Mou's 'cunning plan' - Get sacked to return to UCL

Jose Mourinho is set to become the new Benfica manager, as the Portuguese's return to Estadio da Luz is almost a done deal.

After a year on the Eagles' bench, Bruno Lage was sacked almost instantly following Benfica's shocking 3-2 defeat at home to the Azerbaijani side Qarabag, in which the Portuguese side gambled away a 2-0 lead. Hence, Benfica's management needed an urgent solution, and since their former boss and one of the greatest tacticians in football history was a free agent, he was a logical choice.

A savior? Murinho is taking over Benfica

Even though Mourinho's successful coaching career started with Porto and UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League trophies in 2003 and 2004, respectively, Mou briefly sat on Benfica's bench in 2000. However, after only nine games in charge, he left the club, so now he'll have a chance to improve his record with the Eagles.

Nevertheless, his way from being sacked at Fenerbahce to joining the Lisbon crew is rather intriguing.

Namely, less than a month ago, Mourinho's crew lost to Benfica 1-0 on aggregate in the UCL qualifiers' play-offs. The Eagles progressed to the elite European competition, while Fenerbahce were "doomed" to play the UEFA Europa League, but without Mou, who was fired, and received a €9 million compensation after the dismissal on top of everything.

In the end, thanks to Benfica's loss last night, Mourinho still ended up in the UCL - in a roundabout way, though - where he'll lead a team for the first time after the 2019/2020 season, when he coached Tottenham Hotspur.

He is called The Special One for a reason, isn't he?

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 1

Tuesday

Athletic Bilbao - Arsenal 0-2 (0-0)

/Martinelli 72, Trossard 87/

PSV - St. Gilloise 1-3 (0-2)

/Van Bommel 90 - David 9 pen, Ait El Hadj 39, Mac Allister 81/

Benfica - Qarabag 2-3 (2-1)

/Barrenechea 6, Pavlidis 16 - Andrade 30, Duran 48, Kashchuk 86/

Juventus - Dortmund 4-4 (0-0)

/Yildiz 64, Vlahovic 68, 90+4, Kelly 90+6 - Adeyemi 52, Nmecha 65, Couto 75, Bensebaini 83 pen/

Real Madrid - Olympique Marseille 2-1 (1-1)

/Mbappe 29 pen, 81 pen - Weah 22/

Tottenham - Villarreal 1-0 (1-0)

/Luiz Junior 4 og/

Wednesday

Olympiacos - Paphos IN PROGRESS

Slavia Praha - Bodo IN PROGRESS

22.00: (4.10) Ajax (3.50) Inter (1.90)

22.00: (1.67) Bayern (4.25) Chelsea (4.85)

22.00: (1.62) Liverpool (3.90) Atl.Madrid (5.60)

22.00: (1.50) PSG (4.50) Atalanta (7.25)

Thursday

19.45: (2.80) Club Brugge (3.40) Monaco (2.50)

19.45: (3.20) Copenhagen (3.40) Leverkusen (2.25)

22.00: (2.10) Eintr.Frankfurt (3.50) Galatasaray (3.40)

22.00: (1.70) Man.City (3.60) Napoli (5.30)

22.00: (3.15) Newcastle (3.50) Barcelona (2.20)

22.00: (1.08) Sporting (12.0) Kairat Almaty (25.0)

***odds are subject to change***