José Mourinho believes that Benfica will have a more demanding schedule than their opponents in January and considers that they are behind in the fight for the title because FC Porto had an “extraordinary” first round and because Sporting had “marvelous luck” in the game against Santa Clara. Very complicated month of January for Benfica «I think that for Benfica it is even more difficult than everyone else. Teams that play one game a week are teams that, in this regard, have advantages at all levels. They have an advantage due to the possibility of working more, they have an advantage due to the lack of accumulation of fatigue. The teams that are in European competitions, I think we are the ones in the most complicated situation for January because, obviously, FC Porto and Sp. Braga qualified, with merit obviously, but easily for the next phase of the Europa League. Sporting is also classified with merit, Benfica is that team that has two decisive games and with this wonderful calendar that Benfica had in the Champions League. After Chelsea, Newcastle and company, we now have Real Madrid and Juventus, accumulated with championship games, with a game, let's hope two games, from the League Cup, plus one from the Portuguese Cup.” “Obviously, this accumulation is difficult. There are teams that have squads that allow them to change many players from game to game, which allows them to rest, better control their load and fatigue levels. In our case, many changes mean a logical decrease in the team's performance, in the team's power. We have to think game by game. If you ask me if I'm going to play against Estoril in a pre-Braga match next Wednesday, no, I won't do it, I can't do that against Estoril, forgetting that we play against Braga on Wednesday. We have to go game by game.” Do your goals for 2026 still include the fight for the championship? «Maybe people don't think like me, but, for me, the transition from January 31st to January 1st is no different from January 1st to January 2nd, for me it's just another day. The calendar situation doesn't tell me absolutely anything, New Year's Eve tells me absolutely nothing, the twelve raisins don't tell me anything, the blue underwear doesn't tell me anything either. That's not where I'm going. Regarding the championship, I hold on to two things. One is mathematics, which is obvious. There are much more left than the ten points in dispute, if there were only nine I would say that the mathematics won't allow us to do so. And I cling to the fact that we are the only team that hasn't lost in Portuguese competitions». «Sporting has already lost, FC Porto has already lost and Benfica has not lost. I cling to our team, which is obviously not a team from another world. If we were from another world, we would be in first place, already qualified in the Champions League, etc., but we are a team that, with its strengths and weaknesses, we are a good team, a team for which it is not easy to achieve results. In the same way that in the last fourteen games we have had a defeat, especially in the game in which we massacred the opponent, which was Bayer Leverkusen. We lost one game in fourteen, in a game in which we made 31 shots at the opponent's goal». «Then we have ten wins and three draws, with Braga, Sporting and Casa Pia. A team that loses one in fourteen games also gives me strength to believe that we are capable of continuing to win games. There is one thing that is very obvious, that people forget, but that I, throughout my career, have never forgotten, which is that sometimes your success depends on others too. FC Porto's first round is extraordinary and it is a first round that does not give anyone who is doing the right chance of getting closer." «If this year's Porto were the same as last year's Porto, we would be in an extraordinary position. If this year's Sporting were like last year's Sporting, in which they had three coaches, had lots of problems and lots of fluctuations in form, we would also be in a better position compared to Sporting. The success of some also depends a lot on the success of others and I have to say that we are not doing badly at all, but at the championship level, what FC Porto is doing has been extraordinary in terms of results.» Do you have a positive assessment of your work at Benfica, but do you consider that your rivals have been stronger? «Obviously, if FC Porto had drawn two games, that would be a normal thing in any championship... What FC Porto is doing is abnormal. If FC Porto had drawn two games, I'm not even saying if they had lost two, if they had drawn two, instead of ten, we would be six behind. If Sporting hadn't had the wonderful luck of occasionally making a mistake with a corner kick in the game against Santa Clara, there would have been another draw and instead of being five up, we would be three up. You also depend on what your direct opponents do. Therefore, to say that Benfica has done badly in the last two months where we didn't lose, where we should have won in Braga. Under normal conditions, Benfica should have won in Braga, they should have beaten Casa Pia. I think the Casa Pia referee is the one who goes against Sporting-Gil Vicente today, we would have four more points. Objectively, huge congratulations to FC Porto for what they are doing. It's a fantastic championship». «We are doing a good job, we win the games we have to win, we didn't win against Casa Pia, we already know why. Drawing with Sporting is a normal result, it's a derby, it's a normal result. Winning at Braga, we return to the dark mood, the way we did it, is brilliant because Braga are an excellent team. Then we won games that are not easy to win, Guimarães away, Moreirense away, Nacional away. The team isn’t doing any harm at all.”