The signings from other clubs included Nuno Valente and Derlei from União de Leiria ; Paulo Ferreira from Vitória de Setúbal ; Pedro Emanuel from Boavista ; and Edgaras Jankauskas and Maniche, who both had been out of contract at Benfica.

This, along with an offer from PSV, sufficed for the manager to leave one year before the end of his contract, even though Benfica reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League before losing to Barcelona, who ended up winning the trophy.

Benfica, who would go on lose in the final, and the next participation also ended in the first round, on penalties against FC Universitatea Craiova.

Currently going into its 78th edition ( counting four provisional championships in the 1930s ), the competition is dominated by the nicknamed " Big Three " ( Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Futebol Clube do Porto, and Sporting Clube de Portugal ), who have a total of 75 titles, with Clube de Futebol " Os Belenenses " and Boavista Futebol Clube winning the other two.

Pembridge played for Wednesday in the Premiership until 1998, when he left for Portuguese side Benfica on a free transfer after a disappointing season at Wednesday, who finished 16th in the Premier League.

Following the appointment of experienced English manager Jimmy Hagan in 1973 who prior to being appointed as manager of Estoril had managed Benfica to three consecutive league titles in 1970 – 71, 1971 – 72 and 1972 – 73 as well as a Taça de Portugal in the 1971 – 72 season he helped the club achieve promotion to Primeira Liga.

União de Leiria entered in the final preliminary round, where they beat Coleraine, but they were knocked out in the first round by Molde ( who were subsequently beaten by Benfica in the following round ).

* Benfica striker Nuno Gomes, who played in the 90's / 2000's, chose that nickname in deference to him.

He was one of the few great Portuguese football players of his generation who never played for Benfica, Sporting Lisbon or Porto.

He first came to England towards the end of the 1997-98 season when moving to from Portuguese club Benfica, who signed him from Tirsense in 1994-95, when the " jesuítas " stood one win away from a UEFA Cup position.

Benfica, who specialises in the long jump.

The stand, which cost £ 334, 000 and held 4, 200 seats, was opened with a friendly game against Benfica in February 1972, ( which included Eusebio ).

Also in the reign of Joseph, the barrio of Belém was officially instituted ( judicial and administrative authority ), which included the ecclesiastical parish of Ajuda, part of Alcântra and Santa Isabel, as well as the parishes of Benfica, Belas, Barcarena and Carnaxide.

Belém experienced a greater level of autonomy: between 11 September 1852 and 18 June 1885, a municipality of Belém existed, presided by their first President, the historian Alexandre Herculano, that included the parishes of Nossa Senhora da Ajuda, Santa Maria de Belém, part of São Pedro de Alcântara, Santa Isabel and São Sebastião da Pedreira, in addition to Nossa Senhora do Amparo de Benfica, São Lourenço de Carnide and Menino Jesus de Odivelas.

Benfica prepared for the final at Harlow's Sportcentre ; their team included the top scorer from the 1966 World Cup, Eusebio.

In 1968, Manchester United became the first English ( and second British ) club to win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4 – 1 in the final with a team that contained three European Footballers of the Year: Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best.

* SL Benfica, a Portuguese association football team

Finally, left-winger Antonio Simoes, Benfica and Portugal said: " I compare the Santos 62 team with the national team of Brazil in 70.

The motto E pluribus unum has been used by Portuguese football team SL Benfica since February 28, 1908.

Vogel's first three games in charge of the team were the Swiss Cup fixture on 15 October, which ended in a 5: 1 away win against FC Schötz, the Champions League Group C fixture on 18 October 2011, a 0: 2 home defeat against Benfica, and the 1: 0 away win in the Super League against FC Zürich.

On 25 January 2004, he died of a cardiac arrest during a match between Vitória de Guimarães and his team Benfica in Guimarães.

Champions League football again returned to Celtic Park, the team having automatically qualified for the group stages and drawn alongside Benfica, FC Copenhagen and Manchester United.

Although Benfica successfully competes in a number of different sports, it is mostly known for its football team.

Benfica was the first team to break Real Madrid's dominance in the early European Champions ' Cup by winning two European Cups in a row against FC Barcelona ( 1961 ) and Real Madrid ( 1962 ).

In 1968, Benfica was considered the best European team by France Football.

Benfica also attracted Europe-wide attention when the team reached the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup, where the team was only narrowly defeated 1 – 0 on aggregate by the legendary Ajax side of that era.

Benfica failed to gain a top three finish in the 2007 – 08 season, placing the team in the UEFA Cup for the upcoming season.

Derlei made a fantastic comeback to competition when, on 16 April 2008, he entered the field for Leandro Romagnoli in the 61st minute during the semi-final of the Portuguese Cup against previous team Benfica, managing to score only 18 minutes later, making it 3 – 2 to Sporting, in a match which eventually ended with a 5 – 3 win, as the Lions went on to win the tournament against another former club of the player, Porto.

On the following day, Costa was presented as the new leader of the football department, hiring Quique Sánchez Flores as the new manager of Benfica and being responsible for the formation of the team in the next season.

On the following Summer, Costa further increased his efforts to build a solid Benfica team, with such signings as Argentinean striker Javier Saviola, Brazilian centre midfielder Ramires and Spanish defensive midfielder Javi García, along with experienced Portuguese manager Jorge Jesus.

Over the years fans of GKS got to witness their team take on the likes of Sportul Studentsc Bucharest, Rangers, Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Benfica, Aris, Girondins Bordeaux and twice Bayer Leverkusen.

On January 25, 2010 Collina participated in a special match for supporting victims of the earthquake in Haiti opposing Friends of Zidane and Ronaldo and the Benfica team in Lisbon.

In 2003, Mourinho won his first Primeira Liga with a 27 – 5 – 2 record, 11 points clear of Benfica, the team he quit two years earlier.

However, in October 1928 when the football team were playing against Benfica, they emerged in the second half of the game wearing the shirts of the rugby team.

He was linked with managerial roles with Portuguese side Benfica and the United States national team in 2006 but he remained with Manchester United to help them win the Premier League in 2007.

In Benfica, against whom he won the 1988 European Cup final as a player with PSV, Koeman only won the Portuguese Supercup: the team finished the Portuguese League in third place ( behind rivals Porto and Sporting ) and was knocked out of the Portuguese Cup in the quarter-finals ( after losing to Vitória de Guimarães ).

On a highly emotional night at Wembley, Charlton scored twice in a 4 – 1 win after extra time against Benfica and, as United captain, lifted the trophy.

Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 countries worldwide, being Benfica the only club to practice it without interruption.

* February 28 – Sport Lisboa e Benfica is founded in Portugal.

Further highlights include his presence in the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon as Celtic overcame Internazionale in the 1967 European Cup Final, at Wembley as Manchester United defeated Benfica to capture the 1968 European Cup and also the BBC's main man at the 1970 World Cup, commentating on the final between Brazil and Italy.

The ships transported thousands of Feijenoord fans to Lisbon where the club faced Benfica on 8 May 1963 in the European Cup semi-finals.

Feijenoord eventually lost the match against Benfica 3 – 1, but this turned out to be the start of the most successful period in the club's history.

In 1963, about 3000 fans boarded on two ships, among thousands of others by train or car and they travelled to Lisbon where Feyenoord faced Benfica in the European Cup.

In 1989 – 90, he became Capocannoniere, Serie A's leading goal scorer, and Milan successfully defended the European Cup after beating Benfica in the final match.

Best was dubbed " The Fifth Beatle " and " O Quinto Beatle " by the Portuguese press after scoring twice for Manchester United in a 5 – 1 victory at Estádio da Luz against Benfica in the 1965 – 66 European Cup quarter-finals, mainly due to his Beatles-style " mop " haircut.

The following year Milan retained the trophy as they defeated Benfica in the 1990 final.

They won the European Cup in 1988 against Benfica, making them the second Dutch club to win The Treble, and the UEFA Cup in 1978 against SC Bastia.

Here they lost against Benfica 6 – 3 on aggregate.

Eriksson's European success led to him being head-hunted by Portuguese club Benfica, and he had a similarly quick impact there, Benfica winning the Portuguese Championship, the Portuguese Cup and finishing runners-up in the UEFA Cup.

After a trophyless two years at Fiorentina, Eriksson moved back to Benfica for a second stint in 1989, where he led the Portuguese side to the final of the European Cup ( losing to Milan 1 – 0 ) in 1990, and another League title in 1991.

In the Preliminary round they had a walkover, when Benfica withdrew from the competition.

In all, the stadium hosted five European Cup finals, including the 1963 final between AC Milan and Benfica, and the 1968 final between Manchester United and Benfica.

In 1978, members of Fremantle's Portuguese Australian community founded Benfica United, now known as the Fremantle Spirit.

Busby resumed managerial duties the next season ( 1958 – 59 ), and eventually built a second generation of Busby Babes, including George Best and Denis Law, that ten years later won the European Cup, beating Benfica.

He was linked with the post of FA Technical Director in 1996, and also entered into discussions with Portugal's Benfica over the vacant managerial spot in the 1980s.

* Benfica founded in Lisbon as the Grupo Sport Lisboa.