The Benfica president has reacted after Jose Mourinho’s side were beaten 3-0 by Newcastle United in the Champions League.
This made it three Champions League defeats in a row and by far the heaviest to date, after some goal margins in the defeat to Qarabag and Chelsea.
It is a sensitive time for Rui Costa, the current president of Benfica.
Benfica is a fan-owned club and Costa is up for re-election this weekend, at a time when the club is not performing well, having already sacked their manager last month when Jose Mourinho came in.
Official Benfica media edition – October 22, 2025:
On Wednesday, October 22, Rui Costa, president of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, discussed the events of the match against Newcastle (3-0), referring to the third round of the Champions League, noting that “the team has everything it needs to achieve its goals.”
The leader of the club, still on English soil, called for unity around the working group and recalled the limitations present this season due to the lack of pre-season and holidays, with consequences for the physical breakdown in times of increased competitive acceleration.
ERRORS THAT COST
“In the first half, we dominated the match for a long time and created opportunities to score. We could have gone into halftime with a lead. In the second half, which we will not remember fondly, we ultimately suffered a heavy defeat. We play in the Champions League, and in situations like this, mistakes are made and paid dearly.”
MESSAGE: ALL QUALIFICATION OPTIONS
“The message to the fans is the same as to the players. We have zero points from three games in the Champions League, but we still have five.” [games] to play. We have every chance to qualify, so we will fight and do everything we can to stay in the competition.”
REPLACEMENTS ARE OPTIONS, NOT REQUIREMENTS
“I am not going to discuss the coach’s choices, as is natural and as you understand. If he has only made one substitution, it is because he has decided to make only one substitution. Substitutions are not mandatory, they are choices. Badly composed squad? We will talk about that internally, but I will not comment on the coach’s choices. I repeat: substitutions are options, not obligations. José Mourinho has more than enough experience to know whether he has to make one or ten, but he cannot make them.”
RAID AFTER 2-0
“Today I am not worried about the elections, today or yesterday [Tuesday]”I was worried about the Champions League match. It is a heavy defeat, I repeat, with a second half that was not good at all and could have cost us even more. We have to look at what we did in the match, what we did well for many minutes of the match in the first half where we could have taken the lead. We had great chances and opportunities to take the lead and share the game with Newcastle. In the second half, especially after the second goal, the team broke down quite a bit, and you can’t break that in these games…”
ELECTION DAY, DAY OF UNITY
“I call for unity. As I have always said, this is a historic day for the Club. It is the most competitive election in the Club’s history. But during the 90 minutes against Arouca, let us leave the elections outside the stadium and give the team the support it needs. It is important at this moment that everyone is united around the match.”
TEAM HAS THE VALUE TO ACHIEVE ITS GOALS
“This team has already done well this year, it has a good squad, it has great players, and because it is more physically exhausted than other teams, it also deserves that support. Without preseason, without holidays, without everything, it is normal that in many matches… like yesterday’s [Tuesday]it seemed clear to me that as the game picked up speed, the team collapsed more physically. People need to understand this too, even if it is not pleasant. I ask for the support of the team, regardless of the elections, because this team has the value of achieving the goals it wants to achieve.”
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