In October 2025, Jose Mourinho, as the new Benfica coach, was already tired of the questions about Schelderup’s lack of playing time: “Schjelderup is Schjelderup. He struggles with that over 90 minutes, with the intensity and the sacrifice in the transitions,” Mourinho told A Bola. Over the past six months, one of the world’s most high-profile coaches has turned 180 degrees around the young Norwegian. On Monday, Mourinho called the 21-year-old “sparkling good”.
Although Mourinho should have some of the credit, Schelderup has also been given the necessary playing time to deliver. Now, the Norwegian winger is consistently referred to as one of Benfica’s most valuable players, having gone from an uncertain start to becoming an “indisputable starter” during the 2026 spring season. The sports newspaper A Bola recently highlighted a study from CIES that ranks Schjelderup as the second best U23 player in Europe outside the five biggest leagues.
READ: Tottenham could lose huge revenue overnight
On Monday, it was time for the penultimate match in the Portuguese league, here Benfica is chasing archrival Sporting in a battle for second place, Porto has already taken the league gold. The match between Benfica and Braga ended 2-2, but Andreas Scelderup was one of the key players and received well-deserved praise from Mourinho after the game.
Central to most things was Andreas Schjelderup. Twice he came to the finish in a good position, but the shots were blocked. The winger was second to last on the ball twice as Benfica could cheer, but both goals were nullified. First for a subtle offside, and in the 2nd half, Schjelderup made way for Pavlidis, but the refereeing team thought that the ball had been over the dead line before Schjelderup’s pass. In injury time, the Norwegian was stamped in the 16-yard box, and Benfica were awarded a penalty. It put Pavlidis in goal.
In the last six games, there have been five goal points, and who doesn’t remember the euphoric Champions League night in January, where Benfica ran over Real Madrid with a 4-2 victory – two goals by young Schelderup.
After the Braga game, Mourinho singled out Schelderup, the player of the match.
“He (Schelderup) played a sparkling game of unbelievable quality, one we couldn’t convert everything we created,” Mourinho said, according to A Bola.
From “Schelderup is Schelderup” to “sparkling good of an absolutely incredible quality”. We love it!
