Pre-Season After a season in which Benfica failed to secure a fifth consecutive league title (
penta) and endured a historically poor performance in the
UEFA Champions League, the club retained
Rui Vitória as head coach for a fourth year. During the summer transfer window, Benfica signed goalkeeper
Odysseas Vlachodimos, defenders
Cristian Lema and
Germán Conti, midfielders
Alfa Semedo and
Gabriel, and forwards
Nicolás Castillo and
Facundo Ferreyra. Departures included
Lisandro López,
Anderson Talisca,
André Horta,
Ola John, and
Raúl Jiménez. The team began its pre-season on 10 July with a 3–0 win against
FK Napredak Kruševac, followed by a 1–1 draw with
Vitória de Setúbal, a 1–0 victory over
Sevilla, a 2–2 draw with
Borussia Dortmund, a 1–1 draw with
Juventus, and a 3–2 loss to
Lyon.
August-November Benfica played their first official match of the season on 7 August, defeating
Fenerbahçe 1–0 in the
Champions League third qualifying round first leg. This was followed by a 3–2 home victory over
Vitória de Guimarães in the league opener and a 1–1 draw away to Fenerbahçe, which secured progression to the play-off round. Still in August, Benfica won 2–0 away against
Boavista, drew 1–1 at home with
P.A.O.K. in the first leg of the play-off, drew 1–1 with Sporting, and then won 4–1 away against PAOK to qualify for the
Champions League group stage. In September, Benfica achieved a 4–0 away win over
Nacional and a 2–1 home victory against
Rio Ave in the
Taça da Liga. In the Champions League group stage, they lost 2–0 at home to
Bayern Munich. Domestically, they beat
Aves 2–0 but drew 2–2 away to
Chaves, ending the month two points away from first place. October began with a 3–2 away win against
AEK Athens in the Champions League, followed by a 1–0 home victory over Porto and a 3–0 away win against
Sertanense in the
Taça de Portugal. However, Benfica then lost 1–0 away to
Ajax and 2–0 away to
Belenenses SAD in the league. Next month, the team lost 3–1 at home to
Moreirense, drew 1–1 at home with
Ajax in the Champions League, won 3–1 away at
Tondela, and defeated
Arouca 2–1 in the Taça de Portugal. The month ended with a 5–1 defeat away to Bayern Munich, finishing November four points behind leaders Porto.
December-January In December, Benfica defeated
Feirense 4–0 at home,
Paços de Ferreira 2–0 in the
Taça da Liga, and
Vitória de Setúbal 1–0 away. The team also recorded 1–0 victories over
AEK Athens in the Champions League and
Marítimo in the league, before beating
Montalegre 1–0 in the Taça de Portugal round of 16. A 6–2 win against
Braga was followed by a 1–1 draw with
Aves, leaving Benfica four points behind Porto at the end of the year and eliminated from the Champions League group stage. The new year began with a 2–0 away defeat to
Portimonense, which dropped Benfica to fourth place, seven points from the top of the table and led to the dismissal of head coach
Rui Vitória. Caretaker manager
Bruno Lage replaced him, overseeing a 4–2 home win against
Rio Ave, a 2–0 away victory over
Santa Clara, and consecutive 1–0 wins against
Vitória de Guimarães, in both the league and the
Taça de Portugal quarter-finals. Benfica then lost 3–1 to Porto in the
Taça da Liga semi-finals before closing January with a 5–1 home win over
Boavista, remaining five points behind Porto in the league.
February-March In February, Benfica won twice in the
Derby de Lisboa, defeating
Sporting 4–2 away in the league and 2–1 at home in the first leg of the Taça de Portugal semi-finals. Then beat
Nacional 10–0 at home, defeated
Galatasaray 2–1 in Istanbul in the first leg of the
Europa League round of 32, and won 4–0 at home against
Chaves, finishing the month one point behind Porto. On 2 March, Benfica visited the
Estádio do Dragão for the 24th round of the
Primeira Liga, defeating Porto 2–1 to move two points clear at the top of the table. Then lost 1–0 away to
Dinamo Zagreb in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 and drew 2–2 at home with
Belenenses SAD, leaving them level on points with Porto. Benfica advanced to the Europa League quarter-finals after a 3–0 extra-time victory over Dinamo Zagreb, and closed March with league wins over
Moreirense away and
Tondela at home.
April-May In April, Benfica were eliminated from the
Taça de Portugal following a 1–0 away defeat to Sporting. They responded by winning all four of their league fixtures: 4–1 away against
Feirense, 4–2 at home against
Vitória de Setúbal, 6–0 at home against
Marítimo, and 4–1 away against
Braga, extending their lead to two points. In Europe, Benfica defeated
Eintracht Frankfurt 4–2 in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals, with
João Félix scoring a hat-trick, but were eliminated after a 2–0 second-leg defeat in Frankfurt. In May, Benfica won all of the remaining league matches, defeating
Portimonense and
Rio Ave away, and
Santa Clara at home, to secure its 37th league title and fifth in six seasons. In the second half of the league campaign, the team collected 49 points out of a possible 51, drawing only once. ==Players==