Chelsea Are Rich, But Benfica’s Wealth Of European Traditions Is What They Dream To Match

By Manuel Traquete
13 years Ago

Founded in 1904, SL Benfica – Chelsea’s next Champions League opponents – are one of the greatest clubs in European football history. Although they haven’t been at their best over the past two decades, only a select few clubs in the continent can boast of such a rich history and widespread fanbase; not only are Benfica one of the most successful clubs in history, they are also the club with most members (around 200,000) in the world, a testament to the club’s greatness and worldwide reach.

Domestically, Benfica have won 32 league titles (a record among Portuguese clubs), 24 Portuguese Cups (also a record), three League Cups (out of four editions) and four Portuguese Super Cups. This makes Benfica the most successful Portuguese club domestically along with FC Porto, both with 63 trophies in their museum. Ai??Although Porto have been rapidly catching up in the past 25 years, Benfica’s history and huge fanbase still makes them arguably the biggest club in Portugal.

But Benfica’s status as one of Europe’s greats hasn’t been earned solely on the domestic front; in fact, most of it is due to the club’s immense success in European competitions, most of it gathered in the club’s golden era in the 1960s, where players like the great EusAi??bio, Mario Coluna and JosAi?? Augusto, who were the backbone of the Portuguese National Team who was third in the 1966 World Cup, were the driving force behind one of the greatest club teams of all-time.

Benfica were the first team to stop Real Madrid’s hegemony in the European Cup; after the Spanish giants won the competition five times in a row from 1957 to 1961; Benfica won the 1961/1962 edition with a 3-2 win over FC Barcelona. Besides this, they managed to defend their title, beating Real Madrid 5-3 in the final of the 1962/1963 edition, in a game that pitted the two greatest footballers in Europe that era, Ai??EusAi??bio and Di Stefano, against each other, with the Portuguese legend scoring a brace and leading Benfica to victory with an MVP performance.

After those two European triumphs, Benfica would make five more finals, losing them all though. Still led by the great EusAi??bio, Benfica couldn’t win the competition for third time in a row, losing the 1963 final 2-1 to AC Milan at Wembley. They then Ai??lost the 1964/1965 final 1-0 to Internazionale at San Siro and to Manchester United in 1967/1968 at Wembley, 4-1 after extra time, in what would be the last final of the EusAi??bio era.

Despite having lost three finals and the Intercontinental Cup to PeAi??arol and PAi??lAi??’s Santos in 1961 and 1962, EusAi??bio’s Benfica is still rightly regarded as one of the greatest in European football history. Although Benfica had an incredibly talented side in all areas, it’s impossible not to associate their success with EusAi??bio, who became the first Portuguese player to win the Ballon d’Or in 1965 and won the European Golden Boot twice and is widely recognized as one of the best footballers of his era and history.

Estadio Da Luz can be one of the most intimidating of places

After EusAi??bio, Benfica continued to dominate in Portugal but had to wait two decades to make another European Cup final. It happened in 1987/1988; that side didn’t have any world stars in the EusAi??bio mould, but with experienced players like Veloso and Rui Aguas and one of the greatest Portuguese goalkeepers of all-time in Bento, Benfica had a somewhat unexpected run to the final in Stuttgart, where they lost in the most bitter way possible, in a penalty shoot-out against PSV Eindhoven.

They’d be back in the final two years later in 1989/1990, this time losing to Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan, courtesy of a Frank Rijkaard solitary goal. After a fifth lost European Cup final, though, Benfica haven’t returned to the final since, with very few deep runs in the past two decades. The club’s domestic decline (only three league titles in the past 20 years) has unsurprisingly brought a decline in the European front as well.

In the past 20 years, Benfica had arguably the worst period of their history; they were in a very deep crisis, from which they are only now reemerging. The main responsible for Benfica’s dark years their president Vale Azevedo, who almost made the club bankrupt during his term. His crimes would later be found out, leading to his imprisonment for embezzlement, but the club took quite some time to start recovering from the damage inflicted by Azevedo.

Under Luis Filipe Vieira, Benfica have slowly started to reemerge from the cracks of the Vale Azevedo era. They are still firmly in Porto’s shadow in Portugal, but they have at least won two league titles since 2005, after 11 trophiless years, during the which the club was even sixth in the league in 2000/2001, their worst finish ever.

In Europe, they have had some deep runs in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, but most notably an excellent run in the 2005/2006 Champions League under Ronald Koeman, where they got to the last 8 after eliminating Manchester United in the group stages and defending champions Liverpool in the first knockout stage (with a sensational 2-0 win at Anfield), only falling to eventual champions FC Barcelona 2-0 on aggregate.

Under manager Jorge Jesus, Benfica have been improving their squad every season, looking to end Porto’s hegemony in Portugal and dream with European glory again. This year’s squad is definitely the best in recent years; David Luiz, FA?bio CoentrA?o, Ramires and Angel Di Maria were sold for astronomical fees, but that money was wisely used to make the squad stronger than before.

The club might have squandered a five-point lead in the league (they’re now one point behind Porto and two behind Braga), but they have been in great form in this year’s Champions League, eliminating last year’s finalists Manchester United on their way to the last 8. Pablo Aimar, Oscar Cardozo and especially Axel Witsel have all been among the stand-out performers in this year’s Champions League, giving the fans reasons to believe in European glory.

After eliminating Zenit in the last 16, Jorge Jesus mentioned EusAi??bio’s Benfica, claiming that he dreamed of bringing the fans the kind of European glory that they haven’t experienced since. He also ironically said he wanted to face Chelsea in the last 8 (at a time where the English side hadn’t even booked their place in the last 8), a wish that ended up being fulfilled.

For Benfica, this is not just another tie. This year’s Champions League is seen as an opportunity for the club to reestablish themselves as one of Europe’s greats. The manager and the fans know that winning it might be too hard, but they want to go as far as possible and Chelsea are definitely a very beatable opponent in the last 8. There will be no EusAi??bio this time, but replicating Eusebio’s spirit, Chelsea can be overcome.

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Categories: Around the World, COVER STORY
Tags: Champions' League

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