Manager José Mourinho enjoyed a winning return to coaching in his native Portugal after a 25-year hiatus as his club Benfica beat AVS 3-0 on the road on Saturday.
Mourinho was announced as Benfica's coach on Thursday, the same club where he started his storied coaching career back in 2000.
The win left Benfica in second place in the Portuguese league standings at five points behind FC Porto and with a game in hand.
Mourinho was philosophical about his return to Benfica.
"At the end of the game, I thought about the 25 years that have flown by, but 25 years that have not changed my nature, that have not changed my passion, that have not changed my way of being, of living, that have not changed anything at all," he said.
"I came to coach a big club, I came to coach a giant. I've been with giants, Real Madrid, Inter, Manchester, Roma -- not a giant in terms of winning titles, but a giant from a social point of view. I've been at big clubs and now I had the opportunity to come and coach a giant, and that's what brought me here."
Heorhii Sudakov opened the scoring in first-half injury time. Vangelis Palvidis doubled the lead, and Franjo Ivanovic put it away. AFS was left in last place.
- Marcotti: Does Mourinho have any magic left for return to Benfica?
- Mourinho confirmed as new Benfica coach
Mourinho replaced Bruno Lage, who was fired on Wednesday, a day after the team's 3-2 home loss to Qarabag in the Champions League.
The 62-year-old Mourinho led Porto to the Champions League title in 2004 and left Portugal to take over at Chelsea. Last month, his stint with Fenerbahce ended after the Turkish club was eliminated by Benfica in a qualifying playoff of the Champions League.
His contract with Benfica is until the end of the 2026-27 season, but he and the club have a non-renewal option at the end of this season.
"I'm honest, I always thought I would be back to Portugal, but I always thought I would come back to the national team," Mourinho said. "I knew that the national team would come sooner or later. It came before, I couldn't accept. I was thinking one day it will happen.
"I think it's a natural consequence of my career. It happened to be Benfica, a giant club, and I don't say it's a giant club because I am in Benfica.I told recently in a press conference when we played against Benfica with Fenerbahce, I told Benfica is a giant club. Benfica is really a giant. "
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.