Benfica president Rui Costa has offered a blunt response to claims from his Porto rival Andre Villas-Boas.
The two teams drew 0-0 in O Classico last time out, and Villas-Boas complimented his side, suggesting they were underdogs for financial reasons.
He began: “Mourinho is a world champion, with an enviable track record, the best track record of a good Portuguese coach.
“Therefore, I think this also highlights what FC Porto did in this match, with a young team against an experienced team, a team of incalculable value like Benfica, with several players earning over eight million euros.”
Villas-Boas’ comments may seem like a harmless dig, but they in fact constitute somewhat of an unfair accusation as the Primeira Liga implement a salary cap depending on a club’s financial situation.
Record claim that Benfica can’t spend more that €4million on a single player’s wages, not including bonuses.
Now responding to the claims, Benfica president Rui Costa said: “Regarding these accusations, particularly regarding salaries, I’ve never been concerned about the salaries of other teams.
“I don’t know what perspective André Villas-Boas is concerned with. But yes, he lied!
“There are no players with those salaries at Benfica, and I don’t know why he used that to justify anything.
“Yes, I’ve said that more than once [that our limit is €4m]. We don’t have anywhere near that salary [€8 million], but even if we did, it would be Benfica’s problem, not FC Porto’s.”
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