S.L. Benfica (basketball)

Benfica
Nickname	As Águias (The Eagles) Os Encarnados (The Reds)
Leagues	Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol
Founded	20 March 1927 (1927-03-20)
History	S.L. Benfica (1927–present)
Arena	Pavilhão Fidelidade
Capacity	2,400
Location	Lisbon, Portugal
Team colours	Red and white
President	Rui Costa
Team manager	João Nuno Crespo
Head coach	Norberto Alves
Championships	30 Portuguese Leagues 23 Portuguese Cups 15 Portuguese Supercups 13 Portuguese League Cups
Retired numbers	2 (5, 7)
Website	slbenfica.pt
Home Away Third

Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɨˈpɔɾ liʒˈβoɐ i βɐ̃jˈfikɐ] ^ⓘ), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional basketball team based in Lisbon, Portugal, that plays in the Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol (LPB), where they are the current champions. Founded in 1927, it is the senior representative side of the basketball section of multi-sports club S.L. Benfica.

In June 2007, the club decided to leave the professional top league, then known as LCB, and join the Proliga, a league organized by the Portuguese Basketball Federation. From 2008 onwards, they returned to the LPB after the federation took control of the competition.

Benfica is the most successful Portuguese club, having the record for most championships (30), cups (23), league cups (13), super cups (15), and other national competitions plus the Supertaça da Lusofonia, totalling 86 trophies. It is also the Portuguese team that advanced the furthest in the European top club championship, now known as EuroLeague.

Some of their most memorable moments were European victories against clubs that have won the Euroleague, such as Virtus Bologna, Real Madrid, Cantù, Cibona, Joventut Badalona, Panathinaikos, Partizan, CSKA Moscow, and Varese.

Along with its several youth teams, which play in their respective top division championships, Benfica also has a developmental basketball team, Benfica B, that plays in the Proliga, the second highest tier in Portugal.

History

Early years

Created on 20 March 1927, the basketball team followed the steps of many other sports that were supported by the club, achieving great success almost immediately. The team established itself as a main contender by the 1940s and during the whole 1960s gained the status of championship favourite and was already the club with the most titles won. By this time the club had won eight national championships and eight cups. This dominating spell decreased the following decade until the early 1980s. During this time span, Benfica would win only two championships, in the 1969–70 and the 1974–75 season, but won four national cups, the second most prestigious Portuguese tournament, in 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73 and 1973–74. After these years, Benfica again dominated the national scene.

Golden years

The most successful period of the club was between 1985 and 1995. In eleven seasons, the team won ten national titles, seven of which in a row, five national cups, five league cups and six super cups, achieving the best season ever by a Portuguese basketball team in 1994–95 winning the Portuguese League, Portuguese League Cup, Portuguese Super Cup, Portuguese Basketball Cup and finishing the European Champions' Cup in the Top 16. One of the highlight from that European Champions' Cup season was a 22-point victory (102–80) against CSKA Moscow in Lisbon on 12 January 1995. Benfica also made successful international campaigns in the other seasons considering the budget the team had compared with other European big teams. Some of the most successful of those campaigns include the 1993–94, when Benfica was close to reach the Top 8, and for a third season in a row Benfica managed to reach the Top 16 again in the European Champions' Cup, in 1995–96, grabbing a win against Panathinaikos, the eventual champions.

Decline in the late 1990s

This period was followed by a dark era in which Benfica was internally overshadowed by Ovarense, Portugal Telecom and FC Porto. Even though this period is considered to be a dark one, Benfica did manage to reach the LPB final once as well as winning Super Cups and finishing runners-up in the national cup and in the league cup. Also noteworthy is an away win against Real Madrid, in the 1996–97 EuroCup, the same season the Spaniards won the competition. The team finally decided to withdraw from the top tier and applied for the second league, the Proliga, which was the highest division run by the Federação Portuguesa de Basquetebol. However the first division was folded and the LPB (league) was again being overviewed by the national federation. This allowed the team to make a comeback to the main league.

Revival in the late 2000s

After more than a decade without any titles and in the same season Benfica had made a return to the first league, the 2008–09 season, the team won the Portuguese League, with a perfect score of 100% wins during the regular season, becoming the second team in the world to do so, after Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 1970s, and thrashing Ovarense 4–0 in the best-of-four game final. Benfica won the championship again the following season with a 91% winning record in the regular stage and a 4–1 final against Porto. The recent success brought the team to participate in the EuroChallenge, thus marking the end of a mid-term long hiatus from Portuguese clubs in European basketball competitions. The following year, Benfica won the League Cup and the Super Cup but did not renew the championship as it lost 4–3 in the final to Porto.

Recent years

In the next season Benfica regained the title of Portuguese champion after defeating Porto in their home court Dragão Caixa (53–56) in the last best-of-five series game following a 2–2 playoff tie. Benfica retained the title the following season, having only lost two games, one in the regular season, and the other in the play-off final, which they won 3–1 against Académica de Coimbra, both defeats coming only in overtime. Overall Benfica won every title except the Cup, losing against Vitória de Guimarães in the final, amassing only three losses in the entire season in all competitions. On 23 May 2014, Benfica defeated Vitória de Guimarães (3–0) and conquered its 25th champions title (third consecutive), completing the domestic treble of League, Portuguese Cup and Hugo dos Santos Cup. In this season they won a total of 4 titles (including the 2013 Super Cup).

In the 2014–15 season, Benfica returned to the European competitions, playing in EuroChallenge where they finished in third place of Group E. At domestic level, Benfica won all the five competitions. Starting the 2015–16 season, they won their fifth and fourth consecutive António Pratas Trophy, setting a club record of ten consecutive Portuguese trophies won. They achieved the domestic treble of League Cup, Portuguese Cup, and league title the next season.

In September 2022, Benfica qualified for the regular season of the 2022–23 Basketball Champions League. It was the first time a Portuguese team entered the regular season of the league.

Results in international competition

Note: Benfica score is always listed first.

Season	Competition	Round	Opposition	Score
1961–62	FIBA European Champions Cup	Qualifying round	Pallacanestro Varese	49–73 (H) 101–48 (A)
1962–63	FIBA European Champions Cup	Qualifying round	Real Madrid	61–97 (H) 110–47 (A)
1963–64	FIBA European Champions Cup	Qualifying round	—	Bye
		First round	Legia Warsaw	Forfeit (0–2)
1965–66	FIBA European Champions Cup	Qualifying round	Wydad Casablanca	53–54 (A) 76–77 (H) 61–63 (N)
1966–67	FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup	Qualifying round	Joventut Badalona	107–38 (A) 57–118 (H)
1970–71	FIBA European Champions Cup	Qualifying round	Budapest Honvéd SE	67–112 (H) 118–66 (A)
1972–73	FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup	First qualifying round	Sutton Basket	76–77 (A) 77–71 (H)
		Second qualifying round	Antwerp BC	86–83 (H) 120–80 (A)
1973–74	FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup	Second qualifying round	Estudiantes Madrid	91–75 (H) 93–61 (A)
1981–82	FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup	First qualifying round	BBK Gent	81–83 (H) 101–81 (A)
1986–87	FIBA European Champions Cup	Qualifying round	Manchester United	91–67 (A) 87–79 (H)
1987–88	FIBA European Champions Cup	Qualifying round	BBC Sparta Bertrange	122–77 (H) 84–108 (A)
		First round	Maccabi Tel Aviv	111–86 (A) 79–81 (H)
1988–89	FIBA Korać Cup	Qualifying round	Antwerp Giants	83–75 (A) 95–88 (H)
1989–90	FIBA European Champions Cup	Qualifying round	Olimpia Milano	99–112 (H) 92–73 (A)
1990–91	FIBA European Champions Cup	Qualifying round	Bayer Leverkusen	87–85 (H) 110–74 (A)
1991–92	FIBA European League	Preliminary round II	Olympique Antibes	89–76 (H) 88–74 (A)
1991–92	FIBA European Cup	Preliminary round III	Szolnoki Olaj	100–79 (H) 75–84 (A)
		Semi-final round Group B	Union Olimpija	91–88 (A) 47–84 (H)
			Panionios	89–77 (A) 88–76 (H)
			Hapoel Galil Elyon	79–74 (H) 78–95 (A)
			Real Madrid	75–78 (H) 102–79 (A)
			Pau-Orthez	89–80 (A) 79–90 (H)
1992–93	FIBA European League	Preliminary round I	Etzella Ettelbruck	72–113 (A) 105–58 (H)
		Preliminary round II	Maccabi Tel Aviv	75–89 (H) 100–81 (A)
1992–93	FIBA European Cup	Preliminary round III	CSKA Sofia	111–83 (H) 80–84 (A)
		Semi-final round Group B	Cholet Basket	82–98 (A) 84–73 (H)
			Split	60–70 (H) 79–56 (A)
			Aris	67–75 (H) 83–72 (A)
			Budivelnyk	79–77 (A) 88–75 (H)
			Hapoel Galil Elyon	74–93 (A) 73–80 (H)
1993–94	FIBA European League	Preliminary round I	Hapoel Tel Aviv	83–75 (A) 87–67 (H)
		Preliminary round II	Union Olimpija	87–63 (H) 91–76 (A)
		Semi-final round Group B	Panathinaikos	83–73 (A) 69–76 (H)
			Anadolu Efes	61–77 (H) 80–67 (A)
			Pallacanestro Cantù	75–64 (A) 83–64 (H)
			Virtus Bologna	102–90 (H) 97–57 (A)
			Cibona	67–66 (H) 75–63 (A)
			Joventut Badalona	76–79 (A) 78–89 (H)
			Pau-Orthez	72–80 (A) 72–74 (H)
1994–95	FIBA European League	Preliminary round II	Budapest Honvéd SE	85–94 (A) 96–89 (H)
		Semi-final round Group A	CSKA Moscow	103–61 (A) 102–80 (H)
			Union Olimpija	81–84 (H) 64–56 (A)
			PAOK	74–68 (A) 77–75 (H)
			Panathinaikos	49–67 (H) 80–60 (A)
			Real Madrid	70–54 (A) 62–66 (H)
			Victoria Pesaro	88–75 (A) 69–88 (H)
			Maccabi Tel Aviv	81–90 (H) 86–75 (A)
1995–96	FIBA European League	Preliminary round II	Partizan Belgrade	64–64 (A) 112–95 (H)
		Semi-final round Group B	Cibona	65–79 (H) 64–59 (A)
			Pau-Orthez	76–61 (A) 99–90 (H)
			Maccabi Tel Aviv	74–66 (A) 82–94 (H)
			Virtus Bologna	83–85 (H) 97–81 (A)
			Panathinaikos	67–51 (A) 96–87 (H)
			Real Madrid	73–78 (H) 86–81 (A)
			Barcelona	55–76 (H) 106–94 (A)
1996–97	FIBA EuroCup	Group C	Spartak Pleven	111–98 (A) 95–75 (H)
			ratiopharm Ulm	91–81 (H) 82–69 (A)
			Hapoel Galil Elyon	78–64 (H) 92–85 (A)
			Real Madrid	59–60 (A) 73–76 (H)
			MZT Skopje	77–75 (H) 75–73 (A)
		Last 16	Paris Racing	63–81 (H) 80–86 (A)
1997–98	FIBA Korać Cup	Additional preliminary round	Fribourg Olympic	66–67 (H) 63–78 (A)
		Group F	Den Helder Seals	80–56 (H) 63–76 (A)
			Montpellier	86–78 (A) 75–76 (H)
			Brose Baskets	93–95 (H) 89–77 (A)
1998–99	FIBA Korać Cup	Additional preliminary round	SAV Vacallo Basket	80–74 (H) 72–84 (A)
		Group H	Maccabi Rishon	93–99 (H) 74–77 (A)
			Les Mans Sarthe	72–78 (H) 78–65 (A)
			Brose Baskets	70–59 (A) 63–69 (H)
2004–05	ULEB Cup	Group G	Baskets Bonn	71–74 (H) 80–62 (A)
			Śląsk Wrocław	85–83 (A) 60–70 (H)
			Lietuvos rytas	74–49 (A) 57–59 (H)
			Red Star Belgrade	66–106 (H) 83–69 (A)
			Pompea Napoli	87–82 (A) 67–104 (H)
2010–11	EuroChallenge	EuroChallenge qualifying round	BC Ferro-ZNTU	105–105 (H) 72–77 (A)
		Group C	Lukoil Academic	92–71 (A) 86–79 (H)
			Lugano Tigers	89–84 (H) 74–52 (A)
			Tartu Ülikool	80–74 (H) 80–64 (A)
		Last 16 Group K	Ventspils	100–65 (A) 71–74 (H)
			Gravelines-Dunkerque	64–67 (H) 91–82 (A)
			Norrköping Dolphins	83–75 (H) 80–74 (A)
2014–15	EuroChallenge	Group E	Belfius Mons-Hainaut	69–79 (H) 92–63 (A)
			JSF Nanterre	80–68 (A) 86–96 (H)
			Kataja Basket	90–93 (A) 107–82 (H)
2015–16	FIBA Europe Cup	Group B	Cibona	79–83 (H) 74–66 (A)
			Soproni KC	65–78 (A) 91–62 (H)
			Antwerp Giants	84–76 (A) 77–79 (H)
2016–17	Basketball Champions League	Second qualifying round	Pallacanestro Varese	72–75 (H) 70–72 (A)
	FIBA Europe Cup	Group A	Alba Fehérvár	77–74 (H) 90–71 (A)
			Élan Chalon	90–76 (A) 77–69 (H)
			Basic-Fit Brussels	74–79 (A) 75–80 (H)
		Second round	Lukoil Academic	72–84 (A) 67–76 (H)
			Donar	82–94 (H) 81–78 (A)
			Enisey Krasnoyarsk	99–69 (A) 58–89 (H)
2017–18	Basketball Champions League	First qualifying round	Kapfenberg Bulls	75–72 (A) 67–62 (H)
		Second qualifying round	Lukoil Academic	82–91 (H) 71–87 (A)
	FIBA Europe Cup	Group B	Nevėžis	88–83 (H) 68–94 (A)
			Bakken Bears	76–95 (A) 95–108 (H)
			Avtodor Saratov	86–97 (H) 71–110 (A)
2018–19	FIBA Europe Cup	Second qualifying round	Dinamo Sassari	66–100 (A) 92–111 (H)
2019–20	Basketball Champions League	First qualifying round	Donar	95–65 (H) 66–77 (A)
		Second qualifying round	Mornar	68–96 (H) 82–71 (A)
	FIBA Europe Cup	Group A	ZZ Leiden	103–99 (H) 68–84 (A)
			Pécs Veolia	89–81 (A) 19 Nov (H)
			Inter Bratislava	77–68 (H) 27 Nov (A)

Home arenas

Benfica played its home basketball games at the Pavilhão dos Desportos, from 1946 to 1965. The club then played its home games at the Pavilhão da Luz, from 1965 to 2003. Since 2003, Benfica has hosted its home games at the Pavilhão Fidelidade, which has a seating capacity of 2,400 people.

Honours

Domestic competitions

• Portuguese League

Winners (30) – record: 1939–40, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1969–70, 1974–75, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24

• Portuguese Cup

Winners (23) – record: 1945–46, 1946–47, 1960–61, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1980–81, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2022–23

• League Cup / Hugo dos Santos Cup

Winners (13) – record: 1989–90, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2023–24

• Portuguese Super Cup

Winners (15) – record: 1985, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2023

• Troféu António Pratas LPB

Winners (5) – record: 2008–09, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16

• Troféu António Pratas Proliga

Winners (1): 2007–08

International competitions

• Supertaça da Lusofonia

Winners (1): 2010

Players

Current roster

S.L. Benfica roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age F 0 Francisco, Eduardo 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 21 – (2003-11-05)5 November 2003 G 1 Broussard, Aaron 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 34 – (1990-04-14)14 April 1990 F 4 Silva, José 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 35 – (1989-04-16)16 April 1989 G 6 Barbosa, Jose 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) 34 – (1990-10-18)18 October 1990 F 9 Drechsel, Trey 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 28 – (1996-07-27)27 July 1996 C 11 Pavicevic, Ivan 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 22 – (2002-08-26)26 August 2002 F/C 12 Ben Romdhane, Makrem (C) 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 35 – (1989-03-27)27 March 1989 G 13 Gameiro, Diogo 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 29 – (1995-08-13)13 August 1995 F 15 Betinho 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 87 kg (192 lb) 39 – (1985-05-02)2 May 1985 G 23 Douglas, Toney 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 38 – (1986-03-16)16 March 1986 F 24 Diop, Mor Laye 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 21 – (2003-12-21)21 December 2003 PG 27 Silva, Sérgio 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 28 – (1996-03-05)5 March 1996 C 32 Carter, Terrell 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 132 kg (291 lb) 28 – (1996-01-06)6 January 1996 C 33 Relvão, Daniel 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 116 kg (256 lb) 28 – (1996-06-26)26 June 1996 F 96 Almeida, Ivan 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 94 kg (207 lb) 35 – (1989-05-10)10 May 1989	Head coach Norberto Alves Assistant coach(es) Nuno Ferreira Luís Catarino Team manager João Nuno Crespo Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: 11 June 2024

Retired numbers

S.L. Benfica retired numbers

No	Nat.	Player	Position	Tenure
5		Henrique Vieira	PG	1981–1992
7		Carlos Lisboa	SG/SF	1984–1996

Former players

Players who won a league title with Benfica or who were picked in the NBA draft.

• Bruce Holland (4 seasons: 1977–81)
• Henrique Vieira (11 seasons: 1981–92)
• Carlos Lisboa (12 seasons: 1984–96)
• Mike Plowden (10 seasons: 1985–95)
• Jean-Jacques Conceição (8 seasons: 1988–96)
• Pedro Miguel (11 seasons: 1989–2000)
• José Carlos Guimarães (4 seasons: 1991–94, 1996–97)
• Steve Rocha (4 seasons: 1992–95, 1996–97)
• Carlos Seixas (7 seasons: 1992–99)
• Torgeir Bryn (1 season: 1994–95)
• Luís Silva (8 seasons: 1994–99, 2002–05)
• Sérgio Ramos (8 seasons: 1995–99, 2008–12)
• Brian Rewers (1 season: 1997–98)
• Mark Acres (1 season: 1997–98)
• Jamal Faulkner (3 seasons: 1997–99)
• Jamie Watson (1 season: 2002–03)
• Tomás Jofresa (1 season: 2003–04)
• Ben Davis (1 season: 2005–06)
• Ashante Johnson (3 seasons: 2005–07)
• Carlos Andrade (7 seasons: 2006–07, 2012–18)
• Corey Benjamin (1 season: 2006–07)
• Geno Carlisle (1 season: 2006–07)
• Tyson Wheeler (1 season: 2006–07)
• Miguel Minhava (7 seasons: 2006–13)
• Edson Ferreira (1 season: 2008–09)
• Rahein Brown (1 season: 2008–09)
• Seth Doliboa (5 seasons: 2008–09, 2011–2015)
• Cristóvão Cordeiro (2 seasons: 2008–10)
• João Santos (2 seasons: 2008–10)
• Miguel Barroca (2 seasons: 2008–10)
• António Tavares (3 seasons: 2008–11)
• Ben Reed (4 seasons: 2008–12)
• Diogo Carreira (8 seasons: 2008–16)
• Nick DeWitz (1 season: 2009–10)
• Will Frisby (1 season: 2009–10)
• Elvis Évora (4 seasons: 2009–13)
• Heshimu Evans (4 seasons: 2009–13)
• Carlos Ferreirinho (6 seasons: 2010–16)
• António Monteiro (1 season: 2011–12)
• Marcus Norris (1 season: 2011–12)
• Ted Scott (1 season: 2011–12)
• Fred Gentry (5 seasons: 2011–16)
• Lace Dunn (1 season: 2012–13)
• Ricky Franklin (1 season: 2012–13)
• Cláudio Fonseca (4 seasons: 2012–16)
• David Weaver (1 season: 2013–14)
• Artur Castela (2 seasons: 2013–16)
• Jobey Thomas (3 seasons: 2013–15)
• Mário Gil Fernandes (4 seasons: 2013–17)
• Ron Slay (1 season: 2014–15)
• Fábio Lima (4 seasons: 2014–15, 2018–21)
• Daequan Cook (1 season: 2015–16)
• Marko Loncovic (2 seasons: 2015–17)
• Nuno Oliveira (3 seasons: 2015–18)
• Derek Raivio (1 season: 2016–17)
• Carlos Morais (2 seasons: 2016–18)
• Neemias Queta (1 season: 2017–18)
• Quincy Miller (1 season: 2020–21)

Head coaches

• Teotónio Lima (12 seasons: 1956–65, 1972–75)
• José Curado (3 seasons: 1984–87)
• Tim Shea (3 seasons: 1988–91)
• Mário Palma (6 seasons: 1991–97)
• Carlos Lisboa (10 seasons: 1997–99, 2011–17, 2019–21)
• Norberto Alves (2004–06, 2021–present)
• Henrique Vieira (5 seasons: 2007–11)
• José Ricardo (1 season: 2017–18)
• Arturo Álvarez (1 season: 2018–19)

Women's honours

• Portuguese League

Winners (3): 2020–21, 2021–22, 2023–24

• Portuguese Cup

Winners (3): 2020–21, 2021–22, 2023–24

• Federation Cup

Winners (2): 2021–22, 2022–23

• Vítor Hugo Cup

Winners (4): 2019–20, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25

• Portuguese Super Cup

Winners (3): 2021, 2022, 2024

Further reading

• Perdigão, Carlos; Pires, Fernando (2004). 100 Anos de Lenda [100 Years of Legend] (in Portuguese) (First ed.). Diário de Notícias. pp. 242–247. ISBN 972-9335-52-4.

External links

• Official website (in Portuguese, English, Spanish, and French)