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Benfica

Portugal

Sport Lisboa e Benfica ComC MHIH OM (Portuguese pronunciation also known as Benfica ), is a professional football team that is based in Lisbon, Portugal, that plays within the Primeira Liga, the top level of Portuguese football.

The club was founded on the 28th of February 1904 under the name Sport Lisboa, Benfica is one of the "Big Three" clubs in Portugal which have not been exiled out of Primeira Liga, along with their rivals Sporting CP and FC Porto. Benfica are known as As Aguias (The Eagles) due to the symbol that sits on the club's crest as well as Os Encarnados (The Reds) because of the colour of their shirt. From 2003 onwards, the club's home stadium is named the Estadio da Luz, which was built to replace the original, larger one in 1954. Benfica is the most popular Portuguese club and is the European soccer club that has the largest proportion of fans within its own country, with more than 250,000 supporters and 14 million supporters around the world. The club's anthem "Ser Benfiquista" refers to Benfica supporters who are referred to as benfiquistas. "E pluribus unum" is the motto of the club; Aguia Vitoria, the club's mascot.

Benfica is honored with Benfica is honoured with Portuguese Orders of Christ, of Prince Henry and the Merit Order. In terms of competition, they have at least 83 major trophy wins and 84 of them included in that of the Latin Cup - Benfica is the most decorated team in Portugal. They have won 80 domestic trophies: a record 37 Primeira Liga titles, a record 26 Taca de Portugal, a record 7 Taca da Liga, 8 Supertaca Candido de Oliveira and 3 Campeonato de Portugal. In international competition, they have won back-to-back European Cups in 1961 and 1962, a feat that is unique for Portuguese soccer - as well as also were runners-up in the Intercontinental Cup in 1961 and 1962, in the European Cup in 1963, the '65, '68, and '88 and '90, as well as at the UEFA Cup/Europa league between 1983 and 2013, and the 2014 season. Benfica's 10 European finals is a club-wide record and the club was ranked seventh in the history of UEFA clubs in 2014.

Benfica was named 12th in the FIFA Club of the Century and was ranked 9th in the IFFHS Top 200 European clubs in that century. Within UEFA, Benfica ranks 8th in the all-time rankings of clubs and was 26th in coefficients for the club at the conclusion in the season 2021-22. At present, Benfica have the second highest number of involvements at the European Cup/UEFA Champions league (41) the tournament where they hold the record for the most overall win. This was achieved during the 1965-66 season. Additionally, Benfica hold the European record for most consecutive wins in their domestic league (29) and became the first unbeaten champions in 1972-73.

1. History

S.L. Benfica

1.1. Foundation and first titles (1904–1960)

On February 28, 1904, following a football practice session on the same day that day, the Catataus Group and members of Associacao do Bem met at Farmacia Franco on Rua Direita de Belem with the intention of creating a cultural and social football club named Sport Lisboa, composed of Portuguese players. There were 24 people in attendance at the meeting which included Cosme Damiao. At the meeting, Jose Rosa Rodrigues was elected president of the club along as Daniel dos Santos Brito as secretary and Manuel Gourlade as treasurer. The founding members agreed that the club's colors were white and red and that the club's crest should consist of an Eagle and its slogan "E pluribus unum" and the football. Sport Lisboa played their first ever game on January 1st 1905. The team scored the first goals of their existence. Although they had some significant victories the club was beset by low operating conditions, including the soccer dirt field at Terras do Desembargador. In the end, eight players were transferred into Sporting CP in 1907, beginning an ongoing rivalry among the clubs.

On the 13th of September 1908, Sport Lisboa acquired Grupo Sport Benfica in a mutually agreed deal and change its title to Sport Lisboa e Benfica. Even after the merge, the two clubs maintained their respective clubs' operations. In the case of Sport Lisboa, they maintained the team's football squad and the colours of the shirt as well as the eagle symbol, as well as the slogan. To Grupo Sport Benfica, they kept the field Campo da Feiteira and the principal directors, and the club's residence. The two clubs agreed that the date of their foundation should be in line with the one of Sport Lisboa because it was the best well-known club and was quite well-known in Lisbon because of its soccer achievements. Concerning the emblem, a wheel of a bicycle was added to the Sport Lisboa's crest to symbolize cycling, which is the main sport played by Grupo Sport Benfica. Additionally, both entities belonging to the "new" club shared members, which helped in stabilizing operations. This later boosted the effectiveness that the union had.

However, the problems with the field that Benfica rented (Campo da Feiteira) continued to exist. Benfica relocated to their first grass football playing field Campo de Sete Rios in 1913. A year later, after refusing to increase rent, they moved into Campo de Benfica. Then, in 1925, they relocated in their very own venue in at the Estadio das Amoreiras, playing for 15 years there before changing towards the Estadio do Campo Grande in 1940. The Portuguese league was established in 1934. After placing third in its inaugural version, Benfica won the next three championships consecutively (1935-36, '36, 37, and '37-38) The first time the club has won a triathlon, as achieved with the help of Lippo Hertzka. In the years that followed, Benfica would win three more Primeira Liga (1941-42, '42-43and 44-45) along with the four Taca de Portugal (1940, 1943, '44, and in 1949) as well as the coach Janos Biri achieving the first double for the club in 1943.

Benfica's first international triumph came around 1950. They took home the Latin Cup (the only Portuguese club to have done so) by beating Bordeaux with a golden strike by Julinho at the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon, with Ted Smith as coach. The trophy was first trophy of international repute that was won by an Portuguese club. They were in the final of the competition in the year 1957 but fell to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. Following the election of Joaquim Ferneira Bogalho in the year 1952, and the appointment the Coach Otto Gloria in 1954, Benfica was modernised and professional. The club moved to the first Estadio da Luz, with seating capacity at first of 40,000. It was expanded to 70,000 by 1960. Through in the 50s Benfica had three wins in the Primeira Liga (1949-50, 54-55, '56 and '57) along with Six Taca de Portugal (1951, the '52,' '53, 55, '57, and '59). Even though they had been Portuguese champions by 1955 Benfica weren't invited to participate in the first European Cup by its organisers which led to the UEFA debut in the 1957-58 season against Sevilla.

1.2. Golden years and drought (1960–2003)

The team was coached by coach Bela Guttmann who was signed as a player by Mauricio Vieira de Brito. Benfica were two-time European Champions by winning the European Cup against Barcelona in 1961 (3-2) and Real Madrid in 1962 (5-3). In the end, Benfica played in the Intercontinental Cup, where they were runners-up against Penarol at the time of 1961 as well as Santos at the end of 1962. In the following years, Benfica reached three more European Cup finals, losing them to AC Milan in 1963, Inter Milan in 1965, and Manchester United in 1968. So, in recognition of their performance on the international stage, Benfica were ranked first in European football in the years 1965 and '66, and received the France Football European Team of the Award in the year 1968. The 1960s saw Benfica had eight wins in the Primeira Liga (1959-60 and '60-61 and '62-63,' '63-64 and '64-65), '66-67 1967-68, '68-69) and the Taca de Portugal (three times), Taca de Portugal (1962, 1964 1969) in addition to the two European Cups (1960-61, '61-62). Many of these victories were achieved by Eusebio who was the only player to have won the Ballon d'Or for a Portuguese club - Coluna, Jose Aguas, Jose Augusto, Simoes, Torres and many others in the 1963-64 team which set an all-time record for the club of the club's record of 103 goals scored in 26 league games.

In the 1970s, under the presidency of Borges Coutinho in the helm, Benfica continued to dominate Portuguese football. They were able to win the title of six Primeira Liga titles (1970-71, 1971-72, '72-73', '74-75 and '75-76,' '76-77) as well as the two Taca de Portugal (1970, 1972). The season 1971-1972 saw Benfica made it to the semifinals of the European Cup, where they were eliminated by Ajax of Johan Cruyff. Under the direction of Jimmy Hagan the following season, Benfica became the first club in Portugal to beat the league without losing with a record of winning 28 games 23 consecutively out of 30 and drawing two. There were 101 goals scored and Eusebio was named Europe's top scorer, just 2 goals shy of his previous record (42). From October 1976 until the month of September, Benfica had not lost a league match for 56 games. This decade was also characterized by the introduction of foreign players to the team, which was the first Portuguese club in the world to do so in 1979.

The 1980s saw Benfica was thriving within the domestic scene. Through Lajos Baroti , in the 1980s and 1981s, Benfica became the first club to be the winner of all Portuguese awards in one period: Supertaca de Portugal, Primeira Liga, and Taca de Portugal. In the following years, under the leadership of Sven-Goran Eriksson had two consecutive wins of the Primeira Liga (1982-83, '83-84) as well as two Taca de Portugal (1983) and Taca de Portugal (1983) in 1983, and advanced to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1983, losing to Anderlecht. In the wake of changes made in the Estadio da Luz, Benfica inaugurated the stadium's third tier in 1985, which transformed it into the biggest venue in Europe and the third-largest worldwide. The following season, after they had won the national Super Cup in 1985 and the Portuguese Cup in 1986, Benfica achieved the double feat that is Primeira Liga and Taca de Portugal. In 1988 and in 1994 Benfica had three wins: Primeira Liga (1988-89 and '90-91 1993-94) as well as three Taca de Portugal (1993), Taca de Portugal (1993) and One Super Cup (1989) and was in the European Cup finals of 1988 and 1990, where they were beaten in 1990 by PSV Eindhoven and Milan respectively.

The financial crisis that began in the early 1980s , and the massive investment in players in the decade that followed began to affect the finances of the club in the time of Jorge de Brito's presidency. The soaring spending and controversial sign-on practice (over 100 players were signed during Manuel Damasio's presidency) made the situation worse. In the following years, under president Joao Vale e. Azevedo as president, Benfica was in massive debt, and often unable to pay the taxes and salaries of players. Between 1994 and 2003 Benfica was home to eleven coach and was crowned champions in 1995-1996 Taca de Portugal, suffered their worst loss in European competitions, losing 7-0 against Celta of Vigo, in the year 1999. They also had the lowest league position ever with a sixth-place finish in 2000-01, and was not participating in European matches for two seasons from 2001-02 to 2002-03. In 2000, the club members had given their approval to the construction of the brand new Estadio da Luz shortly after the election of Manuel Vilarinho.

1.3. 2003–present

In 2003-2004, under the presidency of Luis Filipe Vieira, Benfica stopped their drought of silverware when they won their first trophy, the Taca de Portugal against Jose Mourinho's Porto. In the next season, Benfica took home their first ever league trophy since 1994 as well as they also won the Supertaca Candido de Oliveira. From that point until 2009 in which Benfica took home their very first Taca da Liga - thus becoming the first club in history to take home all the important Portuguese competitions. They were not able to win any trophy and came in fourth place for the season 2007-08. As for Europe, Benfica had three consecutive appearances in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, with their most successful performance coming at the quarter-final match in 2005-06, after defeating the then European champions Liverpool by a score of 3-0 on aggregate.

In 2009-10, Jorge Jesus was appointed coach, a post which he held until. In the six seasons that followed, Benfica won 10 domestic awards, including an unprecedented triple in Portuguese football (league cup, the league cup) in 2013-14. It was also the first time that the club has won back-to-back league championships since 1984. At the European the level, Benfica were ranked sixth in the UEFA team ranking in the year 2015 after reaching the debut UEFA semi-final for 17 years in The 2010-11 Europa League, reached the Champions League quarter-finals in the 2011-12 season, and were runners-up in the Europa League for two consecutive seasons: 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Later , under the management of Rui Vitoria. Benfica was able to win a record fourth Primeira Liga title in a row. It was their first Tetra - with one Taca de Portugal, one Taca da Liga and two consecutive Super Cup trophies; the second one was in 2017 after they won a 36-year-old triple. Internationally, one year after they made it to their Champions League knockout phase for the first time in their history, Benfica suffered their biggest defeat in the tournament with a 5-0 defeat to Basel as well as to record the record for the most difficult Portuguese group stage record.

After a disappointing the 2018-19 season the manager Bruno Lage took charge mid-season and guided Benfica into their 37th championship and also the league's most successful second-round record. After a rout of Sporting CP in the Super Cup, Benfica did not get any more awards, and Jesus returned in 2020-21 in the context of their EUR105 million investment during the COVID-19 epidemic which is the largest investment ever in Portuguese football. Despite this the fact that they were eliminated from the Champions League third qualifying round and lost the Super Cup, finished third in the league, and then lost the Portuguese Cup final for a second time in succession. With Rui Costa in the presidency from 2021-22 Benfica was not a trophy-winning team, getting to their Champions League quarter-finals, and still coming 3rd in their league.

2. Crest and shirt

Benfica's Crest is comprised of an eagle as an emblem of authority, independence, and nobility. The eagle is set atop the shield, which is decorated with white and red colours that symbolize peace and bravery and peace respectively. The motto is "E pluribus unum" ("Out of many one") which is a symbol of unity between all its members and the initials of the club, "SLB", over an athletic ball - all overlaid on the wheel of a bicycle, which represents what was one of their earliest sporting activities cycling.

The club has had four major crests since it was founded around 1904. The story behind the current crest dates to 1908, the year that Sport Lisboa merged with Grupo Sport Benfica. After that, the design of the crest changed between the years the years 1930 and 1999. The most notable of the modern changes was the modification and shifting of the eagle's position and the reduction in the size of the wheel.

Since the 2008-09 seasononwards, Benfica football shirts display three stars above the crest which represent 10 league titles that the club. In 2011-12 and 2010-11, the shirts showed emblems that commemorated the club's history with two and one star each, with the former being the 50th anniversary celebrations that marked their debut European Cup and the latter to commemorate the club's second successive European Cup. The other sports of the club don't have any stars over the crest.

Jose da Cruz Viegas was the person who made the design of Benfica's uniform in 1904. White and red colours were selected because they were colours that stood out for players eye. In the year following its founding the club decided to wear red shirts that had white collars, openings , and cuffs and black socks and white shorts. Benfica's white alternate kit was used at first in 1944 and 1945, when Salgueiros, who was wearing red, were elevated to first division.

Benfica always wore red shirts. This is the reason within Portugal, Benfica and their supporters (benfiquistas) were referred to as Vermelhos (Reds). The name changed in 1936, with the beginning of Spanish Civil War: the Portuguese Estado Novo's Censorship Commission censored the word "vermelhos" due to the fact that they were the Popular Front communists in Spain were also known by this name. Since then, Benfica became known as Encarnados, a term that was that is similar to "reds" however, with a different meaning.

Period Kit manufacturer Main sponsor
1977–1984 Adidas
1984–1987 Shell
1987–1990 FNAC
1990–1992 Hummel
1992–1994 Casino Estoril
1994–1996 Olympic Parmalat
1996–1997 Telecel
1997–2000 Adidas
2000–2001 Netc
2001–2005 Telecel/Vodafone
2005–2009 PT/TMN
2010–2011 TMN/MEO
2012–2015 MEO
2015–present Emirates

3. Grounds

The first decade of the club's existence, Benfica played mostly on the fields that were rented to them. Their first stadium is the Estadio das Amoreiras, built in 1925 and officially opened which they used until 1940. In the year following they moved into their current home, the Estadio do Campo Grande, which was a municipal stadium that they rented prior to moving to their second stadium 13 years later.

From 1954 until 2003, Benfica played in from 1954 to 2003, Benfica played at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon which was the biggest stadium in Europe and the third-largest in the world, in terms of capacity, which was 120,000 from 1985 until 1987. It was destroyed in 2002-2003 then the brand new Estadio da Luz was finalized in 2003 with the price in the region of EUR162 million, which is roughly EUR25 millions more than what was planned.

Like its predecessor, the Estadio da Luz is officially named Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica. It is a UEFA Category 4 stadium, the venue played host to numerous matches from UEFA Euro 2004 as well as the final match, and was the site to host both the UEFA Champions League finals in 2014 and 2020. The stadium was built with a capacity of 65,647 seats, the stadium has 64,642 seats.

3.1. Training centre

Benfica's Benfica Training Ground and its Youth Academy, Benfica Campus can be found within Seixal, Lisbon Region. It was completed in 2005, and officially opened on September 22, the 22nd of September.

4. Support

The fans of Benfica are referred to as benfiquistas. They perform the club's anthem before the beginning of every home game, and sometimes even during the game. They refer to the club as O Glorioso (The Glorious One) and hence the singing of "Glorioso SLB". In certain countries, since 1952 Benfica is home to supporters club, also known informally as Casas do Benfica (Benfica houses) which are areas for social, cultural and sporting interaction between benfiquistas. In recent times the benfiquistas celebrated league championships alongside their team at the Marquis of Pombal Square in Lisbon.

Benfica is considered to be the largest and most well-known soccer club of Portugal and has been regarded as the working class club in Portugal. According to a study that was published in 2006 by two professors Luis Reto and Jorge de Sa and accompanied by the approval of Instituto Nacional de Estatistica and Secretaria de Estado das Comunidades, Benfica has approximately 14 million fans around the world, including over 5.5 millions in Europe (4.7 within Portugal) plus over six million in Mozambique (3.8) in addition to Angola (2.7) and Angola (2.7). There are more than 1 million supporters in the United States and Canada; and the rest of the supporters are in Brazil, Venezuela, the Caribbean, Indochina, China, Australia and India. Based on a study conducted by UEFA during 2012 Benfica has the distinction of being among the European team with the highest percentage of football fans in its country (47 percent).

The 2016-2017 season saw Benfica was home to an average attendance at home of 55,952 during the Portuguese league. This is the current record for the Estadio da Luz. This was the top average in the league and 9th in the league of other European clubs. The record for home attendance was also broken with 64,519 people watched Benfica's 5-1 victory against Vitoria de Guimaraes during the season's final game in Da Luz.

4.1. Members

In addition to Benfica house, filiations, and delegations Benfica memberswho can be known as socios, select the president of the club for a term of four years (three years from the year 2010) through voting on the list of candidates, thus creating the highest body that governs the club. Benfica members are also able to participate and vote at general assemblies, present ideas, participate in discussions and be elected to the governing bodies, and be appointed for roles or positions within the Club, and so on.

In 2003 , the club introduced electronic voting - a vote method that was criticized by some members of Benfica as well as presidential candidates and other non-members. Since 2010, only members with at least 25 years continuous participation as adults, that is, active members who are between 43 and 45 - are eligible to run for the office of president of Benfica. In addition, as per the current constitution that the Benfica club has ratified by a little over 100 socios, members are entitled to at least one vote based on their membership year from 1 to five years, one vote; 5 years and up to 10,5 votes; between 10 and 20 votes; and over 25 to be an effective member 50 votes. Delegates can also vote when they are a member of an Benfica house 50 votes; delegation or filliation 20 votes.

On November 9, in 2006 Benfica was the first to set records on the Guinness World Record for "the most funded football team" having a paid-up membership of 160,398 members. According to an analysis by Movimento por Um Futebol Melhor Benfica boasted 270,000 supporters, making it the largest club worldwide in terms of membership. At the time of 31 March the year 2015 Benfica stated that they had 246,401 members. However, following an official renumbering exercise at the end of August of that year, the figure fell to 156,916. As of 9 October 2021 Benfica had more than 250,000 members. Of these, 115,681 could vote in the club's elections on that day.

4.2. Rivalries

Benfica has competition against Sporting CP and FC Porto which form part of the "Big Three" Portugal's most prestigious clubs. None of them has been exiled to the Portuguese league since it was established in 1934.

As Lisbon-based clubs Benfica as well as Sporting have been rivals for more than a century. it began in 1907 when eight famous Benfica players left for Sporting. The rivalry is followed in Europe, Africa and the Americas and any game between the two teams is referred to by the name derbi de Lisboa ("Lisbon derby") or derbi eternalo ("eternal derby") or derbi da Segunda Circular also known as derbi dos derbis ("derby of derbies"). This is the most important game in football in Portugal.

There is a rivalry that exists between Benfica as well as FC Porto, which started by playing a friendly match on the 28th of April 1912 was born because Lisbon both Porto are the biggest Portuguese cities, with Porto being the second largest. Benfica as well as Porto are two of the most decorated teams in Portuguese football The former has a long history of being the most decorated overall. The match between these two clubs is referred to as O Classico (The Classic).

5. Media

The year 2008 was the time that Benfica created its own TV channel geared towards sports, Benfica TV (BTV for short) it was the first channel owned operated by an Portuguese club. The club has been operating it ever since. The premium channel shows Benfica's live games at home during the Primeira Liga, Benfica B home matches in the LigaPro home matches of the under-19 age group and other matches in other sports which include youth categories. It carried three seasons in the English Premier League, and one season of the Italian Serie A and French Ligue 1. From January to January, 2020 Benfica introduced Benfica Play (BPlay in short) the over-the-top media service that features exclusive content, such as interviews with former and current Benfica players as well as behind-the-scenes footage from training and matchdays.

Additionally, the club published O Benfica, a weekly publication O Benfica every Friday since the 28th November 1942. It provides information on everything that is happening in the club, as articles and news (mostly the latter). The magazine was published in 2005 and had a circulation approximately 10,000. Benfica also produces the quarterly magazine Mistica as of December 6, 2007. It is free for Benfica members, it includes interviews with personnel and players at the club. It also includes articles on the club's history as well as recent events, news, opinions pieces, and overviews of the sports that the club plays, which includes football as the main area of focus, as well as an area dedicated to members of the club. Issue 33 was distributed to an average circulation of 115,602 across mainland Portugal. O Benfica Ilustrado was the publication of the club's predecessor; it was introduced on the 1st of October 1957 as a month-long supplement to the O Benfica newspaper. O Benfica.

6. Museum

The Museu Benfica The Benfica Museu Cosme Damiao, situated near the stadium, was officially inaugurated on July 26, 2013, and then opened to the public just three days later. It was named after Cosme Dasmiao, one the club's founders, it was deemed to be the Best Portuguese Museum of 2014 by the Portuguese Association of Museology.

7. Finances and ownership

On February 10, 2000, during the leadership of Joao Vale e Azevedo Benfica was founded Sport Lisboa e Benfica - Futebol, SAD (a public limited company in sports) which had an initial capitalization that was EUR75 million. There were five primary reasons to create an independent entity to oversee the Benfica team participation in professional soccer events at both international and domestic levels; development of soccer players the exploitation of rights to TV on open or closed broadcasts; the management of the image rights of players rights; and the exploitation of Benfica brand by professional football players as well as at sporting events.

Benfica SAD entered the PSI-20 on the 21st of May 2007 with a stock price in the range of EUR5 with 15,000,001 shares. Then, in June, Joe Berardo launched an unsuccessful takeover offer for EUR3.50 per share to acquire 60 percent of Benfica SAD. After the general assembly on 23 December 2009 the SAD was able to increase the EUR75 million capital to EUR115 million, after it absorbed Benfica Estadio. This was to help it come out of technical bankruptcy.

On July 31, 2014 the SAD completed the purchase of Benfica Stars Fund by spending around EUR28.9 million to purchase 85percent of the units, thereby purchasing the remaining rights to economics to nine of the players. In April Benfica as well as Adidas extended their contract for ten seasons from 2003 until 2021, at approximately EUR4.5 million annually. On May 15, 2015 Emirates Airline signed a 3-year sponsorship agreement that could reach EUR30 millions to be the primary jersey sponsor. In Decemberof 2015, Benfica purchased the rights to TV for their first-team home matches, as well as Benfica TV's distribution and broadcasting rights to NOS. The deal was an agreement for three years, which was worth EUR40 millions per year. There was also the option of extending the contract for 10 seasons, which would amount to EUR400 million. The following day, Luis Filipe Vieira said that the proceeds from the former contract could be used to pay down the debt of Benfica.

In June 2017 Benfica had made EUR617 million through player transfers from the 2010-11 season, greater than every other team anywhere in the world. In September of 2018, Benfica SAD reported a net profit that was EUR20.6 million and an income that was EUR206.2 million. In addition, they announced record capitalization of EUR86.8 million. This included capital of EUR485.1 million with liabilities totalling EUR398.3 million. This marked the first time since the 2010-11 season the debt was less than EUR400 million. In January of 2019, Benfica remained the only Portuguese club to ever be a participant as a participant in the Deloitte Football Money League, being named as the 30th most commercially soccer club with a revenue-generating record in 2017-18, with income in the region of EUR150.7 million. In May, Benfica was ranked by Brand Finance as the 40th most valued football brand.

In May 2020 In May 2020, The Portuguese Securities Market Commission denied Benfica's offer to buy 28.06 percent in Benfica SAD for EUR5 a share due to the fact that the source of the financing came from that of the SAD itself. In September 2021, Benfica was the largest shareholder of the SAD's share capital 63.65 percent of which 40 percent was directly owned by the club, which is the holder of all shares of category A and 23.65 percent to the Holding Company, Benfica SGPS, holder of shares in category B. The remainder of the shares belong to shareholders that may own only B shares.

8. Players

Detail of the players as below mentioned.

 

8.1. First-team squad

As of 28 July 2022

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Brazil BRA Gilberto
3 DF Spain ESP Álex Grimaldo
4 DF Brazil BRA Lucas Veríssimo
5 DF Belgium BEL Jan Vertonghen
6 DF Denmark DEN Alexander Bah
7 FW Brazil BRA David Neres
9 FW Ukraine UKR Roman Yaremchuk
11 MF France FRA Soualiho Meïté
13 MF Argentina ARG Enzo Fernández
17 MF Portugal POR Diogo Gonçalves
18 FW Brazil BRA Rodrigo Pinho
20 MF Portugal POR João Mário
22 MF Portugal POR Chiquinho
23 DF Serbia SRB Mihailo Ristić
27 MF Portugal POR Rafa Silva
No. Pos. Nation Player
28 MF Germany GER Julian Weigl
30 DF Argentina ARG Nicolás Otamendi
31 MF Portugal POR Gil Dias
33 FW Croatia CRO Petar Musa
34 DF Portugal POR André Almeida (captain)
38 DF Brazil BRA João Victor
39 FW Portugal POR Henrique Araújo
55 MF Portugal POR Paulo Bernardo
61 MF Portugal POR Florentino
77 GK Brazil BRA Helton Leite
88 FW Portugal POR Gonçalo Ramos
91 DF Brazil BRA Morato
96 MF Portugal POR Diego Moreira
99 GK Greece GRE Odysseas Vlachodimos
 

 

8.2. Other players under contract

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF Portugal POR Tomás Tavares
MF Morocco MAR Adel Taarabt
MF Brazil BRA Gabriel

8.3. Out on loan

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF Portugal POR Ferro (at Vitesse until 30 June 2023)
DF Portugal POR Sandro Cruz (at Chaves until 30 June 2023)
DF Portugal POR Tomás Araújo (at Gil Vicente until 30 June 2023)
MF Colombia COL Yony González (at Deportivo Cali until 31 December 2022)
FW Brazil BRA Carlos Vinícius (at PSV Eindhoven until 30 June 2023)
FW Switzerland  SUI Haris Seferovic (at Galatasaray until 30 June 2023)

8.4. Former players

More details Additional information: A list of S.L. Benfica players as well as Category:S.L. Benfica footballers

8.5. Retired numbers

On the 27th of January, 2004 Benfica ended their the number 29 squad in the memory of Miklos Feher who had passed away during a match just two days before.

No. Player Position Benfica debut Last match
29 Hungary Miklós Fehér FW 24 August 2002 25 January 2004
 

9. Personnel

As per detail below.

 

9.1. Coaching staff

Position Name
Head coach Roger Schmidt
Assistant coaches Jens Wissing
Jörn-Erik Wolf
Javi García
Fitness coach Yann-Benjamin Kugel
Goalkeeping coach Fernando Ferreira
Video analysts Nuno Cesário
Rúben Soares

9.2. Management

Position Name
President Rui Costa
Vice-presidents Luís Mendes
Jaime Antunes
Domingos Almeida Lima
Fernando Tavares
Sílvio Cervan
Manuel Brito
Rui do Passo (substitute)
José Gandarez (substitute)
General assembly president Fernando Seara
Supervisory president Fernando Fonseca Santos

10. Records and statistics

Sport Lisboa e Benfica, popularly referred to as Benfica is a Portuguese professional football club located in Lisbon. It was established on the 28th of February 1904 under the name Sport Lisboa and merged with Grupo Sport Benfica in 1908 to create Sport Lisboa e Benfica. The statistics and records of the club collected here are only for professional, competitive matches - none of the exhibition games are included. These include information about the honours of players and transfers, players manager, team and honours statistics, and more.

10.1. Individual

Nene was Nene is the Benfica athlete with highest number of official appearances . Eusebio is the club's all-time top goal scorer with 473 goals scored in the 440 matches played in competition. Benfica is also the most prolific goal scorer with regards to UEFA club competitions, scoring 56 goals. Luisao has the highest number of awards, and the captain who has played the most games and also has the highest number of participations at European matches.

Cosme Damiao has the longest tenure of any coaching staff (18 consecutive times). Otto Gloria is the coach who has more league title and also the most trophies that were that he has won prior to the introduction of the cup league. Jorge Jesus is the coach who has the most trophies (10 3 Leagues, 1 Cup five league cups, one supercup). Rui Vitoria has the most number of domestic wins league, with a minimum of 34 games played (85.29 percent).

10.2. Collective

Benfica was the only team to ever in Portuguese football history play two seasons without losing in the seasons 1972-73 and 1977-78. In the latter, as champions without defeat, they set record-breaking numbers: 58 goals over 30 games, which was the highest ever achieved (96.7 percent efficiency) as well as the biggest gap in points between runners-up and champions (18 points) using a two-points-per-win method. In the 2015-16 season, Benfica amassed 88 points during 34 matches, and also recorded the club's highest points total as the league is contested between 18 different teams. Benfica's record for the smallest number of goals conceded during the Primeira Liga was achieved in 1988-89 by coach Toni 15 goals in 38 games.

In addition, Benfica hold the European records for the longest consecutive wins in the domestic leagues, from 1971-72 to 1972-73. Additionally, they have the longest uninterrupted streak across all competitions since the introduction of European competition, with 48 matches between December 1963 until 14 February , 1965. This record is ranked third overall.

The 1965-1966 European Cup, Benfica scored 18 goals against Stade Dudelange and achieved the most goals per game in the European Cup and their biggest victory during UEFA competitions. For the UEFA Europa League, Benfica was the first team to go to two finals simultaneously and win both times without losing. In the 2020-21 season Benfica have played 41 times on the European Cup/UEFA Champions' League and 21 appearances for the Europa/UEFA Cup league. They also have participation in the now-defunct competitions, 7 in the UEFA cup Winners' Cup, and two in the Intercontinental Cup. As of October, Benfica were the 5th highest scoring club of UEFA competition history, scoring 655 goals scored in 405 games (1.62 per game).

10.3. Recent seasons

The Benfica team's performance season-to-season over the past ten seasons:

Season Pos Pld W D L GF GA Pts Top league scorer Goals Top overall scorer Goals TP TL ST UCL UEL Rnk
2012–13 2nd 30 24 5 1 77 20 77 Lima 20 Óscar Cardozo 33 RU SF GS RU 9th
2013–14 1st 30 23 5 2 58 18 74 Lima 14 Lima 21 W W GS RU 5th
2014–15 1st 34 27 4 3 86 16 85 Jonas 20 Jonas 31 R16 W W GS 6th
2015–16 1st 34 29 1 4 88 22 88 Jonas 32 Jonas 36 R32 W RU QF 6th
2016–17 1st 34 25 7 2 72 18 82 Kostas Mitroglou 16 Kostas Mitroglou 27 W SF W R16 9th
2017–18 2nd 34 25 6 3 80 22 81 Jonas 34 Jonas 37 5R 3R W GS 15th
2018–19 1st 34 28 3 3 103 31 87 Haris Seferovic 23 Haris Seferovic 27 SF SF GS QF 21st
2019–20 2nd 34 24 5 5 71 26 77 Carlos Vinícius 19 Pizzi 30 RU 3R W GS R32 20th
2020–21 3rd 34 23 7 4 69 27 76 Haris Seferovic 22 Haris Seferovic 26 RU SF RU 3Q R32 24th
2021–22 3rd 34 23 5 6 78 30 74 Darwin Núñez 26 Darwin Núñez 34 5R RU QF 26th

11. Honours

Benfica have been awarded the record number of 37 Primeira Liga, a record 26 Taca de Portugal (including a record of 4 consecutively) and a record seven Taca da Liga (including a record four consecutively) eight Supertaca Candido de Oliveira and 3 Campeonato de Portugal (including a record two consecutively) which totals an impressive 81 domestic trophies and two European Cups (consecutively won) with 83 awards, which is 84 when you add when you include the Latin Cup. So, in terms of total trophies, Benfica is the top-ranked team of Portuguese football.

The year 2014 was the time that Benfica was the only club to achieve the triple of Primeira Liga, Taca de Portugal and Taca da Liga. Benfica is the only team to be awarded this Primeira Liga and Taca da Liga double, and more importantly an unprecedented four times. Benfica has the distinction of being only one team in Portugal to successfully defend all major titles in Portugal (Campeonato of Portugal, Primeira Liga, Taca de Portugal, Supertaca Candido de Oliveira and Taca da Liga). Additionally, Benfica are the only Portuguese team to be twice European champions.

11.1. Domestic

Primeira Liga

  • Winners  – record: 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1944–45, 1949–50, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1993–94, 2004–05, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19

Taça de Portugal

  • Winners ( – record: 1939–40, 1942–43, 1943–44, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1992–93, 1995–96, 2003–04, 2013–14, 2016–17

Taça da Liga

  • Winners  – record: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

  • Winners : 1980, 1985, 1989, 2005, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019

Campeonato de Portugal

  • Winners : 1929–30, 1930–31, 1934–35

11.2. European

European Cup

  • Winners : 1960–61, 1961–62

11.3. Other

Latin Cup

  • Winners : 1950

11.4. Doubles

Primeira Liga and Taça de Portugal

  • 11 – record: 1942–43, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1986–87, 2013–14, 2016–17

Primeira Liga and Taça da Liga

  • 4 – record: 2009–10, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16

Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga

  • 1 – shared record: 2013–14

European Double

  • 1: 1960–61

11.5. Trebles

Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga

  • 1 – record: 2013–14

Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

  • 2 – record: 1980–81, 2016–17

11.6. Trebles

Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga

  • 1 – record: 2013–14

Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

  • 2 – record: 1980–81, 2016–17

11.7. Portuguese Orders

  • Commander of the Military Order of Christ (1932)
  • Officer of the Order of Merit (1936)
  • Medal of the Order of Prince Henry (1979)

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