Bruno Lage


Bruno Miguel Silva do Nascimento, known as Bruno Lage, is a Portuguese football manager who last managed Primeira Liga club Benfica.

Career

Born in Setúbal, Lage started his coaching career in the youth ranks of Vitória de Setúbal in 1997.
After having coached every youth team of Benfica from 2004 to 2012 and more recently having been an assistant coach to Carlos Carvalhal at Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea City, Lage returned to Benfica as manager of their reserve team in July 2018 to replace Hélder Cristóvão. During Benfica's 2018–19 season, Lage took charge of the club's first-team as caretaker manager, replacing Rui Vitória on 3 January 2019.
Lage managed his first Primeira Liga game in a 4–2 home win over Rio Ave on 6 January and was appointed permanent head coach eight days later. On 10 February, after winning two consecutive Lisbon derbies – including a 4–2 away win in the league – he led Benfica to the biggest Primeira Liga margin of victory since 1964 and to the league's highest scoring win since 1965, a 10–0 thrashing of Nacional, setting the record for the biggest win at the new Estádio da Luz. In his UEFA Europa League debut, Benfica won in Turkey for the first time in their history, beating Galatasaray 2–1 in the first leg of the round of 32.
As Benfica won 2–1 away in The Classic on 2 March 2019, Lage equalled Rui Vitória's 3 wins out of 16 matches against rivals Sporting and Porto. From matchday 16 to 34, Lage went on winning 18 league matches and drawing 1 to conquer his first major trophy, Benfica's 37th league title. With a 94% winning percentage, he surpassed Jimmy Hagan's record at Benfica and achieved Primeira Liga's all-time best second round: 49 points. In addition, he equalled Sven-Göran Eriksson's 1990–91 feat of beating Porto, Sporting, and Braga away in the same season. Lage also equalled Benfica's league scoring record of 103 goals in 1963–64.
Lage then started a second season at Benfica with a 5–0 thrashing of Sporting CP in the Super Cup. On 17 September, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 2–1 home defeat to German side RB Leipzig, increasing Benfica's losses in the competition to 11 in the latest 14 matches.
On 29 June 2020, Lage made his position available after equalizing Benfica's worst ever series of results – 2 wins in 13 matches in the 2000–01 season – and establishing a record of 5 consecutive matches without a win at Estádio da Luz, which included defeats to Braga and Santa Clara. He was replaced by his assistant coach Nélson Veríssimo on 30 June and had his contract terminated on 4 July.

Personal life

Lage's son, Jaime, is named after Jaime Graça, Lage's biggest reference in football, as a mentor. Lage's younger brother, Luís Nascimento, is also a coach.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Benfica
Individual