Benfica started the new season as back-to-back champions and
Taça de Portugal holders. For the third year of
Jimmy Hagan, Benfica made some squad adjustments, signing a promising young goalkeeper;
Manuel Bento, The pre-season only started on 16 August because 12 players of Benfica took part in the
Brazil Independence Cup, so their vacation was pushed forward. At the end of the competition on 9 July, they all returned to Benfica to play two friendlies with
Sporting in
Foxborough, Massachusetts, on 16 and 23 July. On the following Wednesday, Benfica also began his
European Cup campaign, losing 1–0 with
Malmö FF. In the return leg, Benfica beat them by 4–1 and qualified for the second round. In the domestic campaign, on 8 October, Benfica defeated Sporting by 4–1 with four goals from
Eusébio. With the win, Benfica opened a two-point lead over their rivals. They continued on their winning run, beating
Belenenses at home by 5–0 on match-day 7. With seven wins in seven matches, their lead was now three points. Back on the European stage, Benfica visited
Baseball Ground to face
Derby County on 25 October. Three first-half goals from Derby County surprised Benfica, who failed to react and lost 3–0. Before the second leg, Benfica played the
Clássico with
Porto for the Primeira Divisão. Porto scored first and was winning by 2–0 until the 78th minute, when Benfica scored the 1–2 with the result eventually being a 3–2 win for Benfica. Three days later, on 8 November, Benfica was knocked-out of the European Cup after a 0–0 draw with Derby County. Now solely focused on the league campaign, Benfica kept their winning record in November after beating
Vitória de Guimarães, ending the month with a six-point lead over Belenenses. In early December, the team was nearly stopped by
CUF, if it was not for a 90th-minute goal from Eusébio. On 17 December, Benfica finished the first half of the season with an away win against
Montijo. Accounting for wins all the matches played, Benfica had now an eight-point lead over second place Belenenses and had scored 49 goals and conceded just five. Before closing December, Benfica conquered another
Taça de Honra by beating
Atlético on penalties. With 18 wins in 18 match-days, Benfica's lead at this point was nine points. With 22 wins in 22 matches, Benfica's lead was now 13 points. It had started on 9 April 1972, on match-day 25 from
1971–72 and lasted nearly a full year. Competition continued on 8 April, with Benfica facing Leixões for the Portuguese Cup. They lost 2–0 and ended one-year and 13 days of domestic invincibility. The final part of the season was solely focused on making Eusébio win the
European Golden Shoe, as
Müller was his main contestant. After another four wins and second draw, with Atlético, Müller and Eusébio were tied with 36 goals, leaving everything for the last match-day. With four goals in a 6–0 win over Montijo, Eusébio reached 40 and confirmed his second Golden Shoe. Benfica had ended the league undefeated with 28 wins and two draws, 58 points in 60 possible, 18 points ahead of second place, setting a new domestic record for difference over second place. They also scored 101 goals and conceded only 13, a goal difference of 88 goals. ==Competitions==