Mourinho’s Champions League Qualification: A Prayer Needed After Goalkeeping Error
- The Champions League hasn't seen a finish like this in a long time.
- Especially after his team just defeated Real Madrid, with the winning goal scored by the goalkeeper in added time. The Portuguese coach revealed after the game that the...
- "To be honest, when I was making the final substitutions at 3-2, I thought we were safe and this result would be enough.
The Champions League hasn’t seen a finish like this in a long time. Benfica needed a goal in the dying seconds to secure a qualifying spot, and goalkeeper Anatolij Trubin (24) delivered. His header definitively defeated Real Madrid, giving his team a 4-2 victory. Manager José Mourinho (63) admitted after the match that he and his staff had long believed a fourth goal wouldn’t be necessary for celebration.
When Mourinho speaks, it’s worth listening. Especially after his team just defeated Real Madrid, with the winning goal scored by the goalkeeper in added time. The Portuguese coach revealed after the game that the ending was an emotional rollercoaster caused by misinformation from his team.
“To be honest, when I was making the final substitutions at 3-2, I thought we were safe and this result would be enough. But a few seconds later, they told me, ‘no, it’s not enough, we need one more,'” Mourinho explained to Movistar. “So I sent Nicolás Otamendi up front and prayed during the set piece,” he described.