Jose Mourinho fires ‘giant’ warning ahead of Champions League clash - Newcastle United will be worried
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Newcastle United news: Eddie Howe’s side return to Champions League action with a game against Jose Mourinho’s Benfica on October 21.
Newcastle United got their Champions League campaign up and running with a 4-0 win in Belgium against Union Saint-Gilloise before the international break. That win lifted the Magpies into 11th place in the table.
Eddie Howe’s side banished the demons of their 2-1 defeat against Barcelona with that comfortable victory at Lotto Park, securing their first away win in European competition for over a decade. The newly-reformatted competition gives teams slightly more breathing space in the league stage, compared to the previous group stage and knockout format, but there can be little room for more slip-ups from Howe’s side if they want to ensure their qualification for the knockout stage before their trip to Paris on the final matchday of the league phase.
Despite falling to defeat against Barcelona, the Magpies will be determined to make St James’ Park a fortress again - and that begins against Portuguese side Benfica next week. Benfica currently sit third in Liga Portugal but have been beaten on both of their Champions League outings so far this season.
However, any hopes of an easy ride for the Magpies were extinguished when it was revealed that Jose Mourinho had been appointed Benfica’s new manager.
Jose Mourinho makes ‘giant’ Benfica claim
Mourinho replaced former Wolves boss Bruno Lage in the Estadio Da Luz dugout before immediately overseeing a 3-0 win during his first game in charge. The former Chelsea and Manchester United manager began the campaign as manager of Turkish side Fenerbahce, but left the Istanbul club after they failed to qualify for the Champions League.
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Whilst Mourinho may not be the formidable manager of old, his experience of big matches, particularly in European competition, mean Benfica have to be a force to be reckoned with. Chelsea discovered that less than a fortnight ago as they just overcame Mourinho’s side in their Champions League meeting at St James’ Park.
In a recent interview with UEFA, Mourinho spoke about joining a ‘giant’ club like Benfica and the successes he has had at similarly sized clubs: “I was lucky in my career to coach a lot of giants: Real Madrid, Inter, Manchester United, Chelsea. Benfica is a giant.
“And in that sense, a giant club, giant responsibility, giant expectations, everything is giant, but it's the kind of challenge I need. My life has pretty much always been like this, and fundamentally that's what it is, the chance to work again at a club that I like to call a giant.”
Mourinho and Benfica could be a marriage made in heaven and whilst they do have a league game to play before their trip to St James’ Park, it is certain that the 62-year-old will have his new side fired up to play at a stadium which hasn’t been the happiest of hunting grounds for him during his career. Mourinho has won just twice at St James’ Park during his time as a manager, with those wins coming on his first appearance at the stadium back in November 2004 with Chelsea and his penultimate visit to Tyneside with Tottenham Hotspur in July 2020 in a match that was played behind-closed-doors.