Benfica coach Bruno Lage offers resignation - club president

Benfica v Olympique Lyonnais - Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal - October 23, 2019 Benfica coach Bruno Lage before the match [REUTERS/Rafael Marchante]

Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira has said that coach Bruno Lage offered his resignation after the team continued their dismal recent run with a 2-0 defeat at Maritimo on Monday.

“Our coach came to me at the end of the game and said with great dignity: ‘President, I am putting myself at your disposal because I understand that things are not good for Benfica,’” Vieira told reporters.

“‘At the moment, the situation is untenable because it seems that everyone wants me to leave. From tomorrow, (Tuesday) I won’t be Benfica’s coach any more,’” Vieira quoted Lage as saying.

Vieira, who did not take questions, did not confirm that he had accepted the resignation and there was no further comment from the club. Lage himself gave a separate post-match interview but did not mention that he was resigning.

Benfica, second in the table, have won only one of their five games since the Primeira Liga restarted after the coronavirus stoppage and have dropped six points behind leaders and arch-rivals Porto. They suffered a shock 4-3 home defeat by Santa Clara in their previous match.

Lage replaced Rui Vitoria as coach in January last year.