Benfica Lisbon

Benfica Lisbon
Basic data
Surname	Sport Lisboa e Benfica
Seat	Lisbon , Portugal
founding	February 28, 1904 (as "Sport Lisboa" )
Colours	Red White
Members	233,000 (September 27, 2019) Number of members 2019 [1]
president	Luís Filipe Vieira
Website	slbenfica.pt
First soccer team
Head coach	Jorge Jesus
Venue	Estádio da Luz
Places	65,647
league	Primeira League
2019/20	2nd place
home Away

Sport Lisboa e Benfica  - short SL Benfica , Benfica or SLB  - also known as Águias ( Portuguese for eagle), Os Encarnados ( Portuguese for the Scarlet ), or in German-speaking and Benfica called - is a sports club from the Portuguese capital Lisbon , before best known for its football team , which won the European Cup twice in the early 1960s . Today the team is one of the top clubs in Portugal alongside FC Porto and city ​​rivals Sporting Lisbon . Benfica is the country’s record champions with 37 championships. With 26 titles in the Taça de Portugal and seven wins in the Taça da Liga , Benfica is also the record winner in these competitions.

Benfica won the Coupe Latine in the 1949/50 season , which is regarded as the regionally limited forerunner of the European Cup. In addition, the club won twice in the European Cup ( 1961 and 1962 with Eusébio in the starting XI). The club reached the final five times (most recently in 1990 ). He also reached the final of the UEFA Cup in 1983 and twice the final of the UEFA Europa League (most recently in 2014 ) - however, you were defeated by the respective opponents, which many of the supporters attribute to the so-called Guttmann curse .

The club, founded in 1904, also has departments for basketball , volleyball , handball and rugby , some of which are also among the top in Portugal. According to the Guinness Book of Records , Benfica was the largest football club in the world with over 160,000 registered members in 2006. In 2019 the club had over 230,000 members, making it one of the largest sports clubs in the world . According to a November 2012 study by UEFA , 47% of Portuguese people are Benfica fans. This means that Benfica has the highest national fan quota in all of Europe.

The commercial management of the professional football department of Benfica Lisbon is in the hands of the listed Sport Lisboa e Benfica Futebol SAD , which was founded in 2000 by the Benfica club management .

history

The first years

On February 28, 1904, a group of former students from the Real Casa Pia de Lisboa , an institution for orphans in Lisbon founded as a result of the earthquake of 1755 (24 in number, including the famous Cosme Damião ), founded the Sport Lisboa sports club ( back then only with the football section ). On the same day it was decided that the colors of the club should be red and white and that the club should have an eagle as a symbol and as its motto E pluribus unum .

Immediately after it was founded, the provisional pitch was called Terrenos do Desembargador , but only for one year. The new club's first actual soccer field was in Quinta da Feiteira . Since the club was burdened with financial problems, many players quickly switched to the then rival Sporting Clube de Portugal . Thus, the football club Sport Lisboa agreed with Grupo Sport Benfica to merge the two clubs, which eventually resulted in Sport Lisboa e Benfica or SL Benfica for short .

The eagle as a symbol

Despite the merger of the clubs, SL Benfica was still not liquid. That is why the club played on various soccer fields until they moved into Sete Rios in 1913 . But the rent for the field was too expensive for Benfica. Therefore, after four years, the club played again on a new field, which was baptized Campo de Benfica . In 1925, Benfica bought their own playing fields in Amoreiras for the first time since the club was founded . For the first time in its history, the capital city club had its own stadium with a capacity of 15,000 spectators. It was in this stadium that Benfica won their first national titles.

Benfica in 1904

In the meantime, Benfica had founded several other sports sections besides football. These were: roller hockey , rugby , basketball , handball , billiards and volleyball .

The first national championship games started in 1935. After Benfica could not win the first championship, the club won three titles in a row between 1936 and 1939. In 1940, the club from the capital won the Portuguese cup competition for the first time .

At the start of the national championships in Portugal, only eight teams competed. Therefore the "Big Three" (SL Benfica, Sporting CP and FC Porto ) developed very early.

A year later, Benfica changed the stadium again. This time it went to Campo Grande . In this field, Benfica fought against the overwhelming power of Sporting, who dominated the Portuguese league in the 1940s. The Adler managed to become champions at least three times (1942, 1943 and 1945) and four times cup winners (1940, 1943, 1944 and 1948).

Benfica had won seven of the first 16 championship titles up to the 1950s and had won almost half of the championships held to date. In the early years, the Benfica team never ended up in a worse position than fourth.

The 1950s

The 1950s started out somewhat disappointing for Benfica. There was no championship for the club from the capital for four years. For this he won the Portuguese Cup in 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1955.

In 1950 he prevailed against Girondins Bordeaux in the Taça Latina . The first game ended 3-3, but was repeated a week later. In the repeated final, Benfica finally won 2-1. This makes Benfica the only Portuguese team to have won this trophy.

Four years later, in 1954, the new stadium called Estádio da Luz was opened with a capacity of 30,000 spectators.

With a new football stadium and the arrival of coach Otto Glória , the eagles began to flourish. After Sporting CP had won four championships in a row, Benfica was able to prevail again in 1954/55.

In 1957, the capital city even won the " double " and took part in the European Cup for the first time .

For the cycling department, José Maria Nicolau won the Volta a Portugal twice .

The 1960s

A third tier was added to the stadium for the new decade, initially not across the entire stadium. Thus the capacity was increased to 80,000 places. At the same time came a coach from rival FC Porto , Béla Guttmann , who continued to coach Benfica successfully.

The line-ups for the final between SL Benfica and FC Barcelona in 1961

In 1959/60 and 1960/61 the club became champions again, but even more important than the championship was the first victory in the European Cup against FC Barcelona . In a close final, the team managed a 3-2 victory and won their first European Cup.

The following year Benfica was only third in the league, but the title in the European Cup was defended. Real Madrid were defeated 5-3 in the final. During this time, Eusébio had already come to Lisbon and even scored twice in the latter final. So Benfica was twice in a row the winner of the European Cup.

Guttmann left Benfica in anger because of a refusal to increase his coaching salary. He is said to have uttered what was later called the Guttmann curse "In the next 100 years, Benfica will never win another European Cup", which continued to have an effect until 2019

With the new coach Fernando Riera , Benfica won the championship again in 1962/63. In the same year they reached the final of the European Cup again. But this time they lost 1: 2 against AC Milan .

The next season, Benfica dominated the Portuguese league. The capital club won the championship and the Portuguese Cup (6-2 in the final against FC Porto ). In the 1964/65 season, the third championship in a row was won, and for the fourth time in five years they moved into the final of the European Cup, which was lost to Inter Milan 1-0.

1965/66 was the only season in the 60s in which Benfica could not win a title. For this Eusébio was named the best player in the world in the same season.

In the 1967/68 season, Benfica won the championship again and moved into the final of the European Cup for the fifth time in eight years . There it had to play against Manchester United at Wembley . Due to a draw they had to go into extra time, in which Manchester United scored three goals and thus won the tournament. That same season, Eusébio , who scored 42 goals, was awarded the first Golden Boot .

In the other departments you managed six titles in roller hockey and basketball . The Volta a Portugal could be won three times.

The 1970s

After a Portuguese Cup (3-1 win over Sporting CP ) added to the collection in the 1969/70 season , an English coach came to the capital city in 1970, Jimmy Hagan , who led Benfica into three golden years. In 1970/71, Benfica was already way back in the table and caught up in the last few games to secure the title. The following season, the club won the Portuguese Cup. Benfica also played quite successfully in Europe. There the semi-finals were reached, in which Benfica lost after a game against Ajax Amsterdam .

In the 1972/73 season Benfica managed to become the most superior champions in the history of the Portuguese league . 28 wins, two draws, no defeat, 101 goals and only 13 goals conceded were recorded. Benfica were the first champions in Portugal without defeat. Eusébio , who, like in 1968, was the top scorer in Europe and won the Golden Shoe for the second time, played a significant role in the championship .

Despite everything, Jimmy Hagan left Lisbon early next season. 1973/74 no title could be won. In April 1974 the Carnation Revolution began in Portugal and Benfica was in a difficult position. For the first time in the club's history, good players had to be sold abroad. Despite everything, Benfica won the Portuguese championship three times in a row between 1975 and 1977. The championship title was won 14 times in 18 years.

Because of the unsatisfactory results in the following years, the members decided that Benfica could buy foreign players in the future. Benfica won the Portuguese Cup in 1979/80 with a goal from the Brazilian César.

Meanwhile, the swimming and volleyball departments were introduced. In volleyball, Benfica won 5 titles from 1970 to 1975.

The 1980s

The record champions opened the 1980s with a victory in all Portuguese competitions: championship, Portuguese Cup and Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira , which could be won for the first time in the team's history.

Just one season later, however, Benfica failed to win a title and a new coach was sought. The young coach Sven-Göran Eriksson finally came from Sweden . With new training methods for the next season and with new motivation for many players, Benfica had another golden season. The championship and the Portuguese Cup (1-0 against FC Porto ) were won, and the club also reached the UEFA Cup final , where they lost 2-1 to RSC Anderlecht .

In the next season Benfica won the championship again and Eriksson moved to AS Roma . The two following years 1984/85 and 1985/86 remained untitled for Benfica. But at least the Portuguese Cup and once the Supertaça could be won in both years. At that time, the construction of the third tier in the Estádio da Luz was also completed, giving the stadium a total capacity of 120,000 seats.

In 1986/87 Benfica suffered the biggest defeat in the club's history against Sporting CP (7-1), but retaliated a few months later with a 2-1 in the final of the Portuguese Cup. This was the ninth time that the “ double ” was achieved.

In 1987/88 the Adler did not manage to win the championship, but shone again in Europe and after 20 years reached the final of the European Cup . In a big game, however, the team lost on penalties against PSV Eindhoven .

The following year, the championship was again won and in 1989/90 with Eriksson, who had returned to Benfica, the Supertaça and again reached the final of the European Cup . But again Benfica lost the final, this time 1-0 against AC Milan .

The 1990s

The new decade began with an almost perfect season in the league (32 wins, 5 draws, one loss). But a year later, Benfica did not win a single title.

The next season Benfica had a team with a lot of young talent. But it still did not reach the championship title. In the Portuguese Cup, on the other hand, things went better and in the final Benfica beat Boavista Porto 5-2 . The next year Benfica reached their 30th title in the club's history with a 6-3 win over Sporting CP .

Nevertheless, a difficult time began for the club. Due to mismanagement, the club from Lisbon got into a financial crisis and a sporting low.

In 1994/95 Benfica only came third in the championship and in 1995/96 the Eagles only finished second. However, they won the Portuguese Cup in a final against Sporting, in which Benfica had the upper hand 3-1.

In the next season, the Adler only reached third place in the league and lost the cup final with 2: 3 against Boavista.

The following years also remained untitled: second place in the 1997/98 season, third in 1998/99 and again third in the 1999/2000 season. This season the record champions suffered the biggest defeat in a European competition with a 7-0 win against Celta de Vigo .

In the other departments, it was a golden age , especially in basketball . Between 1985 and 1995 Benfica achieved ten out of eleven possible titles and five championship titles were won in roller hockey .

The new millennium

The new millennium began in 2000/01 with a sixth place in the championship, the worst result in the club's history. 2001/02 the club was only marginally better and reached fourth place.

In 2002/03 Benfica again won the runner-up title, as did in 2003/04. In this season the eagles were able to win a trophy again. In the final against FC Porto , Benfica was victorious. The new Estádio da Luz with a capacity of 65,000 seats was also opened this season . This season, the Hungarian player Miklós Fehér passed away after suffering a heart attack during a game. His number 29 should not be reassigned at Benfica out of respect for Fehér.

The new stadium has space for 67,000 spectators

In 2004/05 Benfica managed to win the championship title again after eleven years with the help of coach Giovanni Trapattoni . It was the 31st title in Benfica history.

A year later you could only win the Supertaça Candido de Oliveira.

With the 2007/08 season, captain Simão moved to Atlético Madrid . Striker Fabrizio Miccoli returned to Juventus after a two-year loan . As a replacement, Benfica signed Óscar Cardozo . With just 52 points, this was the worst season in the last decade. Also in the newly introduced league cup, the Taça da Liga, they only reached the quarter-finals, where they then had to admit defeat to the later title winner Vitória Setúbal . In the cup, however, they reached the semi-finals, where Sporting CP won 3: 5. After a third place in the Champions League group stage, Benfica slipped into the UEFA Cup , where they lost to the Spanish representatives Getafe FC in the round of 16 . Rui Costa, a player of the golden generation , retired on the final day of the match at the age of 36 in a 3-0 win over Vitória Setúbal. After the game in which he prepared the 1-0, all fans and club members present celebrated the end of his career. In the parallel game of FC Porto, Vítor Baía, another player of the golden generation, ended his professional career.

For the 2008/09 season Benfica got a new coach in Quique Sánchez Flores and Rui Costa , who had ended his career a season earlier, was appointed sports director. They finished third in the league and qualified for the newly introduced UEFA Europa League competition. Also in the cup they were eliminated in the fifth round against Leixões SC . Only the league cup, which was held for the second time, could be won with a victory over arch rivals Sporting CP . In the UEFA Cup they reached the group stage, which Benfica then finished in last place and eliminated. David Suazo , on loan from Inter Milan, scored the 5,000th league goal in the club's history against Guimaraes on November 2, 2008.

The era of Jorge Jesus (2009 to 2015)

The town hall square after winning the championship in 2010

After the season, Flores was dismissed because of the poor results and Jorge Jesus took his place . With the new coach, Benfica became Portuguese champions again after five years. The team also won the League Cup and advanced to the quarter-finals of the Europa League . In the Europa League, Óscar Cardozo was the top scorer with nine goals.

Before the 2010/11 season, Ángel Di María moved to Real Madrid for 36 million euros, surpassing Anderson's league transfer record. Like Quim , who had played 144 league games for Benfica in six years, Ramires also changed clubs. On matchday ten, Benfica lost 5-0 to FC Porto, the biggest league defeat to date against the Dragons. In January, David Luiz moved to Chelsea in exchange for 30 million euros and Nemanja Matić . In the Europa League , Benfica was eliminated in the semi-finals against league rivals Sporting Braga .

For the 2011/12 season Artur Moraes was signed as a regular goalkeeper. Fábio Coentrão moved to Real Madrid . Furthermore, with José Moreira and Nuno Gomes , two veterans left the club. Luisão , to date vice-captain, was named captain in his seventh year at Benfica, while Maxi Pereira became vice-captain. For the second half of the season, the clubless Yannick Djaló was signed for the first time a player who played for both Benfica and local rivals Sporting CP within one season . In the Champions League , Benfica failed in the quarter-finals to Chelsea . The league cup win this season was the fourth in a row.

Arthur Almeida Luisão Garay Melgarejo Matic Perez Salvio Gaitan Rodrigo Cardozo

Starting grid for the 2013 UEFA Europa League Final .

With the commitments of Ola John and Eduardo Salvio , the lack of breadth in the squad was compensated for for the 2012/13 season. But players like Javier Saviola , Javi García and Axel Witsel also left the club. The latter was the most expensive player sale in Benfica's history, with a transfer fee of EUR 40 million. On October 26, 2012, Luís Filipe Vieira defended his office as club president with 83.02% of the vote against Rui Rangel (13.83% of the vote). With 22,676 voters, this was the highest turnout in the club's history. In the UEFA Europa League, Benfica lost to Chelsea in the final . Just three days earlier, on the penultimate league matchday, Benfica lost their first league game of the season against rivals FC Porto, who also scored the winning goal in injury time. As a result, FC Porto finally won the championship. With a 1: 2 defeat against Vitória Guimarães in the final of the Cup , Benfica said goodbye to the season without a title.

The club legend Eusébio died of heart failure on January 5, 2014

With the untitled season, the voices against coach Jorge Jesus became louder. Nevertheless, the club president spoke out in favor of the coach. At the beginning of the season, Pablo Aimar left the club after five years. During his time at Benfica, he played 179 games (17 goals) in all competitions. With Filip Đuričić , Miralem Sulejmani and Lazar Marković , three Serb offensive forces were committed. On January 5th, 2014, Benfica's legend and national hero Eusébio died of heart failure in Lisbon at the age of 71. The Portuguese government then declared a three-day state mourning. A day later, 10,000 people came to the Estádio da Luz to honor Eusébio, who was led around the stadium one last time in his coffin. At the FIFA Ballon d'Or , Nemanja Matic's goal against FC Porto from 2013 was voted second for the FIFA Puskás Prize with 30.8% of the vote . This was the first time since the award was introduced in 2009 that a player from a Portuguese team was nominated. In January 2014 Nemanja Matić moved back to Chelsea . Two weeks later, Benfica sold the transfer rights of Rodrigo and André Gomes for 45 million euros to the player fund Meriton Capital Limited . In February 2014, Luisão played his 400th game for Benfica. Benfica secured their 33rd championship that season. In the two national cup competitions, they beat Rio Ave FC in the final and thus secured the national triple. As in the previous year, Benfica reached the final of the Europa League in 2014 , but lost to opponents Sevilla FC on penalties.

Some regular players left the club for the 2014/15 season. Ezequiel Garay , Lazar Marković , Jan Oblak , André Gomes , Rodrigo and Óscar Cardozo, among others . The latter left the club after seven years and scored 172 goals in 293 games and is the best foreign and ninth-best goalscorer in the club's history. In January 2015, Enzo Pérez also left the club. Benfica secured their 34th championship that season. The contract of coach Jorge Jesus expired at the end of the season. The Portuguese then signed with local rivals Sporting. This makes him the second coach in history, after Artur John (1931), who switched directly from Benfica to Sporting.

Historical data

• 1904 - Creation of the Sport Lisboa club in Belém .
• 1905 - First game on January 1st against Campo de Ourique (1-0).
• 1906 - Grupo Sport Benfica is founded. on June 26th. On June 11th a cycling tournament will take place for the first time . The first participation in an athletics tournament follows on December 2nd .
• 1907 - Inauguration of the “Campo da Feiteira” stadium. The first win against Carcavelos Club , which had been invincible since 1898 , follows on February 10th . First major crisis in the Sport Lisboa club, which leads to many athletes switching to Sporting Lisbon . First game against Visconde de Alvalade on December 1st (1: 2).
• 1908 - On September 13th, the union between Sport Lisboa begins . and Grupo Sport Lisboa. which led to the creation of today's Sport Lisboa e Benfica. led. The first win against Sporting (2-0) was achieved on October 25th.
• 1910 - Campeonato de Lisboa wins in all three groups.
• 1911 - First game against a foreign team, Stade Bordelais ( 2-4 ).
• 1912 - On April 1st they achieved their first victory against a foreign team (6: 1). The first game and the first win against FC Porto (8-2) follow on April 28th . In June, the first trip abroad was organized in Spain : three games were played against Deportivo La Coruña , with the first win in the second game.
• 1913 - Sete Rios Stadium opens . The newspaper O Sport Lisboa was founded.
• 1917 - Campo de Benfica stadium opens . The roller hockey department was founded.
• 1918 - Second crisis of the team: the player Alberto Rio was suspended; on July 7th he signed for Sporting.
• 1919 - The team had a major conflict with the player Carlos Sobral .
• 1920 - First official game against Belenenses Lisbon on January 1st (1: 2). Because of the establishment of the team Casa Pia Atlético Clube , some players left the team. The first game against Casa Pia (1: 2) was played on October 3rd.
• 1924 - The rugby department is established .
• 1925 - The Campo das Amoreiras stadium opens .
• 1927 - Establishment of the basketball department .
• 1930 - First championship win by Sport Lisboa e Benfica.
• 1931 - José Maria Nicolau won the Volta a Portugal for the first time.
• 1932 - The handball department was founded.
• 1938 - The billiards department was founded.
• 1939 - The volleyball department was established.

Club logo in the 1960s

• 1940 - The Portuguese Football Cup was won for the first time.
• 1941 - opening of the Estádio do Campo Grande stadium .
• 1950 - winning the Coupe Latine ( Taça Latina ). The first games outside of Europe were played.
• 1954 - The Estádio da Luz opens .
• 1960 - The Portuguese championship was won for the tenth time. The third tier in the stadium was opened.
• 1961 - The first European Champion's Cup was won.
• 1962 - The second European Champions Cup was won. Béla Guttmann left Benfica.
• 1963 - The football team won the Ramón Carranza tournament for the first time .
• 1973 - The Portuguese championship was won for the 20th time.
• 1975 - The volleyball team made the championship for the ninth time in a row.
• 1984 - António Leitão won the bronze medal in the 5000 meter run at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles .
• 1991 - Winning the CERS Cup ( Taça CERS ) in roller hockey .
• 1992 - On January 25th, the statue of Eusébio was placed in front of the stadium.
• 1994 - The Portuguese championship was won for the 30th time.

Nelson Évora with his first gold medal in Osaka 2007

• 1999 - The second team was formed.
• 2001 - The indoor soccer department was founded.
• 2003 - New Estádio da Luz opened on October 25th. For the first time the indoor soccer team became champions in Portugal.
• 2004 - Miklós Fehér died in a game against Vitória Guimarães .
• 2005 - Benfica became champions again after eleven years.
• 2006 - Entry in the Guinness Book of Records with the most members in the world. The triathlete Vanessa Fernandes came first in the world rankings.
• 2006 - The second team was disbanded.
• 2007 - Telma Monteiro signed.
• 2007 - Nélson Évora won gold at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka .
• 2008 - At the Olympic Games in Beijing, Nélson Évora and Ángel Di María take gold, Vanessa Fernandes takes silver.
• 2008 - Benfica TV started its first pilot broadcast in November.
• 2009 - The Portuguese League Cup was won for the first time. Jorge Jesus takes over the coaching position.
• 2010 - UEFA Futsal Cup won for the first time.
• 2012 - Won the championship of futsal, basketball, roller hockey and athletics.
• 2012 - The second team was re-established under the name Benfica Lisbon B.
• 2013 - The roller hockey team won the CERH European League for the first time . Benfica are in the UEFA Europa League final for the first time and lose to Chelsea
• 2014 - Benfica make it to the UEFA Europa League final for the second time in a row and lose to Sevilla FC .
• 2015 - Jorge Jesus leaves the club for Sporting
• 2015 - The newly determined number of members is only 156,916, the world record goes to FC Bayern Munich .

Coat of arms and symbolism

SL Benfica's coat of arms shows a yellow eagle on a shield in the club colors red and white. The center of the coat of arms is decorated with a traditional soccer ball, which is covered by a blue ribbon. The abbreviation of the club's name SLB can be read on the tape. Furthermore, a ribbon of the national colors of Portugal green and red adorns the coat of arms. On this one can read the Latin lettering “E pluribus unum” (in German: From many one).

The coat of arms has changed many times since the association was founded in 1904. From 1904 to 1908 the clubs of Grupo Sport Lisboa and Grupo Sport Benfica had different coats of arms. It was only with the merger of the clubs and the coats of arms in 1908 that Sport Lisboa e Benfica had a coat of arms similar to that of today. At that time the shield was a little bigger and the eagle, which looked a little different, the ball and the two lettering were colorless.

From 1930 to 1999 the eagle, the ball and the lettering got their current colors. The shield also became more colorful with more yellow, and the eagle changed its shape slightly. The Latin lettering stood out from the coat of arms for the first time.

With the year 1999 and the following millennium, SL Benfica got a new, the current coat of arms. The eagle on the new coat of arms got bigger and got more color. The Latin lettering on the other hand, like the shield, became smaller. The yellow color was taken from the latter and instead it was given a silver border. The letters SLB on the now wider band turned yellow.

Since 2008 there have been three yellow stars above the actual coat of arms, each of which counts for ten Portuguese football championships.

In 2011 and 2012, 50 years after the two wins of the European Cup in 1961 and 1962 , the Benfica players wore an anniversary coat of arms on their jerseys. This included the current coat of arms, which was almost completely gold. Only the club colors red and white were present in the sign. In addition, the entire coat of arms was surrounded by a round triangle. Between the triangle and the eagle there were still one or two golden stars, which stood for the European Cup victories.

The eagle Vitoria, the club mascot of Benfica

• 

  
  Grupo Sport Lisboa (1904–1908)

• 

  
  Grupo Sport Benfica (1906-1908)

• 

  
  Sport Lisboa e Benfica (1908–1930)

• 

  
  Sport Lisboa e Benfica (1930–1999)

The eagle is not only a symbol on the coat of arms. The mascot Benfica is also an eagle. Unlike most clubs, the eagle with the name Vitoria (in German: victory) is a living animal. This flies around the stadium as a ritual before the kick-off at Benfica's home games and lands on a wooden sign on the club's coat of arms, making it appear "alive" for a brief moment. Legend has it that if the eagle flies two laps around the stadium, Benfica will win their home games. If, on the other hand, the bird of prey prepares to land after the first lap, the guest team wins.

Jerseys

Period	Manufacturer	sponsor
1974-1985	Adidas	none
1985-1986		Shell
1986-1989		Fnac
1989-1992	bumblebee
1992-1994		Casino Estoril
1994-1996	Olympic	Parmalat
1996-1997		Telecel
1997-2000	Adidas
2000-2001		Netc
2001-2005		Vodafone
2005-2008		PT
2008–2012		tmn
2012-2015		meo
2015–		Fly Emirates

SL Benfica's home jerseys have always been in the club colors red and white. The shirt and the socks were always red and the pants were basically kept white. Only in a few years the trousers were also red. The details, such as the three distinctive stripes by Adidas, on the other hand, were in the other club color. So it was white on the red shirt and socks and red on the trousers.

The away kit Benfica, however, varies annually. The color spectrum ranged from classic white or black to more modern colors such as gold or pink. For the 2010/11 season, all club members were allowed to participate in a choice of the color of the away jersey. The majority voted orange over purple and yellow.

Stadion

SL Benfica plays its home games in the Estádio da Luz , in German Stadium of Light . The stadium, which was built for the 2004 European Football Championship for around € 162 million, has space for 65,647 visitors and is classified by UEFA as a category 4 stadium (until 2010: elite stadium ). The first game in the new stadium was a friendly against Nacional Montevideo from Uruguay. The game ended in a 2-1 win and Nuno Gomes scored the first goal in the new stadium.

The inside of the stadium

It served as the venue for the finals of the 2004 European Football Championship and the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League .

In the first few decades, SL Benfica mostly played on rented courts. The first own stadium was the Estádio das Amoreiras, which opened in 1925. The home games were played there until 1940. The club then moved to the Estádio do Campo Grande. From 1954 to 2003 the club played at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica , which was built in 1954 and had a capacity of up to 135,000 spectators. This was later torn down.

Rivalries

Derby de Lisboa

→ Main article : Derby de Lisboa

The Derby de Lisboa (in English: Derby of Lisbon) is one of the oldest and most famous city derbies in the world. Participants are Benfica and local rivals Sporting CP . The two Lisbon clubs have always played in the top division of Portugal and, alongside FC Porto, are among the three big players . Not least because of the enormous dominance and the high status of both teams, the games between the clubs are often considered to be decisive for the title. The first derby took place in 1907, which Sporting won 2-1. Curiously, the decisive winning goal came from Benfica's club founder Cosme Damião . Since then, the Derby de Lisboa has been held almost 300 times.

O Classico

The rivalry between Benfica and FC Porto is called O Clássico (in German: The Classic) . The rivalry between the two clubs has, among other things, a cultural background. The first game between the two clubs was played in a friendly on April 28, 1912 - Benfica won it 8-2. It was only eight years later that FC Porto was able to record its first win against the capital city. It took another nine years for the Portistas to celebrate their second victory. The balance after more than 230 games is almost balanced.

The European Cup curse

After successfully defending the European Cup of National Champions in 1962, they parted ways with coach Béla Guttmann , who had unsuccessfully requested a raise in salary. He should then apply the Guttmann curse named after him. You shouldn't win a European Cup for the next 100 years! have emitted. In fact, Benfica has not won a European title since then - five more national championship finals ( 1963 , 1965 , 1968 , 1988 and 1990 ), one UEFA Cup final ( 1983 ) and the Europa League final twice ( 2013 and 2014 ) have been reached , but always the opponent went off as the winner. On May 22, 1990, the day before the final, Eusebio even visited Guttmann's grave in the new Jewish cemetery in Vienna's Central Cemetery and asked his former coach to take the curse back - in vain, as AC Milan managed to defend their title.

successes

For more information on achievements see Benfica Lisbon / Names and Numbers

Records

World record holder as "sports club with the largest number of members in the world"

2006 - 160,000 members 2012 - 235,000 members 2014 - 270,000 members

National titles

37 times Portuguese champion
1936	1937	1938	1942	1943	1945	1950	1955	1957	1960
1961	1963	1964	1965	1967	1968	1969	1971	1972	1973
1975	1976	1977	1981	1983	1984	1987	1989	1991	1994
2005	2010	2014	2015	2016	2017	2019
26 times Taça de Portugal
1940	1943	1944	1949	1951	1952	1953	1955	1957	1959
1962	1964	1969	1970	1972	1980	1981	1983	1985	1986
1987	1993	1996	2004	2014	2017
7 times Taça da Liga
2009	2010	2011	2012	2014	2015	2016
8 times Portuguese Super Cup
1980	1985	1989	2005	2014	2016	2017	2019

International titles

2 times European Champion Clubs' Cup
1961	1962
1 Coupe Latine
1950

• World Cup finalist (2): 1961 , 1962
• Finalist European Champion Clubs' Cup (5): 1963 , 1965 , 1968 , 1988 , 1990
• UEFA Cup finalist (1): 1983
• UEFA Europa League finalist (2): 2013 , 2014
• Finalist Coupe Latine (1): 1957
• Iberian Cup Winner (1): 1983

Season 2019/20

Current squad

As of January 1, 2020

No.	Nat.	Surname	birthday	in the team since	Contract until
goal
01		Mile Svilar	08/27/1999	2017	2022
72		Ivan Zlobin	03/07/1997	2019	2024
99		Odisseas Vlachodimos	04/26/1994	2018	2023
Defense
02		German Conti	06/03/1994	2018	2023
03		Alejandro Grimaldo	09/20/1995	2016	2021
06th		Rúben Dias	05/14/1997	2017	2021
23		Tyronne Ebuehi	December 16, 1995	2018	2023
33		Jardel	03/29/1986	2011	2020
34		André Almeida	09/10/1990	2011	2021
71		Nuno Tavares	01/26/2000	2019	2024
84		Tomás Tavares	03/07/2001	2017	2024
97		Ferro	03/26/1997	2018	2024
		Jan Vertonghen	04/24/1987	2020	2023
midfield
05		Ljubomir Fejsa	08/14/1988	2013	2021
07th		Caio	04/19/1994	2018	2023
08th		Gabriel Appelt	09/18/1993	2018	2023
16		Julian Weigl	09/08/1995	2020	2024
17th		Andrija Živković	07/11/1996	2016	2021
19th		Chiquinho	07/19/1995	2019	2024
21st		Pizzi	10/06/1989	2013	2022
22nd		Andreas Samaris	06/13/1989	2014	2023
27		Rafa Silva	05/17/1993	2016	2021
49		Adel Taarabt	05/24/1989	2018	2023
61		Florentino Luís	08/19/1999	2017	2022
Storm
09		Raúl de Tomás	10/17/1994	2019	2024
11		Franco Cervi	05/26/1994	2016	2022
14th		Haris Seferović	02/22/1992	2017	2022
73		Iota	03/30/1999	2012	2019
83		Gedson Fernandes	01/09/1999	2018	2023
95		Carlos Vinícius	03/25/1995	2019	2024

For a complete listing of all Benfica Lisbon first team players since the club was founded, see the list of Benfica Lisbon players .

Awarded Players

• Filip Đuričić is awarded to RSC Anderlecht
• Luís Felipe is on loan to Paysandu SC
• César is awarded to the SC Internacional
• Ola John is loaned to Reading FC
•  Nélson Oliveira is awarded to the Nottingham Forest
• Daniel Candeias is loaned to FC Metz
• Bryan Cristante is on loan to the US Palermo
• Hany Mukhtar is loaned to FC Salzburg
• Rúben Amorim is awarded to al-Wakrah SC
• Jhon Murillo has been awarded to the CD Tondela
• Pelé is awarded to FC Paços de Ferreira
• Rui Fonte is on loan to Sporting Braga
• João Teixeira is awarded to Vitória Guimarães
• Victor Andrade is awarded to Vitória Guimarães
•  Jonathan Rodríguez is loaned out to Deportivo La Coruña
• Luis Fariña is on loan to Rayo Vallecano
• Bebé is awarded to Rayo Vallecano
• Fernando Marçal is on loan to Gaziantepspor
• Derley is on loan to Kayserispor
• Diego Lopes is on loan to Kayserispor

Employee

Surname	Nat.	function	Taking office	Last club
management
Luís Filipe Vieira		president	2003	None
Rui Costa		Sports director	2008	SL Benfica (as a player)
Coaching staff
Bruno location		Trainer	2019	Vitória Guimarães
Minervino Pietra		Assistant coach	2009	SL Benfica (as scout)
Marco Pedroso		Assistant coach	2009	Sporting Braga
Arnaldo Teixeira		Assistant coach	2015	Vitória Guimarães
Sérgio Botelho		Assistant coach	2015	Vitória Guimarães
Hugo Oliveira		Goalkeeping coach	2011	Portugal U-19
Paulo Mourão		Fitness trainer	2015	Vitória Guimarães
Bruno Mendes		LAB coordinator	2015	Vitória Guimarães
Scouting
Rui Águas		Scout	2008	Reggina Calcio (as a player)
José Sampaio		Scout	2010	Sporting CP

• 

  
  Benfica President: Luís Filipe Vieira

• 

  
  Benfica Sports Director: Rui Costa

More teams

Benfica Lisbon B

→ Main article : Benfica Lisbon B

The second team, also known as Benfica Lisbon B , was already active from 1999 to 2006, before becoming part of the club again in 2012 after a six-year absence.

The B team started in the 1999/00 season. The aim was for the club's youth and reserve players to gain match practice in order to be better prepared for professional football. The team started in the third division and was relegated after three years. It was not until 2005 that the team rose again to the third division before it was completely disbanded in 2006. For the 2012/13 season, the B-team Benfica and five other first division clubs were newly created and integrated directly into the Segunda League , which resulted in an increase in the latter from 16 to 22 teams.

Juniors

The club's U-19 athletes play in the junior team, officially "Sport Lisboa e Benfica Juniors" .

Beyond the U-19 juniors, called Juniores , there are, analogous to the German youth system (AG Jugend), the divisions called Juvenis , Iniciados , Infantis , Benjamin and Traquinas .

With 23 national titles won, the Benfica juniors are the record champions in Portugal's U-19 competition.

By winning the Blue Stars / FIFA Youth Cup in 1996, the juniors were able to win their first and so far only international title; In 1997 and 2014 the team reached the final. In the 2013/14 season, Benfica lost to FC Barcelona in the final of the first edition of the UEFA Youth League .

Women

→ Main article : Benfica Lisbon (women's football)

The football section for women was opened in spring 2018 and will enter the second division for the national championship competition in the 2018/19 season.

For more information on achievements see Benfica Lisbon / Names and Numbers

Player with the most wagers and goals

Calls 01  Tamagnini Nené 1968-1986 575 02  António Veloso 1980-1995 538 03  Mario Coluna 1954-1970 525 04th  Humberto Coelho 1968-1975 1977-1984 498 05  Shéu 1972-1989 487 06th  Manuel Bento 1972-1990 465 07th  Luisão 2004-2018 458 08th  António Simoes 1961-1975 449 09  Eusebio 1960-1975 440 010  Cavém 1954-1970 420 Bold = still active at SLB

Gates 01  Eusebio 1960-1975 474 02  José Águas 1950-1963 374 03  Tamagnini Nené 1968-1986 360 04th  José Augusto Torres 1959-1971 226 05  Arsénio 1943-1955 218 06th  Rogério de Carvalho 1942-1954 211 07th  Julinho 1942-1953 205 08th  José Augusto 1959-1969 175 09  Óscar Cardozo 2007-2014 172 10  Nuno Gomes 1997-2000 2002-2011 166 Bold = still active at SLB

Well-known former players

→ Main article : List of players from Benfica Lisbon

goalkeeper Manuel Bento Silvino Louro  Costa Pereira Paulo Santos  Quim José Moreira Michel Preud'homme Hans Jörg Butt Robert Enke Jan Oblak Ederson

Defender  Alex Marco Caneira Humberto Coelho  Germano Eurico Gomes Fernando Meira  Miguel Ricardo Rocha Frederico Rosa Dimas Teixeira António Veloso Abel Xavier Fábio Coentrão Ezequiel Garay Ricardo Gomes  Léo Aldair David Luiz Guilherme Siqueira Panagiotis Fyssas Carlos Gamarra Carlos Marchena Joan Capdevila Maxi Pereira  João Cancelo

midfield player Paulo Bento Mario Coluna  Rui Costa Manuel Fernandes André Gomes Carlos Manuel Maniche Diamantino Miranda Vítor Paneira  Petit Shéu Bernardo Silva Simão António Simoes Paulo Sousa Tiago  Toni Pablo Aimar Ángel Di María  Enzo Pérez Axel Witsel Basarab Panduru Valdo Roger Galera Flores Ramires Giorgos Karagounis Kostas Katsouranis Zlatko Zahovič Mario Stanic Nemanja Matic  Stefan Schwarz Glenn Strömberg Jonas Thern Javi García

striker José Águas  Rui Águas José Augusto Fernando Chalana Arsénio Trindade Duarte Eusebio Paulo Futre Rui Jordão Artur Jorge Isaías Marques Soares Tamagnini Nené João Pinto José Augusto Torres Nuno Gomes  Akwá Mantorras Claudio Caniggia Javier Saviola Geovanni Deiberson Maurício Edílson Lima Michael Manniche Brian Deane Laurent Robert David Suazo Fabrizio Miccoli Francisco Fonseca Pierre van Hooijdonk Óscar Cardozo Lazar Marković Mats Magnusson José Antonio Reyes Rodrigo Karel Poborský Miklós Fehér

• 

  
  José Augusto Torres and Eusébio († 2014)

• 

  
  Captain of the 1961/1962 European Cup winners José Aguas

• 

  
  Mario Coluna

• 

  
  António Simoes

• 

  
  João Pinto

• 

  
  Rui Costa

• 

  
  Miklós Fehér († January 25, 2004)

• 

  
  Portugal's Footballer of the Year 2007: Simão

• 

  
  Petit

• 

  
  José Moreira

• 

  
  Nuno Gomes

• 

  
  Ángel Di María

• 

  
  Fábio Coentrão

• 

  
  Pablo Aimar

• 

  
  David Luiz

• 

  
  Axel Witsel

• 

  
  Óscar Cardozo

• 

  
  Ezequiel Garay

• 

  
  André Gomes

• 

  
  Enzo Pérez

• 

  
  Maxi Pereira

Trainer

• Manuel Gourlade: 1905–1908
• Cosme Damião : 1908-1926
• Ribeiro dos Reis: 1926-1929
• Arthur John: 1929-1930
• Ribeiro dos Reis: 1930-1935
• Vítor Gonçalves: 1935-1936
• Lipo Hertzka: 1937-1939
• Janos Biri : 1939-1947
• Lipo Hertzka: 1947-1949
• Edward "Ted" Smith: 1949–1951
• Cândido Tavares: 1951–1952
• Alberto Zozaya: 1953
• Conselho Técnico (Ribeiro dos Reis e José Simões): 1953–1954
• Alfredo Valadas: 1954
• Otto Glória : 1954–1959, 1968–1970
• Béla Guttmann : 1959–1962
• Lajos Czeizler : 1963-1964
• Elek Schwartz : 1964-1965
• Béla Guttmann : 1965–1966
• Fernando Riera: 1966-1967
• Fernando Cabrita : 1967-1968
• Jimmy Hagan : 1970-1973
•  Milorad "Michel" Pavić : 1974–1975
• Mário Wilson : 1975-1976
• John Mortimore : 1976-1979
• Mário Wilson : 1979-1980, 1995-1996
• Lajos Baróti : 1980-1982
• Sven-Göran Eriksson : 1982–1984
• Pál Csernai : 1984-1985
• John Mortimore : 1985-1987
• Ebbe Skovdahl : 1987
• Toni : 1988-1989
• Sven-Göran Eriksson : 1989–1992
•  Tomislav Ivić : 1992-1993
• Toni : 1993-1994
• Artur Jorge : 1994-1995
• Paulo Autuori : 1996
• Manuel José de Jesus: 1997
• Graeme Souness : 1997-1999
• Jupp Heynckes : 1999-2000
• José Mourinho : 2000
•  Toni : 2000-2002
• Jesualdo Ferreira : 2002
• José Antonio Camacho : 2002-2004
• Giovanni Trapattoni : 2004-2005
• Ronald Koeman : 2005-2006
•  Fernando Santos : 2006-2007
• José Antonio Camacho : 2007-2008
• Fernando Chalana : 2008
• Quique Sánchez Flores : 2008–2009
• Jorge Jesus : 2009–2015
• Rui Vitória : 2015–2019
• Bruno Location : 2019-

• 

  
  Jorge Jesus

• 

  
  José Mourinho

• 

  
  Giovanni Trapattoni

• 

  
  Ronald Koeman

Ultra groupings

The Benfica Lisbon football department has three ultra groupings, one of which is officially recognized.

Diabos Vermelhos

The Diabos Vermelhos were founded in 1982 and are still the official ultra group of SL Benfica. In their heyday they had around 6,000 members. Today they have about 1500 members, they are in the northern curve of the stadium.

No Name Boys

The No Name Boys were founded in 1992 through a dispute among the Diabos Vermelhos. The No Name Boys had a maximum of about 5000 members. In 1996, many members withdrew due to a death in the cup match against Sporting Lisbon . Today they have about 2500 members who stay in the southern curve of the stadium during the games.

Grupo Manks

The Grupo Manks are a small group that only has 30 members. There are no precise statements about their founding date, they were seen for the first time as "Grupo Manks" in the stadium in 1994, but give 1996 as the year they were founded. During the games they join the Diabos Vermelhos and draw attention to themselves with a large fence flag.

Other sports

Futsal

→ Main article : Benfica Lisbon (futsal)

Roller hockey

→ Main article : Benfica Lisbon (roller hockey)

basketball

→ Main article : Benfica Lisbon (basketball)

Cycling

Team bus of the Benfica cycling team at the 2007 Bayern Tour

Cycling was the second division introduced in the club. It is also, together with football, the only one that is integrated into the club's logo. The department was active for the first time between 1906 and 1941. Then again from 1947 to 1978 and 1999 and 2000. Great national successes were celebrated, the Tour of Portugal was won a total of nine times. The last victory was the Spaniard David Plaza in 1999. This year the team also took part in the Vuelta a España . In 2006 it was decided that the department would become active again from 2007. It started the new 2007 season as a Professional Continental Team . At the end of the 2008 season, the team disbanded after an unsuccessful search for sponsors.

The head of the department was former driver Orlando Rodrigues .

badminton

In badminton, Benfica was the Portuguese team champion from 1962 to 1968 as well as in 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977 and 1978.

Handball

In handball, Benfica won seven championships indoors and one on the field. There are also four cup wins. Internationally they reached the final in the EHF Challenge Cup 2010/11 , but lost there after a 27:27 in the first leg with 27:31 at RK Koper in Slovenia.

successes

• Indoor handball champions : 1962, 1975, 1982, 1983, 1989, 1990 and 2008
• Cup winners: 1985, 1986, 1987, 2011 and 2016
• Field handball champion : 1962

volleyball

The volleyball players were in the final of the European Challenge Cup in 2015 .

• 7 × Portugal champions - 1981, 1991, 2005, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017
• 17 × cup winners - 1966, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1990, 1992, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2018
• 8 × Super Cup winners - 1990, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018

Web links

Commons : Benfica Lisbon  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Benfica Lisbon website (Portuguese, English)
• Fan page (German)
• Diabos Vermelhos
• Jersey collection (Portuguese, English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A curse prevents Benfica's triumphs in Europe . In: Welt Online , May 14, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2014. 
2. ↑ Most widely supported football club ( English ) guinnessworldrecords.com. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
3. ↑ Benfica registou aumento de 22 mil sócios ( Portuguese ) record.pt. September 27, 2019. Accessed March 3, 2020.
4. ↑ Stock market profile of Sport Lisboa e Benfica Futebol SAD at Reuters news agency , accessed on May 2, 2017
5. ↑ Estádios do Benfica - Terras do Desembargador . cbenfica.com. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
6. ↑ Campo da Feiteira - 1907/08 a 1910/11 ( Portuguese ) slbenfica.pt. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
7. ↑ Campo de Sete Rios (1913-1917) ( Portuguese ) slbenfica.pt. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
8. ↑ Campo de Benfica (1916-1926) ( Portuguese ) slbenfica.pt. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
9. ↑ Estádio das Amoreiras 1925 - 1940 ( Portuguese ) cbenfica.com. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
10. ↑ "Nem em 100 anos o Benfica será campeão europeu novamente" - A incrível maldição de Bela Guttmann ( Portuguese ) Goal.com. May 14, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
11. ↑ Guttmann curse brings Sevilla the Europa League victory faz.net
12. ↑ Vender jogadores para gerar receitas. Retrieved January 9, 2020 (European Portuguese). 
13. ^ História e biografia de todos os Estádios - SL Benfica. Retrieved January 9, 2020 . 
14. ↑ Luz: a Catedral :: :: zerozero.pt. Retrieved January 9, 2020 (Portuguese). 
15. ↑ https://www.weltfussball.de/teams/sl-benfica/2019/2/
16. ↑ UCI team database 2007  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.