S.L. Benfica (basketball) close to reach the Top 8, and for a third season in a row Benfica managed to reach the Top 16 again in the European Champions' Cup, in 1995–96, grabbing a win against Panathinaikos, the eventual champions. This period was followed by a dark era in which Benfica was internally overshadowed by Ovarense, Portugal Telecom and FC Porto. Even though this period is considered to be a dark one, Benfica did manage to reach the LPB final once as well as winning Super Cups and finishing runners-up in the national cup and in the league cup. Also noteworthy is an
2008–09 S.L. Benfica season the game between Porto and Sporting, Benfica finished February with 40 points, two fewer than Porto. March was less busy than February, with only three matches. Benfica's first was at the Municipal José Bento Pessoa against Naval. The club took the lead with a third-minute goal from Aimar. Naval evened the score at the start of the second half with a goal by Marcelinho, but Katsouranis scored Benfica's second goal. Miguel Vítor, who assisted the goal, told the media that Benfica wanted to keep winning in case Porto slipped. On 14 March, the club hosted Vitória de Guimarães in their