Sport Lisboa e Benfica "B" (), commonly known as Benfica B, is a Portuguese professional football team based in Seixal. Founded in 1999, dissolved in 2006, and restarted in 2012, it is the reserve team of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica. They play in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home matches at Benfica Campus' main pitch.
During the 2012–13 season, Benfica B played home matches at the Estádio da Luz until February, when they moved to Estádio da Tapadinha to prevent excessive wear of the stadium's grass. In 2013–14, they permanently moved to their own training ground, capable of receiving professional league matches.
As a reserve team, Benfica B cannot play in the same division as the club's main team, thus being ineligible for promotion to the Primeira Liga. Moreover, they cannot enter domestic cup competitions such as the Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga.
Since 2018–19, Benfica have an under-23 team playing in Liga Revelação, a competition for players who left the under-19s but who are not ready to join or regularly play for the first-team.
History As Benfica sought a way to provide playing time for their youth and reserve players, they created a B team in 1999. The team officially started competing in the 1999–2000 season, with their first match played away against Portimonense S.C. (2–2) in late August."Despertador encarnado tocou tarde" A Bola, 30 August 1999 After three seasons in the Portuguese Second Division, they suffered relegation to the Terceira Divisão, where they would spend three years, before achieving promotion to the Portuguese Second Division in 2005. In May of the following year, the board of directors extinguished the side, which returned to activity shortly after as part of the Liga Intercalar. As part of this competition, the team's best league finish was a second place, behind Estoril B, in the South Zone of the 2010–11 season.
Before the end of the 2011–12 football season in Portugal, seven Primeira Liga clubs announced their interest in creating a reserve team to fill the six vacancies available in the Segunda Liga (now Liga Portugal 2) for the 2012–13 campaign. Of those seven clubs, six were selected to take part in the competition: Benfica, Braga, Marítimo, Porto, Sporting CP and Vitória de Guimarães.
LPFP, who organize the professional football tiers in Portugal, announced that the clubs would have to pay €50,000 to register themselves at the league in order to compete in the upcoming season. In addition, LPFP also required them to follow new rules regarding player selection, in which each B team must have a squad with a minimum of ten players formed at the club's academy and with an age between 15 and 21 years, and a maximum of three players above 23 years old. LPFP also decided that reserve teams are unable to compete in cup competitions and to gain promotion to the Primeira Liga due to the possibility of playing against their club's first team.
In late May 2012, it was officially announced that the B teams of six Primeira Liga clubs would compete in the 2012–13 Segunda Liga, a decision that increased the number of teams from 16 to 22 and the number of matches from 30 to 42.
In 2014, Benfica B were invited to play in the first Premier League International Cup. On 29 May 2015, they played a friendly against F.C. United of Manchester in Broadhurst Park's official opening match. On 26 May 2019, they played a practice match against Liverpool in Marbella, Spain, five days before the latter's Champions League final.
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Coaching staff {| class="wikitable" |- ! Position ! Name |- | Head coach | Nélson Veríssimo |- | Assistant coaches | Marco PimentaJorge Cordeiro |- | Goalkeeper coach | Paulo Marques |- | Analyst coach | Pedro Pitacas |- | Analyst assistant coach | Rúben Damazio |- | Personal trainers (Benfica LAB) | Tiago VazDuarte Carvalho
Records and statistics Season-to-season record Season Top scorer Goals 1999–2000 III 13th 38 14 6 18 53 49 48 Cláudio Oeiras 11 2000–2001 III 9th 38 14 11 13 58 57 57 Jorge Cordeiro 16 2001–2002 III 18th 38 11 11 16 35 42 44 Jorge Ribeiro 5 2002–2003 IV 3rd 34 14 14 6 47 25 56 2003–2004 IV 5th 34 15 8 11 63 48 53 2004–2005 IV 1st 34 21 9 4 71 29 72 2005–2006 III 11th 30 11 8 11 40 40 41 Vasco Firmino 5 2012–2013 II 7th 42 15 17 10 71 54 62 Miguel Rosa 17 2013–2014 II 5th 42 20 10 12 77 56 70 Funes Mori 13 2014–2015 II 6th 46 22 11 13 81 60 77 Rui Fonte 17 2015–2016 II 19th 46 15 10 21 59 64 55 Sancidino Silva 6 2016–2017 II 4th 42 18 9 15 56 58 63 Heriberto Tavares 11 2017–2018 II 13th 38 14 7 17 54 60 49 Heriberto Tavares 14Top Scorers Liga Portugal 2018–2019 II 4th 34 15 7 12 47 42 52 Chris Willock 11Top Scorers Liga Portugal 2019–2020 II 24 7 7 10 31 35 28 Daniel dos Anjos 8Top Scorers Liga Portugal 2020–2021 II 8th 34 12 8 14 53 43 44 Gonçalo Ramos Henrique Araújo 11Top Scorers Liga Portugal 2021–2022 II 5th 34 17 6 11 61 44 57 Henrique Araújo 14Top Scorers Liga Portugal 2022–2023 II 15th 34 10 8 16 52 58 38 Henrique Pereira 9Top Scorers Liga Portugal 2023–2024 II 8th 34 12 9 13 48 48 45 Cauê 7 2024–2025 II 4th 34 15 10 9 53 38 55 Gustavo Varela 11
ChampionsRelegated
Managerial statistics As of match played 27 May 2025. Only competitive matches are counted, including those in the Premier League International Cup.
NameFromToHonoursAlan Murray1999November 1999José MoraisNovember 19992001António Veloso9 June 20012002Carlos Gomes2002July 2004João Santos200420062004–05 Terceira DivisãoLuís Norton de Matos4 May 201230 May 2013Hélder Cristóvão3 July 201312 May 2018Bruno Lage1 July 20183 January 2019Nélson Veríssimo (caretaker)3 January 201915 January 2019Renato Paiva15 January 201925 December 2020Nélson Veríssimo25 December 202028 December 2021Paulo Mateus (caretaker)28 December 202128 December 2021António Oliveira5 January 202213 May 2022Luís Castro2 June 20228 June 2023Nélson Veríssimo6 July 2023Present
Competitive record in U21 Premier League International Cup As of December 2025.
Season Round Opponent Match Result2014–15 Premier League International Cup Schalke 041–0 Manchester City1–3 Leicester City0–22015–16 Premier League International Cup Celtic2–1 Chelsea3–0 Liverpool FC2–0 Porto0–12016–17 Premier League International Cup Derby County2–0 Sunderland1–2 PSV Eindhoven0–02017–18 Premier League International Cup Villarreal CF2–3 West Ham United2–0 Tottenham Hotspur3–32018–19 Premier League International Cup Everton FC0–2 Brighton & Hove Albion0–2 FC Bayern Munich1–02019–20 Premier League International Cup Hertha BSC2–1 Newcastle United1–1 Blackburn Rovers2–1 Swansea CitySuspended due to COVID-192023–24 Premier League International Cup Liverpool FC1–1 Crystal Palace1–2 Fulham FC1–3 Everton FC1–22024–25 Premier League International Cup West Ham United2–2 Blackburn Rovers1–1 Middlesbrough FC1–0 Sunderland1–22025–26 Premier League International Cup Brighton & Hove Albion1–1 Nottingham Forest1–1 Chelsea6–2 Newcastle United5–0
Honours Terceira Divisão Winners (1): 2004–05
Under-23s
Current squad
Coaching staff {| class="wikitable" |- ! Position ! Name |- | Head coach | Paulo Lopes |- | Assistant coaches | Pedro ValidoPaulo Mateus |- | Goalkeeper coach | Gonçalo Reduto |- | Analyst coach | Rodolfo Fernandes |- | Analyst assistant coach | José Marques |- | Personal trainers (Benfica LAB) | Luke Garcia
Honours Taça Revelação Winners (1): 2024–25
Notes
References
External links
S.L. Benfica B at LPFP