| Season: | 2020–21 |
| Dates: | 18 September 2020 – 19 May 2021 |
| Competition: | Primeira Liga |
| Relegated: | Rio Ave Farense Nacional |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Sporting CP Porto Benfica |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Braga |
| Continentalcup3: | Europa Conference League |
| Continentalcup3 Qualifiers: | Paços de Ferreira Santa Clara |
| Matches: | 306 |
| Total Goals: | 739 |
| Best Player: | Sebastián Coates (Sporting CP) |
| League Topscorer: | Pedro Gonçalves (23 goals) |
| Best Goalkeeper: | Antonio Adán (19 clean sheets) |
| Biggest Home Win: | |
| Biggest Away Win: | Paços de Ferreira 0–5 Benfica |
| Highest Scoring: | Benfica 4–3 Sporting CP |
| Longest Wins: | 7 matches Porto |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 32 matches (record) Sporting CP |
| Longest Winless: | 10 matches Nacional |
| Longest Losses: | 10 matches Nacional |
| Highest Attendance: | 932 |
| Lowest Attendance: | 0 |
| Prevseason: | 2019–20 |
| Nextseason: | 2021–22 |
| Winners: | Sporting CP 19th title |
The 2020–21 Primeira Liga (also known as Liga NOS for sponsorship reasons) was the 87th season of the Primeira Liga, the top professional league for Portuguese association football clubs. The season started later than usual, on 18 September 2020, due to the delayed end of the previous season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it concluded on 19 May 2021.
This was the fourth Primeira Liga season to use video assistant referee (VAR). As was the case at the end of the previous season, there were limited or no attendance in the stadiums besides each team's staff and personnel.
Porto were the defending champions. Nacional and Farense were promoted from the second-tier 2019–20 LigaPro by decision of the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional, after the suspension of the 2019–20 LigaPro due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. They replaced Desportivo das Aves and Vitória de Setúbal, who were relegated to the 2020–21 Campeonato de Portugal.
On 11 May 2021, Sporting CP secured a 19th title after a 1–0 home win against Boavista, their first title since the 2001–02 season. It was also the first title since that season not being won by either Benfica or Porto.[1]
Since Portugal ascended from seventh to sixth place in the UEFA association coefficient rankings at the end of 2019–20 season, the three best-ranked teams could qualify for the UEFA Champions League (the champions and runners-up entered directly into the group stage, and the third placed team entered the third qualifying round). The fourth and fifth-placed teams would qualified respectively to the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off and third qualifying rounds.[2]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal, since March 2020, in contrast with various European leagues, the Primeira Liga began playing matches behind closed doors. On 13 September, Sporting confirmed that three players had tested positive for coronavirus, leading their pre-season match against Napoli to be cancelled due to the orders of the Portuguese Ministry of Health.[3] The following day, Sporting confirmed that four players and a member of their staff had tested positive for coronavirus.[4] Meanwhile, Gil Vicente confirmed that fifteen players had tested positive for coronavirus, leading also their pre-season match against Vitória de Guimarães to be cancelled.[5] Three days later, Sporting confirmed that their manager Ruben Amorim and another player tested positive for coronavirus, with both going into self-isolation.[6] On 17 September, it was announced that the Gil Vicente and Sporting fixture on matchday 1 would be postponed, following direct orders from the Portuguese Ministry of Health, after it was confirmed that Gil Vicente had four more positive cases of coronavirus.[7] On 3 October, Santa Clara faced Gil Vicente on matchday 3 at the Estádio de São Miguel, in Ponta Delgada, Azores, in a match, which was the first one to allow spectators in Portugal, with the stadium being limited to 10% of its capacity (1,000 spectators).[8] Ten days later, it was announced that Paços de Ferreira's manager Pepa had tested positive for COVID-19, leading him and his staff being placed in quarantine as a preventive measure, forcing him to miss Paços de Ferreira's match against Santa Clara on October 18 at matchday 4.[9]
On matchday 5, played between 23 and 26 October, there were three matches in which spectatores were allowed: Tondela against Portimonense at Estádio João Cardoso, Santa Clara against Sporting at the Estádio de São Miguel (with spectators being allowed for the second consecutive match) and Farense against Rio Ave at Estádio Algarve, where Farense played their first three home matches, instead of their regular home stadium Estádio de São Luís, due to a turf change.Like the match against Gil Vicente, Santa Clara match was played with the stadium capacity limited to 10%,[10] as the other two matches were limited to 15% (approximately 750 and 4,500 spectators in Estádio João Cardoso and Estádio Algarve, respectively).[11]
Santa Clara announced on February 20 that spectators will be allowed in Estádio de São Miguel, for the third time this season, in the match against Paços de Ferreira on matchday 21, played one week later on 27 February. This time, one third of the stadium's maximum capacity was allowed.[12]
Eighteen teams competed in the league – the top sixteen teams from the previous season and two teams promoted from the LigaPro. Nacional and Farense were promoted on 5 May 2020 by decision of the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional, after the suspension of the 2019–20 LigaPro due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. This decision was made based on UEFA's recommendations, focusing on sporting merit, as these teams were in first and second place of the LigaPro, respectively, at the time of cancellation.[13]
Nacional came back to the top division one season after being relegated, while Farense secured their return after an 18-year absence. They replaced Desportivo das Aves and Vitória de Setúbal, who were relegated after three and sixteen seasons in the top flight, respectively.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity [14] | data-sort-type="number" | 2019–20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B-SAD | Oeiras | Estádio Nacional | 37,593 | 15th | |
| Benfica | Lisbon | Estádio da Luz | 64,642 | 2nd | |
| Boavista | Porto | Estádio do Bessa | 28,263 | 12th | |
| Braga | Braga | Estádio Municipal de Braga | 30,286 | 3rd | |
| Famalicão | Vila Nova de Famalicão | Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho | 5,307 | 6th | |
| Farense | Faro | Estádio de São Luís | 7,000 | 2nd (LP) | |
| Gil Vicente | Barcelos | Estádio Cidade de Barcelos | 12,504 | 10th | |
| Marítimo | Funchal | Estádio do Marítimo | 10,932 | 11th | |
| Nacional | Funchal | Estádio da Madeira | 5,132 | 1st (LP) | |
| Moreirense | Moreira de Cónegos | Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas | 6,153 | 8th | |
| Paços de Ferreira | Paços de Ferreira | Estádio Capital do Móvel | 9,076 | 13th | |
| Portimonense | Portimão | Estádio Municipal de Portimão | 6,204 | 17th | |
| Porto | Porto | Estádio do Dragão | 50,033 | 1st | |
| Rio Ave | Vila do Conde | Estádio dos Arcos | 9,065 | 5th | |
| Santa Clara | Ponta Delgada | Estádio de São Miguel | 13,277 | 9th | |
| Sporting CP | Lisbon | Estádio José Alvalade | 50,095 | 4th | |
| Tondela | Tondela | Estádio João Cardoso | 5,000 | 14th | |
| Vitória de Guimarães | Guimarães | Estádio D. Afonso Henriques | 30,000 | 7th | |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Pos in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara |  João Henriques | Mutual consent | 24 July 2020 | Pre-season | Daniel Ramos | 28 July 2020 | [15] |
| Vitória de Guimarães | Ivo Vieira | 24 July 2020 | Tiago Mendes | 28 July 2020 | [16] | ||
| Boavista | Daniel Ramos | 25 July 2020 | Vasco Seabra | 30 July 2020 | [17] | ||
| Rio Ave | Carlos Carvalhal | 25 July 2020 | Mário Silva | 30 July 2020 | [18] | ||
| Marítimo | José Gomes | Signed for Almería | 27 July 2020 |  Lito Vidigal | 30 July 2020 | [19] | |
| Braga | Artur Jorge | End of caretaker role | 28 July 2020 | Carlos Carvalhal | 28 July 2020 | [20] | |
| Benfica | Nélson Veríssimo | 1 August 2020 | Jorge Jesus | 3 August 2020 | [21] [22] | ||
| Tondela |  Natxo González | Mutual Consent | 5 August 2020 | Pako Ayestarán | 9 August 2020 | [23] | |
| Vitória de Guimarães | Tiago Mendes | 8 October 2020 | 11th | João Henriques | 13 October 2020 | [24] | |
| Moreirense | Ricardo Soares | Resigned | 9 November 2020 | 9th | César Peixoto | 10 November 2020 | [25] |
| Gil Vicente | Rui Almeida | Sacked | 11 November 2020 | 17th | Ricardo Soares | 13 November 2020 | [26] |
| Marítimo | Lito Vidigal | 4 December 2020 |  Milton Mendes | 5 December 2020 | [27] | ||
| Boavista | Vasco Seabra | 8 December 2020 | 15th | Daniel Gonçalves (Caretaker) | 8 December 2020 | [28] | |
| Daniel Gonçalves (Caretaker) | End of caretaker role | 13 December 2020 | Jesualdo Ferreira | 13 December 2020 | [29] | ||
| Rio Ave | Sacked | 30 December 2020 | 13th | Pedro Cunha (Caretaker) | 30 December 2020 | [30] | |
| Moreirense | César Peixoto | Resigned | 2 January 2021 | 8th | Leandro Mendes (Caretaker) | 2 January 2021 | [31] |
| Leandro Mendes (Caretaker) | End of caretaker role | 5 January 2021 | Vasco Seabra | 5 January 2021 | [32] | ||
| Rio Ave | Pedro Cunha (Caretaker) | 29 January 2021 | 10th | Miguel Cardoso | 29 January 2021 | [33] | |
| Famalicão | João Pedro Sousa | Sacked | 31 January 2021 | 16th | Silas | 1 February 2021 | [34] |
| Farense | Sérgio Vieira | Mutual Consent | 1 February 2021 | 17th | Jorge Costa | 4 February 2021 | [35] |
| Famalicão | Silas | 8 March 2021 | Ivo Vieira | 8 March 2021 | [36] [37] | ||
| Marítimo | Milton Mendes | Resigned | 5 March 2021 | 18th | Julio Velázquez | 11 March 2021 | [38] [39] |
| Nacional | Luís Freire | Sacked | 21 March 2021 | 17th | Manuel Machado | 22 March 2021 | [40] |
| Vitória de Guimarães | João Henriques | 5 April 2021 | 6th | Bino (Caretaker) | 5 April 2021 | [41] | |
| Bino (Caretaker) | End of caretaker role | 13 May 2021 | 8th | Moreno (Caretaker) | 13 May 2021 | [42] |
The relegation play-offs took place on 26 and 30 May 2021.
Arouca won 5–0 on aggregate and were promoted to 2021–22 Primeira Liga; Rio Ave were relegated to 2021–22 Liga Portugal 2.
The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[43] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pedro Gonçalves | Sporting CP | 23 | |
| 2 | Haris Seferovic | Benfica | 22 | |
| 3 |  Mehdi Taremi | Porto | 16 | |
| 4 | Mario González | Tondela | 15 | |
| 5 | Carlos | Santa Clara | 14 | |
| 6 | Sérgio Oliveira | Porto | 13 | |
| 7 |  Beto | Portimonense | 11 | |
| 8 |  Mateo Cassierra | Belenenses SAD | 10 |
See main article: List of Primeira Liga hat-tricks.
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mario González | Tondela | Moreirense | 3–2 (A) | 17 April 2021 | |
| Pedro Gonçalves | Sporting CP | Marítimo | 5–1 (H) | 19 May 2021 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists[44] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porto | 11 | |
| 2 | Benfica | 10 | |
| 3 | Benfica | 9 | |
| Álex Grimaldo | Benfica | ||
| 5 | Porto | 8 | |
| 6 | Porto | 7 | |
| Boavista | |||
| Farense |
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antonio Adán | Sporting CP | 19 |
| 2 |  Agustín Marchesín | Porto | 16 |
| 3 |  Paweł Kieszek | Rio Ave | 11 |
 Stanislav Kritsyuk | Belenenses SAD | ||
| 5 | Amir Abedzadeh | Marítimo | 10 |
| Bruno Varela | Vitória de Guimarães | ||
| Denis | Gil Vicente | ||
| 8 | Matheus | Braga | 9 |
| Jordi | Paços de Ferreira | ||
| Léo Jardim | Boavista | ||
| Luiz Júnior | Famalicão | ||
| Samuel Portugal | Portimonense | ||
| Marco Pereira | Santa Clara |
Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica)
Chidozie Awaziem (Boavista) Júlio César (Nacional) Rafael Defendi (Farense) Fransérgio (Braga) Javi García (Boavista) Stanislav Kritsyuk (Belenenses) Ygor Nogueira (Gil Vicente)For the 2020–21 season, there were seven monthly awards in the Primeira Liga: best player, goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, forward, manager and goal of the month.[49] [50]
| Month | Player of the Month | Goalkeeper of the Month | Defender of the Month | Midfielder of the Month | Forward of the Month | Manager of the Month | Goal of the Month | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Manager | Club | Player | Club | |
| September/October | Pedro Gonçalves | Sporting CP | Bruno Varela | Vitória de Guimarães | Pepe | Porto | Pedro Gonçalves | Sporting CP | Thiago Santana | Santa Clara | Jorge Jesus | Benfica | Bruno Jordão | Famalicão |
| November | Matheus | Braga | Pedro Porro | Sporting CP | Rodrigo Pinho | Marítimo | Pepa | Paços de Ferreira | Luis Díaz | Porto | ||||
| December | Sérgio Oliveira | Porto | Antonio Adán | Sporting CP | Sérgio Oliveira | Porto | Mehdi Taremi | Porto | Sérgio Conceição | Porto | Iuri Medeiros | Braga | ||
| January | Mehdi Taremi | Porto | Bruno Costa | Paços de Ferreira | Pepa | Paços de Ferreira | Pedro Porro | Sporting CP | ||||||
| February |  Ali Al Musrati | Braga | Sebastián Coates | Sporting CP | Ali Al Musrati | Braga | Ruben Amorim | Sporting CP | Ryan Gauld | Farense | ||||
| March | Haris Seferovic | Benfica | Helton Leite | Benfica | Sérgio Oliveira | Porto | Haris Seferovic | Benfica | Jorge Jesus | Benfica | Beto | Portimonense | ||
| April | Sebastián Coates | Sporting CP | Antonio Adán | Sporting CP | Pedro Gonçalves | Sporting CP | Mario González | Tondela | Ruben Amorim | Sporting CP | André Almeida | Vitória de Guimarães | ||
Annual awards were announced on 8 July 2021.[51]
| Award | Winner | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player of the Season | Sebastián Coates | Sporting CP | |
| Manager of the Season | Ruben Amorim | ||
| Goal of the Season | Beto | Portimonense | |
| Young Player of the Season | Sporting CP | ||
| Top scorer | |||
| Neno Fair-Play Prize | Luiz Díaz | Porto | |
| Club Fair-Play Prize | Moreirense | ||
| Team of the Year[52] |
| Team of the Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Antonio Adán (Sporting CP) | ||||||
| Defence | Pedro Porro (Sporting CP) | Pepe (Porto) | Sebastián Coates (Sporting CP) | Nuno Mendes (Sporting CP) | |||
| Midfield | João Palhinha (Sporting CP) | Pedro Gonçalves (Sporting CP) | Sérgio Oliveira (Porto) | ||||
| Attack | Carlos (Santa Clara) | Haris Seferovic (Benfica) | Mehdi Taremi (Porto) | ||||
| Rank | District Football Associations | Number | Teams |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Braga | 5 | Braga, Famalicão, Gil Vicente, Moreirense and Vitória de Guimarães |
| 2 | Porto | 4 | Boavista, Paços de Ferreira, Porto and Rio Ave |
| 3 | Lisbon | 3 | Belenenses SAD, Benfica and Sporting CP |
| 4 | Faro | 2 | Farense and Portimonense |
| Funchal | Marítimo and Nacional | ||
| 5 | Ponta Delgada | 1 | Santa Clara |
| Tondela |
