FC Porto the 1955–56 Primeira Divisão on head-to-head advantage over runners-up Benfica. Later that season, Porto beat Torreense to win its first Taça de Portugal and achieve its first double. As the Portuguese league winner, Porto made its debut in European competitions by qualifying for the 1956–57 European Cup. The club's first participation was short-lived, ending in the preliminary round with two defeats against Spanish champions Athletic Bilbao. A year later, Porto lifted its second Taça de Portugal by beating Benfica 1–0 in the final. The two clubs met again in the following season's final, but this time Benfica took the trophy
1977–78 S.L. Benfica season domestically, after the draw in Bessa, Benfica won all remaining league matches in 1977, finishing the year in first with 21 points, four more than Sporting and Porto, who still had a game in hand. They resumed their league campaign with the reception to Porto in the Clássico on 15 January. They drew 0–0 and kept Porto at bay, retaining a two-point lead over them. Benfica won the next three matches, one of them a Derby against Sporting with a goal from Vítor Baptista, who subsequently lost an earring, an episode he was best remembered. On 19 February, in a