José Mourinho adds a new "title" to his trophy collection

One of world football's most sensational managers, José Mourinho, has made an unexpected statement. The experienced specialist revealed that he considers the number of trophies in his coaching career to be nine rather than eight. This is due to his unbeaten season with the Portuguese club Benfica. This was reported by Goal.com reporting that.

Speaking with Adebayo Akinfenwa on the Beast Mode On podcast, Mourinho specifically highlighted that he remained undefeated in every match with the Lisbon club during the 2025-26 season. Although this result did not grant the team the championship, the manager views it as a unique historical achievement and his "ninth title".

«If you want a funny and slightly arrogant answer, I can say that I have won eight championships in my career, but I had never recorded an unbeaten streak. Therefore, I now consider this result my ninth title. It is not an official trophy, but it feels wonderful», joked the specialist, who has now started work as the head coach of Real Madrid.

Repeating Arsenal's achievement

Despite Benfica remaining undefeated in the Portuguese league under Mourinho's leadership, they finished the season in third place. The Lisbon side, finishing eight points behind the champions Porto, missed out on gold medals due to a high number of draws. The manager compared this situation to the "Invincibles" record set by London's Arsenal in the 2003-04 season.

«We weren't leading the table. Porto lost a few games, but they won almost every match. We were also winning constantly, but a single draw widened the gap. We couldn't catch up to them, but the feeling of being unbeaten is still special», he added.

Historical results and the crisis of Portuguese football

During the conversation, José Mourinho also recalled winning the Champions League with Porto in 2004. In his opinion, that victory was an unprecedented peak for Portuguese football, and since then, the country's clubs have been unable to repeat such a result.

According to Goal.com, the manager recalls that period as follows: «Since 2004, no Portuguese club has won the Champions League, nor have they even reached the final or semi-final. This shows how huge an achievement we accomplished back then. It was like touching the sky».

For reference, José Mourinho has won championships in Portugal, England, Italy, and Spain during his career. He won the English Premier League three times with Chelsea, Serie A twice with Inter, and La Liga with Real Madrid. His unbeaten streak with Benfica has become the next interesting page in his rich biography.