José Mourinho has criticised his Benfica players after their 3-1 defeat by Braga in the Portuguese League Cup semi-finals, saying the squad will remain at the club’s Seixal training base to reflect on the performance. The manager stated that training would take place on Thursday and the following day, with players confined to their rooms.
“I hope the players sleep as well as I do, which is to say that they don’t sleep at all,” Mourinho said. “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 insisted the stay was not a punishment but a precaution, adding that it had been planned before the game in Leiria.
Benfica had been favourites to reach the final after Sporting’s elimination, but fell behind to goals from Pau Víctor and Rodrigo Zalazar. Vangelis Pavlidis pulled one back from the penalty spot, yet Gustaf Lagerbielke restored Braga’s two-goal advantage before Nicólas Otamendi was sent off in stoppage time.
With the League Cup final taking place on Saturday without Benfica, Mourinho confirmed attention would turn to Wednesday’s Portuguese Cup quarter-final against Porto. “The first half was awful, inexplicable,” he said. “It wasn’t Braga that won, it was us who lost.”
The defeat leaves Benfica ten points behind league leaders Porto and follows a mixed Champions League campaign. Mourinho questioned his players’ mentality, saying his post-match team talk became a monologue, and warned that any Benfica player nervous about a semi-final was not worthy of the club.
