Bruno Lage
Bruno Miguel Silva do Nascimento, known as Bruno Lage, is a Portuguese football manager who last managed Primeira Liga club Benfica.
During his first tenure as coach of Benfica in Portugal, he won the 2018–19 league title and the 2019 Super Cup. He then spent just over a season as manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League, followed by a brief spell at Brazilian club Botafogo before returning to Benfica in 2024.
Career
Early career
Born in Setúbal, Lage's father, Fernando Lage Nascimento, was formerly a manager in the Portuguese lower leagues. Lage started his coaching career in the youth ranks of hometown club Vitória de Setúbal in 1997. Lage was appointed as a physical/fitness coach by former Vitória and Famalicão manager José Rocha, of whom he was described as a protégé.In 2004, Lage joined Benfica as a youth coach. Lage coached every youth team from 2004 to 2012. Defender João Cancelo has praised the role of Lage in his development and credited him as a father figure.
Lage later worked as an assistant coach to Carlos Carvalhal at Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea City from 2015 to 2018. Lage co-authored a book on football tactics alongside Carvalhal, Soccer: Developing a Know-How. Lage returned to Benfica as manager of their reserve team in July 2018 to replace Hélder Cristóvão.
Benfica
2018–19: First season and league title
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. He 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. One of Lage's first decisions was to begin regularly starting teenage playmaker João Félix, who had scored twice in the triumph over Rio Ave. Upon being appointed as Benfica coach, Lage had decided to focus on developing youth and adopting an attacking style of play. He deployed a new 4–4–1–1 formation in order to play to the strengths of Felix as a shadow striker behind Haris Seferovic, giving him freedom to roam while encouraging his full-backs to attack and using technically gifted midfielders in order to both defend and create. Lage also promoted younger players to the first team, such as Florentino and Ferro, who would go on to play important roles that season.Felix started 28 of 29 matches in all competitions under Lage, scoring 17 goals and recording 10 assists. Lage was credited with the emergence of a young player viewed as "the most exciting Portuguese player since Cristiano Ronaldo" and for building the team around Felix. Felix called Lage "the manager who put me where I am today."
On 10 February, after winning two consecutive Lisbon derbys – including a 4–2 away win in the league – Lage 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. On 14 February 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. A 0–0 draw at the Estádio da Luz sent Benfica through to the round of sixteen, where they defeated Dinamo Zagreb 3–1 on aggregate after extra-time. Benfica were eliminated from the Europa League at the quarter-finals stage by Eintracht Frankfurt on the away goals rule, having won 4–2 at home before falling to a 2–0 defeat at the Waldstadion on 18 April.
With Benfica's 2–1 away victory in O Clássico on 2 March 2019, Lage won his third of four clashes against rivals Sporting CP and Porto, equaling the same number of wins Rui Vitória achieved in 16 matches. From matchday 16 to 34, Lage won 18 league matches and drew just one to win 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 from 19 games. In addition, he equalled Sven-Göran Eriksson's 1990–91 feat of beating Porto, Sporting, and Braga away in the same season. Under Lage, Benfica finished the league with 103 goals scored, equaling the club's record of the 1963–64 season.
2019–20: Super Cup title and departure
Lage then started a second season at Benfica with a 5–0 win over 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, continuing Benfica's record in the competition of having lost 11 times in the last 14 games. A 3–0 victory over Zenit Saint Petersburg in Benfica's final group stage game meant that Benfica finished in 3rd place and progressed to the Europa League, finishing above the Russian team by virtue of a superior head-to-head record. The victory ensured that Benfica "finished the Champions League campaign on a high, but there is a sense that they should have done better."
Following a win at Tondela on 27 October, Lage set the record for the quickest coach to record 25 victories in the Primeira Liga, having won 25 of his first 27 league matches and triumphing in every away game. Lage's Benfica would go on to win every away league game under him in 2019, having scored 42 goals in 15 games. In January 2020, Benfica set a new record for the number of consecutive wins away from home, having achieved victory 17 consecutive times since Lage had been appointed. This record was extended to 18 successive away wins after defeating Paços de Ferreira at Estádio da Mata Real, however, the team's winning run was ended with a 3–2 defeat at Porto.
On 29 June 2020, Lage made his position available after equalising 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. Lage's reign at Benfica was summarised as him having a strong record of managing his players and promoting youth; however, players felt disengaged by training, and that Lage and the team had failed to adjust to the loss of João Félix.
He was replaced by his assistant coach Nélson Veríssimo on 30 June, and had his contract terminated on 4 July that year.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
2021–22: First season and defensive record
In June 2021, Lage was lined up to succeed compatriot Nuno Espírito Santo at Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. He required a hearing for a work permit, as he did not qualify automatically to work in Britain post-Brexit. The hearing was successful and, on 9 June, he was confirmed as the club's new head coach for the 2021–22 season. Lage's remit was described as "attacking football, fluid formations and developing youth", in addition to challenging for European football.Lage's first signing for Wolves was winger Francisco Trincão, who joined the club on a season-long loan from Barcelona. Further additions were made to the first-team in the form of goalkeeper José Sá and the loan signing of Korean forward Hwang Hee-chan. Sá would go on to win Wolves' player of the season award that year after a string of impressive performances, and was credited for his sweeper keeper role, which allowed Lage to adopt a strategy of building attacks from the back of defence.
On 14 August 2021, Wolves lost 1–0 away to Leicester City in Lage's first game. In his first home game at Molineux, Lage lost 1–0 to a Tottenham Hotspur side managed by Nuno Espírito Santo. He achieved his first win ten days later, a 4–0 victory at Nottingham Forest in the second round of the EFL Cup. Despite not winning any of their opening three league fixtures, Lage's side was praised for their attacking playing style, with supporters dubbing it "Bruno-ball". During pre-season, Lage had initially attempted to move Wolves away from the 3–4–3 system favoured by his predecessor, and deployed a 4–4–2 or 4–2–3–1; however, he reverted to the five-man defence once the season started, due to issues with the defence. Relying on the players favoured by Espírito Santo and adopting a similar style of play, Lage's first season was described as "evolution rather than revolution."
Lage got his first league win at the fourth attempt, a 2–0 win against Watford at Vicarage Road on 11 September. It took until Lage's fourth league game at home to record a win, a 2–1 success against Newcastle United on 2 October, with both Wolves strikes coming from Hwang Hee-chan. In the following game, Lage's team recorded their third successive victory by defeating local rivals Aston Villa 3–2 at Villa Park. Wolves had been 2–0 down in the 80th minute and became just the third team in Premier League history to win a match after being two goals behind with ten minutes left of the match. Lage also equalled the club record of leading the side to three successive away victories in the Premier League. Wolves came close to winning four successive top-flight matches for the first time since 1972 in their next game, but conceded an injury-time penalty against Leeds United.
In the January transfer window, Lage made one new signing, bringing in Portuguese winger Chiquinho. The loan transfer of Hwang Hee-chan was also made permanent. Lage won the Premier League Manager of the Month award for January, after winning all three fixtures that month: 1–0 away at Manchester United, 2–1 at Brentford and a 3–1 home win against Southampton. Lage's FA Cup run ended in the fourth round, with Wolves losing 1–0 at home to fellow Premier League side Norwich City, having defeated Sheffield United 3–0 in the third round.
A strong run over the winter months led to praise for what Lage had achieved in his time at Wolves with limited backing in the transfer market, and he was credited with getting an improvement out of younger players such as Rayan Aït-Nouri and Max Kilman. A 2–1 win against Leicester City on 20 February brought Wolves up to seventh place, with Wolves being tipped to battle for a place in European competition for the following season. Wolves were just six points behind fourth place and with two games in hand, leading to suggestions that Lage might lead his team to the Champions League places. From the fourth round of games, Lage's team had taken 40 points from 21 games, the fourth-best total in the league. However, a late defeat away to fellow European challengers Arsenal in the next game caused Wolves to fall behind in the race for continental competition. Wolves had led until the 82nd minute, thanks to a goal from Hwang Hee-chan, but would go on to lose the match in injury time. In a 2–0 home defeat to Crystal Palace, Lage subbed off young defender Ki-Jana Hoever after just twenty-five minutes with a suspected injury, remarking: "I don’t waste time who guys who don’t work hard."
On 18 March 2022, Wolves lost 3–2 at home to Leeds United, despite leading 2–0 at half-time, with Leeds scoring three second-half goals after striker Raúl Jiménez was sent off. This started a run of just five points from the final nine games, with Lage's sole win in this run coming on 2 April against local rivals Aston Villa. Wolves did not win any of their final seven games, ultimately finishing the 2021–22 season in tenth place, despite not having been lower than eighth since December 2021 prior to the final day. Wolves' final fourteen matches included nine defeats and just eleven points won, and although Lage had won away to opponents such as Aston Villa, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, his team had only scored more goals than the three relegated teams.