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 Pinto da Costa assumed Porto's presidency in 1982 and adopted a regionalistic and confrontational speech towards Lisbon. In the following years, the club began establishing its dominance in Portuguese football, at the expense of Benfica and Sporting, who had been the traditional powers since the 1940s. The rivalry with Benfica is the strongest and most passionate, opposing the most representative football emblems from each city as well as the current most titled Portuguese clubs. The first match between Porto and Benfica – traditionally referred to as "O Clássico" (The Classic) – took place on 28 April 1912, and ended with