José Mourinho has criticised his Benfica players after their 3-1 defeat to Braga in the Portuguese League Cup semi-finals, ordering them to sleep at the club’s Seixal training base. The Portuguese manager said the squad would remain at the facility until further notice, adding that he hoped they would not sleep and would instead dwell on the performance.
“The players will sleep in Seixal, and on Thursday there is training, and the day after there will be training,” Mourinho told reporters after the match in Leiria. “I hope the players sleep as well as I do, which is to say that they don’t sleep at all. That’s what I wish for them. That they don’t sleep and instead think a lot, like I’m going to.”
Benfica president Rui Costa dismissed suggestions the move was a punishment, stating the overnight stay had been planned in advance. “It’s not a punishment, it’s a precaution for the next games. It was already planned that the players would spend the night in Seixal,” he said.
Braga took a 2-0 lead into half-time through Pau Víctor and Rodrigo Zalazar, before Vangelis Pavlidis pulled one back for Benfica from the penalty spot. Gustaf Lagerbielke sealed the win for Braga, and Benfica’s Nicólas Otamendi was sent off in stoppage time. The defeat leaves Benfica 10 points behind league leaders Porto and with only two wins from six Champions League matches.
Mourinho, who took charge in September, was scathing about his side’s display. “The first half was awful, inexplicable. I can’t find anything positive in the first half outside the first five minutes,” he said. “It wasn’t Braga that won, it was us who lost.” He also questioned his players’ mentality, noting that his post-match team talk was a “monologue” due to their sadness. “I don’t want to believe a Benfica player is nervous about a League Cup semi-final, because then he’s not a player for Benfica,” he added.
