1970–71 S.L. Benfica season season. They sat in fourth place with a six-point deficit to Sporting. In the second part of the campaign, Benfica regained four points in two match-days, which included a 5–1 win over them. By January, Benfica closed the gap to one point, but a 4–0 loss against Porto stopped them. After a slow February; in March, Benfica caught Sporting at the front and in April, overtook them, after they lost to Porto. On 25 April, Benfica confirmed their 18th league title with Artur Jorge as Bola de Prata. Benfica concluded the season with Taça de Portugal Final, losing it to
1985–86 S.L. Benfica season match with Salgueiros, which had been postponed in February because of the pitch conditions. They drew 1–1 and lost points in title race. In April, Benfica received Sporting in what was labelled the D-Day for the league. Despite leading the league for most of second round, they lost 2–1, which allowed Porto to catch them in the first place, with a better head-to-head record. Mortimore said: "Sporting had two chances and converted them both, we had lost the league". On the last day of the campaign, Porto beat last classified, Sporting da Covilhã and won the league, while Benfica lost