Jose Mourinho, the Benfica coach, spoke in press statements after the loss against Chelsea with a score of one goal to none in the second round of the Champions League group stage.

The coach said: "We have played four matches during breaks that do not exceed two days. There was no time for training; I only had time to recover between matches, and one of my strengths is working on the pitch during training sessions, but there was no time for that."

He added: "When a team changes its coach in the middle of the season, it is because things were not going well, so we faced some difficulties. The players are also under a lot of pressure due to the elections at the club; it is like a political campaign, and they cannot escape from it."

He concluded: "A defeat remains a defeat, but there are different types of it. This defeat could represent a starting point for the team; the performance was stable, and we were close to getting a draw, which would have been a positive outcome."