{"id":432010,"date":"2026-05-04T16:35:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T16:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/432010\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T16:35:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T16:35:06","slug":"benfica-jose-mourinhos-team-on-course-for-unbeaten-campaign-but-miss-out-on-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/432010\/","title":{"rendered":"Benfica: Jose Mourinho&#8217;s team on course for unbeaten campaign but miss out on title"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Mourinho and Benfica will surely view this season as a missed opportunity &#8211; although an invincible campaign would be some solace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">They could even finish third given they are only three points ahead of Sporting, who have a game in hand and a superior goal difference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Portuguese sports publication <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abola.pt\/noticias\/nao-sabe-jogar-em-vantagem-benfica-ofereceu-12-pontos-2026050318174883395\" class=\"ssrcss-18834jl-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">A Bola, external<\/a> said Benfica had &#8220;gifted&#8221; rivals Porto 12 points, after letting a lead slip in six of their 10 draws.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">However, after seeing their title hopes disappear following a 2-2 draw at Famalicao on Saturday, Benfica president Rui Costa instead took aim at the officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;No-one has the right to decide who wins championships or who goes to the Champions League other than the players and coaches on the field, and what happened here today was not that,&#8221; Costa said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Costa complained that Famalicao were unfairly awarded a penalty, while their second goal &#8220;came from a corner which wasn&#8217;t a corner&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;It unequivocally explains what this referee came here to do today. Trying to make sure Benfica got beaten here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Portuguese sports newspaper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.record.pt\/futebol\/futebol-nacional\/liga-betclic\/benfica\/detalhe\/apaf-faz-queixa-de-rui-costa-e-do-benfica-ao-conselho-de-disciplina?ref=Benfica_Ultimas\" class=\"ssrcss-18834jl-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Record, external<\/a> has reported that the Portuguese Association of Football Referees will file a complaint against Costa after his comments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Mourinho, who was also unhappy with the officiating in Saturday&#8217;s match, said: &#8220;This game is a good reflection of what has happened in this championship.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The Portuguese manager has been one of the names <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/articles\/cy02ny5dxjgo\" class=\"ssrcss-18834jl-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">linked to the Real Madrid job<\/a> in the summer if the Spanish club decide to part ways with Alvaro Arbeloa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">However, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ojogo.pt\/futebol\/artigo\/processo-de-renovacao-de-mourinho-vai-ter-um-importante-avanco\/18080018\" class=\"ssrcss-18834jl-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">O Jogo report, external<\/a> that Benfica are set to offer Mourinho a new contract this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mourinho and Benfica will surely view this season as a missed opportunity &#8211; although an invincible campaign would&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-432010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}