Jose Mourinho will return to the former Chelsea club in the Champions League on September 30 after being appointed new manager of the Benfica double European champion.
Mourinho, 62, briefly directed Benfica during his first management role in 2000 and won three Premier League titles over two spells at Stamford Bridge.
The Portuguese left the Turkish team Fenerbahce after less than 15 months of responsibility in August after the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League, losing 1-0 in Benfica in the playoffs to undergo a global defeat by the same score.
Benfica, who finished second in the Liga of Primeira last season, dismissed Bruno Lage on Tuesday after his team pushed a two goals to lose 3-2 at home against Qarabag in the phase of the League of the Champions League.
And they moved quickly to appoint the special, which signed a two -year contract.
Why Fenerbahce Sacke Jose Mourinho?
After finishing 11 points behind the Galatasaray champions in second in the first Mourinho campaign in Turkiye, Fenerbahce started this season with a 0-0 draw in Goztepe, which won the promotion in 2023/24 and arrived eighth last season.
They overturned a first leg deficit of 2-1 to beat Feyenoord during their first equal qualification in the Champions League thanks to a 5-2 victory at home, but the moment of Mourinho’s departure suggests that their defeat against Benfica in the next round decided to his destiny.
Turkiye Kerem Akturkoglu’s winger, who joined Benfica de Galatasaray in 2024, scored the decisive goal in the 35th minute of the return leg, deducing Fenerbahce the Europa League.
Between their competitions with Benfica, Fenerbahce won her first championship victory of the season by defeating Kocaelispor 3-1 at home, although the promoted visitors have lost their first two games without scoring.
Mourinho finished with a record of 37 wins, 14 draws and 11 defeats in 62 games with Fenerbahce, reaching a percentage of victory of just under 60 years.
Jose Mourinho statistics, Fenerbahce file
A goal from the 118th minute to the second row by visitors Lille eliminated Fenerbahce of the Champions League in the first season of Mourinho and they were the last team to qualify for the playoffs of the Europa League phase, advancing the difference in goals in 18th after winning two of their eight league phase games.
A 5-2 victory over Andelecht took them to the last 16, but a 3-1 home defeat against the Rangers turned out to be expensive when they were eliminated in Ibrox in penalties after a 2-0 victory outside.
Fenerbahce was undefeated in his first five championship games under Mourinho, but then lost 3-1 against Galatasaray in front of their biggest home of the season of more than 44,000 fans.
Galatasaray also eliminated Fenerbahce from the Turkish Cup while the side visit to the quarter -finals with two red cards on each side during the additional time.
Mourinho frequently criticized the refereeing in Turkiye and received a ban on four games – then reduced to two games – for remarks on the referees after a 0-0 draw in Galatasaray on February 24.
In a separate incident, Galatasaray said that they would “initiate criminal procedures” against Mourinho and accused him of making “racist statements”.
He denied the allegations, describing himself as the “opposite” of the racist and lodging a complaint against the club requiring damages worth around £ 41,000.
Jose Mourinho contract
The Mourinhos agreement in Fenerbahce was worth more than 8 million pounds sterling per year, according to ESPN at the time of his appointment.
The club president, Ali y Koc, described Mourinho as a living legend and one of the five best living managers upon arrival and said they set their first goal was to become Turkish champion.
“I want to thank you all for your love,” replied Mourinho. “I felt it since the first time my name was linked to Fenerbahce.”
Jose Mourinho trophies
Eight times high flight champion through Portugal, England, Spain and Italy, Mourinho won the Champions League in Porto in 2003/04 and Inter Milan in 2009/10.
He was Premier League champion with Chelsea in 2004/05 and 2005/06, returning to Triumph again in 2014/15 during his second fate at the helm.
Mourinho’s two most recent glories were the 2016/17 Europa League title with Manchester United and the inaugural trophy of the 2021/22 conference league with Roma.
Provisions of the Benfica Champions League
Mourinho will return to England twice as part of the Benfica Champions League campaign, with his third game in the League phase in Newcastle.
Their last home game is against Real Madrid, with whom Mourinho won Laliga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup between 2010 and 2013.
All matches start at 8:00 p.m. GMT / 15:00 and / 12:00 PT unless otherwise indicated.
September 16: Benphic 2-3 Arabic
September 30: Chelsea vs Benfica
October 21: Newcastle vs Benfica
November 5: Benfica vs Leverkusen
November 25: Ajax vs Benfica (17:45)
December 10: Benfica vs Napoli
January 21, 2026: Juventus vs benfica
January 28, 2026: Benfica vs real madrid
