Jose Mourinho believes his former club Porto will be the team to beat in this season’s Europa League.
Fenerbahce will be in Pot 2 for Friday’s draw after they were beaten by Benfica in the Champions League qualifying phase on Wednesday night.
Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are the Premier League’s two representatives in the Europa League this season, while Celtic and Rangers are also in the competition after they were knocked out in the Champions League qualification phase this week.
Mourinho must now wait to see who his side will face in the Europa League with the league phase draw due to take place at 12pm BST on Friday.
But the former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham manager feels his former side Porto, who are in Pot 1, are looking ‘very strong’.
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Europa League 2025/26 confirmed teams
Pot 1: Roma, Porto, Rangers, Feyenoord, Lille, Dinamo Zagreb, Real Betis, Red Bull Salzburg, Aston Villa
Pot 2: Fenerbahce, Red Star Belgrade, Lyon, Viktoria Plzen, Ferencvaros, Celtic
Pot 2 or 3: FC Basel, Freiburg
Pot 3: Nottingham Forest, Sturm Graz, Nice
Pot 3 or 4: Bologna, Celta Vigo, Stuttgart, Go Ahead Eagles
Pot 4: Brann
Teams who could still qualify: Maccabi Tel Avi or Dynamo Kyiv, Shkendija or Ludogorets Razgrad, Slovan Bratislava or Young Boys, Malmo or Sigma Olomouc, Panathinaikos or Samsunspor, Aberdeen or FCSB, Lech Poznan or Genk, Midtjylland or KuPS, Lincoln Red Imps or Braga, Zrinjski Mostar or Utrecht, Rijeka or PAOK
‘We haven’t won the league in years, and that’s always the goal,’ Mourinho said after Fenerbahce’s 1-0 defeat to Benfica in Lisbon on Wednesday.
‘Obviously, the Europa League is a competition better suited to our potential. Last year we had a good Europa League, but we were eliminated on penalties after a brilliant performance in Glasgow.
‘Now we’ll try to go further. There are still good teams in the Europa League, but the level is different from the Champions League. But FC Porto are there, and they’re strong, very strong.’
Mourinho also believes Benfica are deserving of their place in the Champions League, with the draw for the league phase due to take place on Thursday.
‘It’s a club that knows this type of game, and obviously there’s sadness in not being able to do it, but for me, I’m aware that we lost against a team that’s better than us,’ Mourinho said.
‘If I analyse this tie calmly, it boils down to this: in the first game, both teams were equal, and in the second game, Benfica was much better than us in the first half, but in the second, we were better, but not much better.
‘In our moment of dominance, we had chances, but then we were reduced to ten men and the game was over. But I think overall, the better team went through.’
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