1992–93 S.L. Benfica season Eriksson left the club after three seasons, following a trophyless 1991–92 season. As his successor, Benfica brought in Croatian manager Tomislav Ivić, who had arrived in Portugal in 1987 to represent Porto and guided them to four trophies in one season. Ivić chose Shéu to be his assistant, instead of Toni, who had been Eriksson's assistant as well as Benfica's manager during Ivić's previous tenure at Porto. One of Ivić's first demands was to reduce the width of the Estádio da Luz pitch to simulate the smaller fields that the team would encounter in away games. Benfica started the season
1973–74 S.L. Benfica season on 11 February. Taking advantage of Porto's draw and Sporting's loss, Benfica won their match and cut Sporting's lead to just one point. In early March, Benfica surpassed Porto after their rival dropped points in Guimarães. On 10 March, Benfica visited Estádio das Antas to play Porto, losing 2–1. With this defeat, Benfica was now with 35 points, three less than Sporting. Following a home win against Guimarães, on next match on the road, Benfica drew with Beira-Mar by 1–1. The draw allowed Sporting to open a four-point gap with five matches to go, practically ending any hope of Benfica