Jose Mourinho’s return to face his old club FC Porto erupted into controversy when the Benfica coach was sent off in stoppage time after a heated confrontation with Porto assistant Luis “Lucho” Gonzalez.

The flashpoint came in the 91st minute of a tense 2-2 draw, when Mourinho was dismissed for kicking a ball in the direction of the Porto bench. Moments later, Gonzalez, a former Porto midfielder and now assistant to coach Francesco Farioli, was also shown a red card as tempers boiled over on the touchline.

After the match, Mourinho delivered an impassioned defence of his record and professionalism, revealing the insult that had fuelled the clash.

“He called me a traitor 50 times,” Mourinho said. “I’d like him to explain to me, a traitor to what? I went to FC Porto, I gave my soul to FC Porto. I went to Chelsea, to Inter, to Real Madrid, I went around the world and gave 24 hours of my life every day. That’s called professionalism.”

Mourinho then turned Gonzalez’s accusation back on his accuser, invoking the Argentine’s own career moves.

“When he went to Marseille from FC Porto, did he betray FC Porto? He could have insulted me in another way, maybe he would have thought it better, but I think it’s an attack on my professionalism.”

The Benfica coach drew a sharp line between abuse from the stands and criticism from a fellow professional.

“I don’t like it. Insults from fans are one thing, it’s football. These are the same fans who were at my feet when I was walking around the city. Now, from a fellow professional… He’s a professional like me, he’s defended several jerseys throughout his career, I don’t understand. Traitor why? For giving everything to Benfica?”

Mourinho’s history with Porto is central to the drama. He led the club to two league titles, a UEFA Cup and a Champions League crown before departing for Chelsea. Gonzalez arrived at Porto a year after Mourinho left, later enjoying two spells at the club before returning as assistant coach.

The draw leaves Benfica seven points behind leaders Porto, with Mourinho acknowledging the scale of the task ahead. “There’s still 27 points up for grabs. I consider recovering seven points to be difficult. It’s very easy to identify how FC Porto plays, very difficult to play against them. But as long as it’s just mathematics, anything can happen.”