Is ruthless Benfica returning to Portugal after 14 years of mentioning Mourinho after replacing Raj right after his first loss of the season?

Sep 17, 2025

Is ruthless Benfica returning to Portugal after 14 years of mentioning Mourinho after replacing Raj right after his first loss of the season?
Reuters Yonhap News



Is ruthless Benfica returning to Portugal after 14 years of mentioning Mourinho after replacing Raj right after his first loss of the season?
Benfica has launched a super strong force.

Benfica replaced Bruno Raj as the head coach. Benfica lost 2-3 in the first round of the European Champions League phase of the 2025-2026 season at Istadieu da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal on the 17th (Korea time). They led 2-0 but lost helplessly at home, conceding three goals. Karabakh's victory was remembered as the first European Champions League final victory in pre-Azerba football history.

Benfica's management chose to part ways with Raj after the game. Benfica won three consecutive games since the opening of the league, but drew 1-1 at home to Santa Clara last weekend and pulled out the sword after the defeat overlapped. Chairman Hui Costa "I inform all Benficistas. We have reached an agreement with Raj, and as of today he is not Benfica's manager. I appreciate Raj's dedication, but the moment of change has come."




Raj, who returned after being fired in 2020, suffered the humiliation of being fired twice in Benfica alone. Coach Raj was once mentioned as a candidate for the Korean national team.

Is ruthless Benfica returning to Portugal after 14 years of mentioning Mourinho after replacing Raj right after his first loss of the season?
Photo capture=더선
Benfica immediately started looking for a replacement coach. Jose Mourinho, who was recently replaced by Fenerbahce, is considered a strong candidate, according to Portugal's Ojogu. Mourinho broke up with Fenerbahce on the 29th of last month. Mourinho, who took the helm of Fenerbahce in June last year, lost the European Champions League playoffs and failed to advance to the finals. After two days, he was notified of his resignation and got off the train in 14 months. Coincidentally, the playoff opponent at the time was Benfica.

If Mourinho takes the helm of Benfica, he will return to the Portuguese stage for the first time in 21 years since leaving Porto in 2004. Mourinho led Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United with 26 trophies. The treble has also been achieved. In particular, he completed the conference league victory at AS Roma, becoming the first coach to win all three European competitions (Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League) organized by UEFA.








This article was translated by Naver AI translator.