Jose Mourinho makes Benfica Champions League training tweak - it didn't work for Newcastle United
Jose Mourinho has tweaked Benfica’s training schedule ahead of their Champions League clash against Newcastle United.
Benfica are scheduled to arrive on Tyneside later this afternoon ahead of Tuesday night’s Champions League clash with Newcastle United.
The Portuguese giants began the 2025-26 campaign with Bruno Lage in charge but parted ways with the former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss following the shock 3-2 defeat at home to Qarabag FK in their Champions League opener.
Lage was replaced by three-time Premier League winner Jose Mourinho. The 62-year-old is unbeaten in his opening five domestic matches but couldn’t quite manufacturer a result on his return to Chelsea last month, losing 1-0.
_pages-to-jpg-0001.jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
The two opening defeat leave Benfica 33rd out of 36 in the Champions League group phase table, whereas Newcastle sit 11th after beating Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise 4-0 in Brussels last time out.
Jose Mourinho tweaks Benfica preparations ahead of Newcastle United visit
As Benfica gear up for their visit to Newcastle, Mourinho has made a notable tweak to his team’s preparations.
In the Champions League, the away team often trains at the home team’s stadium the evening before the game, as Benfica did for their visit to Stamford Bridge. Newcastle also did the same ahead of facing Union SG.
But instead, Benfica will train in Lisbon late morning to early afternoon before flying directly to Tyneside. Mourinho will still do his pre-match press conference at St James’ Park, but no training session will follow.
Newcastle United’s Champions League training tweak has paid off
Eddie Howe initially adopted the same approach when Newcastle first returned to the Champions League two years ago, having opted to train at Benton instead of AC Milan’s San Siro and Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park.
But after losing both games and failing to score a goal, United changed tack for their visit to Paris Saint-Germain and kept the same routine when facing Union SG at Lotto Park last month.
And it may have made a big difference, with Howe’s side going on to draw 1-1 at the Parc des Princes before in Belgium recording their biggest-ever Champions League win.
Asked about the change, Howe, before the Union SG game, said: “I think it all depends on lots of different things, like journey time, how we feel about certain training sessions, how much we want to give away on our preparation.
“We felt coming here that getting to know our surroundings was more important, so I think it will be an important training session for us today, the pitch, the stadium, travel time has been minimal, so we've got here early, we'll be settled and hopefully have a good performance.”
Jose Mourinho complains at Benfica training time ahead of NUFC visit
Speaking ahead of the trip to Newcastle, Mourinho revealed he is unhappy with the lack of time spent on the training ground since becoming Benfica manager.
He said: “I can say that we trained yesterday (Thursday) and the day before (Wednesday). On the other days, one player arrived, then another.
“We did some of the things we trained, but at a slower pace than I wanted, both in terms of passing and in terms of finding an inside game. Newcastle? It’s going to be very difficult. They have a very strong midfield, and St James’ Park is also a good place to play.”