It required five attempts for the Special One to achieve it, but Jose Mourinho finally led Benfica to their inaugural Champions League victory of the season on Tuesday in Amsterdam.
An early strike from Samuel Dahl and a very late goal from Leandro Barreiro secured Benfica their first points of the 2025-26 tournament phase with a 2-0 triumph over Ajax.
Left-back Dahl struck with a powerful volley on the rebound after Ajax keeper Vitezslav Jaros had denied a header from Benfica defender Nicolás Otamendi. Barreiro netted a second goal in the 90th minute to confirm the win for the visitors.
Mourinho took on the role of Benfica coach in September, three weeks after his exit from Turkish club Fenerbahce, and with this appointment came an opportunity to return to coaching in the Champions League for the Portuguese team.
Nevertheless, the two-time Champions League-winning coach oversaw four defeats in his first four matches with Benfica, leaving them at the bottom of the standings and as significant long shots to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament.
After their latest loss to Bayer Leverkusen on Nov. 5, Mourinho expressed that he still believed the team had a chance to make it into the top 24 positions that progress to the knockout phase of the tournament.
«No one can convince me that we’re out,» Mourinho stated following the defeat to Leverkusen.
Benfica currently has three points from five matches and will face fellow struggling team Napoli in their first of three remaining fixtures on Dec. 10.
In the meantime, Ajax has yet to secure a win this season in the Champions League and occupies last place among 36 teams with no points.
Information from The Associated Press was incorporated in this summary.
