Jose Mourinho, former Real Madrid coach and mentor to current manager Alvaro Arbeloa, led Benfica to a stunning 4-2 Champions League win over his old club. Known as the ‘Special One’, Mourinho had celebrated wildly after the last-minute drama, but later issued a heartfelt apology.
The decisive match saw Benfica survive in the tournament thanks to goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin’s remarkable last-minute goal, sending the team to the play-offs as the 24th qualifier. The chaotic finale prompted Mourinho to run onto the pitch, raise his fists, and gesture passionately to the crowd—directly in front of his former player and current Real Madrid coach Arbeloa.
“𝑰 𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑨𝒍𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑨𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒂𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒅. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒛𝒆,” 𝑴𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕-𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.
From Protégé to Rival: Arbeloa Reflects on Mourinho
Arbeloa, who played under Mourinho at Santiago Bernabeu from 2010 to 2013, has often praised his former mentor.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒐. 𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕… 𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒐, 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚,” 𝑨𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓. 𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅.”
Despite a rocky start in Europe this season, including four consecutive defeats, Benfica has now gone five matches unbeaten. Mourinho emphasized his focus on the team’s future:
“𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃.”
The victory over Real Madrid marks a significant boost for Mourinho’s side as they seek stability in both the Champions League and domestic competitions.
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