Benfica suffered a disastrous defeat against Sporting Braga at the Taça da Liga (Portuguese League Cup) on Wednesday, and fans responded with a direct blow to the Lisbon club higher-ups: "After the hotel, build a brothel. Screw titles, what we want is concrete".
Benfica has won the Portuguese League Cup (also known as Allianz Cup, different from the more established Taça de Portugal) a record eight times since it was created as recently as 2007, including last year.
However, they fell 3-1 to Braga (who won in 2024) on Wednesday. The team is also ten points behind leaders Porto in the Portuguese league, in third place, a disappointing result for José Mourinho, who took over the team earlier this season, 25 years since having his first managerial role in Lisbon.
In fact, Mourinho was particularly angry, and he told the press that "he hoped his players won't sleep tonight", that there were several "unacceptable performances" and that he gave his players a speech after the match that "ended up being a monologue"
Fans react to the opening of the Benfica hotel
However, Benfica fans were perhaps angrier, as a banner, hung at the Estádio da Luz, made references to the recent ventures of the club: "After the hotel, build a brothel. Screw titles, what we want is concrete".
They refer to the opening of a hotel in central Lisbon, in the building where their original offices were, called Benfica 1904, and decorated with the history of the club.
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Benfica (which, beyond the mediocre sporting results, was recently the target of a corruption investigation in 2024 involving their former president Luís Filipe Vieira and up to ten directives of the club for financial fraud, and even "unsportmanship behaviour".
Naturally, the opening of a four-star hotel in Lisbon, which most of their fans will never visit, didn't land well with the fans...