Bruno Lage moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers as a manager who had won the league with Benfica in his second to last season with the club, with that final campaign not going to plan and then seeing him edged out.
Wolves didn’t provide the route to success that Lage was looking for and he was unable to impress in the Premier League, with a first season which went on a downwards spiral, and a second season which saw him ousted in early October.
Lage then set off for an adventure in Brazil, taking over at Botafogo the following July. However, that spell turned out to be a complete disaster and he was shown the door within a few months.
Despite all of that, Lage was given an opportunity by Benfica in September of this year and he’s already won his first trophy with the Lisbon club.
Benfica beat Sporting in the Taca da Liga final at the weekend, with the match going to penalties.
It was Francesco Trincão who missed a crucial spotkick for Sporting, and after celebrating his trophy, Lage had some comforting words for the player he worked with at Wolves.
O Jogo quote him as saying: “I love Trincão, for what he did when he worked with me, he gave everything at Wolverhampton, an exemplary professional. I told him to keep his head up, he has transformed his career and will have a very big future.”
A Bola have Lage’s words as: “I have great affection for Trincão, he was the first signing I made at Wolverhampton. In addition to his quality, he is a man with an easy joke. I love him. I saw him there, I gave him a hug for the career he is having, he has grown a lot, he is a very good player.”
