´There is always a debt´ – Mourinho aiming to repay Benfica fans with Derby de Lisboa victory

Jose Mourinho insisted that Benfica fans will see a team that wants to win in their Derby de Lisboa clash with Sporting CP as he aims to repay his debts on home soil.

Mourinho is preparing to face Benfica’s rivals for the first time since overseeing a 1-1 draw in January 2004 when he was in charge of Portuguese giants Porto.

He has never lost to Sporting in the Primeira Liga in any of his six matches against them, winning four and drawing two, but his team have struggled at Estadio da Luz.

Indeed, Benfica have won two of their four home matches under Mourinho, drawing with Rio Ave and most recently Casa Pia, two teams in the bottom half of the table.

And with Rui Borges’ team the visitors this Friday, the 62-year-old Benfica boss made a promise to repay the home supporters with a victory against one of their biggest foes.

“A Benfica team that wants to win. A Benfica team that respects its opponent as it respects everyone, but Benfica wants to win,” Mourinho said of what he wants from his team.

“There is always a debt. There is always a debt, especially when, at times, it may seem that the team’s attitude is not consistent with the love of millions of Benfica fans.

“In that sense, yes. In the sense of losing a game, losing points, not playing the game that the fans might be expecting, I don’t think it’s a question of debt.

“The responsibility that players have is to honour their profession, first and foremost, and then to honour Benfica, and that means an untouchable attitude in any game.

“Sometimes, I, as a coach, and the fans, as fans, may have a misperception and think that a certain attitude was not the best.

“But sometimes there are constraints that make the attitude seem like it wasn’t the best.

“Obviously, with the growth of the team and even of some individuals, they are moving in a direction where there will be more empathy with the fans and less, in quotation marks, the debt you mentioned. But I can’t see it that way.”

Dérbi de Lisboa. pic.twitter.com/2tyERbO09f

— SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) December 2, 2025

Just three points and one place separate Sporting and Benfica in the standings, though Borges’ team have won seven of their last eight top-flight fixtures coming into the game.

The Sporting boss celebrated his 50th match in charge of the club with a 4-0 win over Estrela da Amadora, with Luis Suarez scoring a goal in either half for the hosts.

He has won 34 of his games in charge across all competitions (D10 L6), and Borges insisted that his players would not be intimidated by the task of facing Mourinho’s men.

“We are not going to run away from our idea, but there is a great team that will force us to be more balanced,” Borges said on Thursday.

“We have grown at all times. Tomorrow, the offensive and defensive process will be important.

“Benfica is a team in transition that was very strong. I want my team to be the best at all times of the game. My team is confident, but without overconfidence.

“Benfica comes with three wins in a row. My team is in a good moment of maturation, of what we want, of the collective and the individual within the collective.

“Benfica is in a good phase. We also had difficulties with Nacional. It will be a Benfica that will want to win and play the game in that sense.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Benfica – Vangelis Pavlidis

All three of the Primeira Liga’s top scorers are set to be involved in this match, with Benfica’s Vangelis Pavlidis top of the pile with 10 goals in just 12 appearances in 2025-26.

Pavlidis also has the highest expected goals (xG) total in the division (10.1), while also boasting the best shot conversion rate (25.6%) among players to have had 20 or more shots on target in the top-flight.

Sporting CP – Pote

Sporting’s Suarez is another master marksman on show, having netted nine times this season, but the visitors’ threat will come from Pote, who has scored eight goals so far this term, the joint-third highest in the Primeira Liga.

He also tops the charts for chances created (32) in the division, while his 13 goal involvements (eight goals, five assists) are also the joint highest in the league, alongside Benfica’s Pavlidis.

MATCH PREDICTION: BENFICA WIN

Despite being favoured by the Opta supercomputer, Benfica have won just one of their last six Primeira Liga derbies against Sporting (D3 L2), failing to win any of their last three (D1 L2), but they will want to change that here.

Sporting have, however, won just two of their previous 19 trips to the Estadio da Luz in the Primeira Liga (D7 L10), with their last victory coming back in December 2021 under Ruben Amorim.

And while Benfica have failed to hit the mark at home, Sporting have been in fine form on the road. Indeed, they have won 10 of their last 11 Primeira Liga away matches (D1), though the only exception was a 1-1 draw against Friday’s opponents in May.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Benfica – 43.3%

Draw – 26.7%

Sporting CP – 30%