1970–71 S.L. Benfica season explained

Club:Benfica
Season:1970–71
Chrtitle:President
Chairman:Borges Coutinho
Mgrtitle:Head coach
Manager:Jimmy Hagan
Stadium:Estádio da Luz
League:Primeira Divisão
League Result:1st
Cup1:Taça de Portugal
Cup1 Result:Runners-up
Cup2:European Cup Winners' Cup
Cup2 Result:Second round
League Topscorer:Artur Jorge (24)
Season Topscorer:Artur Jorge (37)
Pattern La1:_borderonred2
Pattern B1:_whitecollar
Pattern Ra1:_borderonred
Body1:ff0000
Socks1:ff0000
Prevseason:1969–70
Nextseason:1971–72

The 1970–71 season was Sport Lisboa e Benfica's 67th season in existence and the club's 37th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football, covering the period from 1 July 1970 to 30 June 1971. Benfica competed domestically in the Primeira Divisão and the Taça de Portugal, and participated in the European Cup Winners' Cup after winning the Taça de Portugal in the previous season.

Benfica began the new season with the task of to regaining the title lost to Sporting the year before. After Otto Glória resigned and José Augusto replaced him, Benfica searched for a manager and selected Jimmy Hagan, with José Augusto as his assistant. With only António Barros as new signing, an improvement in the team was solely dependent on Hagan. In the transfer window, Mário Coluna and Humberto Fernandes departed. The season started with a win over CUF, followed by draw with Sporting. After a second home win and reaching first place, Benfica went through three weeks of consecutive draws. In November, Benfica was knocked-out of Europe and suffered consecutive away losses. Despite winning at home, Benfica had only one win on the road over the course of half a 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 Sporting.

Season summary

Benfica started the new season with the task of improving on troubled past season, where they lost the title to Sporting and had Estádio da Luz banned for part of the season for pitch invasion.[1] Back-to-back league winner, Otto Glória had resigned and was replaced by José Augusto for the final months of the season. Alfredo Di Stéfano was approached to replace him,[2] but the choice fell to Englishman, Jimmy Hagan, who arrived in Lisbon on 15 April.[3] Hagan most notorious change was his rigidity and harsh training sessions.[4] In the transfer window, Benfica lost Mário Coluna and Humberto Fernandes, both were part of the team for over 10 years and Coluna become a club legend. The only signing for the first team was António Barros, with the youth team, bringing in Shéu.[5] The pre-season began on 28 July with the team travelling to Luanda for a tour.[6] After a brief period in Portugal, on 17 August, Benfica embarked on another tour, in South-east Asia, where they played seven games in roughly two weeks.[7] Due to the events of the past season, Benfica still had to play one game at Estádio Nacional.[8] [9]

The league campaign began on 13 September with home win against CUF. Three days later, Benfica faced Olimpija Ljubljana for the European Cup Winners' Cup and drew 1–1. In the first away match of the league, Benfica visited Estádio de Alvalade to play Sporting, bringing home his second 1–1 draw of the week. For the final league match of the month, Benfica returned to Estádio da Luz after a prolonged exile.[10] They beat Boavista by 4–0 and reached first place, levelled on points with Sporting.[11] Mid week, Benfica played host to Olimpija Ljubljana, winning 8–1 and qualifying for the second round. In October, the club performance dipped and they went three weeks without a win. First they drew nil-nil on the road against Vitória de Guimarães,[12] followed by a 2–2 draw in the Clássico with Porto. On 21 October, Benfica hosted Vorwärts Berlin for the Cup Winners' Cup and beat them by 2–0. Four days later, Benfica concluded their three weeks without a win for the Primeira Divisão, with a third away draw, now with Belenenses. This left Benfica in second place, three points shy of leader Sporting. In the last match of October, Benfica responded to this dark spell with a 7–0 home win against Tirsense. On the 4 November, Benfica was knocked-out of Europe by Vorwärts Berlin on penalties, after a 2–0 loss during 120 minutes. On the opening league match of the month, Benfica won away against Barreirense, their first ever away win in the season. Still, the team remained uncompetitive on the road, losing for the first time in the league on 15 November in a visit to Farense.[13] This put Benfica in fourth place with five points less than Sporting. In the following week, a home win against Leixões, while Sporting dropped points, cut Benfica's deficit to four points.[14] However, a double from Vítor Baptista in the visit to Vitória de Setúbal, inflicted the team their second league loss of the campaign.Sporting had again a six-point lead over Benfica, who remained fourth. Benfica began December with a 3–0 win over Varzim and gained a point over Sporting.[15] The first half of the season ended with an away draw against Académica de Coimbra, putting Benfica with six points less than Sporting at the turn of the season.Benfica began the second part of the campaign with an away win over CUF.[16] Sporting lost so Benfica regained two points, right before meeting them. In the Derby de Lisboa, Benfica received and beat Sporting by 5–1 with a hat-trick from Artur Jorge. Jimmy Hagan described the win as "Speed, goals and football, plus an amazing Vítor Damas". Benfica was now with 21 points, two less than Sporting. They kept on winning and beat Boavista by 3–0 on the road.[17] After a tour in South America in mid January, Benfica defeated Vitória de Guimarães at home and got within a point of Sporting, after they dropped points on the same day.[18] On 31 January, Benfica visited Estádio das Antas and was surprised by 4–0 loss.[19] This result kept Benfica in third place and saw Sporting reopen a three–point lead. In the opening match of February, Benfica beat Belenenses at home, while Sporting drew away, resetting the gap between them at two points. In the following two match-days, all of the Big Three won, so no changes occurred at the top of the table; Benfica beat Tirsense on the road and Barreinse in Estádio da Luz.[20] [21] On 21 March, Benfica defeated Farense at home by 5–0 and climbed to the top of table, taking advantage of a loss from Sporting and Porto draw.[22] The win put Sporting and Benfica level on points. Benfica closed March with an away win over Leixões, with Porto losing and dropping out of race.[23] This left Benfica and Sporting with a three–point lead and three match-days to go. On 4 April, Benfica beat Vitória de Setúbal at home and for the first time headed the league isolated, with a two-point lead. Sporting had lost with Porto.[24] Three weeks later, Benfica confirmed their league title with an away win over Varzim. It was their 18th league title. They finished the Primeira Divisão with a 5–1 victory over Académica, ending the campaign with a three-point lead over Sporting, having won nine points over them in half a season. Artur Jorge was Bola de Prata with 24 goals. The season concluded with Benfica and Sporting both qualifying for the Taça de Portugal final, with Sporting winning by 4–1.[25] It was Sporting's first ever win against Benfica in the final of the Taça de Portugal.

Competitions

Overall record

CompetitionFirst matchLast matchRecord
GWDLGFGAGDWin %Source
Primeira Divisão13 September 19702 May 1971
Taça de Portugal16 May 197117 June 1971
European Cup Winners' Cup16 September 19704 November 1970
Total

Primeira Divisão

See main article: 1970–71 Primeira Divisão.

Matches

Taça de Portugal

Final

European Cup Winners' Cup

See main article: 1970–71 European Cup Winners' Cup.

Second round

Friendlies

Player statistics

The squad for the season consisted of the players listed in the tables below, as well as staff member Jimmy Hagan (manager) and José Augusto (assistant manager).

Transfers

Out

Exit datePositionPlayerTo clubFeeRef
10 May 1970FWAbel MigliettiPortoUndisclosed[27]
11 May 1970DFHumberto FernandesEstrela de PortalegreFree[28]
11 May 1970DFFernandesUnião de TomarFree
11 May 1970GKNascimentoUnião de TomarFree
24 July 1970MFMário ColunaLyonFree[29]
8 August 1970DFAntoninhoBoavistaFree[30]
8 August 1970DFFernando CruzParis Saint-GermainFree[31]
1 September 1970MFJaime PavãoUnião de TomarFree

Out by loan

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. News: Benfica utilizará o Estádio Nacional. Diário de Lisboa. 29 January 1970. 16921. 25. 7 July 2017. Benfica will play in Estádio Nacional. Portuguese.
  2. News: Di Stéfano deve ser o treinador do Benfica. Diário de Lisboa. 11 February 1970. 16933. 15. 7 July 2017. Di Stéfano should be the next manager of Benfica. Portuguese.
  3. News: Chega hoje o treinador do Benfica. Diário de Lisboa. 15 April 1970. 16996. 19. 7 July 2017. Today arrives the new manager of Benfica. Portuguese.
  4. Web site: Europe's longest domestic winning streaks. 13 January 2016. UEFA. 7 July 2017.
  5. News: Futebolista angolano no Benfica. Diário de Lisboa. 4 July 1970. 17074. 22. 7 July 2017. Angolan footballer in Benfica. Portuguese.
  6. News: Uns chegam, outros partem. Diário de Lisboa. 28 July 1970. 17098. 19. 7 July 2017. Some arrive, some leave. Portuguese.
  7. News: O Benfica partiu esta manhã e na quinta-feira em Macau, disputará o primeiro jogo. Diário de Lisboa. 17 August 1970. 17118. 22. 7 July 2017. Benfica departed this morning and on Thursday, they will play their first game. Portuguese.
  8. News: O Conselho Superior de Justiça confirmou o castigo aplicado ao Benfica. Diário de Lisboa. 7 August 1970. 17108. 19. 7 July 2017. The high-court of Justice confirms penalties to Benfica. Portuguese.
  9. News: Os primeiros passos do Campeonato. Diário de Lisboa. 12 September 1970. 17144. 21. 7 July 2017. The first steps of the Championship. Portuguese.
  10. News: A jornada de amanhã começa esta noite. Diário de Lisboa. 26 September 1970. 17158. 21. 7 July 2017. The match-day of tomorrow starts today. Portuguese.
  11. News: Classificação da 1ª divisão. Diário de Lisboa. 28 September 1970. 17160. 24. 7 July 2017. Table of the Primeira Divisão. Portuguese.
  12. News: V. Guimarães, 0 - Benfica, 0. Diário de Lisboa. 4 October 1970. 17166. 21. 7 July 2017. Portuguese.
  13. News: Farense,1 - Benfica, 0. Diário de Lisboa. 15 November 1970. 17207. 27. 7 July 2017. Portuguese.
  14. News: Campeonato de Futebol da Primeira Divisão. Diário de Lisboa. 22 November 1970. 17214. 23. 7 July 2017. League Championship of the First Division. Portuguese.
  15. News: Classificação. Diário de Lisboa. 6 December 1970. 17227. 26. 7 July 2017. League table. Portuguese.
  16. News: Eusébio: A subtileza de um predistinado. Diário de Lisboa. 21 December 1970. 17242. 32. 7 July 2017. Eusébio: The subtlety of a genius. Portuguese.
  17. News: Simões e Eusébio, a chave da partida. Diário de Lisboa. 2 January 1971. 17252. 21. 7 July 2017. Simões and Eusébio, the key to the win. Portuguese.
  18. News: Classificação. Diário de Lisboa. 24 January 1971. 17274. 23. 7 July 2017. League table. Portuguese.
  19. News: O Benfica perdeu no Porto. Diário de Lisboa. 31 January 1971. 17281. 1. 7 July 2017. Benfica lost in Porto. Portuguese.
  20. News: O Porto venceu o V. Setúbal e o Benfica em Santo Tirso. Diário de Lisboa. 21 February 1971. 17302. 1. 7 July 2017. Porto beats V.Setúbal and Benfica wins in Santo Tirso. Portuguese.
  21. News: O Sporting ganhou em Faro. Diário de Lisboa. 28 February 1971. 17308. 1. 7 July 2017. Sporting wins in Faro. Portuguese.
  22. News: Benfica subiu ao primeiro lugar. Diário de Lisboa. 21 March 1971. 17329. 1. 7 July 2017. Benfica climb to first place. Portuguese.
  23. News: FC Porto perdeu com CUF. Diário de Lisboa. 28 March 1971. 17336. 1. 7 July 2017. FC Porto lost with CUF. Portuguese.
  24. News: Benfica isolado em primeiro lugar. Diário de Lisboa. 4 April 1971. 17343. 1. 7 July 2017. Benfica isolated in first place. Portuguese.
  25. News: O Sporting ganhou a Taça de Portugal. Diário de Lisboa. 27 June 1971. 17425. 1. 7 July 2017. Sporting wins Portuguese Cup. Portuguese.
  26. News: Barros no Benfica. Diário de Lisboa. 14 June 1970. 17054. 9. 7 July 2017. Barros in Benfica. Portuguese.
  27. News: Abel no FC Porto. Diário de Lisboa. 10 May 1970. 17020. 10. 7 July 2017. Abel moves to FC Porto. Portuguese.
  28. News: Benfica dispensa jogadores. Diário de Lisboa. 11 May 1971. 17021. 27. 7 July 2017. Benfica releases players. Portuguese.
  29. News: Coluna: Um idolo que já é saudade. Diário de Lisboa. 24 July 1970. 17094. 19. 7 July 2017. Coluna: An idol that we miss. Portuguese.
  30. News: Boavista e Tirsense: a luta vem aí. Diário de Lisboa. 8 August 1970. 17109. 19. 7 July 2017. Boavista and Tirsense: The fight is coming. Portuguese.
  31. News: Cruz deixa o Benfica. Diário de Lisboa. 8 August 1970. 17109. 19. 7 July 2017. Cruz leaves Benfica. Portuguese.
  32. Web site: Jose Rodrigues. nasljerseys.com. 7 July 2017.