S.L. Benfica Portugal against José Mourinho's Porto. They dedicated the trophy to Miklós Fehér, who had died in January 2004. In the following year, Benfica won the league title, eleven years after the previous one, and the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. After that and until 2009, when Benfica won its first Taça da Liga (thus becoming the first club to win all major domestic competitions), they did not win any trophies and finished fourth in the 2007–08 league. In Europe, Benfica had three consecutive appearances in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, with their best result being a quarter-final stage
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