The 2004–05 European football season was the 101st season of Sport Lisboa e Benfica's existence and the club's 71st consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. The season ran from 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005; Benfica competed domestically in the Primeira Liga and the Taça de Portugal. The club also participated in the UEFA Champions League as a result of finishing second in the Primeira Liga in the previous season.
José Antonio Camacho led Benfica to another second-place finish and broke an eight-year title drought; he attracted interest from Real Madrid, who signed him in late May. As a replacement, Benfica unsuccessfully inquired after Luiz Felipe Scolari for the position. After much speculation, Benfica announced they had recruited Giovanni Trapattoni, the Italian national team's former manager. Benfica signed more players than the year before, but only Quim, Manuel dos Santos and Azar Karadas became regular first-team fixtures. The most significant departure was that of Tiago, who had been a regular for the past two seasons. Because their second-place finish only granted a place in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, Benfica had to play Anderlecht for a place in the group stage. A 3–1 loss on aggregate led to relegation to the 2004–05 UEFA Cup. Between both legs, Benfica contested and lost the 2004 Supercup with Porto.
Domestically, Benfica started the season with consecutive wins, rising to the top of the table by early October. After a home loss in the Clássico, the team's results became poorer, with three draws and two losses that caused the team to drop to third place by New Year. Benfica continued to slip in January, losing the Lisbon derby and twice dropping to fifth place. A home win against Sporting CP for the Portuguese Cup had an apparent positive effect on the players; their best period all season came as they regained first place and opened a six-point lead over the team in second place.
The league was unusually competitive; a mistake in early April caused Benfica to lose much of their lead. Qualifying for the Portuguese Cup final did not help them to gather momentum. In early May, Benfica suffered a major blow, losing away to Penafiel and dropping to second. A crucial win against Sporting brought back their title hope, and a week later Benfica won their first league title in ten seasons. The season ended with a loss against Vitória de Setúbal in the Taça de Portugal final, preventing Benfica from winning their first double since 1987.
Season summary
Pre-season After ending an eight-season drought and ensuring qualification to the UEFA Champions League for a second year, José Antonio Camacho was linked to the open position at Real Madrid before the end of the season. On 25 May 2004, his move there was made official. Benfica looked for replacements with the same profile as Camacho; they offered the position to Luiz Felipe Scolari, according to his agent. On 9 June, Scolari said, "When people say I signed a contract with Benfica, they're lying! It's shameless and is bad will with the national team. To Benfica I won't go."
In mid-June, Benfica restricted their choices to former Espanyol manager Luis Fernández and Italian national team manager Giovanni Trapattoni. Negotiations with Fernández failed, but on 17 June, club president Luís Filipe Vieira announced that Benfica had signed a new manager but did not name him. On 5 July, a day after the end of the UEFA Euro 2004, Benfica announced Trapattoni as manager. The 65-year-old Italian started his managerial career in 1974 and came to recognition at Juventus, where he became one of Italy's greatest managers, the only one to have won all UEFA club competitions and the Intercontinental Cup. To assist him, he brought fitness coach Fausto Rossi and goalkeeping coach Adriano Barbin, while Álvaro Magalhães remained as assistant manager.
In the transfer market, the most significant signings were of 28-year-old Quim, Portugal's second-choice goalkeeper, to compete with incumbent starter José Moreira. Defender Takis Fyssas also saw the arrival of a competitor, former Marseille player Manuel dos Santos. Benfica also signed Norwegian striker Azar Karadas after his compelling performance against them in the previous season's UEFA Cup with Rosenborg. The most significant departure was Tiago, who moved to Chelsea for a fee that Record announced was around €12 million. Other than him, only Armando Sá and Hélder Cristóvão were regularly used, and both continued their careers abroad, with Villarreal and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.
The pre-season started on 5 July with four days of medical tests on Estádio da Luz. On 9 July, Benfica travelled to Nyon, Switzerland, for a two-week tour, where they played their first pre-season matches, with wins against Real Zaragoza and Marseille. On 22 July, Benfica returned to Portugal and continued their pre-season with a presentation match against Real Madrid on 25 July, and the Guadiana Trophy with Real Betis on 28 July. Due to league ranking in 2004, Benfica had to play in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, where they were drawn with Anderlecht on 30 July. The pre-season ended with matches against Braga on 1 August and Estoril on August 14.
August–September Benfica started their season with the third qualifying round of the Champions League, attempting to make their first presence in the group stage since 1998–99. On 10 August, Benfica beat Anderlecht 1–0 after Zlatko Zahovič scored in the 13th minute. When asked why Anderlecht had more goal opportunities than Benfica, Trapattoni said, "Do you know international football? It is very balanced nowadays. I wish we had more chances but our opponent was stronger." Following the win, Benfica were due to meet Porto in the Supercup on 20 August.Tovar, Rui. p. 615 Ricardo Quaresma of Porto scored the only goal of the game in an individual effort. It was Benfica's tenth consecutive loss in the competition; the previous win occurred in 1989. Four days later, Benfica travelled to Belgium to play Anderlecht.Tovar, Rui. p. 616 The home team scored first by Aruna Dindane, who scored another on the hour-mark. Nenad Jestrović scored the last goal. Trapattoni blamed fatigue and anxiety for the defeat, saying, "I said we would try to score, but lacked composure to do so. In the first half he spent a lot of energy. On the second, we tried to fight back, until he conceded a second goal, which killed us." The fans insulted the team on their arrival in Lisbon. On 29 August, Benfica made their debut in the Primeira Liga by visiting Beira-Mar. Two goals in the first half and another within five minutes of the second, gave Benfica a lead that help them beat the locals.
On 11 September, after the international matches Benfica returned with a home match against Moreirense.Tovar, Rui. p. 611 Petit opened the game with a free kick, while Simão set the final score in the 83rd minute. The following Thursday, Benfica played the first round of the UEFA Cup against Slovak team Banská Bystrica. Benfica dominated the match, winning 3–0 with a double from Simão and one from João Pereira. On 19 September, Benfica travelled to Coimbra to face Académica, beating them 1–0 with a goal from Simão to reach the top of the league table. Trapattoni praised his team and said leading is important to their mentality: "I am happy with the win, but also with the character they have shown. I had the opportunity to lead in Italy and Germany and it is very important. The team starts to believe in themselves more and more." A week later, Benfica hosted Braga.Tovar, Rui. p. 611 Despite playing with two players upfront, Benfica was unable to score, splitting points with them. After the game, Trapattoni acknowledged the difficult game his team had played, saying, "The final score could disappoint the fans, but let's not forget we are still leaders. Our opponent was a very dangerous team. We had three good chances in the first half, but could not score." On 30 September, Benfica closed the month by hosting Banská Bystrica. Benfica wasted opportunities to build up their score, only beating the Slovaks by 2–0.
October–November October began with an away match away in Guimarães against Vitória de Guimarães.Tovar, Rui. p. 611 Benfica played against ten men throughout the second half, securing a win in the 91st minute when Geovanni converted a free kick. Following a two-week international break, Benfica received Porto on 17 October.Tovar, Rui. p. 611 The match was notable for the controversy regarding Olegário Benquerença refereeing, with Porto winning 1–0 with a goal from Benni McCarthy. Trapattoni criticized the referee, saying, "I have witness things I had never witnessed before in all of my career." The following Thursday, Benfica opened their UEFA Cup group stage campaign with a home win against Heerenveen.Tovar, Rui. p. 616 Dos Santos scored the opening goal and Nuno Gomes increased the lead to 2–0. Heerenven levelled the score with a penalty in the 53rd minute, but Benfica fought back and scored twice to win the first points. On 24 October, Benfica played at home against Nacional.Tovar, Rui. p. 611 The opening goal was scored in the second-half by Azar Karadas, with Tomo Šokota bringing the score to 2–0 minutes later; Nacional evened it to 2–1, but Benfica held on and won the game. Three days later, Benfica started their Portuguese Cup campaign against the third tier club Oriental de Lisboa.Tovar, Rui. p. 615 Two goals from Šokota and another from Geovanni helped the club progress into the next round. On 31 October, Benfica visited the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos to play Gil Vicente.Tovar, Rui. p. 611 Benfica were surprised by the home team and conceded first with a goal from Nandinho. In the last minute of the match, Simão equalized, allowing Benfica to gain a point. Trapattoni blamed the team's naïvety for the goal conceded, but praised their character for not giving up.
Benfica opened November with a UEFA Cup match away against German side VfB Stuttgart.Tovar, Rui. p. 616 They conceded the first goal by Cacau in the first half and let in two more—both headers—in the second. Trapattoni attributed the defeat to the superior physical ability of the Germans. On 7 November, Benfica hosted Vitória de Setúbal and defeated them 4–0, retaining first place in the league. Six days later, Benfica dropped two points after a 1–0 loss at the Estádio dos Barreiros to Marítimo. On 21 November, Benfica hosted Rio Ave and had a chance to regain the top spot.Tovar, Rui. p. 612 After building a 3–1 lead at half-time, Benfica allowed the visitors to equalize the game, costing them two more points. Trapattoni criticized his team for the way it conceded the 3–3 draw after a free-kick for Benfica turned into a deadly counter-attack against them. On the following Thursday, Benfica received Dinamo Zagreb for the UEFA Cup.Tovar, Rui. p. 616 Two first-half goals secured the second win in the group stage for Benfica. On the last match of November, Benfica visited the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, home of União de Leiria,Tovar, Rui. p. 612 where they conceded a goal in a counter-attack and were unable to equalize in over 70 minutes, losing the match. The loss was their first as visitors; the club slid to fourth place, having lost 12 points since the Clássico. Trapattoni said Benfica lacked composure in the conceded goal, a problem he had previously addressed but still occurred. He remained confident because the league was long and very balanced.
December–January