Otamendi's contract is coming to an end and he will be 38 when it expires, will you try to get him to renew, both by talking to him and with Benfica's SAD?

I think that with soccer players, one thing is their actual age and another thing is what we see on the field, and in my case, as a coach, it's not just what I see on the field during a game, but also what I see on the field during training. There are 20-year-olds who are old players, and there are old players, and I hope they don't take offense, because I'm older than them, but there are 38- and 40-year-olds who are young football players. Nico [Otamendi] is young. To give you an idea of my relationship with him and the level of our communication, I asked him very objectively and told him very objectively: we have Guimarães [match against Vitória SC, for the Championship] and we have [Bayer] Leverkusen [for the Champions League], what are we doing tomorrow [Wednesday, October 29]? And he said to me: “We have Guimarães, we have Leverkusen, and we have Tondela.” He plays, he is a very important player for us. Contractual issues and issues regarding the future are obviously decided by people at a much higher level than me. Ask me questions, I'm here to answer them.

Two questions, one very quick: will you be making many changes given your tight schedule?

Few, very few. Few, some. Few, some. I won't change 11, nor 10, nor 9, nor 8, nor 7, but I will change something. 

Much has been said about the overload of games. Does this competition, the League Cup, still make sense in the form in which it will be played? By the way, since you also mentioned the impact of Benfica's elections abroad, did it have any impact on the squad? How did you shield the squad from the electoral process?

I think the elections have been in the air for so long, for months now, you can feel Benfica's elections. I think even before I arrived, you could already feel it. Obviously, it intensified after I arrived, in the last month, but it was something that was already being felt, and it was something that the players got used to, I think, getting used to doing their job, a little isolated from some contexts that could be harmful, but I honestly don't think they were harmful. The team managed... sometimes with good results on the field, other times with negative results, but I don't think there is any connection between the negative results and the election period. I don't think so at all. I got used to playing a lot of games. As you know, I spent many years in England, where there was also the League Cup and the FA Cup—in my time, with a tie and a second game, sometimes after 24 hours. I've gotten used to all this, in my head, and also in my body, which is no longer young, but I don't need my body to play either. In my head, I like to play, I like games, and I never go against any kind of competition. If this competition, then, on an economic level, means something to the clubs, that's not something that has concerned me so far. Perhaps it has less of an impact on the bigger clubs, perhaps it has more of an impact on the smaller clubs. I have no idea how the revenue is distributed or not, but at least it's a competition that I've never... look, I'm speaking for myself, selfishly: it's the only competition in Portugal that I haven't won yet. It may be possible to win this League Cup. Then, I think that Benfica, from the moment it enters a competition, has to respect the competition to the utmost, has to respect the essence of Benfica. I would even say: Benfica, when playing friendly matches, cannot mess up. Even though these are friendly matches, you can't play around too much in football, so I think this League Cup isn't for fun, it's for playing. Obviously, as I said earlier, I have to rest some players. I can't always play the same ones. There are players who, due to their nature and medical history, need to rest, and I will respect the competition, but I will also respect the other competitions, which are obviously more important, and respect the players and the squad. So tomorrow I will make three or four changes.

Is Manu Silva ready to play? Can he get some minutes under his belt?

No.

It seemed to me in the game [against Arouca], from where I was standing on the pitch, that in the first half there were some indications about Lukebakio's defensive positioning and defensive recovery. My question to you is: for Benfica to play as they did in the last game, with Pavlidis, Prestianni, Sudakov, and Lukebakio playing simultaneously, is it necessary for these players to also grow and be more committed to the team at all times during the game?

That's true, that's true. Regarding Lukebakio, I even joked with him, because I told him that... so he wouldn't think that when he plays on the opposite side to the bench, he can relax, that I can't see him, because I can see him just the same, and sometimes I end up hoarse from shouting so much. So he can't relax even when he plays on the opposite side. It's true, defensive dynamics, especially when playing with many offensive players, are important in terms of discipline and the roles of each player. It was an offensive team, Aursnes at full-back, with all those [players] you mentioned. It's important that the team works well defensively, but I think we also showed good offensive dynamics in that game, good ideas that we brought from training to the game. Today we worked hard again... to tell you the truth, today we only worked on offensive organization. It is important that the team starts to fit together, that the puzzle begins to solidify.