Benfica manager Jose Mourinho expressed strong frustration with his club after their 2-0 win over third division side Atletico in the fourth round of the Taca de Portugal.Mourinho was particularly angry with his club’s performance in the first half, when they entered the half with a scoreless draw, stating that the club lacked a mental presence on the pitch and showed an unacceptable attitude and a lack of professionalism.
The club manager made four substitutions at half-time but wished he could take off nine of his players if possible. Instead, he took out Franjo Ivanovic, Enzo Barrenenchea, Tomas Araujo and Joao Rego and replaced them with Ricardo Rios, Leandro Barreiro, Samuel Dahl and Andreas Schjelderup.
The changes seemed to galvanize the club, who scored a pair of goals midway through the half, with Ricardo Rios getting his head onto a Fredrik Aursnes corner and Vangelis Pavlidis scoring from the penalty spot.
This kind of lackluster performance does not bode well as the club look for their first Champions League points of the season as they travel to Amsterdam on Tuesday to take on Ajax in a battle of cellar dwellers.
Mourinho will be hoping for a better overall performance from the club in the future, with a few key Champions League games on the horizon and a Lisbon derby against Sporting between the two.
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