1978–79 S.L. Benfica season three losses in a month, severely hindered the title race. Nevertheless, despite dropping out of the UEFA Cup at the hands of Borussia Mönchengladbach, domestically, Benfica won all league matches for three months, reaching the first place in the league. A home draw with Porto stopped their winning run, but it was a loss to Marítimo that compromised their title race. That loss followed another with Braga for the Taça de Portugal. Despite dropping points again in March, Benfica kept an entertaining battle with Porto, which came to an end when they drew again in match-day 29. Two consecutive seasons
1978–79 S.L. Benfica season handed the title to Porto, who gained a point with one match left. A week later, Benfica won, but so did Porto, who confirmed their back-to-back league title with 50 points, one more than Benfica. About the season, Mortimore said: "What a beautiful championship, with an appealing fight between Benfica and Porto. They (Porto) ended up being Champions because in the matches against us, they racked-up three points. But that was not the reason why he lost it. It was the poor results with Belenenses, Setúbal and Marítimo.". Two seasons without any honour was not seen since 1948, and two