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Lunchtime in Seixal and after Jose Mourinho’s training session with Benfica, we are awaiting his pre-match press conference. In Restaurante Impala, a stone's throw from the training complex and hidden in the narrow streets of Seixal, inevitably the conversation over grilled sardines from the nearby Tagus River revolves around Mourinho’s homecoming - 25 years on from his first stint as Benfica boss.
The man on the table next to us overhears our discussion and mentions proudly that he was once a teammate of Mourinho. Jorge Batista, 62, shows us an image of them alongside each other from when they were 15 in the nearby town of Setubal - where Mourinho grew up.
It is a coincidence that Daily Mail Sport meets Batista but a timely reminder that after a quarter of a century, the ‘Special One’ is back where it all started.
The wine town of Azeitao, where Mourinho resides in the family home up in the hills, is a 20-minute drive from the training ground. It’s a far cry from the Four Seasons Hotel on the banks of the Bosphorus in Istanbul where he lived alone last season during his time at Fenerbahce and would be spotted hooded up, entering the local kebab joints outside the hotel.
‘We knew he would return one day,’ says Batista. ‘I am convinced Jose will make us (Benfica) winners again,’ he adds. I ask whether Mourinho is a Benfica supporter and Batista is adamant that Jose loved Benfica when they were young.
In a managerial career spanning 10 clubs and over 1000 games, it’s worth noting the first eleven back in 2000. Aged 37, Benfica was the first club Mourinho managed but after three months, he walked. In the aftermath of a 3-0 win over Sporting, Mourinho asked the president for a contract extension and resigned when his demand was refused.
Jose Mourinho has had a hero's return at Portuguese side Benfica - 25 years after finishing his last stint in the dugout
Mourinho's long history with the club began when he faced them as a young player on the pitch with Setubal side UFCI in 1987
‘He was never a great footballer but Jose was bossy and like a coach even when we were young,’ says Batista. ‘He was driven and knew what he wanted.’
A couple of hours later, we are with Mourinho previewing Benfica’s league game against Gil Vicente - a third in the space of a week since taking over.
For the 62-year-old, it is his 12th job in management after he was sacked by Fenerbahce last month. When he arrived in Lisbon, Mourinho stated he was less ego-centric and more altruistic, insisting that people change for the better.
For John Obi Mikel, who played under Mourinho, that is all an act.
‘Don’t believe Jose one bit. Jose needs the ego,’ Mikel said on his podcast. ‘That’s what spurs Jose on and motivates him.’
So surely there is a personal sense of unfinished business for Mourinho in Lisbon?
‘Unfinished business? I didn’t even start the business,’ Mourinho tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘I was here for three months. It wasn’t even the beginning of the business but it’s true that now I feel more and more focused on the others. Who are the others? The supporters, the board, the players. I think more about them than about myself and it’s a good feeling.’
Mourinho admits he thought it would be a ‘natural consequence’ for him to return home for the Portugal job but the opportunity with Benfica proved irresistible, particularly the prospect of managing in the Champions League for the first time since 2020.
The Portuguese manager first took over at Benfica for just nine league games in 2000
Rather than having unfinished business at the club, Mourinho believes his work is only just starting in his home country
Since starting his tenure, Benfica have won seven points in their opening three matches
With the presidential elections in October, Benfica president Rui Costa sacked Bruno Lage after they lost to Qarabag in the Champions League.
For Mourinho, the new beginning has started reasonably well with Benfica winning seven points in three games. This week, they travel to Chelsea in the Champions League then to Porto on the weekend. Two clubs close to Mourinho’s heart and two matches where the attention will amplify.
‘I have my wife and daughter in Portugal. My son is in London so the best thing there is going to see him,’ said Mourinho. And if possible, to win the points we lost against Qarabag. But Chelsea is a top team with fantastic players, a good coach, big statues and world champions. If the fans are great to me, then great. If they are not, that’s fine, no problem but I am happy to be back.’
There is a clip of Mourinho alone at Istanbul Airport the day after he was sacked by Fenerbahce. A stark contrast from the masses that greeted him when he was hired in June 2024 and declared ‘This shirt is my skin.’
Those close to him in Istanbul insist he never truly settled in Turkey. Mourinho himself says he made a mistake going to Fenerbahce. ‘It wasn't my cultural level, it wasn't my football level, it wasn't my level,’ he said.
There was no doubting his work ethic and desire but by the end, there was a belief amongst those within Turkish football that Mourinho felt he was above them. From the constant digs at the state of officiating to antics which included pinching the nose of Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk, the Fenerbahce board grew out of patience. Tepid displays on the pitch didn’t help either. When just 10,000 fans turned up for a league game in May, the writing was on the wall.
The decision came after Fenerbahce were eliminated from the Champions League by Benfica. Ali Koc, the man who hired Mourinho, removed him because the club wanted better football. The season before Mourinho, Fenerbahce won 99 points, scored 99 goals and were pipped by Galatasaray to the title. Under Mourinho, they finished 11 points off the pace.
Mourinho was on vacation in Barcelona when Benfica informed him they were interested though sources in Lisbon believe that he was sounded out before Lage was sacked.
The 62-year-old was appointed at Fenerbahce on a wave of popular support but the relationship soured quickly
Now Mourinho is closer to his wife and daughter, who are both based in their native Portugal
‘When Benfica signed Mario Branco as Director of Football, we knew he could bring Mourinho easily because Mourinho is close to Jorge Mendes and the agency Gestifute but he is even closer to Branco. Branco coming was the signal,’ says one Benfica source.
To observe him closely over the last few days, it’s evident that Mourinho is hungry as ever but simultaneously aware that his every action will be scrutinised by Portuguese media.
The fact that he has worn a suit on matchdays rather than a tracksuit has already been a talking point. Such has been his devotion that Mourinho spent some of the first week living at the campus in a bid to utilise as much time as possible and stamp his identity on a side which he described as ‘needing a bit of botox.’
On Saturday, he was at Seixal again watching Benfica’s B team play. His return has been front page and back page news and in Lisbon, there’s already a mural. While his Ferrari was given a police escort to the training ground on the day of his first press conference.
In an unprecedented move for Benfica - the biggest and most successful club in Portugal - Mourinho has also decided to make the first part of training open to the media on the day before a match. The day we attended, he made an effort to come over and greet the journalists. The same day, he called up Goncalo Moreira to first-team training after he scored four goals in the UEFA Youth League in a bid to inject some energy to the squad.
‘In Portugal, most people thought Jose would only return for the national team. But the Benfica job is not a surprise because it is probably his level now,’ says Rui Pedro Rocha of Sport TV, who has covered both of Mourinho’s spells at Benfica. ‘In the last few years, he hasn’t had the trophies that he did before. But Jose loves Portugal and he’s a workaholic so it’s a perfect solution. And for Benfica and Costa too because they need something new before the elections. If there were no elections, I don’t think he would try a big name like Mourinho. There’s excitement but also an awareness that he might not be for long-term.’
Ahead of the election on October 25, Costa knows he is up against it with Benfica winning just one title under him. Other candidates have promised names like Ruben Amorim, Bernardo Silva and even Jurgen Klopp to push their cause.
Mourinho has a contract until the end of next season which Costa claims is the lowest salary (3 to 4 million Euros) he has had since leaving Portugal in 2004 for Chelsea, insisting that Mourinho was desperate to come.
Mourinho has been spotted in the dugout wearing a suit - a fact which has been quickly noted by delighted fans
Among the candidates floated to take over at the club was Manchester United's Ruben Amorim
Interestingly, for a man who has earned close to £100 million from getting sacked, there is a unique clause which allows either Benfica or Mourinho to part ways in the ten days after the season concludes for a fraction of the cost. Mourinho will have to pay compensation to Benfica if he wants to leave, with Costa emphasising that his respect for the club made that agreement possible.
On Friday night, Benfica, led by Nicholas Otamendi, came from behind to beat Gil Vicente in front of 58,000 fans at the Estadio da Luz. A healthy crowd but the ground holds 68,000 and it will take some time to get it back full to the rafters. When Daily Mail Sport asked ten fans on the concourse whether Mourinho was the right man, the response was split with four saying no, five saying yes and one unsure, Gil Vicente are managed by Cesar Peixoto, who was part of Mourinho’s Champions League winning squad in 2003-04, and he claimed after that Benfica won with the style of football that ‘Mr Mourinho despises.’ Either way, it’s a side with no identity at the moment, as Mourinho insists.
‘Mourinho is a popular coach but not every Benfica supporter loves him yet because Portuguese football fans are educated,’ says a source close to the club. ‘If you ask the ten million people in Portugal, they will prefer managers like Pep Guardiola and Klopp but the respect is there for Mourinho because of his achievements and for his character. For Benfica supporters, Mourinho represents a new illusion, a new dream. People didn’t like Bruno Lage - he wasn’t charismatic. Mourinho has that but if Benfica lose both games this week, then he will already be in bad sh*t. In Benfica, people change easily. It’s not an easy place to be.’
Irrespective of his comments about caring more for others, Mourinho will see the next week as an opportunity to show that fundamentally he still matters. He spoke on Friday about his ‘hurt’ at seeing Chelsea struggle after Roman Abramovich sold the club and how they created a winning machine.
And for all that he says that his history cannot be taken away from him, there is still a desire to make more. Two of his last three jobs have ended without silverware. Now less than a fortnight into act 12 of Mourinho the manager, the narrative is quite something as he returns to London and Porto. Fail in Lisbon and it’s hard to see another major club taking a risk on him.
It brings to mind a Mourinho quote that has done the rounds recently. ‘We see coaches trying to do things that just don’t work and they die,’ said Mourinho. ‘But they say, "I died, but I died with my idea." My friend, if you died by your ideas, you are stupid.’
To his credit, ten clubs, 25 years, and 26 titles later, Mourinho is still going. Lisbon may well be home but such is his legacy that he will have a couple more homecomings over the coming week.
