S.L. Benfica (basketball) close to reach the Top 8, and for a third season in a row Benfica managed to reach the Top 16 again in the European Champions' Cup, in 1995–96, grabbing a win against Panathinaikos, the eventual champions. This period was followed by a dark era in which Benfica was internally overshadowed by Ovarense, Portugal Telecom and FC Porto. Even though this period is considered to be a dark one, Benfica did manage to reach the LPB final once as well as winning Super Cups and finishing runners-up in the national cup and in the league cup. Also noteworthy is an
1996–97 S.L. Benfica season Portuguese Cup. With the advantage of receiving smaller teams at home in the knock-out stages, Benfica progressed to the semi-finals after beating Dragões Sandinenses in the quarter-final, meeting Porto next. On the last day of April, the club defeated Porto by two-nil with goals from Valdir and Edgar Pacheco, reaching a second consecutive Portuguese Cup final, where they enter as title-holders. On the league campaign, Benfica track record on the final six league match-days, was four losses, a win and a draw, losing fifteen more points, ending the season a record-breaking twenty-seven points from Porto, fourteen from Sporting. On 10