The Benfica coach on the eve of the match against Juve: “Tomorrow a final like any other. There is pressure but if the draw were enough, paradoxically we will have difficulties on a psychological level, but instead we know we have to win”
“Yes, if they called me I would coach Juventus…”. Special effects like the Special One: José Mourinho is called into action and doesn’t play a throw-in in the stadium that has already booed him loudly. “If it were to happen in the future, I would come on the Juventus bench. I – continues the coach, today at Benfica – will surprise me if I find a colleague with no or little history at the helm of an important club, not if Max (Allegri, ndr) goes to Milan, Luciano (Spalletti, ndr) signs for the Juventus club or Gasp (Gasperini, ndr) ends up at Roma…”.
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Mou knows that the Stadium is a challenge without appeal and accepts the challenge. “We have to win, we have to do it to show up for the last match with the possibility of qualifying for the playoffs: it’s better for the team because, for us, there will be no space to dedicate to anything other than victory. We are Benfica, we are a team full of injured people, but whoever is there knows the meaning of our past…”. Mou and Lucio, Mourinho and Spalletti: the story of a relationship born and grown after a lot of lack of communication. “But what could be of interest to the two of us now that Juventus-Benfica is being played? It’s of interest to you, not to those who do our job: digs – says the Portuguese coach – are part of the game, what matters is that I respect Luciano for his work and for the person he is. Does he expect a clever trick from me? I expect a lot of quality because his teams have always had it: Spalletti is a great coach, he has the culture of football, he wants to play the game and win.”
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The Special One would accept the Juventus bench: a full-blown counterattack for the man of the Nerazzurri treble. “Luciano says that when I’m there the level rises? The level of booing… I’ve already been here with Inter, Roma, Manchester United, but it’s the one with Inter that counts… it’s the love” towards me as a former Inter manager that makes people behave like this…”, José hints at a smile. In February 2011 he said that he “could never have coached Juventus…”: fifteen years later, here are the special effects.
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