Welcome back, coach Bruno Lage!

PRESENTATION

Bruno Lage, the coach who, with fantastic and galvanizing football, led the eagles' professional football team to win the National Championship in the 2018/19 season, is returning to Sport Lisboa e Benfica.

In January 2019, on the 4th, Bruno Lage, who was then coaching the B team, was chosen to take charge of the Glorioso's first team. The Reds were seven points off the top of the league, but as a result of a sensational recovery, based on an exciting and goal-scoring record, they ended the season as national champions, celebrating the 37th national championship in the club's history.

His debut as Benfica coach took place at the Estádio da Luz on the evening of January 6, 2019, and the eagles took all three points against Rio Ave (4-2) on matchday 16 of the Championship.

With an electrifying turnaround, the Benfica team swept the fans off their feet and achieved what would be the first of 18 wins in 19 Liga 2018/19 games under Bruno Lage!

The "Reconquista" was achieved with a dream second half of the season, in which Benfica won 16 of the 17 games played, drawing just once. It was the club's best ever in the National Championship, with 49 points collected, or 94%, a record that made Bruno Lage the coach with the best winning percentage, overtaking Jimmy Hagan. During this period, the team won at the Estádio José Alvalade, the Estádio do Dragão and the Estádio Municipal de Braga, against Sporting, FC Porto and Braga respectively, equaling Sven-Göran Eriksson's record in 1990/91. Plus, he also won at Vitória SC.

On the way to 37th League title with Bruno Lage, between January 6 and May 18, 2019, the team went 19 games in a row without losing in the league and recorded their best winning streak of the season - nine wins - on two occasions, between the matchday 16 and 24 and between MD 26 and 34.

Benfica finished the 2018/19 National Championship with the most goals in the competition (103 goals, 63 of which were scored at the Estádio da Luz). In the 19 games under Bruno Lage, the team has scored 72 goals (an average of 3.78 per game), and of the 18 victories, 10 have been big wins (55%) - 13 times the Eagles have won by three goals or more.

Haris Seferovic, the main striker in the Benfica squad designed by Bruno Lage, enjoyed the most productive season of his career, ranking as the top scorer in the 2018/19 league with 23 goals in 17 games.

Still in the attacking lineup, another name emerged with gigantic force: João Félix! Launched as a starter in the first eleven designed by Bruno Lage, the forward who graduated from the club responded by scoring two goals in the clash with Rio Ave and set off on a second half of the season of the highest level.

A starter in the 19 league games played by the team under Bruno Lage's technical instructions that season, João Félix scored - in that period - 13 goals and set up 6.

In the match of Round 34 of the League, on May 18, 2019, at a packed Estádio da Luz, Félix and Seferovic (a brace) scored three of the four goals in the Glorioso's triumph against Santa Clara - the other goal was scored by Rafa, who ended the season with one of the best scoring records of his career (21 goals). It was an evening of glory, with Benfica ratifying the Reconquista!

The brilliant run of 2018/19 was also remembered for the 10-0 thrashing of Nacional on February 10, 2019, at the Cathedral, on matchday 21 of the National Championship, a feat not seen for 55 years (Benfica beat Seixal 11-3 in 1964).

The immediate impact of leading the eagles to their 37th national championship led Bruno Lage to be awarded Coach of the Year in 2019.

At the start of the 2019/20 season, Bruno Lage won his second official trophy for the club, after winning the International Champions Cup, an important pre-season trophy in the presence of some of the world's football giants. It was on the evening of August 4, 2019, at the Estádio Algarve, that Benfica beat Sporting 5-0 in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, in what is the biggest defeat of a rival in the history of the competition. There, he became the fastest coach to win a league title and a Super Cup: just seven months.

Later, on October 27, 2019, Bruno Lage achieved the feat of being the coach in Benfica's history who had achieved 25 league wins in the fastest time ever, and he did it in just 27 games. In this sequence, the eagles scored 89 goals and conceded just 19. If we look at the 25 victories, we see that they were the result of 87 goals. The record was set with 13 away wins and 12 home victories. And defensive solidity was another important factor: the Eagles didn't concede a goal in 14 games.

The 2019 calendar year ended with another impressive statistic: Benfica won all of their away games in the National Championship, totaling 15 victories! The 42 goals scored (an average of 2.8 per game) and 10 conceded (0.66 per game) reflect the attacking football played by the Reds as visitors.

Bruno Lage guided the eagles to the top of the 2019/20 National Championship until matchday 22, ending his tenure at the club at the end of June 2020, after matchday 29, against Marítimo, and with Benfica qualified for the Portuguese Cup final.

In all competitions at the helm of Benfica, 76 games have been played, with 51 wins and 12 draws.

At the age of 48, Bruno Lage returns to the club to take charge of the professional football team for the 2024/25 season.

FORMATIVE VOCATION

A degree in Physical Education, Health and Sport, with a specialization in Football, was the theoretical starting point for Bruno Lage's entry into the world of king sport, where, in practical terms, he began his career as an assistant coach at Vitória de Setúbal in 1997/98.

However, his career took on a new dimension when he joined Sport Lisboa e Benfica's youth ranks in 2004/05, where he remained until 2012, successfully coaching the Under-13, Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 age groups. 

Hist first return to Benfica was on July 1, 2018, to lead the B team. He made 13 appearances, winning eight games and averaging 2.08 points per game. On January 4, 2019, Bruno Lage was chosen by the club to move up to the first team and take over as coach, on his way to the 37th league title, and on that occasion he promoted four young players from the B squad, including Florentino, a midfielder who is part of the current eagles working group.