After a slow February; in March, Benfica caught Sporting at the front and in April, overtook them, after they lost to Porto.

[2] Back-to-back league winner, Otto Glória had resigned and was replaced by José Augusto for the final months of the season.

[3] Alfredo Di Stéfano was approached to replace him,[4] but the choice fell to Englishman, Jimmy Hagan, who arrived in Lisbon on 15 April.

[12] After a brief period in Portugal, on 17 August, Benfica embarked on another tour, in South-east Asia, where they played seven games in roughly two weeks.

[16] In the first away match of the league, Benfica visited Estádio de Alvalade to play Sporting, bringing home his second 1–1 draw of the week.

[15] For the final league match of the month, Benfica returned to Estádio da Luz after a prolonged exile.

[21] Still, the team remained uncompetitive on the road, losing for the first time in the league on 15 November in a visit to Farense.

[23] However, a double from Vítor Baptista in the visit to Vitória de Setúbal, inflicted the team their second league loss of the campaign.

[15] In the opening match of February, Benfica beat Belenenses at home, while Sporting drew away, resetting the gap between them at two points.

[30] In the following two match-days, all of the Big Three won, so no changes occurred at the top of the table; Benfica beat Tirsense on the road and Barreinse in Estádio da Luz.

[31][32] On 21 March, Benfica defeated Farense at home by 5–0 and climbed to the top of table, taking advantage of a loss from Sporting and Porto draw.

[34] On 4 April, Benfica beat Vitória de Setúbal at home and for the first time headed the league isolated, with a two-point lead.

[37] They finished the Primeira Divisão with a 5–1 victory over Académica, ending the campaign with a three-point lead over Sporting, having won nine points over them in half a season.

Note 2: Players with squad numbers marked ‡ joined the club during the 1970-71 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.