The 2023–24 Liga Portugal (also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons) was the 90th season of the Primeira Liga, the top professional league for Portuguese association football clubs and the first season under the current Liga Portugal Betclic title. This was the seventh Primeira Liga season to use video assistant referee (VAR). Benfica were the defending champions, having won their 38th title the previous season.
Since Portugal dropped from sixth to seventh place in the UEFA association coefficient rankings at the end of 2022–23 season, only the two best-ranked teams could qualify for the UEFA Champions League (the champions entered directly into the group stage, and the runners-up entered the third qualifying round). The Taça de Portugal winner qualified to the UEFA Europa League group stage, while the third-placed team qualified to the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round. The fourth-placed team, meanwhile, qualified to the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round.
On 5 May, Sporting CP were confirmed as champions with two matches to spare following Benfica's 2–0 away defeat to Famalicão, clinching the club's 20th league title and first since the 2020–21 season.
Teams
Eighteen teams competed in the league – the top fifteen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Liga Portugal 2. The promoted teams were Moreirense, Farense (returning to the top flight after a one and two years absence, respectively), and Estrela da Amadora (promoted for the first time in history in its current form founded in 2020 or after a fourteen-year absence if counting the club that dissolved in 2011 due to bankruptcy). They replaced Marítimo, Paços de Ferreira, and Santa Clara, who were relegated to the Liga Portugal 2 after respective spells of thirty-eight, four, and five years in the top flight.
This league season marked the first time since 1984–85 to have no teams from the Azores or Madeira islands in the top-flight.
Stadia and locations
Team Location Stadium Capacity2022–23 Arouca Arouca Estádio Municipal de Arouca 5,600 5th Benfica Lisbon Estádio da Luz 64,642 1st Boavista Porto Estádio do Bessa 28,263 9th Braga Braga Estádio Municipal de Braga 30,286 3rd Casa Pia Lisbon Estádio Municipal de Rio Maior* 7,000 10th Chaves Chaves Estádio Municipal Eng.ºManuel Branco Teixeira 8,396 7th Estoril Estoril Estádio António Coimbra da Mota 5,100 14th Estrela da Amadora Amadora Estádio José Gomes 9,288 3rd (LP2) Famalicão Vila Nova de Famalicão Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho 5,186 8th Farense Faro Estádio de São Luís 7,000 2nd (LP2) Gil Vicente Barcelos Estádio Cidade de Barcelos 12,046 13th Moreirense Moreira de Cónegos Parque de Jogos ComendadorJoaquim de Almeida Freitas 6,150 1st (LP2) Portimonense Portimão Estádio Municipal de Portimão 4,961 15th Porto Porto Estádio do Dragão 50,033 2nd Rio Ave Vila do Conde Estádio dos Arcos 5,300 12th Sporting CP Lisbon Estádio José Alvalade 50,095 4th Vitória de Guimarães Guimarães Estádio D. Afonso Henriques 30,029 6th Vizela Vizela Estádio do FC Vizela 6,000 11th
Estádio Pina Manique official stadium, not licensed for competition
Personnel and sponsors Team Manager Captain KitManufacturer Main Sponsor Arouca Daniel Sousa David Simão Skita ConstruçõesCarlos Pinho Benfica Roger Schmidt Nicolás Otamendi Adidas Emirates Boavista Jorge Simão Sebastián Pérez Kelme Placard Braga Rui Duarte Ricardo Horta Puma Moosh Casa Pia Gonçalo Santos Ângelo Neto Adidas ESC Online Chaves Moreno João Correia Lacatoni Forte de SãoFrancisco Hotel Estoril Vasco Seabra Dani Figueira Kappa Solverde Estrela da Amadora Sérgio Vieira Kialonda Gaspar Umbro Various Sponsors Famalicão Armando Evangelista Riccieli Macron Placard Farense José Mota Fabrício Isidoro Lacatoni Placard Gil Vicente Tozé Marreco Rúben Fernandes Lacatoni Barcelos Tourism Moreirense Rui Borges Pedro Amador CDT Placard Portimonense Paulo Sérgio Carlinhos Mizuno Ceremony Porto Sérgio Conceição Pepe New Balance Betano Rio Ave Luís Freire Vítor Gomes Puma Solverde Sporting CP Ruben Amorim Sebastián Coates Nike Betano Vitória de Guimarães Álvaro Pacheco André André Macron Placard Vizela Rubén de la Barrera Samu KappaSolverde
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Date of vacancy Pos in table Incoming manager Date of appointment Arouca Armando Evangelista Signed by Goiás 29 May 2023Pre-season Daniel Ramos 29 May 2023 Vizela Manuel TulipaMutual agreement31 May 2023 Pablo Villar 2 June 2023 Moreirense Paulo AlvesEnd of contract 11 May 2023 Rui Borges1 July 2023 Chaves Vítor Campelos 2 June 2023 José Gomes 16 June 2023 Estoril Ricardo SoaresSigned by Beijing Guoan 6 June 2023 Álvaro Pacheco 19 June 2023 Gil Vicente Daniel Sousa End of contract 26 June 2023 Vítor Campelos 30 June 2023Vitória de Guimarães MorenoResigned13 August 20239th Paulo Turra21 August 2023 Chaves José Gomes Sacked 19 September 2023 18th Moreno 21 September 2023Estoril Álvaro Pacheco24 September 202317th Vasco Seabra25 September 2023Vitória de Guimarães Paulo Turra3 October 20236th Álvaro Pacheco4 October 2023Casa Pia Filipe MartinsResigned12 November 202315th Pedro Moreira21 November 2023Arouca Daniel RamosSacked15 November 202318th Daniel Sousa15 November 2023Boavista PetitResigned12 December 202310th Ricardo Paiva29 December 2023Vizela Pablo Villar18 December 202317th Rubén de la Barrera19 December 2023Casa Pia Pedro MoreiraSacked15 February 202416th Gonçalo Santos16 February 2024 Famalicão João Pedro SousaMutual agreement 19 March 20248th Armando Evangelista 20 March 2024 Braga Artur JorgeSigned by Botafogo 3 April 20244th Rui Duarte 3 April 2024Boavista Ricardo PaivaResigned16 April 202412th Jorge Simao16 April 2024
League table
Relegation play-offs The relegation play-offs took place between Portimonense, who finished 16th in the Primeira Liga, and AVS, who finished 3rd in Liga Portugal 2.
All times are WEST (UTC+1).
1st leg
2nd leg
AVS won 4–2 on aggregate and were promoted to the Primeira Liga, while Portimonense were relegated to Liga Portugal 2.
Results
Statistics
Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Viktor GyökeresSporting292 Simon BanzaBraga213 Rafa MújicaArouca204 Jhonder CádizFamalicão15 PaulinhoSporting Samuel EssendeVizela Cristo GonzálezArouca8 Héctor HernándezChaves14 Rafa SilvaBenfica10 EvanilsonPorto13 Bruno DuarteFarense
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Héctor HernándezChavesGil Vicente4–2 (H)7 October 2023 Simon BanzaBragaPortimonense6–1 (H)4 November 2023 Rafa MújicaAroucaGil Vicente3–0 (H)16 December 2023 Viktor GyökeresSportingBoavista6–1 (H)17 March 2024 Notes (H) – Home team(A) – Away team
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Diogo CostaPorto142 Anatoliy TrubinBenfica13 KewinMoreirense4 Ricardo BatistaCasa Pia105 Antonio AdánSporting9 JhonatanRio Ave AndrewGil Vicente8 Bruno VarelaVitória de Guimarães8 Marcelo CarnéEstoril Luiz Júnior Famalicão
Discipline Player Most yellow cards: 13 Ângelo Neto (Casa Pia) Most red cards: 3 Ygor Nogueira (Chaves)
Club Most yellow cards: 99 Famalicão Most red cards: 9 Chaves Famalicão Porto
Awards Monthly awards MonthPlayer of the MonthGoalkeeper of the MonthDefender of the MonthMidfielder of the MonthForward of the MonthManager of the MonthGoal of the MonthPlayerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubPlayerClubManagerClubPlayerClubAugust PaulinhoSporting Bruno VarelaVitória de Guimarães Iván MarcanoPorto Gaius MakoutaBoavista PaulinhoSporting PetitBoavista Tiago SilvaV. GuimarãesSeptember Viktor GyökeresSporting Luiz JúniorFamalicão Ousmane DiomandeSporting João NevesBenfica Viktor GyökeresSporting Ruben AmorimSporting Orkun KökçüBenficaOctober/November António SilvaBenfica Tiago AguilarMoreirense Rafael BarbosaFarenseDecember Ricardo VelhoFarense Gonçalo InácioSporting Ruben AmorimSporting Théo FonsecaFamalicãoJanuary Diogo CostaPorto Rodrigo ZalazarBraga João MendesVitória de GuimarãesFebruary Rafa MújicaArouca Ricardo VelhoFarense António SilvaBenfica João NevesBenfica Rafa MújicaArouca Daniel SousaArouca SorrisoFamalicãoMarch Jota SilvaVitória de Guimarães CharlesVitória de Guimarães PepePorto Jota SilvaVitória de Guimarães Ruben AmorimSporting Felippe CardosoCasa PiaApril Viktor GyökeresSporting Ricardo VelhoFarense Gonçalo InácioSporting Pedro GonçalvesSporting Viktor GyökeresSporting Tomás HändelVitória de Guimarães
Annual awards AwardWinner Club Player of the Season Viktor GyökeresSporting Manager of the Season Ruben AmorimSportingTop scorer Viktor GyökeresSporting Goal of the Season João MendesVitória de Guimarães Team of the Year Team of the Year Goalkeeper Ricardo Velho (Farense) Defence Costinha (Rio Ave) Sebastián Coates (Sporting)Ousmane Diomande (Sporting) Gonçalo Inácio (Sporting) Midfield Jota Silva (Vitória de Guimarães) João Neves (Benfica) Morten Hjulmand (Sporting CP) Pedro Gonçalves (Sporting CP) Rafa Mújica (Arouca) Attack Viktor Gyökeres (Sporting CP)
Number of teams by district RankDistrict Football AssociationsNumberTeams1 Braga6Braga, Famalicão, Gil Vicente, Moreirense, Vitória de Guimarães and Vizela2 Lisbon5Benfica, Casa Pia, Estoril, Estrela da Amadora and Sporting CP3 Porto3Boavista, Porto and Rio Ave4 Faro2Farense and Portimonense5 Aveiro1Arouca Vila Real Chaves
Attendances
SL Benfica drew the highest average home attendance in the 2023-24 edition of the Primeira Liga.
Notes
References