1975–76 S.L. Benfica season

Benfica
1975–76 season
President Borges Coutinho
Head coach Mário Wilson
Stadium Estádio da Luz
Primeira Divisão 1st
Taça de Portugal Fifth round
European Cup Quarter-final
Top goalscorer League: Jordão (30)
All: Nené (34)
Home colours

The 1975–76 season was Sport Lisboa e Benfica's 72nd season in existence and the club's 42nd consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football, covering the period from 1 July 1975 to 30 June 1976. Benfica competed domestically in the Primeira Divisão and the Taça de Portugal, and participated in the European Cup after winning the previous league.

In the midst of the PREC, Benfica changes managers, with Milorad Pavić leaving for Mário Wilson. In the transfer window, Benfica lost several historic players, notably Eusébio, António Simões, Adolfo Calisto, Artur Jorge and Jaime Graça. With almost no new signings, Benfica campaign started with a home draw against Boavista, which would become his main rival all season. They reached an isolated first place by early October, only to lose after a defeat against Belenenses. Still, they remained in first, ex aequo with other teams, until they drew in Braga and were overtaken by Boavista. Meanwhile, in Europe, the opening rounds of the European Cup saw Benfica defeat Fenerbahçe by 7–1 on aggregate, and Újpesti Dózsa by 6–5 after a tight match in Hungary. In the Primeira Divisão, Benfica lapped the first half of the season with a point less than Boavista. After defeating them on match-day 16, Benfica regained the lead, but only briefly, as they lost it two weeks later, when Leixões beat them. Both teams remained at the front, until Boavista conceded two consecutive losses in March and gave Benfica a four-point lead. Despite that, March also cost Benfica competitions, with the European Cup falling after a 5–1 loss Bayern Munich and the Portuguese Cup to a one-nil loss to Sporting. Benfica won the following matches in April and celebrated their back-to-back league title on 10 May, the club's 22nd.

Season summary

In the aftermath of the Carnation Revolution, the country was experiencing the Processo Revolucionário Em Curso, a troubled time which followed the revolution. The club was experiencing financial problems, with a director saying in a members meet in April 1975, that Benfica could end in two or three months.[1] Milorad Pavić brought the title back to Benfica, but did not wish to continue and departed the club, being replaced by Mário Wilson on 30 May 1975.[2] In the transfer window, Benfica lost two historic club players, Eusébio and António Simões, plus others important players of the past such as Adolfo Calisto, Artur Jorge and Jaime Graça.[3][4][5][6][7] They also had to sell Humberto Coelho due to the economic situation.[8] The club made almost no new signings, with Romeu Silva and Eduardo Luís being the more noteworthy.[5][9] Having appointed Fernando Cabrita as his assistant manager, the pre-season began on 22 July.[10] Initially, the training sessions would be in Ferreira do Zêzere, but financial constraints, caused it to be moved to Carcavelos.[11][12] For preparation, Benfica played in Germany with Borussia Mönchengladbach, competed in the II Troféu Villa de Bilbao with Queen Park Rangers,Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao.[13][14][15] Afterwards, they embarked on a tour to Australia and Indonesia, playing seven matches in 15 days, before finishing the pre-season on 5 September with Paris Saint-Germain.[16]

Benfica opened their league campaign with a reception to Boavista, where they drew 0–0. [17] They reacted well and won the next four matches, reaching top of the table with 9 points, one more than Boavista and Braga.[17][18] Meanwhile, in the opening round of the European Cup, Benfica thrashed Fenerbahçe by winning 7–0 at home, with a one-nil loss in Turkey.[19] Domestically, on match-day 6, Benfica lost 4–2 away with Belenenses and was caught at the lead by four other teams.[17][20] They followed that loss with three consecutive wins, before a dropping points in Estádio 1º de Maio with Braga.[17] That cost them the first place, as Boavista overtook them, with a point more.[21][22] In the European Cup, Benfica faced the Hungarian team Újpesti Dózsa, defeating them by 5–2 at home.[19] In the return leg, the Hungarians dominated and reached 3–0 in the second half; even had the opportunity to score the fourth before Nené scored on the 73rd minute to make it 6–5 on aggregate.[23] In December, Benfica won the first three matches, before dropping points with Sporting on the 28.[17][21] By the New Year, Boavista led the league by a point.[21] In the first match in 1976, Benfica visited Estádio das Antas and beat Porto by 3–2.[24] As Boavista had won in Estádio de Alvalade, they lapped the first half of the season, still in second place.[24] On the opening match of the second half, Benfica visited Estádio do Bessa to play the leaders Boavista, winning 4–1 and assuming the first place with a one-point lead.[17][24] They would stay at the front only two weeks, because on 26 January, in a match played in Bessa, Benfica lost one-nil with Leixões.[17][24] They were back in second with 29 points; a point less than Boavista who had won at home.[25]

A week later, it was Boavista turn to lose points and Benfica catch them again in the lead, all level with 31 points.[26] On 16 February, Benfica lost points again with Belenenses, but took advantage of the Boavista's draw with Vitória de Guimarães, to keep the lead, albeit still shared with them.[24][27] In March, Benfica's opening game was the home leg of the quarter-final of the European Cup with Bayern Munich, with a result being a 0–0 draw.[24] Wilson blamed German goalkeeper Maier for his team's lack of goals.[28] In the Primeira Divisão, on 8 March, Benfica defeated Farense at home by 3–0, while Boavista lost in Antas with Porto.[28] That allowed Benfica to isolate himself in the lead with 38 points, two more than Boavista.[29] A week later, another win for Benfica, away against Estoril Praia, with Boavista losing again, now at home with União de Tomar.[28] They were now with a four-point lead over Boavista with six matches to go.[30] On 17 March, Benfica visited the Olympiastadion to play Bayern Munich. They were thrashed, losing 5–1.[28] According to Wilson, losing a player (Vítor Martins) to injury altered the team strategy, but he also pointed to several mistakes by referee Hilmi Ok that favoured Bayern.[28] Nonetheless, a few days later, he admitted that Benfica's team was enough to play domestically, but insufficient in the European stage.[31] Benfica concluded March with a Portuguese Cup game against Sporting, where they lost one-nil with a goal in overtime.[31] With the league campaign approaching the end, Benfica continued their winning path in April, and secured their back-to-back league title on 10 May with a win in Bonfim against Vitória de Setúbal.[17][31] It was the club's 22nd in 42 editions.[17] With the title won, in the final two match-days, Benfica won in Alvalade against Sporting and lost at home with Porto. [32][33] Rui Jordão was the Bola de Prata with 30 goals, one more than Nené, the second leading scorer.[32] Despite winning the title, President Borges Coutinho expressed his desire to have a British manager at the helm, which signalled the departure of Mário Wilson.[33]

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Overall record

Competition First match Last match Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win % Source
Primeira Divisão 10 September 1975 30 May 1976 30 23 4 3 94 20 +74 076.67 [34]
Taça de Portugal 28 March 1976 28 March 1976 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 000.00 [34]
European Cup 17 September 1975 17 March 1976 6 2 1 3 14 11 +3 033.33 [34]
Total 37 25 5 7 108 32 +76 067.57

Primeira Divisão

League table

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Benfica (C) 30 23 4 3 94 20+74 50 1976–77 European Cup First round
2 Boavista 30 21 6 3 65 23+42 48 1976–77 European Cup Winners' Cup First round 1
3 Belenenses 30 16 8 6 45 28+17 40 1976–77 UEFA Cup First round

Source: [34]
Rules for classification: 1st points, 2nd goals average, 3rd head-to-head
1 Boavista qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as winners of the 1976 Taça de Portugal Final.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results by round

Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
GroundHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH
ResultDWWWWLWWWDWWWDWWWLWWDWWWWWWWWL
Position862111111211122112111111111111

Source: ForaDeJogo
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Taça de Portugal

European Cup

First round

Second round

Quarter-final

Friendlies

Player statistics

The squad for the season consisted of the players listed in the tables below, as well as staff member Mário Wilson (manager), Fernando Cabrita (assistant manager).[10]

Note 1: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note 2: Players with squad numbers marked ‡ joined the club during the 1975-76 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.

No. Pos Nat Player TotalPrimeira DivisãoTaça de PortugalEuropean Cup
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
1 GK Portugal Manuel Bento 1801500030
1 GK Portugal José Henrique 2101701030
2 DF Portugal Alberto Fonseca 10100000
3 DF Portugal Amândio Malta da Silva 1201000020
3 DF Portugal Artur Correia 3102501050
4 DF Portugal Eurico Gomes 2201800040
4 DF Portugal Messias Timula 2512211020
4 DF Portugal António Barros 3302601060
5‡ DF Portugal Eduardo Luís 30300000
5 DF Portugal António Bastos Lopes 3112511050
6‡ MF Portugal Romeu Silva 20200000*
6 MF Portugal Toni 3662951061
7 FW Portugal Nené 353429290065
8 MF Portugal Nelinho 1601001050
8 MF Portugal Vítor Martins 2832330050
9 FW Portugal Vítor Baptista 22111691052
9 FW Portugal Rui Jordão 343328301053
9 FW Portugal Mário Moinhos 3672971060
9‡ FW Portugal José Domingos 10001000
10 MF Portugal Fernando Chalana 20200000
11 MF Portugal Diamantino Costa 2001701020
11 MF Portugal Shéu 3592871062
11 FW Portugal Cavungi 10100000

Transfers

In

Entry date Position Player From club Fee Ref
5 July 1975 MF Romeu Silva Vitória de Guimarães Undisclosed [5]
30 June 1975 FW José Domingos Fabril Barreiro Undisclosed [45]
23 August 1975 DF Eduardo Luís Marítimo Loan return [9]

Out

Exit date Position Player To club Fee Ref
26 April 1975 FW Eusébio Boston Minutemen Free [3]
2 May 1975 MF António Simões Boston Minutemen Free [4]
6 May 1975 DF Humberto Coelho Paris Saint-Germain Undisclosed [8]
5 July 1975 DF Adolfo Calisto União Montemor Free [5]
5 July 1975 FW Rui Lopes Vitória de Guimarães Free [5]
5 July 1975 MF Bernardino Pedroto Vitória de Guimarães Free [5]
8 July 1975 GK João Fonseca Varzim Free [46]
11 July 1975 FW Artur Jorge Belenenses Free [6]
30 July 1975 MF Jaime Graça Vitória de Setúbal Undisclosed [7]

Out by loan

Exit date Position Player To club Return date Ref
8 July 1975 MF José Pedro Vitória de Guimarães 30 June 1976 [46]
5 September 1975 GK Álvaro Reis Esperança de Lagos 30 June 1976 [47]
27 February 1976 FW Vítor Móia Rochester Lancers 1 August 1976 [48]
27 February 1976 MF Ibraim Silva Rochester Lancers 1 August 1976 [48]

References

  1. ↑ Simões 1994, p. 194.
  2. ↑ "Benfica". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18776): 17. 29 May 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Eusébio deixou o Benfica para jogar num clube americano" [Eusébio to leave Benfica to play for an American club]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18749): 2. 26 April 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Dólares" [Dollars]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18753): 16. 2 May 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Trocas" [Exchanges]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18807): 17. 5 July 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Belenenses". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18812): 21. 11 July 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Setúbal". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18828): 17. 30 July 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Humberto Coelho no Paris-Saint Germain" [Humberto Coelho in Paris-Saint Germain]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18756): 17. 6 May 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 "Benfica: Rodar novos valores" [Benfica: Rotate new players]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18848): 16. 23 August 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  10. 1 2 "Noticias do Benfica" [Benfica's news]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18815): 17. 15 July 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "Benfica: treinos em Ferreira do Zêzere" [Benfica: training sessions in Ferreira do Zêzere]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18818): 17. 18 July 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "Estágio" [Training sessions]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18824): 16. 25 July 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  13. 1 2 "Benfica empata na Alemanha" [Benfica draws in Germany]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18834): 17. 6 August 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  14. 1 2 "II Trofeo Villa de Bilbao 1975". RSSSF.com. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  15. 1 2 "Já cheira a futebol a sério" [It smells of football]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18838): 17. 11 August 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  16. ↑ António Manuel Morais; Carlos Perdigão; João Loureiro; José de Oliveira Santos (1994). Benfica: 90 Anos de História (in Portuguese). SOGAPAL. p. 256.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Miguéns 2005, p. 72.
  18. ↑ "E o Braga não desarma" [And Braga won't back off]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18885): 16. 6 October 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  19. 1 2 Simões 1994, p. 196.
  20. ↑ "O Campeonato da emoção" [The Championship of emotion]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18891): 16. 13 October 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  21. 1 2 3 Simões 1994, p. 198.
  22. ↑ "Boavista isolado, já" [Boavista, isolated, now]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18926): 16. 24 November 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  23. ↑ Simões 1994, p. 197.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Simões 1994, p. 199.
  25. ↑ "Bessa: a chave do titulo" [Bessa: key to the title]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18961): 16. 26 January 1976. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  26. ↑ "Leixôes: a honra do forasteiro" [Leixões, the honour of the visitor]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18967): 16. 2 February 1976. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  27. ↑ "Campeonato a passo de ganso" [League at the pace of a goose]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18979): 16. 16 February 1976. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 Simões 1994, p. 200.
  29. ↑ "Boavista na ladeira da preguiça" [Boavista in the hill of laziness]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18996): 17. 8 March 1976. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  30. ↑ "Tomar: uma vontade maior" [Tomar; a bigger will]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (19002): 16. 15 March 1976. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  31. 1 2 3 Simões 1994, p. 201.
  32. 1 2 3 Miguéns 2005, p. 73.
  33. 1 2 Simões 1994, p. 202.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 Tovar 2012, p. 396.
  35. ↑ "Benfica". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18843): 17. 18 August 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  36. ↑ "Ganhar em casa e não perder fora" [Win at home and do not lose abroad]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18846): 17. 21 August 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  37. ↑ "Benfica". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18849): 17. 25 August 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  38. ↑ "Benfica". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18851): 17. 27 August 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  39. ↑ "Benfica". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18852): 17. 28 August 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  40. ↑ "Benfica ganha o jogo mas perde o torneio" [Benfica wins the game but loses the tournament]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18854): 17. 30 August 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  41. ↑ "Ontem" [Yesterday]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18860): 16. 6 September 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  42. ↑ "Homens a peso de ouro fazem fesa de latão" [Men paid in gold, make party of brass]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18914): 16. 10 November 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  43. ↑ "Belém confirma" [Belem confirms]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18920): 16. 17 November 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  44. ↑ "Sporting foi melhor em Ponta Delgada" [Sporting was better in Ponta Delgada]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (19034): 16. 22 April 1976. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  45. ↑ "Digressão" [Tour]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18831): 16. 2 August 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  46. 1 2 "Benfica". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18809): 17. 8 July 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  47. ↑ "Portugal". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18859). 5 September 1975. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  48. 1 2 "Portugal". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese) (18989): 16. 27 February 1976. Retrieved 12 April 2017.

Bibliography

  • Tovar, Rui Miguel (2012). Almanaque do Benfica. Portugal: Lua de Papel. ISBN 978-989-23-2087-8.
  • Miguéns, Alberto (2005). 100 anos 100 troféus. Portugal: Prime Books. ISBN 972-8820-34-8.
  • Simões, António (1994). História de 50 anos do Desporto Português. Portugal: A Bola.
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