Benfica’s Mourinho was clueless for a long time

Goalkeeper scores at the last second

“I had no idea”: coaching faux pas almost led to elimination

Benfica Lisbon is on the verge of elimination in the Champions League. But then things get dramatic in the game against Real Madrid – also due to a communication problem.

With some distance to the wild final minutes, with the decisive goal from his goalkeeper, José Mourinho was cool as always. “We knew that we could do it. We knew that the big guy was capable of it,” said the Portuguese to the TV channel CBS after the 4-2 win by Benfica Lisbon about his former team Real Madrid. It was only goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin’s header in the eighth minute of stoppage time that gave Benfica the goal difference that was enough to make it into the playoffs of the Champions League.

A few moments before the goal, it looked as if Mourinho didn’t even know that a fourth goal was missing to advance. Sami Khedira, who himself trained under Mourinho, remarked as an expert on the DAZN microphone: “The whole stadium knew it, the president knew it, only Mourinho, who actually has an answer to everything, didn’t know it.” And according to the 63-year-old, there was actually a problem with communication.

“I had no idea whether 3-2 would be enough, I had no point of reference,” admitted Mourinho. He described his change of heart and the instruction to send goalkeeper Trubin forward as well: “When I made the last substitutions, they said, we’re through, just protect. Then a few seconds later I find out we need one more.”

The “Special One” later confessed: During the wild final phase, he was almost eliminated from the Champions League. “We would die upright and that would be okay,” he shared his thoughts at the Estadio da Luz. But things turned out differently.

Players and support staff fell full of ecstasy over match winner Anatoliy Trubin after he heaved the ball into the net with the last striker’s move of the game. The Ukrainian then spoke of “a crazy moment. I’m not used to scoring. I’m 24 years old and that was the first time.”

Shortly before, his teammates on the pitch had suddenly shown him “an A,” he explained. A sign that another goal was needed to advance. “But I didn’t understand it,” said Trubin. “Everyone told me to hurry up.” He summed it up on Instagram that night: “Sometimes football brings us more than we could ever expect. Even scoring a goal.”