1993–94 S.L. Benfica season

The season that celebrated its 90th anniversary was also one of the club most tumultuous periods in recent history. In the summer, Paulo Sousa, João Pinto and António Pacheco unilaterally terminated their contracts, claiming unpaid salaries. While Pinto was successfully resigned with a pay increase, both Sousa and Pacheco never went back on their decision, subsequently moving to Lisbon rivals Sporting CP.

Sousa had been a frequent starter for Benfica, playing 35 games in the previous season and having joined the club as a 16-year-old.[2] Pacheco was utilized more as a substitute, but had still amassed over 160 league games for Benfica.[3] The players' "betrayal" and the increase in tension between the old rivals was labelled "Hot Summer of 1993", a clever throwback to the troubled times of the PREC, the post revolution in 1975.[4][5]

With almost no new signings, and having lost Sousa, Pacheco and Paulo Futre, the team led by Toni was not seen as favourite in the title race.[6] The season opened with the 1993 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, and with a win for both sides, a third match would be necessary.[7] In the league, Benfica started by sharing points with Porto in O Clássico, but then tied again against much easier opponents, like Estoril and Beira-Mar; both clubs that played a crucial role in the previous season's title race.[8] On the late part of September, the first win in the Primeira Liga kick-started a series of consecutive wins that helped the club climb from eighth in the league to first.[9] A big loss in Setúbal served as warning, with the Lisbon-side then adding more consecutive wins, opening a three-point gap by the New Year.[10]

In the first month of 1994, the club lost points against Gil Vicente and was eliminated from the Taça de Portugal by Belenenses,[11] though this was not enough to stop their momentum, continuing to defend their first place with consecutive wins.[12] In early March, with successive draws in the league and a hard-fought 4–4 draw in the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup,[13] the club look like would be surpass by Sporting on the title race, with the distance now reduced to just one point.[12] A loss against Salgueiros in April put both clubs equal on points, while in the European stage, the club was defeated by Parma in the semi-finals.[11][14]

Benfica entered the Derby de Lisboa on 14 May with just a one-point advantage in the league table, knowing that a loss would cost them first place. João Pinto had one of his best performances with Benfica, scoring a hat-trick that effectively ended the title race in his club's favour.[6] Only a few days later, away against Braga, the club secured its 30th league title, celebrating with the fans at the sold out Estádio Primeiro de Maio.[15][16]

Carlos Mozer, an undisputed starter during the season, narrated the events in the club almanac: "We won the title with great difficulty, because Sporting had a young but good team, while Porto had the experience. At Benfica, our squad was strong. There were veterans like William, Veloso and Isaías, that taught the younger ones, like Rui Costa or João Pinto; who still had the will and pace to run all game. The coach was Toni, who I knew back from 1989. Benfica did not start well, and amassed three straight draws. Then he started winning in a awful manner. We did not play well, but we were winning games, until the notorious game in Alvalade, the 6–3. Everybody said that Sporting was going to win, because they had a younger team, and we were older; so we would not endure the difficult terrain. When everything looked like to be on their favour; we, with great calm and experience, reversed the game with a great performance from João Pinto. In that season, I also remember the campaign in the Cup Winners' Cup. We reach the semi-finals, after that crazy 4–4 in Leverkusen. We were drawn against Parma, and the Italians were always difficult. We won in the Estádio da Luz, but there, in Italy; I was sent-off early, on the 20th minute, with a double yellow. The first was fair, the second was not. If with eleven players was already hard, with one less, it was even harder."[6]

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

Main article: 1993 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

Benfica v Porto

11 August 1993 First leg	Benfica	1–0	Porto	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
	Águas  84'	Report		Referee: Carlos Valente (Setúbal)

Porto v Benfica

15 August 1993 Second leg	Porto	1–0	Benfica	Estádio das Antas, Porto
	Vinha  84'	Report	Mozer  42'  50'	Referee: Fortunato Azevedo (Braga)

Matches

Porto v Benfica

22 August 1993 1	Porto	3–3	Benfica	Porto
20:30	Vinha  8' Pereira  62', 70' (pen.)	Report	Isaías  25', 63' Águas  27'	Stadium: Estádio das Antas Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Carlos Calheiros

Benfica v Estoril

29 August 1993 2	Benfica	1–1	Estoril	Lisbon
20:00	Águas  58'	Report	Ernie Tapai  87' Carlos Manuel  58'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Vítor Reis

Beira-Mar v Benfica

11 September 1993 3	Beira-Mar	1–1	Benfica	Aveiro
19:00	Dino  68'	Report	Isaías  78'	Stadium: Estádio Mário Duarte Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Veiga Trigo

Benfica v Farense

19 September 1993 4	Benfica	4–1	Farense	Lisbon
20:00	Brito  30' Paneira  54' (pen.) Pinto  71' Águas  89'	Report	Hassan  59'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Marques da Silva

Benfica v Marítimo

25 September 1993 5	Benfica	2–0	Marítimo	Lisbon
17:00	Pinto  32' Isaías  90'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: António Rola

Famalicão v Benfica

4 October 1993 6	Famalicão	1–5	Benfica	Vila Nova de Famalicão
20:00	Amarildo  62'	Report	Xavier  25' Pinto  28' Isaías  66' Paneira  70' Águas  87'	Stadium: Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho Attendance: 9,000 Referee: José Pratas

Benfica v Braga

17 October 1993 7	Benfica	2–0	Braga	Lisbon
19:00	William  2' Isaías  62'	Report	Barroso  0'  50'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 15,000 Referee: José Rufino

Paços de Ferreira v Benfica

25 October 1993 8	Paços de Ferreira	1–2	Benfica	Paços de Ferreira
20:00	Rudež  61'	Report	Aílton  80' Pinto  88'	Stadium: Estádio da Mata Real Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Carlos Calheiros

Benfica v Salgueiros

30 October 1993 9	Benfica	4–1	Salgueiros	Lisbon
19:45	Hélder  25' Pinto  30' Rui Costa  47' Águas  88'	Report	Miguel Simão  34'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Carlos Valente

Vitória Setúbal v Benfica

21 November 1993 10	Vitória Setúbal	5–2	Benfica	Setúbal
19:00	Yekini  29', 73' Araújo  39' Gomes  52' Conde  82'	Report	Paneira  55' Aílton  66'	Stadium: Estádio do Bonfim Attendance: 20,000 Referee: José Pratas

Benfica v Belenenses

28 November 1993 11	Benfica	3–0	Belenenses	Lisbon
20:00	Pinto  35' Mozer  43' Paneira  52'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Pinto Correia

Estrela da Amadora v Benfica

10 December 1993 22	Estrela da Amadora	0–1	Benfica	Lisbon
19:00		Report	Rui Costa  77'	Stadium: Estádio da Reboleira Attendance: 13,000 Referee: António Marçal

Benfica v Sporting CP

18 December 1993 13	Benfica	2–1	Sporting CP	Lisbon
20:00	Yuran  50' Isaías  84'	Report	Figo  29' Capucho  0'  34'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 80,000 Referee: Jorge Coroado

União da Madeira v Benfica

29 December 1993 14	União da Madeira	0–2	Benfica	Funchal
19:00		Report	Isaías  20' Aílton  29' Isaías  0'  77'	Stadium: Estádio dos Barreiros Attendance: 7,000 Referee: Carlos Valente

Benfica v Gil Vicente

9 January 1994 15	Benfica	0–0	Gil Vicente	Lisbon
18:00		Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Soares Dias

Vitória Guimarães v Benfica

16 January 1994 16	Vitória Guimarães	1–2	Benfica	Guimarães
19:00	Tlemçani  90'	Report	Paneira  35'  0'  87' Aílton  44'	Stadium: Estádio D. Afonso Henriques Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Veiga Trigo

Benfica v Boavista

23 January 1994 17	Benfica	3–1	Boavista	Lisbon
20:00	Pinto  10', 76' Aílton  29'	Report	Tavares  60'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Carlos Valente

Benfica v Porto

6 February 1994 18	Benfica	2–0	Porto	Lisbon
20:00	Aílton  37' Rui Costa  55'	Report	Fernando Couto  40'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Veiga Trigo

Estoril v Benfica

13 February 1994 19	Estoril	0–3	Benfica	Estoril
20:30	Andrade  0'  50'	Report	Aílton  74', 88' Yuran  84'	Stadium: Estádio António Coimbra da Mota Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Pinto Correia

Benfica v Beira Mar

20 February 1994 20	Benfica	1–0	Beira Mar	Lisbon
19:45	Paneira  87' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Carlos Calheiros

Farense v Benfica

26 February 1994 21	Farense	0–0	Benfica	Faro
19:45	Nader  0'  53'	Report	Schwarz  0'  53'	Stadium: Estádio de São Luís Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Bento Marques

Marítimo v Benfica

5 March 1994 22	Marítimo	1–1	Benfica	Funchal
19:00	Hector  53'	Report	Pinto  70'	Stadium: Estádio dos Barreiros Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Fortunado Azevedo

Benfica v Famalicão

12 March 1994 23	Benfica	8–0	Famalicão	Lisbon
19:30	Celestino  25' (o.g.), 72' (o.g.) Rui Costa  31' Aílton  33' Yuran  59', 87' Mozer  70' Águas  73'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Lucílio Baptista

Braga v Benfica

24 March 1994 24	Braga	0–2	Benfica	Braga
19:45		Report	Isaías  44' Aílton  77'	Stadium: Estádio 1º de Maio Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Carlos Valente

Benfica v Paços de Ferreira

26 March 1994 25	Benfica	2–1	Paços de Ferreira	Lisbon
19:45	Pinto  18' Isaías  39'	Report	Helcinho Conegudes  28'  0'  83'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Juvenal Silvestre

Salgueiros v Benfica

9 April 1994 26	Salgueiros	1–0	Benfica	Porto
20:45	Sá Pinto  85'	Report		Stadium: Estádio Prof. Dr. José Vieira de Carvalho Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Lourenço Ferreira

Benfica v Vitória Setúbal

25 April 1994 27	Benfica	2–0	Vitória Setúbal	Lisbon
19:45	Schwarz  11' Kulkov  20' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 30,000 Referee: João Mesquita

Belenenses v Benfica

30 April 1994 28	Belenenses	0–2	Benfica	Lisbon
21:00		Report	Mozer  10' Aílton  46'	Stadium: Estádio do Restelo Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Vítor Pereira

Benfica v Estrela da Amadora

8 May 1994 29	Benfica	1–1	Estrela da Amadora	Lisbon
18:15	Isaías  12'	Report	Mário Jorge  64'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Pinto Correia

Sporting CP v Benfica

14 May 1994 30	Sporting CP	3–6	Benfica	Lisbon
21:00	Cadete  8' Figo  35' Balakov  80' (pen.)	Report	Pinto  30', 37', 44' Isaías  48', 57' Hélder  74'	Stadium: Estádio de Alvalade Attendance: 60,000 Referee: António Marçal

Benfica v União da Madeira

21 May 1994 31	Benfica	1–0	União da Madeira	Lisbon
19:00	Rui Costa  68'	Report	Jokanović  0'  81'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 55,000 Referee: Mário Leal

Gil Vicente v Benfica

25 May 1994 32	Gil Vicente	0–3	Benfica	Braga
20:15		Report	Pinto  4', 74' Kulkov  84'	Stadium: Estádio 1º de Maio Attendance: 30,000 Referee: José Pratas

Benfica v Vitória Guimarães

25 May 1994 33	Benfica	0–0	Vitória Guimarães	Lisbon
20:30		Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 120,000 Referee: Carlos Valente

Boavista v Benfica

2 June 1994 34	Boavista	1–0	Benfica	Porto
20:00	Ricky  80'	Report		Stadium: Estádio do Bessa Attendance: 30,000 Referee: António Rola

Taça de Portugal

Main article: 1993–94 Taça de Portugal

Benfica v Estoril

5 December 1993 Fourth Rd	Benfica	4–0	Estoril	Lisbon
18:00	Yuran  19' Aílton  58' Andrade  68' (o.g.) Paneira  84'	Report	Litos  44'  54'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Vítor Pereira

União da Madeira v Benfica

23 December 1993 Fifth Rd	União da Madeira	1–5 (a.e.t.)	Benfica	Funchal
19:45	Bosančić  65' (pen.)	Report	Isaías  37' Águas  94' Rui Costa  95' Aílton  101', 109'	Stadium: Estádio dos Barreiros Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Veiga Trigo

Os Belenenses v Benfica

30 January 1994 Sixth Rd	Os Belenenses	2–1	Benfica	Lisbon
20:30	Airez  11' Luiz Gustavo  30'	Report	Pinto  6'	Stadium: Estádio do Restelo Referee: Vítor Pereira

First round

Benfica v GKS Katowice

15 September 1993 First leg	Benfica	1–0	GKS Katowice	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
19;45	Águas  88'	Report		Attendance: 10,000[18] Referee: Karl Finzinger

GKS Katowice v Benfica

29 September 1993 Second leg	GKS Katowice	1–1 (1–2 agg.)	Benfica	Stadion GKS Katowice, Katowice
19;45	Kucz  45'	Report	Paneira  70'	Attendance: 7,000[19] Referee: Aron Schmidhuber

Second round

Benfica v CSKA Sofia

20 October 1993 First leg	Benfica	3–1	CSKA Sofia	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
19;45	Rui Costa  27', 37' Schwarz  90'	Report	Andonov  60'	Attendance: 40,000[20] Referee: Patrick Kelly

CSKA Sofia v Benfica

3 November 1993 Second leg	CSKA Sofia	1–3 (6–2 agg.)	Benfica	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia
19;45	Andonov  56'	Report	Rui Costa  32' Pinto  73' Yuran  88'	Attendance: 20,000[21] Referee: Rune Pedersen

Quarter-finals

Benfica v Bayer Leverkusen

1 March 1994 (1994-03-01) First leg	Benfica	1–1	Bayer Leverkusen	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
21:15	Isaías  90'	Report	Happe  66'	Attendance: 80,000[22] Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy)

Bayer Leverkusen v Benfica

15 March 1994 (1994-03-15) Second leg	Bayer Leverkusen	4–4 (5–5 agg.)	Benfica	Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, Leverkusen
20:30	Kirsten  24', 80' Schuster  57' Hapal  82'	Report	Xavier  59' Pinto  60' Kulkov  78', 85'	Attendance: 21,000[23] Referee: James McCluskey (Scotland)

Semi-finals

Benfica v Parma

29 March 1994 (1994-03-29) First leg	Benfica	2–1	Parma	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
21:00	Isaías  11' Rui Costa  60'	Report	Zola  13'	Attendance: 80,000[24] Referee: Bernd Heynemann (Germany)

Parma v Benfica

13 April 1994 (1994-04-13) Second leg	Parma	1–0 (2–2 agg.)	Benfica	Stadio Ennio Tardini, Parma
17:45	Sensini  74'	Report	Mozer  0'  33'	Attendance: 21,500[25] Referee: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands)

Friendlies

[26]

Manchester United v Benfica

31 July 1993	Manchester United	0–1	Benfica	Manchester
				Stadium: Old Trafford

Benfica v Cruzeiro

3 August 1993	Benfica	2–1	Cruzeiro	Lisbon
				Stadium: Estádio da Luz

Benfica v Barcelona

18 August 1993 Pepsi Cup	Benfica	2–1	Barcelona	Lisbon
	Rui Águas  49' Aílton Delfino  72'		55' Romário	Stadium: Estádio da Luz

The squad for the season consisted of the players listed in the tables below, as well as staff member Toni(manager)[27][17]

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 1992-93 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Primeira Divisão		Taça de Portugal		Cup Winners' Cup		Supertaça
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Silvino	4	-3	1	0	3	-3	0	0	0	0
1	GK		Neno	41	-35	33	-24	0	0	8	-10	0	-1
2	DF		António Veloso	30	0	21	0	2	0	5	0	2	0
2	DF		Abel Xavier	33	2	25	1	0	0	8	1	0	0
2	DF		Abel Silva	17	0	12	0	3	0	0	0	2	0
3‡	DF		Jovo Simanić	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	DF		Nuno Afonso	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	DF		Hélder	43	2	32	2	3	0	6	0	2	0
4	DF		William	13	1	8	1	0	0	5	0	0	0
5	DF		Carlos Mozer	41	3	29	3	3	0	7	0	2	0
5	MF		Stefan Schwarz	31	2	23	1	2	0	6	1	0	0
6	MF		Vasili Kulkov	26	4	21	2	2	0	3	2	0	0
7	MF		Vítor Paneira	45	8	32	6	3	1	8	1	2	0
8	MF		João Pinto	46	18	34	15	2	1	8	2	2	0
9	FW		Rui Águas	34	9	25	6	3	1	4	1	2	1
9	FW		Sergei Yuran	29	6	20	4	2	1	5	1	2	0
10	MF		Rui Costa	47	10	34	5	3	1	8	4	2	0
11	MF		Isaías	37	16	26	13	1	1	8	2	2	0
11‡	FW		Aílton Delfino	33	14	28	11	3	3	2	0	0	0
11	FW		César Brito	23	1	15	1	1	0	5	0	2	0
12‡	GK		Paulo Santos	1	-1	1	-1	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	MF		Aleksandr Mostovoi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
17	DF		Pedro Henriques	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	FW		Hernâni Neves	5	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	1	0
22	DF		Daniel Kenedy	18	0	14	0	2	0	2	0	0	0

[1]

Bibliography

• Tovar, Rui Miguel (2012). Almanaque do Benfica. Portugal: Lua de Papel. ISBN 978-989-23-2087-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)