The 2023–24 Sport Lisboa e Benfica season was the club's 120th season in existence and its 90th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football.
Domestically, Benfica played in the Primeira Liga as defending champions, and reached the semi-finals of the Taça da Liga and Taça de Portugal. In Europe, Benfica played in the UEFA Champions League group stage before reaching the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. The season started on 9 August 2023, with a 2–0 win over Porto in the Supertaça match, and concluded on 17 May 2024, with a second-place finish in Primeira Liga.
Season summary Pre-Season Benfica entered the 2023–24 season as the defending league champions, with Roger Schmidt remaining as manager for a second consecutive season. Several changes were made to the squad: goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin, left-backs Juan Bernat and David Jurásek, midfielder Orkun Kökçü, wingers Gonçalo Guedes and Ángel Di María, and striker Arthur Cabral all joined the club. Departures included Odysseas Vlachodimos, Álex Grimaldo, Mihailo Ristić, Gilberto, Lucas Veríssimo, Cher Ndour, Diego Moreira, Martim Neto (on loan), Andreas Schjelderup, Henrique Araújo (on loan), and Gonçalo Ramos.
Pre-season began on 5 July, with the first friendly taking place on 12 July, a 2–0 win over Southampton. Further victories followed against Basel, Al-Nassr, and Celta de Vigo, before two defeats to Burnley and Feyenoord.
August-November The first official match of the season was on 9 August 2023 in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira against Porto, which Benfica won 2–0 with goals from Di María and Petar Musa. In the opening league match, Benfica lost 3–2 away to Boavista after Musa was sent off in the 50th minute, when the team was leading 2–1. The team responded with four consecutive league victories before losing 2–0 at home to Red Bull Salzburg in their opening Champions League group-stage match. Benfica then defeated Portimonense 3–1, and on 29 September hosted Porto in the seventh league round, winning 1–0 through a goal from Di María and ending the month one point behind leaders Sporting.
October began with a visit to the San Siro to face Inter Milan, ending in a 1–0 defeat. The team then defeated Estoril in the league and Lusitânia in the third round of the Taça de Portugal, before suffering another Champions League defeat, losing 1–0 at home to Real Sociedad. A home draw with Casa Pia followed, after which Benfica earned two consecutive wins, one in the league and one in the Taça da Liga, before again losing to Real Sociedad. On 12 November, Benfica hosted Sporting. After conceding to a goal from Viktor Gyökeres, the team completed a comeback in stoppage time with goals from João Neves and Casper Tengstedt in the fourth and eighth minutes of injury time, respectively, moving into first place in the league.
December-February After the international break, Benfica hosted Inter Milan, taking a 3–0 lead at half-time with a hat-trick from João Mário, but conceded three goals in the second half, drawing 3–3. The draw was followed by two consecutive league stalemates against Moreirense and Farense. On 12 December, already eliminated from the Champions League and fighting for a place in the Europa League, Benfica travelled to Austria to face Red Bull Salzburg, winning 3–1, with the decisive goal scored by Arthur Cabral in stoppage time. Following that victory, Benfica defeated Braga, AVS (in the Taça da Liga) and Famalicão, finishing the year one point behind Sporting.
In January, Benfica won all five of its league matches and defeated Braga 3–2 in the round of 16 of the Taça de Portugal. However, on 24 January, the team was eliminated from the Taça da Liga after losing on penalties to Estoril in the semi-finals. The following month began with victories over Gil Vicente in the league and Vizela in the quarter-finals of the Taça de Portugal, followed by a 2–2 draw away to Vitória de Guimarães. Benfica then eliminated Toulouse from the Europa League, and went on to beat Vizela and Portimonense in the league. The month ended with a 2–1 defeat against Sporting in Alvalade, in the first leg of the Taça de Portugal semi-finals, closing the month Benfica one point behind the league leaders.
March-May March began with Benfica visiting the Estádio do Dragão, where they suffered a 5–0 defeat against FC Porto. The team then drew 2–2 at home with Rangers in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16, before securing a 1–0 victory in Scotland to advance to the quarter-finals. In the league, Benfica won all three of its matches before hosting Sporting in the second leg of the Taça de Portugal semi-finals. The match ended in a 2–2 draw, resulting in Benfica’s elimination from the competition. On 6 April, Benfica returned to the Estádio José Alvalade for a decisive league encounter against Sporting, entering the match one point behind their rivals (with one game in hand), but were defeated 2–1, falling seven points adrift in the title race.
After being eliminated in the semi-finals of both domestic cups and facing a significant disadvantage in the league, Benfica hosted Olympique de Marseille in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, winning 2–1 at home. In the second leg, played in Marseille, Benfica lost 1–0, with the tie decided on penalties, where the French side advanced. With five league matches remaining, Benfica recorded three wins, one draw, and one defeat, finishing the season ten points behind champions Sporting.
Players First-team squad
Transfers In PlayerTransferred fromFeeDateSourceSummer transfers10 Feyenoord€25,000,00011 JuventusFree13 Slavia Prague€14,000,0001 Shakhtar Donetsk€10,000,0009 Fiorentina€20,000,00017 Wolverhampton WanderersLoan29 August 202314 Paris Saint-Germain1 September 2023Winter transfers36 Santos€18,000,0004 January 20243 Manchester UnitedLoan17 January 202432 Estudiantes de La Plata20 January 202425 Vélez Sarsfield€9,000,00031 January 2024Disclosed total€96,800,000
Out PlayerTransferred toFeeDateSourceSummer transfers— Borussia Mönchengladbach€7,180,0003 Bayer LeverkusenFree— Chaves73 Paris Saint-Germain96 Chelsea— Al Wasl2 Bahia€2,500,000— FamalicãoLoan4 CorinthiansLoan (€1,000,000)49 Gil VicenteLoan9 Paris Saint-Germain17 PAOK18 Celtic21 NordsjællandLoan (€2,500,000)23 Celta Vigo€1,500,00099 Nottingham Forest€9,000,000Winter transfers— Paris Saint-Germain€65,000,00038 Vasco da Gama€6,000,000— FluminenseFree22 Olympiacos€1,000,00013 TSG HoffenheimLoan— Al-Duhail€9,000,00033 FC Dallas€10,000,000Disclosed total€114,680,000
Pre-season friendlies
The pre-season began on 5 July 2023.
Competitions Overall record
Primeira Liga
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches
Taça de Portugal
Semi-finals
Taça da Liga
Third round
Semi-finals
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
UEFA Champions League
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 31 August 2023.
UEFA Europa League
Knockout phase
Knockout round play-offs The draw for the knockout round play-offs was held on 18 December 2023.
Round of 16 The draw for the round of 16 was held on 23 February 2024.
Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 15 March 2024.
Statistics Appearances and goals
! colspan=18 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Goalkeepers
! colspan=18 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Defenders
! colspan=18 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Midfielders
! colspan=18 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Forwards
! colspan=18 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Players who made an appearance and/or had a squad number but left the team.
References