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
1996–97 S.L. Benfica season while the results in Europe were looking accordingly. In late October, Benfica visited Sporting for the Derby de Lisboa, losing one-nil and dropping down one position. A week later, with a further two more points dropped, Porto opened a three-point gap at the front. By the time the Clássico arrived, the distance was already five points. Losing 1–2 to Porto, increased it to eight. Affected by the defeat, Benfica lost for a second time on a row, with the priority changing from battling Porto in the title race, to defending the second place from Sporting. Autuori was sacked immediately, and