The 2003–04 season was Sport Lisboa e Benfica's 100th season in existence and the club's 70th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. It ran from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004. Benfica competed domestically in the Primeira Liga and the Taça de Portugal. The club also participated in the UEFA Champions League as a result of finishing second in the Primeira Liga in the previous season.
After José Antonio Camacho led Benfica to second place, the club offered him a new two-year contract as manager in June. As a condition to renewing the contract, Camacho requested that the club sign more established players, but budget restraints allowed for limited investment. After several unsuccessful player bids, Benfica added Luisão to the squad and re-signed Geovanni in August. Because their second-place finish only granted a berth in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, Benfica had to play Lazio for a spot in the group stage. They lost both legs and were relegated to the UEFA Cup.
Domestically, Benfica began the league campaign with five points in four games, losing ground in the league race. They improved in subsequent games, but dropped points two more times, including at the official opening of the new Estádio da Luz. January was a difficult month for Benfica as they lost the Lisbon derby with Sporting, and on 25 January witnessed the death of club player—Miklós Fehér—in the middle of a game. In February and March, the team fluctuated between winning and losing streaks, including knocking out Rosenborg and losing to Inter Milan in the UEFA Cup.
In the final two months, Benfica unexpectedly recovered six points against Sporting, overtaking them to finish second and qualify for the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League. The club also reached the Portuguese Cup final for the first time in seven years. Benfica beat Porto in extra-time to win their 24th Cup, which they dedicated to Fehér.
Season summary
Pre-season
In the aftermath of their best league finish since 1997–98, Benfica negotiated a one-year extension to Camacho's contract, which had been set to expire on 30 June. As a condition to agreeing to stay, he wanted several problems related to the technical staff, training fields and signings to be solved. On 23 June, Camacho agreed to remain as manager, with Pepe Carcelén and Álvaro Magalhães assisting him. In his presentation, he confessed that the club's limited finances would make it harder to sign players; he also said that Benfica would give their best but did not expect to dethrone Porto. Benfica inquired after Helton, and Ricardo to compete with José Moreira for the goalkeeper position. Over the course of two weeks, the club negotiated unsuccessfully with the latter and ultimately chose to stay with Moreira. The club also looked into strengthen their options at centre and at left-back, negotiating unsuccessfully with Ânderson Polga, Atouba and Júnior. Despite these failed negotiations, Benfica added Luisão, and re-signed Geovanni; both would be regular starters throughout the season.Tovar, Rui. p. 609
With Portugal in seventh place in the UEFA coefficient and because only the first six had their league runner-up drawn directly into the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, Benfica had to go through a qualifying round, and were paired with Lazio on the draw of 26 July. The first match was scheduled for 13 August at Stadio Olimpico and the return leg, on the 26 August, at the Estádio do Bessa, due to Estádio Nacional's inability to receive European games. The team began their season preparations on 5 July, with two days reserved for medicals. After a week and a half of training sessions on Jerez de la Frontera, they travelled to Nyon on 16 July, for a seven-day tour. In Switzerland, they played Panathinaikos and Sporting, with different results, a loss with the Greeks and a win with Sporting. Back in Portugal, Benfica competed in two tournaments, first at the Guadiana Trophy with Belenenses, and later at the Centenarian Trophy with Boavista and Leixões. The team ended their pre-season with a match against Moreirense. Although Camacho initially doubted the team's chances in the title race, in August he said that the team "was stronger than last year, due to the added time together", and that they would fight for the title.
August–September
Benfica played their first competitive game of the season against Lazio in Rome and lost 3–1. This reduced their hopes of reaching the group stage of the Champions League, as Camacho said: "Lazio were supposed to do more tonight to win this game. Benfica helped them by committing some mistakes, mainly due to our lack of experience. We have complicated our lives in view of the second-leg match.". The third goal from Lazio, scored by Mihajlović, came from a Roger's foul after touching the ball with his hands; Camacho openly criticized Roger for the incident. On the 17th, Benfica began their league campaign away to Boavista. Their last win there was on 30 March 1996, eight seasons ago. The game ended as a goalless draw, with Camacho criticizing the referee for the excessive number of interruptions. On the following Saturday, Benfica defeated Vitória de Guimarães at home, in a 2–0 win, which Camacho admitted to be flattering in comparison with the team performance. Two days later, the club announced they were postponing their third match day from 31 August to 29 October, because of Académica's desire to play that game at the newly renovated Estádio Cidade de Coimbra. On the 27th, Benfica lost one-nil to Lazio, and were knocked out of the Champions League. Because of the financial loss from the elimination, the club was unable to invest further in squad; the team closed the transfer window with only Alex and Luisão as new signings.
Benfica's first match in September was on the 14th against Belenenses.Tovar, Rui. p. 603 Despite leading the game with 90 minutes played, Benfica allowed the visitors to score two goals in extra time to draw the match 3–3. Camacho took responsibility for the goals in extra-time, admitting the team needed to be smarter and waste time. The next match was the Clássico away on the 21st; Porto had a five-point lead in the league table, although Benfica had played one less game. Porto won 2–0. Camacho complained of bad luck: "What happened was that one team entered the game to dominate, achieved some control, but it was the other team who scored. What matters in football is goals, and Porto scored, while we did not." Three days later, Benfica started their UEFA Cup campaign against La Louvière, a Belgian team that António Simões described as "easy". The game ended in a 1–1 draw, with Camacho dismissing the idea that it was a bad result, saying that an away draw in a European competition was still a satisfying outcome. On the 28th, Benfica closed the month with a home win against Nacional, with Tiago scoring the only goal. Despite the fans whistling the team, Camacho was pleased with the performance, noting the opportunities the team had to double the lead.
October–November
The first match in October was on the 4th; it was an away match at Parque de Jogos, Moreirense's home ground.Tovar, Rui. p. 603 Benfica won 4–1, which was their largest win all season. Camacho attributed the team's success to an improvement in the conversion rate of the attacking line. After a break for international matches, Benfica returned with the second leg of the UEFA Cup on the 15th.Tovar, Rui. p. 607 They dominated the match, and only a strong performance from Silvio Proto allowed the Belgians to leave with only a goal conceded. Two days later, Benfica announced they were rescheduling the game against Marítimo from 25 October to 12 November, due to the opening game of the new Estádio da Luz on the same day. On 19 October, Benfica ended their six-month spell at Estádio Nacional with a match against Gil Vicente. Benfica scored first but Gil Vicente equalized three minutes later, unsettling the home side. In the second half, Simão scored the winning goal for Benfica. Camacho acknowledged that Benfica struggled after conceding Gil Vicente's goal, adding that it was a normal behaviour in football. On the 25th, Benfica opened its brand new Estádio da Luz, attracting a sell-out crowd against Nacional Montevideo.Tovar, Rui. p. 604 Benfica won 2–1, with Nuno Gomes scoring twice. On the following Wednesday, Benfica opened the redeveloped Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, in a game transferred from August.Tovar, Rui. p. 603 Simão put on a man of the match performance, leading the team to a 3–1 win to Académica.
Benfica started November by hosting Beira-Mar on the 2nd in the official opening of their new stadium.Tovar, Rui. p. 604 Beira-Mar won 2–1, inflicting Benfica's second league defeat, which opened an 11-point gap to Porto. Camacho blamed the defeat on the lack of goal opportunities. Four days later, Benfica received Molde for the UEFA Cup, beating them 3–1 and assuring a two-goal lead for the second leg. Camacho recognized the team was struggling to defend against corner-kicks, as both Beira-Mar and Molde had scored in corners. On 9 November, the team visited Alverca and won three-nil, with two goals from Tiago and one from Geovanni. Camacho was pleased with the performance, but said that Benfica should have scored more. On 12 November, Benfica played Marítimo, in a fixture transferred from October.Tovar, Rui. p. 603 Weakened by injuries in some of the regular players, Benfica could not do better than a one-all draw. Camacho attributed the result to the excessive number of games in short amount of time, something most of the players were not accustomed to. After a 10-day international break, Benfica opened the Portuguese Cup campaign against Estrela da Amadora on the 22nd. They won 3–1 with all of the goals arriving late in the game. Benfica closed the month with a 2–0 win to Molde, on the second leg of the UEFA Cup, with Tiago again scoring twice.
December–January
On 1 December, Benfica won its first league match in their new stadium, beating Rio Ave by 2–0. After the match, Camacho defended his team to the press by saying "Eusébio's team is gone." A week later, the team defeated Paços de Ferreira away, with João Pereira scoring two goals. Because Porto had lost points, Benfica were now only six points from the top of the league. On the 13th, Benfica won their fifth match in a row, beating Braga at home. After the game, Camacho angrily refuted any idea that Benfica did not play accordingly to expectations: "A poor performance? That's not what I saw. In football there are two teams. Everyone knows that, against Benfica, all teams give their best, and we suffer that in the first half, because Braga played like every other team here. It is like the story of the bottle, for the optimist it is half full; for the pessimist, it is half empty." On the same day, they were drawn with Rosenborg in the upcoming round of the UEFA Cup. The following Wednesday, Benfica progressed through the fifth round of the Portuguese Cup, with Luisão scoring a single goal in an away win against Académica. The final game of the month came on the 21st, with a 3–0 win to Estrela da Amadora. Two goals within the first ten minutes allowed the team to comfortably manage the remaining time. Camacho later said that Benfica could have scored six or seven goals. This was the team's seventh win in a row, the longest streak of consecutive wins in Camacho's time at Benfica.