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Jose Mourinho relishes return to first club after 25 years after sacking from club that was not his ‘cultural level’

Portuguese manager enjoyed a 3-0 win in his first match as manager of Benfica, where his coaching career began in 2000.

José Mourinho, left, poses with Rui Costa, president of SL Benfica, during a press conference in Lisbon, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, announcing Mourinho's return to coaching in Portugal with Benfica on a two-year contract. (AP Photo)

Jose Mourinho returned to the club where it all began for him 25 years ago, and won a routine away fixture 3-0 to keep the festive atmosphere going. Mourinho would slip into philosophy after Benfica, where Mourinho was the manager in the year 2000, defeated AVS on Saturday. “At the end of the game, I thought about the 25 years that have flown by, but 25 years that have not changed my nature, that have not changed my passion, that have not changed my way of being, of living, that have not changed anything at all,” he was quoted as saying by AP.

The combative Portuguese manager, who has a reputation for stirring the pot and creating a bit of controversy, was critical of the Turkish league and his previous club, Istanbul-based Fenerbahce, after he was sacked by the club when they failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, losing their playoff round to Benfica itself.

After losing his job there, Mourinho tore into the club. “I made the wrong choice; I made a mistake going to Fenerbahce… it wasn’t my cultural level, it wasn’t my football level, it wasn’t my level,” he was quoted as telling the Lison-based sports newspaper Abola by Goal.com. “Coaching Benfica is returning to my level, and my level is coaching the biggest clubs in the world.”

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Mourinho added some of those sentiments after Saturday’s win, stressing once again how glad he was to be back at a “giant club.”

“I came to coach a big club, I came to coach a giant. I’ve been with giants, Real Madrid, Inter, Manchester, Roma — not a giant in terms of winning titles, but a giant from a social point of view. I’ve been at big clubs and now I had the opportunity to come and coach a giant, and that’s what brought me here,” he said.

“I’m honest, I always thought I would be back to Portugal, but I always thought I would come back to the national team. I think it’s a natural consequence of my career. It happened to be Benfica, a giant club,” Mourinho added.