Benfica competed domestically in the Primeira Divisão and the Taça de Portugal, and participated in the European Cup after winning the previous league.

In September, Benfica lost in the opening round with Sporting and drew the next two with Estoril Praia and Académica de Coimbra.

[4] Signing a British manager was an obvious goal,[5] and Gradi was first choice, landing in Lisbon on 22 June to discuss terms.

[9][10] At that point, the possible choices were either a Portuguese managers like Peres Bandeira and José Augusto or foreigners like Aymoré Moreira and Miguel Muñoz.

[15] Contrasting with the troubled signing of a manager, Benfica made very few squad adjustments, notably just Pietra and later Carlos Alhinho.

[18] Benfica's first preparation games were in Brazil on 13 and 15 August,[19][20] with the team competing in the Trofeo Cidade de Vigo shortly after.

[25] On 19 September, Benfica visited Estádio António Coimbra da Mota to play Estoril Praia, dropping another point in a 1–1 draw, putting them in the 14th place.

[28] In the following two match-days, Sporting first lost with Setúbal, and then drew with Boavista, while Benfica won both matches, thus reducing the distance between them to three points.

[29][28] Two weeks later, both teams were level at the top, when Benfica beat Estoril Praia and Sporting drew with Portimonense.

[31][28] Benfica concluded the month by taking the first place from Sporting, with a win in Coimbra against Académica, while his rivals drew at home.

[31] In the Primeira Divisão, on 20 March, Benfica beat Boavista in Estádio do Bessa and secured their ninth consecutive league win.

[33] Benfica would drop points again on 17 April, in a 1–1 draw against Vitória de Guimarães, but it did not harm their lead, as Sporting also drew in the same weekend.

[32][34] Nené played all 30 matches and scored 23 goals, after being moved from right-winger to striker, due to the lack of quality options in that position.

Note 2: Players with squad numbers marked ‡ joined the club during the 1976-77 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.