1978–79 S.L. Benfica season three losses in a month, severely hindered the title race. Nevertheless, despite dropping out of the UEFA Cup at the hands of Borussia Mönchengladbach, domestically, Benfica won all league matches for three months, reaching the first place in the league. A home draw with Porto stopped their winning run, but it was a loss to Marítimo that compromised their title race. That loss followed another with Braga for the Taça de Portugal. Despite dropping points again in March, Benfica kept an entertaining battle with Porto, which came to an end when they drew again in match-day 29. Two consecutive seasons
1974–75 S.L. Benfica season home, and Porto lost again, which increased Benfica's advantage to three-points, 31 to 28. However, a draw with Académica de Coimbra on 2 February, cut that lead to two points. In mid February, Benfica visited Estádio das Antas for the Clássico, defeating Porto by 3–0. Benfica had now a three-point lead over Sporting, who overtook Porto for second place. The team continued on their winning run, and on match-day 25, they added two more points in their difference over Sporting, which had lost in Bessa. However, Benfica would experienced a troubled third week of March. First they were knocked-out of