The 2003–04 Primeira Liga was the 70th edition of top flight of Portuguese football. It started 16 August 2003 with an opening game between Académica de Coimbra and Sporting Clube de Portugal, and ended on 9 May 2004. It was contested by 18 teams. FC Porto were the defending champions and became champions again, winning the Portuguese title in two consecutive seasons.
The first goal of the season was scored by Académica's Filipe Alvim in the opening game against Sporting CP. The first red card of the season was given to Paços de Ferreira's Portuguese midfielder Pedrinha in the 3rd game of the season against Nacional and the first yellow card was given to Sporting's Portuguese midfielder Custódio in the opening game of the season. Porto's Benni McCarthy was the top scorer of the season, scoring 20 goals.
Porto qualified for the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League group stage, along with Benfica, who qualified for the third round. Sporting, Nacional, Braga and Marítimo qualified for the 2004–05 UEFA Cup; in opposite, Alverca, Paços de Ferreira and Estrela da Amadora were relegated to the Segunda Liga.
Promotion and relegation Teams relegated to Segunda Liga Varzim Santa Clara Vitória de Setúbal
Varzim, Santa Clara, and Vitória de Setúbal were consigned to the Liga de Honra following their final classification in 2002–03 season.
Teams promoted from Segunda Liga Rio Ave Alverca Estrela da Amadora
The other three teams were replaced by Rio Ave, Alverca, Estrela da Amadora from Segunda Liga.
Teams
Team summaries Club Head coach City Stadium 2002–2003 season Académica de Coimbra João Carlos Pereira Coimbra Estádio Cidade de Coimbra 15th Alverca Alverca Complexo Desportivo FC Alverca 2nd in the Segunda Liga Belenenses Lisbon Estádio do Restelo 9th Benfica José Camacho Lisbon Estádio da Luz 2nd Boavista Jaime Pacheco Porto Estádio do Bessa 10th Braga Braga Estádio Municipal de Braga 14th Estrela da Amadora Miguel Quaresma Amadora Estádio José Gomes 3rd in the Segunda Liga Gil Vicente Luís Campos Barcelos Estádio Cidade de Barcelos 8th União de Leiria Vítor Pontes Leiria Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa 5th Marítimo Manuel Cajuda Funchal Estádio dos Barreiros 7th Nacional Casemiro Mior Funchal Estádio da Madeira 11th Paços de Ferreira José Mota Paços de Ferreira Estádio da Mata Real 6th Beira-Mar António Sousa Aveiro Estádio Municipal de Aveiro 13th Moreirense Guimarães Estádio do Moreirense 12th Porto Porto Estádio do Dragão 1st Sporting CP Lisbon Estádio José Alvalade 3rd Rio Ave Carlos Brito Vila do Conde Estádio dos Arcos 1st in the Segunda Liga Vitória de Guimarães Guimarães Estádio D. Afonso Henriques 4th
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing manageManner Date of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointmentAcadémica de Coimbra Artur JorgeResigned28 August 2003 Vítor Oliveira28 August 2003Vitória de Guimarães Augusto InácioSacked8 December 2003 Jorge Jesus8 December 2003Paços de Ferreira José GomesMutual Consent21 October 2003 José Mota22 October 2003Estrela da Amadora João AlvesSacked3 November 2003 Miguel Quaresma3 November 2003Gil Vicente Mário ReisSacked11 November 2003 Luís Campos25 November 2003Belenenses Manuel JoséResigned22 November 2003 Bogićević23 November 2003Belenenses BogićevićSacked19 January 2004 Augusto Inácio20 January 2004Académica de Coimbra Vítor OliveiraSacked26 January 2004 João Pereira27 January 2004Boavista Erwin SánchezSacked8 March 2004 Jaime Pacheco8 March 2004
League table
Results
Statistics
Top goal scorers RankScorerClubGoals1 Benni McCarthyPorto202 AdrianoNacional193 EvandroRio Ave15 LiédsonSporting5 Ricardo SousaBoavista146 DerleiPorto137 Simão SabrosaBenfica128 Zé ManuelPaços de Ferreira11 FerreiraGil Vicente WenderBraga
Hat-tricks Player Nationality For Against Result Date Henry Antchouet Belenenses Estrela da Amadora 4–0 Adriano Nacional Vitória de Guimarães 4–2 Liédson Sporting Estrela da Amadora 4–0 Adriano Rossato Nacional Beira Mar 3-0 Benni McCarthy Porto Paços de Ferreira 3–1
Awards
Monthly awards Month Player of the Month Player ClubSeptember Juninho PetrolinaBeira-MarOctober DerleiFC PortoNovember Pedro BarbosaSporting CPDecember EvandroRio AveJanuary Benni McCarthyFC PortoFebruary PetitBenficaMarch DoulaSporting CPApril RossatoNacionalMay Benni McCarthyFC Porto
Annual awards Portuguese Silver Boot The Portuguese Silver Boot award was won by the South African Benni McCarthy of Porto, by scoring 20 goals.
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Porto 34,143 2 Sporting 30,958 3 Benfica 28,395 4 Vitória SC 10,728 5 Braga 9,441 6 Académica 7,693 7 Beira-Mar 6,990 8 Boavista 5,806 9 União de Leiria 5,509 10 Os Belenenses 5,353 11 Marítimo 4,735 12 Moreirense 3,647 13 Rio Ave 3,324 14 Paços de Ferreira 3,300 15 CD Nacional 3,047 16 Gil Vicente 2,788 17 Alverca 2,382 18 Estrela da Amadora 2,176
Source:
References
External links Portuguese Liga 2003-04 at rsssf.com