1973–74 S.L. Benfica season consecutive wins and reached second place by early February, while also cutting their gap to Sporting to just one point. In March, a loss in Estádio das Antas with Porto and a draw with Beira-Mar, put Sporting with a four-point lead again. Nonetheless, Benfica beat Sporting at their own home and three weeks later, they got back to a single point difference after their rival dropped points. That gap remained unchanged until the last match-day, when Sporting won the title. In the Portuguese Cup, Benfica reached the Taça de Portugal Final after beating Porto away, but lost the competition on
1985–86 S.L. Benfica season match with Salgueiros, which had been postponed in February because of the pitch conditions. They drew 1–1 and lost points in title race. In April, Benfica received Sporting in what was labelled the D-Day for the league. Despite leading the league for most of second round, they lost 2–1, which allowed Porto to catch them in the first place, with a better head-to-head record. Mortimore said: "Sporting had two chances and converted them both, we had lost the league". On the last day of the campaign, Porto beat last classified, Sporting da Covilhã and won the league, while Benfica lost