Mourinho ‘Achieves Historical Feat’ After First Benfica Season

Jose Mourinho achieved something rarely seen in top-flight football as his Benfica side went the entire league campaign without winning the league.

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Mourinho left Turkish giants Fenerbahçe for Benfica after his side was eliminated from the UEFA Champions League by none other than the team he would join.

It marked a return to Portuguese football for the first time since he left FC Porto in 2004, with Mourinho returning to Benfica for the first time since 2000.

Mourinho achieved an impressive feat as he finished the 2025/26 Primeira Liga season unbeaten with 23 wins and 11 draws in 34 games played, but it was only enough for a third-placed finish.

Mourinho's side finished two points behind second-placed Sporting CP and a further eight points behind league winners Porto, meaning the Reds qualified for the UEFA Europa League for the first time since the 2009/10 season, according to GOAL.

It was the fifth time in Portuguese football history that a team finished the season unbeaten, with Benfica doing so on three occasions and Porto doing so twice.

It is also the second time that Benfica have failed to win the league despite an unbeaten campaign, having done so in 1977/78 when they lost the league to Porto on goal difference.

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Mourinho's side joins a select group of teams to have gone unbeaten through the season but fail to win the league, joining Red Star Belgrade in 2007/08 and FC Sheriff of Moldova in 2024/25.