The 2004–05 season saw Benfica clinch the SuperLiga Galp Energia title after almost 11 years without the championship. The SuperLiga had one of the most competitive years, with both Braga and Boavista fighting for the title for a reasonable amount of time, closing the gap on the Big Three of Benfica, Porto and Sporting CP. The Big Three all managed to qualify for the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, while Braga, Vitória de Guimarães and Vitória de Setúbal qualified for the 2005–06 UEFA Cup. Benfica did not manage to achieve the double, losing to Vitória de Setúbal in the 2004–05 Taça de Portugal final.
In the League of Honour, Paços de Ferreira won the title and alongside newcomers Naval 1º de Maio and former competitors Estrela da Amadora secured their place in the first level of Portuguese football for 2005–06.
In the UEFA competitions, the Portuguese teams qualified in the 2003–04 season were Porto and Benfica in the Champions League; Sporting CP, Braga, Martítimo and Nacional in the UEFA Cup; and União de Leiria in the 2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Early in the season, Porto lost the 2003 UEFA Super Cup to 2002–03 Champions League victors Milan. Porto would ultimately reach the round of 16 of the Champions League, where they were eliminated by Internazionale. In the middle of the season, Porto also won their second Intercontinental Cup against Once Caldas. Meanwhile, Sporting CP managed to reach the UEFA Cup Final (which was already chosen to be played at Sporting's Estádio José de Alvalade) where they lost to CSKA Moscow. The fact that Leiria reached the finals of the Intertoto Cup is also noteworthy.
Meanwhile, the Portugal national football team managed to secure a comfortable position that would prove decisive in the qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2006.
| Competition | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| Intercontinental Cup | Porto | |
| SuperLiga Galp Energia | Benfica | |
| Cup of Portugal | Vitória Setúbal | |
| SuperCup Cândido de Oliveira | Porto | |
| League of Honour | Paços de Ferreira | |
| Second Division B | FC Vizela (North) Sporting Covilhã (Centre) FC Barreirense (South) | |
| Terceira Divisão | «Os Sandinenses» GDRC (A) Aliados FC do Lordelo (B) SL Nelas (C) AD Portomosense (D) Benfica B (E) Silves FC (F) FC Madalena (Azores) |
After almost 11 years, the longest "drought" period in Benfica's history comes to an end. It was an "awkward" season, mainly due to the inconsistency of the perennial title candidates. Never a team had won the championship with such a small number of points since victories awarded three points. The 65 points of Benfica would only be sufficient to manage a fourth-place finish the year before and, considering a percentage of points awarded, their score of 64% would not have been enough to place them in first or second in any other of the previous Portuguese championships. Inconsistency was present in Benfica's season, but their main rivals were no better. In the upper part of the table, Braga's season was noteworthy: it was fighting for the title only four games before the end of the season.
These teams were promoted from the League of Honour at the start of the season:
These teams were qualified for the UEFA competitions of 2005–06:
These teams were relegated to the League of Honour at the end of the season:
UEFA Champions League group H
| Match One | 14 September 2004 | Porto 0–0 CSKA Moscow | |
| Match Two | 29 September 2004 | Chelsea 3–1 Porto | |
| Match Three | 20 October 2004 | Paris Saint-Germain 2–0 Porto | |
| Match Four | 2 November 2004 | Porto 0–0 Paris Saint-Germain | |
| Match Five | 24 November 2004 | CSKA Moscow 0–1 Porto | |
| Match Six | 7 December 2004 | Porto 2–1 Chelsea |
UEFA Champions League round of 16
| 1st leg | 23 February 2005 | Porto 1–1 Internazionale | |
| 2nd leg | 15 March 2005 | Internazionale 3–1 Porto |
UEFA Champions League third qualifying round
| 1st leg | 10 August 2004 | Benfica 1–0 Anderlecht | |
| 2nd leg | 24 August 2004 | Anderlecht 3–0 Benfica |
UEFA Cup first round
| 1st leg | 16 September 2004 | Dukla Banská Bystrica 0–3 Benfica | |
| 2nd leg | 30 September 2004 | Benfica 2–0 Dukla Banská Bystrica |
UEFA Cup group F
| Match One | 21 October 2004 | Benfica 4–2 Heerenveen | |
| Match Two | 4 November 2004 | VfB Stuttgart 3–0 Benfica | |
| Match Three | 25 November 2004 | Benfica 2–0 Dinamo Zagreb | |
| Match Four | 2 December 2004 | Beveren 0–3 Benfica |
UEFA Cup round of 32
| 1st leg | 17 February 2005 | CSKA Moscow 2–0 Benfica | |
| 2nd leg | 24 February 2005 | Benfica 1–1 CSKA Moscow |
UEFA Cup first round
| 1st leg | 16 September 2004 | Sporting CP 2–0 Rapid Wien | |
| 2nd leg | 30 September 2004 | Rapid Wien 0–0 Sporting CP |
UEFA Cup group D
| Match Two | 4 November 2004 | Sporting CP 4–1 Panionios | |
| Match Three | 25 November 2004 | Dinamo Tbilisi 0–4 Sporting CP | |
| Match Four | 1 December 2004 | Sporting CP 0–1 Sochaux | |
| Match Five | 16 December 2004 | Newcastle United 1–1 Sporting CP |
UEFA Cup round of 32
| 1st leg | 16 February 2005 | Sporting CP 2–1 Feyenoord | |
| 2nd leg | 24 February 2005 | Feyenoord 1–2 Sporting CP |
UEFA Cup round of 16
| 1st leg | 10 March 2005 | Middlesbrough 2–3 Sporting CP | |
| 2nd leg | 17 March 2005 | Sporting CP 1–0 Middlesbrough |
UEFA Cup quarter-finals
| 1st leg | 7 April 2005 | Newcastle United 1–0 Sporting CP | |
| 2nd leg | 14 April 2005 | Sporting CP 4–1 Newcastle United |
UEFA Cup semi-finals
| 1st leg | 28 April 2005 | Sporting CP 2–1 AZ Alkmaar | |
| 2nd leg | 5 May 2005 | AZ Alkmaar 3–2 Sporting CP (a.e.t.) |
UEFA Cup final
UEFA Cup first round
| 1st leg | 16 September 2004 | Hearts 3–1 Braga | |
| 2nd leg | 30 September 2004 | Braga 2–2 Hearts |
UEFA Cup first round
| 1st leg | 16 September 2004 | Marítimo 1–0 Rangers | |
| 2nd leg | 30 September 2004 | Rangers 1–0 Marítimo (a.e.t.; 4–2 on penalties) |
UEFA Cup first round
| 1st leg | 16 September 2004 | Sevilla 2–0 Nacional | |
| 2nd leg | 30 September 2004 | Nacional 1–2 Sevilla |
UEFA Intertoto Cup third round
| 1st leg | 17 July 2004 | Shinnik Yaroslavl 1–4 União de Leiria | |
| 2nd leg | 24 July 2004 | União de Leiria 2–1 Shinnik Yaroslavl |
UEFA Intertoto Cup semi-finals
| 1st leg | 28 July 2004 | Genk 0–0 União de Leiria | |
| 2nd leg | 24 July 2004 | União de Leiria 2–0 Genk |
UEFA Intertoto Cup finals
| 1st leg | 10 August 2004 | Lille 0–0 União de Leiria | |
| 2nd leg | 24 July 2004 | União de Leiria 0–2 Lille (a.e.t.) |
Vitória de Setúbal won their third Cup after beating Benfica 2–1 at the final played 29 May in the Estádio do Jamor. Simão scored first for Benfica, a penalty in the fifth minute, but an own goal by Ricardo Rocha in the 26th minute and another by Albert Meyong for Setúbal turned the game around.
These teams were promoted from the Second Division B at the start of the season:
The following teams were promoted to the SuperLiga (future Liga betandwin.com) for 2005–06:
The following teams were relegated to the Second Division for 2005–06:
| Place | Scorer | Goals | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Rincón | 18 | Paços de Ferreira |
| 2. | Evandro | 17 | Maia |
| 3. | Hermes | 16 | Marco |
| 4. | Hugo Henrique | 15 | Santa Clara |
| João Pedro | Leixões | ||
| 6. | Wesley | 14 | Gondomar |
| 7. | Rui Miguel | 13 | Desportivo das Aves |
| 8. | Didi | 12 | Marco |
| 9. | Mateus | 11 | Portimonense |
| Serjão | Portimonense |
| Date | Venue | Opponents | Score | Comp | Portugal scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 4, 2004 | Stadionas Skonto, Riga | Latvia | 0-2 | WCQ3 | Cristiano Ronaldo, Pauleta | |
| September 8, 2004 | Estádio Municipal de Leiria, Leiria | Estonia | 4-0 | WCQ3 | Cristiano Ronaldo, Hélder Postiga (2), Pauleta | |
| October 9, 2004 | Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz | Liechtenstein | 2-2 | WCQ3 | Own goal, Pauleta | |
| October 13, 2004 | Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon | Russia | 7-1 | WCQ3 | Pauleta, Cristiano Ronaldo (2), Deco, Simão, Petit (2) | |
| November 17, 2004 | Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg | Luxembourg | 0-5 | WCQ3 | Own goal, Cristiano Ronaldo, Maniche, Pauleta (2) | |
| February 9, 2005 | Lansdowne Road, Dublin | Rep. Ireland | 1-0 | F | - | |
| March 26, 2005 | Estádio Cidade de Barcelos, Barcelos | Canada | 4-1 | F | Manuel Fernandes, Pauleta, Hélder Postiga, Nuno Gomes | |
| June 4, 2005 | Estádio da Luz, Lisbon | Slovakia | 2-0 | WCQ3 | Fernando Meira, Cristiano Ronaldo | |
| June 8, 2005 | A.Le Coq Arena, Tallinn | Estonia | 0-1 | WCQ3 | Cristiano Ronaldo |
KEY: WCQ3 = World Cup Qualification match - Group 3; F = Friendly