Misplaced Pages

Benfica

1994–95 season
President	Manuel Damásio
Head coach	Artur Jorge
Stadium	Estádio da Luz
Primeira Divisão	3rd
Taça de Portugal	Quarter-finals
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira	Runners-up
UEFA Champions League	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Isaías (14) All: Edílson (17)
Highest home attendance	60,000 vs Porto (2 October 1994)
Lowest home attendance	10,000 vs Marinhense (4 December 1994)
Home colours
← 1993–941995–96 →

The 1994–95 European football season was the 91st season of Sport Lisboa e Benfica's existence and the club's 61st consecutive season in both Portuguese football and UEFA competitions. The season ran from 1 July 1994 to 30 June 1995; Benfica competed domestically in the Primeira Divisão and the Taça de Portugal. The club also participated in the UEFA Champions League as a result of winning the previous league.

After winning their latest title, Benfica made significant changes to its squad and management. It sacked Toni and replaced him with Artur Jorge. In the transfer market, the club was far more active than the past seasons. It signed over a dozen players with Michel Preud'homme, Dimas Teixeira and Paulo Bento becoming regulars. They were joined by two loans, Claudio Caniggia and Edílson, both would be the top-scorers of the team. In the departures, fan favourites like Rui Costa or Schwarz were sold, while others like Rui Àguas, Kulkov, Silvino and Hernâni Neves were released.

On the pitch, Benfica started the season by losing the 1993 Supertaça to Porto. In the Primeira Divisão, they started winning, but quickly lost their plot. In the Champions League, Jorge led Benfica to the knockout stage after coming first in their group. As the season progress, Benfica performance stabilised and starting early December, they rack up over ten wins in a row. This allowed them to close distances to leader Porto, and progress to the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup.

In late February, in the decisive stage of the season, Benfica slipped again in the Primeira Divisão, and were eliminated in the other competitions. Til the end, Benfica could only win about half of their remaining fourteen match-days, finishing in third place, 15 points behind Porto. In their last match of the season, they lost another Supertaça to Porto.

Season summary

In the post-season of a title winning year, Benfica made the surprise choice of releasing Toni, who had been closely associated with the managerial position since assuming the assistant position to Sven-Göran Eriksson in 1982. To replace him, the club chose Artur Jorge. The Portuguese manager was known for the eight titles won at FC Porto, notoriously, the 1986–87 European Cup, plus had just led Paris Saint-Germain to their second league title in history, in the past season. With the club still in financial despair, they were forced to sell important players to gather funds. Rising star, Rui Costa was sold to Fiorentina, reportedly because they offer more money than Barcelona. Schwarz joined Arsenal for 1.8 million pounds, and others left the club, either for disciplinary reasons as with Kulkov and Yuran, or old age, like Rui Àguas.

The club sought reinforcements mostly indoors, like Paulo Bento and Dimas, with a few arriving from abroad, with Preud'Homme and Caniggia gathering the most expectations. The season began with the replay match of the 1993 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, ending in another loss on the penalty shoot-out, similar to the 1991 edition. On the league campaign, the situation was better, as Benfica racked up three straight wins; however a loss against União de Leiria on 18 September, put the team behind on the title race by two points.

"As title-holders, Benfica transform themselves in three months, and for the worst. The new board led by Damásio sacks Toni, the title winning manager and sells Rui Costa and Schwarz. From the many alternatives put at the disposal of Artur Jorge and his assistant, Zoran Filipović, only three work: Preud'Homme, Dimas and Paulo Bento. Edílson, Stanić and Caniggia show some talent, offsetting the flops, Tavares and Nelo. Conclusion: third place in the league, without winning over either Porto, or Sporting – even losing both games against Sporting, something that only happened three times before, in 1939–40, 1952–53 and 1953–54. As an end note, double elimination on the quarter-finals: by Vitória de Setúbal on the Portuguese Cup and by AC Milan on the Champions League. In the Supercup, Porto lift the trophy in Paris."

Benfica could not regain any point back over October, ending the month with a four points disadvantage to leader Sporting. Although the domestically, the season was not going according to the club best hopes; in Europe, the track record was much better, with a spot on the next phase secured with one match to spare. Already approaching New Year, the odds in the renewing the title race were further diminished, with a loss in Alvalade expanding the gap to the leader by a point.

The first months of 1995 were the teams best throughout the season, as they reduced the distance to the league leader, Porto, to only three points by Match-day 20 after an eight-game winning streak. However, in the next two months, at the deciding part of the season, the club dropped more points to Leiria, and then lost four times in six games, re-opening the gap to Porto to twelve points, finishing any hope of renewing the title. In the other competitions, the prospect was the same, Benfica was knock-out of the Champions League by A.C. Milan, and on the Taça de Portugal, by Vitória Setúbal.

The final games of the season were only spent securing a place in the next year European competitions, having the bitter taste of losing both games against Sporting, for a fourth time in history, the first since 1954. The Lisbon derby on the 30 of April was also controversial because of the irregular dismissal of Caniggia by referee Jorge Coroado; causing the match to be repeated on 14 July (2–0 win for Benfica), and then annulled on FIFA order. After finishing the league fifteen points behind them, as they regained the title back, Benfica met Porto on the replay of the 1994 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira in Paris, which was left unresolved from early in the season. The northerners won one-nil and took home their eight Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Overall record

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

1993 Edition

17 August 1994 Replay	Benfica	2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)	Porto	Estádio Municipal de Coimbra, Coimbra
	Tavares 89' Brito 118'	Report	Domingos 85' Secretário 95'	Referee: Veiga Trigo (Beja)
	Penalties
	Hélder Daniel Kenedy Abel Xavier Paulo Madeira William		João Domingos Pinto Zé Carlos Rui Filipe Paulinho Santos Drulović

1994 Edition

24 August 1994 First leg	Benfica	1–1	Porto	Lisbon
20:00	Vítor Paneira 75'	Report	Rui Filipe 72'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Carlos Calheiros

20 June 1995 Replay	Porto	1–0	Benfica	Paris
20:30	Domingos 51'	Report		Stadium: Parc des Princes Attendance: 48,000 Referee: Lucílio Baptista

Primeira Divisão

League table

1. Sporting qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as Portuguese Cup winners

Results by round

Matches

21 August 1994 1	Benfica	2–0	Beira Mar	Lisbon
19:45	Vítor Paneira 58' Clóvis 90'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Bento Marques

28 August 1994 2	União da Madeira	0–2	Benfica	Funchal
20:00		Report	Isaías 55' Caniggia 70' (pen.)	Stadium: Estádio dos Barreiros Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Lucílio Batista

10 September 1994 3	Benfica	1–0	Vitória Setúbal	Lisbon
19:45	Vítor Paneira 25'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Soares Dias

18 September 1994 4	União de Leiria	1–0	Benfica	Leiria
20:30	Luís Miguel 79'	Report		Stadium: Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa Attendance: 10,000 Referee: José Pratas

2 October 1994 6	Benfica	1–1	Porto	Lisbon
20:00	Isaías 89'	Report	Yuran 66'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Bento Marques

15 October 1994 7	Gil Vicente	1–0	Benfica	Braga
20:15	Tuck 90' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Estádio 1º de Maio Attendance: 10,000 Referee: João Mesquita

23 October 1994 8	Benfica	5–0	Desp. Chaves	Lisbon
20:00	Isaías 6', 16' João Pinto 51' Amaral 67' Kenedy 83'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Veiga Trigo

30 October 1994 9	Vitória Guimarães	1–3	Benfica	Guimarães
19:00	Dane Kuprešanin 88'	Report	Isaías 6' Caniggia 77', 83'	Stadium: Estádio D. Afonso Henriques Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Lucílio Baptista

6 November 1994 10	Benfica	2–1	Farense	Lisbon
20:00	Isaías 87' Abel Xavier 89', pen.'	Report	Tozé 51'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Paulo Costa

19 November 1994 11	Belenenses	1–1	Benfica	Lisbon
21:00	Abílio 29'	Report	Isaías 69'	Stadium: Estádio do Restelo Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Pinto Correia

27 November 1994 12	Benfica	3–1	Estrela da Amadora	Lisbon
18:15	Hélder 30', 55' Abel Xavier 50'	Report	Fernando 81' Rebelo  49'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Vítor Reis

1 December 1994 13	Sporting	1–0	Benfica	Lisbon
21:00	Emmanuel Amuneke 56'	Report		Stadium: Estádio de Alvalade Attendance: 50,000 Referee: António Marçal

11 December 1994 14	Benfica	4–1	Boavista	Lisbon
20:00	Edílson 1' Caniggia 14' Tavares 49' João Pinto 87'	Report	Sánchez 25'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 45,000 Referee: António Rola

30 December 1994 15	Salgueiros	1–2	Benfica	Porto
20:45	Chico Fonseca 88'	Report	Dimas 22' Hélder 23'	Stadium: Estádio Prof. Dr. José Vieira de Carvalho Attendance: 5,000 Referee: José Pratas

4 January 1995 5	Maritimo	0–3	Benfica	Funchal
19:00		Report	Kenedy 15' Isaías 23' Edílson 65'	Stadium: Estádio dos Barreiros Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Joao Mesquita

8 January 1995 16	Benfica	1–0	Tirsense	Lisbon
19:30	Tavares 80'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Donato Ramos

14 January 1995 17	Braga	0–2	Benfica	Braga
19:45		Report	Isaías 62' Caniggia 71'	Stadium: Estádio 1º de Maio Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Lucílio Baptista

21 January 1995 18	Beira-Mar	1–2	Benfica	Aveiro
19:00	Costa 41'	Report	Stanić 60' Isaías 77'	Stadium: Estádio Mário Duarte Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Paulo Paraty

5 February 1995 19	Benfica	3–1	União da Madeira	Lisbon
19:00	Vítor Paneira 41' Isaías 61', 89'	Report	Manú 76'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Monteiro da Silva

12 February 1995 20	Vitória Setúbal	1–2	Benfica	Setúbal
19:00	Paulão 89'	Report	Paulo Pereira 40' Abel Xavier 59'	Stadium: Estádio do Bonfim Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Carlos Calheiros

19 February 1995 21	Benfica	1–1	União de Leiria	Lisbon
19:45	Paulo Pereira 28' (pen.)	Report	Fua 89'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Miranda dos Santos

25 February 1995 22	Benfica	3–0	Maritimo	Lisbon
17:00	João Pinto 4' Caniggia 21', 82'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 15,000 Referee: João Mesquita

5 March 1995 23	Porto	2–1	Benfica	Porto
20:30	Zé Carlos 7' Drulović 75'	Report	João Pinto 38'	Stadium: Estádio das Antas Attendance: 40,000 Referee: José Pratas

11 March 1995 24	Benfica	0–1	Gil Vicente	Lisbon
18:00		Report	Makpoloka Mangonga 59'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 10,000 Referee: José Leirós

19 March 1995 25	Desp. Chaves	0–1	Benfica	Chaves
19:15		Report	Edílson 69'	Stadium: Estádio Municipal de Chaves Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Paulo Paraty

26 March 1995 26	Benfica	1–3	Vitória Guimarães	Lisbon
20:30	Edílson 23'	Report	Quim Berto 5' Gilmar 45' José Carlos 64'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Carlos Calheiros

1 April 1995 27	Farense	4–1	Benfica	Faro
19:45	Jorge Soares 25' Hassan 80' Ndao 70', 88'	Report	Edílson 28'	Stadium: Estádio de São Luís Attendance: 14,000 Referee: António Rola

7 April 1995 28	Benfica	2–1	Belenenses	Lisbon
20:00	Mauro Airez 6', o.g.' Isaías 19'	Report	Mauro Airez 77'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Vítor Pereira

30 April 1995 30	Benfica	1–2	Sporting	Lisbon
20:00	Dimas 22'	Report	Balakov 10' Yordanov 13'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Jorge Coroado

6 May 1995 31	Boavista	1–3	Benfica	Porto
20:00	Artur 86'	Report	Stanić 54', 84' Isaías 57'	Stadium: Estádio do Bessa Attendance: 10,000 Referee: José Pratas

14 May 1995 32	Benfica	3–0	Salgueiros	Lisbon
19:45	Caniggia 34' Stanić 45' Edílson 90'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Mário Leal

21 May 1995 33	Tirsense	1–3	Benfica	Santo Tirso
19:45	Marcelo 89'	Report	Edílson 45', 69' Stanić 60'	Stadium: Abel Alves de Figueiredo Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Juvenal Silvestre

5 April 1996 34	Benfica	1–1	Braga	Lisbon
19:00	Edílson 89'	Report	Baltasar 17'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 15,000 Referee: José Rufino

Taça de Portugal

4 December 1994 Fourth Rd	Benfica	12–0	Marinhense	Lisbon
18:00	Tavares 13' Edílson 18', 30', 38', 51' Caniggia 28', 31', 53' Vítor Paneira 40', pen.' João Pinto 64' Pedro Henriques 67' Kenedy 80'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Carvalhal Araújo

22 January 1996 Fifth Rd	Benfica	3–0	Tirsense	Lisbon
19:45	Caniggia 7', 84' Edílson 25'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Juvenal Silvestre

15 February 1995 Sixth Rd	Benfica	3–1	Famalicão	Lisbon
20:30	Edílson 4', 74' Tavares 5'	Report	Serge Honi 78'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Andrelino Pena

12 April 1995 QF Replay	Vitória Setúbal	2–0	Benfica	Setúbal
20:30	Sérgio Araújo 66', 88' Quim  43'  77'	Report	Dimas  55'  78' Paneira   68'	Stadium: Estádio do Bonfim Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Lourenço Ferreira

UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Benfica	6	3	3	0	9	5	+4	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Hajduk Split	6	2	2	2	5	7	−2	6
3	Steaua București	6	1	3	2	7	6	+1	5
4	Anderlecht	6	0	4	2	4	7	−3	4

14 September 1994 1	Hajduk Split	0–0	Benfica	Poljud, Split
20:30		Report MatchCentre		Attendance: 26,000 Referee: Serge Muhmenthaler (Switzerland)

28 September 1994 2	Benfica	3–1	Anderlecht	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
19:30	Caniggia 26', 40' Tavares 72'	Report MatchCentre	Paulo Madeira 88' (o.g.)	Attendance: 32,000 Referee: Vadim Zhuk (Belarus)

19 October 1994 3	Benfica	2–1	Steaua București	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
19:30	Caniggia 44' (pen.) João Pinto 60'	Report MatchCentre	Militaru 89'	Attendance: 35,000 Referee: David Elleray (England)

2 November 1994 4	Steaua București	1–1	Benfica	Stadionul Ghencea, Bucharest
21:30	Panduru 27'	Report MatchCentre	Hélder 63'	Attendance: 17,000 Referee: Leif Sundell (Sweden)

23 November 1994 5	Benfica	2–1	Hajduk Split	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
19:30	Isaías 32' João Pinto 76'	Report MatchCentre	Andrijašević 71'	Attendance: 31,000 Referee: John Blankenstein (Netherlands)

7 December 1994 6	Anderlecht	1–1	Benfica	Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels
20:30	Rutjes 48'	Report MatchCentre	Edilson 82'	Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Marc Batta (France)

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

1 March 1995 First leg	Milan	2–0	Benfica	San Siro, Milan
21:00	Simone 63', 75'	Report MatchCentre		Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Ahmet Çakar (Turkey)

15 March 1995 Second leg	Benfica	0–0 (2–0 agg.)	Milan	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
20:15		Report MatchCentre		Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Guy Goethals (Belgium)

Friendlies

Player statistics

The squad for the season consisted of the players listed in the tables below, as well as staff member Artur Jorge(manager) and Zoran Filipovic (assistant manager).

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 1994–95 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Primeira Liga		Taça de Portugal		UEFA Champions League		Supertaça
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	BEL	Michel Preud'homme	47	-41	31	-28	5	-3	8	-7	3	-3
2	DF	POR	António Veloso	37	0	25	0	2	0	7	0	3	0
2	DF	BRA	Paulo Pereira	18	1	13	1	3	0	1	0	1	0
3	DF	POR	Hélder Cristóvão	33	4	21	3	2	0	7	1	3	0
4	DF	BRA	William	19	0	13	0	2	0	3	0	1	0
5	DF	BRA	Carlos Mozer	23	0	17	0	2	0	4	0	0	0
5	DF	POR	Paulo Madeira	28	0	17	0	4	0	3	0	4	0
6	DF	POR	Abel Xavier	33	3	22	3	2	0	5	0	4	0
6	MF	POR	Paulo Bento	29	0	20	0	5	0	3	0	1	0
6	MF	POR	José Tavares	34	6	20	2	3	2	7	1	4	1
7	MF	POR	Amaral	14	1	11	1	2	0	0	0	1	0
7	MF	POR	Vítor Paneira	38	5	24	3	4	1	8	0	2	1
8	MF	POR	João Vieira Pinto	39	6	24	4	5	1	7	1	3	0
9	FW	BRA	Edílson	31	17	23	9	5	7	2	1	1	0
9	FW	ARG	Claudio Caniggia	34	16	24	8	3	5	7	3	0	0
10	MF	POR	Nelo	36	0	23	0	3	0	7	0	3	0
11	MF	BRA	Isaías	33	15	23	14	1	0	7	1	2	0
11	FW	POR	César Brito	11	1	6	0	0	0	2	0	3	1
12	GK	POR	Neno	5	-3	4	-2	0	0	0	0	1	-1
13	DF	POR	Dimas Teixeira	45	0	30	0	4	0	8	0	3	0
15	MF	CRO	Mario Stanić	15	5	13	5	1	0	0	0	1	0
16	FW	BRA	Clóvis	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
17	DF	POR	Pedro Henriques	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
18	FW	POR	Edgar Pacheco	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
19	MF	POR	Rui Esteves	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	DF	POR	Daniel Kenedy	35	3	22	2	4	1	6	0	3	0
24	FW	ANG	Akwá	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
25	DF	BRA	Paulão	7	1	4	1	1	0	2	0	0	0

Transfers

In

In by loan

Out

Out by loan

References

1. ^ Tovar 2012, p. 532.
2. Carlos Perdigão (2004). 100 Anos de Lenda (in Portuguese) (1 ed.). Diário de Noticias. p. 53. ISBN 972-9335-52-4.
3. "Rui Costa não foi para o Barcelona por amor ao Benfica" [Rui Costa did not went to Barcelona for love to Benfica]. Relvado (in Portuguese). 1 October 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
4. "GUNNERS YEARS: Swede Schwarz signs on dotted line". Ham & High. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
5. "Estes russos são fogo" [This Russians are fire]. Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). 3 April 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
6. ^ Tovar 2012, p. 533.
7. ^ Tovar 2012, p. 538.
8. ^ Tovar 2012, p. 534.
9. Tovar 2012, p. 535.
10. Tovar 2012, p. 537.
11. ^ Tovar 2012, p. 539.
12. "Benfica 2-2 (3-4)g.p. FC Porto" [Benfica 2-2 (3-4)p.s. FC Porto]. ZeroZero. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
13. ^ Martín Tabeira (4 October 2006). "Parmalat Cup". RSSSF. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
14. "Squad 1994–95". Thefinalball.com. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
15. "Transfers". Thefinalball.com.

Bibliography

• Tovar, Rui Miguel (2012). Almanaque do Benfica [Benfica Almanac]. Portugal: Lua de Papel. ISBN 978-989-23-2087-8.

• S.L. Benfica seasons
• Portuguese football clubs 1994–95 season