1992–93 S.L. Benfica season

Benfica

1992–93 season
President	Jorge de Brito
Head coach	Tomislav Ivić (until 25 October 1992) Toni
Stadium	Estádio da Luz
Primeira Divisão	2nd
Taça de Portugal	Winners
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira	Runners-up
UEFA Cup	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Isaías (9) All: Isaías (17)
Highest home attendance	90,000 vs Porto (27 January 1993)
Lowest home attendance	20,000 vs Amora (3 February 1993)
Home colours
← 1991–92 1993–94 →

The 1992–93 season was Sport Lisboa e Benfica's 89th season in existence and the club's 59th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football, covering the period from 1 July 1992 to 30 June 1993. Benfica competed domestically in the Primeira Divisão and the Taça de Portugal, and participated in the UEFA Cup by finishing second in the previous season.^[1]

This season was the first after the departure of Sven-Göran Eriksson, with Tomislav Ivić succeeding the Swedish coach for a brief spell before former manager Toni took over until the end of the season. In the transfer market, the club look into strengthening their defence, after conceding 23 goals in the league in the year before, with regular starters being brought in, notably the cases of Abel Xavier, Hélder and Carlos Mozer. Also with strikers like Rui Águas and Sergei Yuran, players that could play in the hole were needed, so João Pinto and Aleksandr Mostovoi were signed. Benfica finished the league in the second place, two points behind defending champions Porto – against whom they also lost the 1991 Supertaça in a replay final – but secured a record 22nd Taça de Portugal title.

Season summary

Swedish manager Sven-Göran Eriksson left the club after three seasons, following a trophyless 1991–92 season.^[2] As his successor, Benfica brought in Croatian manager Tomislav Ivić, who had arrived in Portugal in 1987 to represent Porto and guided them to four trophies in one season. Ivić chose Shéu to be his assistant, instead of Toni, who had been Eriksson's assistant as well as Benfica's manager during Ivić's previous tenure at Porto. One of Ivić's first demands was to reduce the width of the Estádio da Luz pitch to simulate the smaller fields that the team would encounter in away games.^[3][4]

Benfica started the season in good form, winning the first game, but this performance was not continued through the following matches.^[5] In September, the team dropped the first points, lagging behind in the title race, and lost the 1991 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira replay final against Porto on penalties, despite a two-goal advantage.^[6] The results did not improve as the season progressed, and an away loss to Sporting CP (the first in eight years) caused Ivić to be sacked days later and replaced by Toni.^[7] The effect was not immediate as the team suffered a compromising loss against Porto, which opened a four-point gap at the top of the league standings. After December, good results in Europe and in the Taça de Portugal helped to boost the team's morale and performance.^[7]

In January, Benfica signed Paulo Futre, the 1987 Ballon d'Or runner-up with Porto, for what the media described to be upwards of £2.4 million.^[8][9] Later that month, Benfica played with Porto at the Estádio das Antas for the sixth round of the Portuguese cup. Porto took the lead soon after Mozer's sending off on the 70th minute, but Benfica drew level through Aleksandr Mostovoi, with two minutes to play. The contend was decided in a replay match in Lisbon, which Benfica won 2–0 with goals from Isaías and Sergei Yuran.^[10]

Over the following months, Benfica had their best period of the season. Nonetheless, March was a difficult month as the team marginally defeated Sporting CP at home after dropping points in the title race against Farense, and were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Roberto Baggio's and Gianluca Vialli's Juventus.^[11][12][13] In early April, Benfica closed the gap to leaders Porto to one point, after a hard-fought away win against Boavista. Ahead of the Clássico on 17 April, Porto and Benfica were tied in points, but as the match ended with a goalless draw, the title race remained open.

Entering May, Benfica reached the top of the Primeira Divisão but their campaign in the Taça de Portugal nearly came to an end in the semifinal. Trailing 1–0 to Vitória de Guimarães until the 78th minute, goals from Isaías and Rui Águas (89th minute) overturned the score and qualified Benfica for the final.^[14] On matchday 31, a 1–0 loss against Beira-Mar in Aveiro saw Benfica lose the league lead back to Porto,^[10] and a goalless away draw against Estoril in the penultimate day confirmed back-to-back league titles for Porto.

The team concluded the season on 10 June 1993 by beating Boavista 5–2 in the 1993 Taça de Portugal final, with an inspired performance by Futre.^[14]

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Overall record

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

Benfica v Porto

9 September 1992 Replay	Benfica	1–1 (4–5 p)	Porto	Estádio Municipal de Coimbra, Coimbra
	Isaías 72'	https://www.zerozero.pt/jogo.php?id=47017 (Report)]	84' João Pinto	Referee: José Pratas (Évora)[16]
	Penalties
	William Rui Águas Kulkov Isaías Hélder Mostovoi		João Pinto Fernando Couto Aloísio André Antônio Carlos Paulinho César

Primeira Divisão

League table

Results by round

Matches

Tirsense v Benfica

30 August 1992 2	Tirsense	1–2	Benfica	Santo Tirso
19:00	Silvinho 1'	Report	William 22' (pen.) João Pinto 78'	Stadium: Abel de Figueiredo Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Bento Marques

Famalicão v Benfica

13 September 1992 4	Famalicão	1–0	Benfica	Vila Nova de Famalicão
20:00	Freitas 78'	Report		Stadium: Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Carlos Valente

Benfica v Braga

20 September 1992 5	Benfica	2–1	Braga	Lisbon
19:00	Pacheco 38' Rui Águas 44'	Report	Chiquinho Carlos 76'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: António Rola

Sporting Espinho v Benfica

27 September 1992 6	Sporting Espinho	0–3	Benfica	Espinho
20:30		Report	José Carlos 44' João Pinto 60' Vítor Paneira 86'	Stadium: Comendador Manuel Violas Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Bento Marques

Benfica v Farense

4 October 1992 7	Benfica	1–0	Farense	Lisbon
20:00	Vítor Paneira 11'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Mário Leal

Sporting v Benfica

17 October 1992 8	Sporting	2–0	Benfica	Lisbon
21:00	Balakov 1' Yordanov 53'  n/d'  77' Filipe  n/d'  54'	Report	Vítor Paneira  54'	Stadium: Estádio de Alvalade Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Carlos Valente

Gil Vicente v Benfica

25 October 1992 9	Gil Vicente	1–1	Benfica	Barcelos
20:15	Drulović 7'	Report	Fernando Mendes 50'	Stadium: Estádio Adelino Ribeiro Novo Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Serafim Alvito

Benfica v Boavista

31 October 1992 10	Benfica	2–0	Boavista	Lisbon
20:00	Isaías 4' Schwarz 89'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 45,000 Referee: José Pratas

Porto v Benfica

8 November 1992 11	Porto	1–0	Benfica	Porto
20:30	Timofte 85' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Estádio das Antas Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Veiga Trigo

Benfica v Desportivo de Chaves

15 November 1992 12	Benfica	3–1	Desportivo de Chaves	Lisbon
20:00	Isaías 34' Schwarz 53' Hélder 74'	Report	Saavedra 3'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Juvenal Silvestre

Vitória Guimarães v Benfica

21 November 1992 13	Vitória Guimarães	0–1	Benfica	Guimarães
19:00		Report	Taoufik Herichi 57' (o.g.)	Stadium: Estádio D. Afonso Henriques Attendance: 8,000 Referee: João Simãozinho

Marítimo v Benfica

13 December 1992 15	Marítimo	1–1	Benfica	Funchal
19:00	Heitor 42'	Report	Yuran 6'	Stadium: Estádio dos Barreiros Attendance: 15,000 Referee: António Rola

Benfica v Estoril-Praia

19 December 1992 16	Benfica	4–0	Estoril-Praia	Lisbon
20:00	Vítor Paneira 40' Isaías 46', 88' Yuran 55'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Jorge Coroado

Benfica v Paços de Ferreira

23 December 1992 1	Benfica	5–0	Paços de Ferreira	Lisbon
19:45	Rui Costa 11' Yuran 39', 87' Vítor Paneira 41' João Pinto 78'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Lucílio Baptista

Belenenses v Benfica

3 January 1993 17	Belenenses	1–1	Benfica	Lisbon
21:00	Guto 44'  25'  83'	Report	Hélder 57' Paulo Sousa  65' Pacheco  77'	Stadium: Estádio do Restelo Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Lourenço Ferreira

Paços de Ferreira v Benfica

9 January 1993 18	Paços de Ferreira	0–2	Benfica	Paços de Ferreira
20:00		Report	Isaías 29', 87'	Stadium: Estádio da Mata Real Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Bento Marques

Benfica v Tirsense

30 January 1993 19	Benfica	1–0	Tirsense	Lisbon
17:00	Isaías 68'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Fortunato Azevedo

Salgueiros v Benfica

7 February 1993 20	Salgueiros	0–3	Benfica	Porto
20:45		Report	João Pinto 57' Yuran 76' Kulkov 79'	Stadium: Estádio Prof. Dr. José Vieira de Carvalho Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Veiga Trigo

Benfica v Famalicão

14 February 1993 21	Benfica	1–0	Famalicão	Lisbon
19:30	Rui Águas 16'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Marques da Silva

Braga v Benfica

28 February 1993 22	Braga	0–2	Benfica	Braga
19:45	Eusébio  52'  77'	Report	João Pinto 77', 86'	Stadium: Estádio 1º de Maio Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Carlos Valente

Benfica v Sporting Espinho

7 March 1993 23	Benfica	5–1	Sporting Espinho	Lisbon
19:30	Rui Costa 7', 30', 83' Vítor Paneira 32' (pen.) Futre 76'	Report	Ado 40'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Marques da Silva

Benfica v Sporting

21 March 1993 25	Benfica	1–0	Sporting	Lisbon
20:00	Futre 65'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 80,000 Referee: Jorge Coroado

Benfica v Gil Vicente

4 April 1993 26	Benfica	2–1	Gil Vicente	Lisbon
18:00	Pacheco 47', 66'	Report	Miguel 43'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 30,000 Referee: João Mesquita

Boavista v Benfica

10 April 1993 27	Boavista	2–3	Benfica	Porto
20:00	Marlon Brandão 2' Caetano  5'  27' Artur 72', g.p.'	Report	Yuran 14', 47' Isaías 58' Hélder  25'  65' Neno  71'	Stadium: Estádio do Bessa Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Fortunado Azevedo

Desportivo de Chaves v Benfica

2 May 1993 29	Desportivo de Chaves	0–1	Benfica	Chaves
19:00	Karoglan  5'  80'	Report	Paulo Sousa  80' Yuran  5'  80' Schwarz 87'	Stadium: Estádio Municipal de Chaves Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Lourenço Ferreira

Benfica v Vitória Guimarães

9 May 1993 30	Benfica	3–1	Vitória Guimarães	Lisbon
20:30	William 40' (pen.) Isaías 42' Yuran 49'	Report	Ziad 89'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 80,000 Referee: José Filipe

Beira-Mar v Benfica

16 May 1993 31	Beira-Mar	1–0	Benfica	Aveiro
19:00	Dino 86'	Report	Yuran  n/d'  61' Pacheco  n/d'  90'	Stadium: Estádio Mário Duarte Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Carlos Calheiros

Benfica v Marítimo

23 May 1993 32	Benfica	5–1	Marítimo	Lisbon
17:00	João Pinto 4' William 15' Rui Águas 35', 66', 79'	Report	Ademir Alcântara 22'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 45,000 Referee: João Mesquita

Benfica v Belenenses

6 June 1993 34	Benfica	5–1	Belenenses	Lisbon
20:00	Abel Silva 6' Rui Águas 9' Futre 21' César Brito 74' Vítor Paneira 83'	Report	Emerson 86'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Bento Marques

Taça de Portugal

Louletano v Benfica

29 November 1992 Fourth Rd	Louletano	0–1	Benfica	Loulé
19:45		Report	Pacheco 76' (pen.)	Stadium: Municipal de Loulé Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Bento Marques

Rio Ave v Benfica

27 December 1993 Fifth Rd	Rio Ave	1–3	Benfica	Vila do Conde
20:30	Gama 79'	Report	Kulkov 12' Hélder 40' Vítor Paneira 76'	Stadium: Estádio do Rio Ave FC Referee: José Pratas

Porto v Benfica

17 January 1993 Sixth Rd	Porto	1−1 (a.e.t.)	Benfica	Porto
20:30	Timofte 72'	Report	Mostovoi 88' Mozer  n/d'  70'	Stadium: Estádio das Antas Referee: José Pratas

Benfica v Porto

27 January 1993 6R Replay	Benfica	2–0	Porto	Lisbon
20:30	Isaías 58' Yuran 85' (pen.)	Report	Aloísio  74'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 90,000 Referee: Carlos Valente

Benfica v Amora

3 February 1993 Quarter-final	Benfica	5–0	Amora	Lisbon
18:00	Mostovoi 43' Pacheco 69' (pen.) Yuran 75' (pen.) Paulo Sousa 81'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Mário Leal

Vitória Guimarães v Benfica

6 May 1993 Semi-final	Vitória Guimarães	1–2	Benfica	Guimarães
19:00	Ziad 2'	Report	Isaías 78' Rui Águas 89'	Stadium: Estádio D. Afonso Henriques Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Carlos Valente

Benfica v Boavista

10 June 1993 Final	Benfica	5–2	Boavista	Oeiras
17:00 WEST	Paneira 32' João Pinto 35' Futre 48', 70' Águas 88'	Report	Brandão 44' Alfredo  50' Tavares 57' José Garrido   87'	Stadium: Estádio Nacional, Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Veiga Trigo

UEFA Cup

First round

Benfica v Belvedur Izola

16 September 1992 First leg	Benfica	3–0	Belvedur Izola	Lisbon
19;45	Paneira 41', 73' William 44' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Vasilakis Periklis

Belvedur Izola v Benfica

29 September 1992 Second leg	Belvedur Izola	0–5 (0–8 agg.)	Benfica	Izola
19;45		Report	Pacheco 20', 46', 75' Pinto 56' Brito 87'	Stadium: Izola City Stadium Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Jacobus Vilenberg (Netherlands)

Second round

Benfica v Vác FC-Samsung

21 October 1992 First leg	Benfica	5–1	Vác FC-Samsung	Lisbon
19;45	Yuran 42' Isaías 55', 85' Pacheco 57' (pen.) William 79' (pen.)	Report	Szedlacsek 82'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Ryszard Wójcik

Vác FC-Samsung v Benfica

4 November 1992 Second leg	Vác FC-Samsung	0–1 (1–6 agg.)	Benfica	Vác
19;45		Report	Schwarz 13'	Stadium: Stadion Városi Vác Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Oğuz Sarvan (Turkey)

Third round

Dynamo Moscow v Benfica

25 November 1992 First leg	Dynamo Moscow	2–2	Benfica	Moscow
20:30	Kalitvintsev 75' Derkach 88'	Report	Isaías 35', 53'	Stadium: Dynamo Stadium Attendance: 8,700 Referee: John Blankenstein (Netherlands)

Benfica v Dynamo Moscow

8 December 1992 (1992-12-08) Second leg	Benfica	2–0 (4–2 agg.)	Dynamo Moscow	Lisbon
21:15	Isaías 51' Yuran 57'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 67,000 Referee: Gheorghe Constantin (Romania)

Quarter-finals

Benfica v Juventus

4 March 1993 First leg	Benfica	2–1	Juventus	Lisbon
21:00	Paneira 11', 76'	Report	Vialli 58' (pen.)	Stadium: Estádio da Luz, Attendance: 80,000 Referee: Guy Goethals (Belgium)

Juventus v Benfica

17 March 1993 (1993-03-17) Second leg	Juventus	3–0 (4–2 agg.)	Benfica	Turin
17:45	Kohler 2' D. Baggio 45' Ravanelli 67'	Report		Stadium: Stadio delle Alpi Attendance: 21,500 Referee: Mikkelsen (Denmark)

Friendlies

^[17]

Player statistics

The squad for the season consisted of the players listed in the tables below, as well as staff member Tomislav Ivic (manager) and Toni(manager).^[15][18]

Note 1: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note 2: Players with squad numbers marked ‡ joined the club during the 1992-93 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Primeira Divisão		Taça de Portugal		UEFA Cup		Supertaça
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	POR	Silvino	37	-19	28	-13	0	0	8	-5	1	-1
1	GK	POR	Neno	14	-11	6	-4	7	-5	1	-2	0	0
2	DF	POR	António Veloso	43	0	28	0	6	0	8	0	1	0
2‡	DF	POR	Abel Xavier	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
2‡	DF	POR	Abel Silva	2	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF	POR	José Carlos	27	1	19	1	2	0	6	0	0	0
3‡	DF	POR	Fernando Mendes	19	1	13	1	3	0	2	0	1	0
4‡	DF	POR	Samuel Quina	7	0	4	0	1	0	1	0	1	0
4‡	DF	POR	Hélder Cristóvão	46	3	30	2	7	1	8	0	1	0
4	DF	BRA	William	30	5	20	3	4	0	5	2	1	0
5	DF	POR	Paulo Madeira	16	0	11	0	1	0	4	0	0	0
5‡	DF	BRA	Carlos Mozer	18	0	13	0	3	0	2	0	0	0
5	MF	SWE	Schwarz	42	4	29	3	5	0	8	1	0	0
6	MF	POR	Paulo Sousa	35	1	25	0	4	1	6	0	0	0
6	MF	RUS	Vasili Kulkov	21	2	14	1	4	1	2	0	1	0
7	MF	POR	Vítor Paneira	43	12	28	6	6	2	8	4	1	0
8‡	MF	POR	João Pinto	32	9	21	7	6	1	4	1	1	0
8	MF	POR	António Pacheco	34	9	26	3	3	2	5	4	0	0
9	FW	POR	Rui Águas	34	8	23	6	6	2	4	0	1	0
9	FW	RUS	Sergei Yuran	32	13	22	8	4	3	6	2	0	0
10‡	MF	POR	Paulo Futre	13	5	11	3	2	2	0	0	0	0
10	MF	POR	Rui Costa	32	4	23	4	4	0	4	0	1	0
11	MF	BRA	Isaías	38	17	26	9	5	2	6	5	1	1
11	FW	POR	César Brito	3	2	2	1	0	0	1	1	0	0
12‡	GK	POR	Pedro Roma	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	MF	POR	Hernâni Neves	4	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
16‡	MF	RUS	Aleksandr Mostovoi	16	2	9	0	3	2	3	0	1	0
22	DF	POR	Daniel Kenedy	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

Transfers

^[1]

In

Out

References

Bibliography

• Tovar, Rui Miguel (2012). Almanaque do Benfica. Portugal: Lua de Papel. ISBN 978-989-23-2087-8.
• Tomaz, João (2014). Plantel Glorioso. Portugal: Prime Books. ISBN 978-989-655-246-6.