"Bruno Lage is no longer Benfica's coach"

PRESS CONFERENCE

Rui Costa, President of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, announced at a press conference at Estádio da Luz that coach Bruno Lage has stepped down from his position at the helm of the club's professional football team, following the Champions League match played on Tuesday evening, September 16, at the Cathedral.

"I want to inform all Benfica fans that we have just reached an agreement with Bruno Lage, who is no longer Benfica's coach as of today. I would like to thank Bruno for everything he tried to do, everything he did for Benfica, and all the commitment he showed throughout this year representing our club. But, unfortunately, the time has come, and we believe it was time for a change. As for the next coach: we obviously hope that on Saturday, in Vila das Aves, we will already have the new coach on the bench", said Rui Costa, before answering questions from the media in the press conference room of Estádio da Luz.

At the same time, Benfica SAD communicated the coach's release to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) in the following terms: "Sport Lisboa e Benfica – Futebol, SAD informs that has reached an agreement with coach Bruno Miguel Silva do Nascimento (Bruno Lage) to terminate his sports employment contract with immediate effect."

Do you already have a profile for the new coach?

The profile of Benfica's coach must be that of a winner. We had a tough week for all Benfica fans, and I am sorry about Friday's game against Santa Clara and today's game, which are completely unexpected given our arguments and goals for this week, but we haven't jeopardized anything, we haven't lost anything, we haven't dropped out of any competition. I believe that this is the right time to make a change, precisely so as not to jeopardize the season. Consequently, the new coach must be a winner. A coach who represents a club of this size must be capable of taking this team to the heights that are expected of us and winning us the titles we want.

I wonder if that winning profile is José Mourinho's profile.

There is no coach at Benfica at the moment. The only thing that happened after the game was the conversation with Bruno Lage, and therefore Bruno Lage's exit. No coach has been appointed today, nor is there any coach being talked about today to represent Benfica in the future. Now, of course, we have our preparations so that, as I said earlier, on Saturday, in Vila das Aves, Benfica will already have a coach on the bench.

Have you thought about why this failure happened? Strong signings were made, reinforcements, good players, the Super Cup was won, the team entered the Champions League, and suddenly the team falls apart, doesn't grow tactically, and there is total impotence in terms of teamwork...

It is because of this analysis that we had to reach this point. Above all, that's it. As I said earlier, it's been a tough week, a hard week for all of us, for all Benfica fans, which I deeply regret. We haven't lost anything, but this week has certainly left its mark on us. We have to lift our heads up immediately and think about the goals of the Club and this team, which are all intact. But it is difficult to explain how the team – and you remember, my speech to the team after qualifying for the Champions League was public – has changed from one moment to the next, despite – and this is not an excuse, because if it was an excuse, I would not be making this decision right now – this being a very atypical season for our club. It is worth repeating that we had the period we had to rest, the period we had to prepare for a Super Cup and a Champions League preliminary round, and that, from that day until today, the team has not stopped playing twice a week in any week. The only time it stopped, so to speak, was when we had almost the entire squad away on international duty, and we couldn't work either. But the fact is that these two games have left their mark. Unfortunately for us, we have to try to change that course now.

Last year, you sacked Roger Schmidt on August 31, and now you're sacking Bruno Lage on September 17. Do you think this reflects your management of Benfica to date?

Quite honestly, whether I'm right or wrong, I'm a big believer in continuity in projects. Last year, we ended up not winning the championship, we ended up not winning the Portuguese Cup, but we ended up having a season where, with one week to go, we had everything open to win. We left that national season and went to the Club World Cup, where we reached the round of 16, eliminated by the team that went on to become world champions [Chelsea]. I considered, and I still consider – beyond the confidence I had in Bruno Lage and beyond what I consider to be important at the Club, which is to be able to continue the work – that it would be irresponsible to take a gamble on the season [2025/26] right from the start. And risking the season from the outset meant entering a Super Cup and a Champions League preliminary round without a preseason, with a new coach who might not know the players or who, inevitably, would not know the players during the transfer window. It seemed to me – and still seems to me – irresponsible, and the fact is that the results proved me right. Benfica achieved the two goals it had set for that period, not forgetting that, in between, we had league games and, apart from the Santa Clara game, we ended up getting the points we needed to get. So that was my decision.

Do you think that the coach you will present, and in this case the strongest name seems to be José Mourinho, is an asset to save your position at Benfica?

I'm not here to save anyone's job. I am the President of Benfica. As you know, I haven't even campaigned yet, I haven't even given an interview on your channels, I haven't gone anywhere to campaign, because my goal as President of Benfica is to ensure the best future for Benfica, regardless of what happens in the elections. And this decision has to do solely and exclusively with Benfica's sports season, and not jeopardizing Benfica's sports season. That is why I am here, that is why I was elected, to make decisions for the benefit of Benfica, and I am far from being able to think, at this very moment, about what this brings me or does not bring me in terms of elections. But I am very close to knowing what it may or may not bring for Benfica's future. That is the only decision I can make at this moment, and the only one I want to make at this moment. I have never put my interests ahead of Benfica's, and I am not about to start now.

We are about 40 days away from the elections. Have you considered choosing an interim coach, given that it may be more difficult for a coach to accept this position, knowing that in 40 days the board may change and have other plans for Benfica?

My responsibility is to do what is best for Benfica's future. And Benfica's future cannot be jeopardized for a season when we have not yet lost any of our goals. We are at the beginning of the season, we lost two points in the Championship that we shouldn't have lost. We lost a Champions League game in a way that is difficult to explain, which we shouldn't have lost, but we haven't lost anything yet. My role at this moment is to ensure Benfica's future as best I can, and the best I can do is not to jeopardize the season. 

Could the presence of Mário Branco [general director for football] at Benfica at this moment somehow puts Benfica in the direction of José Mourinho? Do Benfica's players also bear some responsibility for the coach's exit, or is Bruno Lage solely responsible?

Mário Branco has come to be Benfica's general director of football. It wasn't because of Mourinho. That's a fact. If that were the immediate intention, Bruno Lage probably wouldn't have started the season. Do the players have a share of the responsibility, or not? Right now, everyone has a share. When things don't go well, no one is exempt from responsibility, starting with me, of course, as the club's leader. So, after what happened this week, this is obviously a time when we all have to analyze what went wrong, especially during this week. Let's not forget that we are in a difficult position because of the results of the games. I won't say two defeats, it was one draw and one defeat, but it felt like two defeats, so we have to analyze what happened. We can't forget the two goals we had, and yes, if we had lost to Sporting in the Super Cup, we would have lost a title; if we hadn't qualified for the Champions League, we would have lost one of our goals. Those two goals were achieved, now we have lost points that penalize us, but that do not take us away from any of the goals we set at the beginning of the season. This is what we have to work on right now and turn things around as quickly as possible, because there is not much time to lose, obviously. 

Who will lead tomorrow's training session [Wednesday]?

As you can imagine, Benfica has sufficient structure to be able to hold tomorrow's training session [Wednesday], without a doubt. This will not be a problem, either for the structure or for the players.

But has someone been assigned?

We have interim coaches, so tomorrow's [Wednesday's] problem does not exist. It is a recovery training session after today's game, and we have sufficient structure, interim coaches who perform this role perfectly and are prepared for it, as is obvious.

Can you guarantee the new coach will be here next Saturday?

That's our goal, obviously.

He'll always be a temporary coach, right? Because elections are coming up, and after October 25, you never know...

Coaches are always on a temporary basis, unfortunately. With or without elections. Obviously, no one wanted to reach this point, but right now, I believe that the most important thing is to secure Benfica's sports season. Therefore, I felt that I had no choice but to make this decision.