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
2005–06 S.L. Benfica season days later, Benfica returned to the winning path in the Primeira Liga after beating Penafiel 4–0. Geovanni opened the scoring in the first half, after which Nuno Gomes, Simão and an own goal from Roberto set the final result. On 18 February, Benfica played on the road against Vitória de Guimarães. They did not play as expected and conceded two goals—one in each half—losing 2–0. The loss severely hampered their title defence after being overtaken by Sporting and Braga and allowing leaders Porto—their next league opponent—to gain an eight-point advantage. Three days after Guimarães, Benfica hosted Liverpool for the first