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
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