During the 2004–05 season Luisão featured regularly in Benfica's central defence alongside Ricardo Rocha, appearing in 29 matches and contributing heavily for Benfica's first league title in 11 years. On 24 April 2005, in a 2–1 away victory over G.D. Estoril Praia, he scored his first goal of the season, the match's equaliser. On 14 May, he found the net through a header against Lisbon rivals Sporting CP, scoring the match's only goal and ousting the opponents from the title race.