Benfica’s first match since their incredible 4-2 win over Real Madrid didn’t go to plan.
Jose Mourinho‘s side draw 0-0 with Tondela in the Primeira Liga, away at a stadium with just 5,000 seats.
A draw against a team in the relegation zone means leaders Porto could move 12 points ahead of Benfica if they win their game in hand.
Mourinho wasn’t looking to blame his players, though, instead targeting officials over five minutes of adding time.
“We always go to six, seven or eight minutes of added time, and today when there were reasons for more, Luís Godinho adds five,” he said.
“And it doesn’t even end up being five, because they then stop the game. We changed our approach in these last minutes. The youngster [Anísio Cabral] even came on well and gave us some play and presence inside the area, being a good reference point and having some chances to score.
“And nothing… I don’t really like to talk about luck or bad luck. I don’t like to go down that road, we weren’t effective.
“Even with a lot of water on the pitch, the team always tried to play. We played, we created chances from beginning to end.
“We certainly had between 20 and 30 shots, the goalkeeper made four, five or six very valuable saves. We did everything to win, we didn’t win.”
Refusing to point the finger at his players, he added: “What I feared was precisely an emotional hangover from Wednesday’s game and an attitude of lack of concentration, lack of motivation, arrogance.
“It was exactly the opposite. The team respected the game, deserved to win, didn’t win.
“But as I was just saying in the locker room, I don’t accuse anyone of missing goals. And that was the only negative thing we did today, missing so many goals.
“In some situations, it’s not even about missing, it’s about a goalkeeper who was rightly chosen as the best player on the field. We did everything to win, we didn’t manage it.”
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