Always keen for a headline, Jose Mourinho pulled out a rather sarcastic one before facing former side FC Porto.
The Benfica coach takes on the side he won the Champions League with back when he was at the peak of his powers.
Mourinho is nowhere near that level these days, guiding Benfica out of both cups and the Champions League since returning to Portugal.
Taking on Porto he has a chance to restore some pride, but the reality is he’s yet to record a victory against any of the top three since returning.
Asked why he has such a record, Mourinho replied: “This happened because the coaches of Sporting and FC Porto are better than me.
“And the reason why Benfica fans can believe [in victory] is because of what the team has been doing well, winning against those opponents you were kind enough to mention [Real Madrid and Napoli].
“Even in the games we didn’t manage to beat FC Porto and Sporting, we competed seriously and lost one of those games, and we could have avoided it. And we drew two that we could have won.
“The proximity to victory is enough for the fans to go to the Luz stadium and believe that we can win.”
Mourinho is a Farioli fan
Despite some clear sarcasm in his comments, Mourinho is clearly a fan of Porto’s Francesco Farioli.
The Italian coach praised his rival pre-match, and Mourinho repaid the favour.
“I already thanked him. We haven’t spoken on the phone, but I’ve already sent him a message,” he said.
“We’ve known each other for a good couple of years, we’ve exchanged some messages and occasional phone calls. The last message we exchanged was at Christmas.”
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