S.L. Benfica Sporting. Followed in Europe, Africa and the Americas, any match between both teams is known as "dérbi de Lisboa" ("Lisbon derby"), "dérbi eterno" ("eternal derby"), "dérbi da Segunda Circular", "dérbi dos dérbis" ("derby of the derbies") – the most important football derby in Portugal. The rivalry between Benfica and FC Porto, which started with a friendly match on 28 April 1912, comes about as Lisbon and Porto are the largest Portuguese cities, respectively. Benfica and Porto are currently the two most decorated clubs in Portuguese football, with the former historically being the most decorated team overall. Any match between the
1996–97 S.L. Benfica season week later; on the opening game of the Primeira Liga, Benfica drops two points against S.C. Braga in a home draw. Still, with two convincing wins in early September, Benfica reached top of the table, together with four other teams. With the second leg of the Supercup next, Benfica received Porto on 18 September. However, the contend quickly became an unbalanced one, with Porto scoring five goals to none, as Preud'Homme prevented an even darker outcome The team was not disturbed by this defeat, and continued racking up consecutive league wins, even achieving a two-point lead over the second place;