Filipa Patão renews contract until 2027

STATEMENTS

Filipa Patão, coach of the four-time national football champions, has extended her contract with Sport Lisboa e Benfica until 2027. The new contract was signed on Wednesday, June 12.

"The coaching staff of this project has been here since the youth teams. Knowing that we can continue what we've been building with Benfica is very gratifying. We feel very, very proud of this vote of confidence, with the contract extension", claimed Filipa Patão, to BTV, after penning the contract renewal.

"New goals, new dreams, always with Benfica. I'm very, very happy for this moment," said the coach.

The increase in quality and, inherently, competitiveness in Portuguese women's football is notorious with each new season, with the important contribution of Benfica and the impact of its performances at national level and across borders.

"We have also worked in previous years to grow our league, to develop women's football in Portugal and abroad. Every year we've managed to do better, every year we're better, and that forces the other teams to be better. We remain ambitious for what Benfica's goals are. The idea is to become stronger and stronger, to grow as we become more competitive, and to be able to achieve other international feats. We were in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and now we want to go further, always, every year," assumed the coach

In the 2023/24 season, the Inspiradoras won the Liga BPI, the Portuguese Cup, the League Cup and the Super Cup, as well as achieving remarkable results in the Women's Champions League, where they reached the quarter-finals - and never before had a Portuguese team gone so far! It was a dream sporting year. Repeating it, and doing even better, is a strong motivation.

"It's often said that doing a season like this is always very difficult, and the goals are even higher on the mountain to do better than last season. But that's why we're here, for challenges, to challenge ourselves and to be better every day, otherwise this renewal wouldn't make sense, it wouldn't make sense for us to stay here if we didn't think we could give Benfica something more. We feel that we have the conditions for it, that our process is ideal, and we're making a good marriage here with Benfica. Our goal is to show that. It's difficult to do better next season, but we'll do everything we can to achieve it," she said.

Grateful for the support provided by the fans, Filipa Patão addressed a message to the Benfiquistas.

"I'd like to thank the fans for all the support they've given the team, and also the coaching staff, over the years. We always feel at home, and that's one of the best things we can have. We're here for the love of the club, the love of what we do, the passion for the sport, and we just have to thank the Benfica fans for their support. To tell them that we're obviously going to do better, I'm sure of it, that's what we work for every day, and we're going to fight for another winning season", she stressed.