The Special One is yet to deliver three points in Europe this season…
Benfica manager Jose Mourinho remains optimistic about his team’s chances of progressing beyond the Champions League’s first stage, even after a fourth consecutive loss in Europe.
The Portuguese side suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday, leaving them second-from-bottom in the expanded 36-team Champions League table with no points.
The 62-year-old coach took over at Benfica in September following the dismissal of Bruno Lage, who was sacked after a 3-2 home defeat to Qarabag in their opening European fixture.
Mourinho, who famously won the competition with Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010, remains confident that Benfica can still turn things around.
“Nobody can convince me that we’re out,” Mourinho said after the match.
“If everyone starts shouting that we’re out, they won’t convince me. I can’t say that we’re going to qualify, but I refuse to accept that it is over now; there are 12 points to play for.
“We have a chance, the team is improving, there’s nothing that convinces me that we can’t fight.”
“We don’t need 12 points to qualify, nor 11, and I think not even 10.
“But we have [upcoming games against] Napoli, Ajax, Juventus, Real Madrid … We have two games until the end of the calendar year, and if we get six points, we’re in the race.”
Currently sitting third in the Portuguese league, Benfica will travel to Amsterdam to face Ajax on November 25 before hosting Napoli on December 10 in their final European fixture of the year.
