Mourinho orders Benfica players to sleep on training ground

Jose Mourinho ordered BenficaPlayers sleep at their training ground after a 3-1 defeat against Braga in the Taca da Liga semi-final.

Nicolas Otamendi was sent off late on as Benfica’s hopes of winning the Portuguese League Cup were incredibly dashed.

Benfica is not in action this weekend before facing Primeira Liga leaders Porto, who they trailing by 10 points in the tablein the quarter-finals of the Taca de Portugal next Wednesday.

And Mourinho will spend much of the interim period at the club’s training base, Seixal.

“The players will sleep at Seixal, and on Thursday there will be training, and the next day there will be training,” Mourinho said in a press conference after the defeat against Braga.

“As there is no final on Saturday, our next match will be against Porto next Wednesday.

“When we arrive at Seixal [on Wednesday]everyone will go to their room. I hope the players sleep as well as I do, which means they don’t sleep at all.

“That’s what I wish for them. That they don’t sleep and that they think a lot, like I’m going to do.

Mourinho, who took office in September, has won 14 of his 23 matches in charge. The former Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager had overseen an 11-game unbeaten run before Wednesday’s defeat.

“On Thursday we can start talking, which is not what happened in the dressing room,” Mourinho added.

“In the locker room, it was a monologue, and monologues don’t work for me; I like to interact with the players.

“We will talk about the differences between the first and second half and prepare for the match against Porto in the best possible way.”