1980–81 S.L. Benfica season the club. Benfica's league campaign started with seven consecutive wins, before a first loss with Porto in the Clássico. A few days later, Benfica wins their first Supertaça de Portugal. In the Cup Winners' Cup, Benfica eliminated Altay, Dinamo Zagreb and Malmö in the first three rounds. In late November, Benfica draws with Sporting and three weeks later, with Vitória de Setúbal, lapping the first half in first place with a three-point lead. In the following weeks, Benfica won three more matches before losing another point in a draw with Penafiel, which cut his lead to two points. They reacted
FC Porto in international football competitions name="1980/81"></ref><ref name="1982/83"></ref> In between, the club sailed into the 1981–82 Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals, where they were beaten by the eventual runners-up Standard Liège.<ref name="1981/82"></ref> Porto lost the 1983 Portuguese Cup final to league champions Benfica, which allowed their participation in the 1983–84 Cup Winners' Cup as losing cup finalists. They eliminated Dinamo Zagreb, Rangers, and Shakhtar Donetsk to reach their first European semi-final.<ref name="1983/84"></ref> The competition draw paired Porto with the holders Aberdeen, managed by Alex Ferguson. Taking a 1–0 lead to Pittodrie, Porto resisted to the attacking pressure of their opponents. In the 76th minute, Vermelhinho scored the