In the transfer season, major signings included António Veloso, Francisco Vital and João Alves, who returned to the club.

In late November, Benfica draws with Sporting and three weeks later, with Vitória de Setúbal, lapping the first half in first place with a three-point lead.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Benfica defeated Fortuna Düsseldorf in quarter-finals but was knocked-out by Carl Zeiss Jena in the semis.

[2][3] As replacement, Benfica contacted Raymond Goethals, but he declined, so the club turned to 66-year old Hungarian Lajos Baróti.

[6] In the transfer season, Benfica signed players like António Veloso and Francisco Vital, who were regularly used by Baroti.

[7] However the transfer of Summer was the return of João Alves from France, with Benfica making a last minute offer and signing him, before Sporting, who was also interested, could.

[2] Benfica started the second half with three consecutive wins, until they were stopped by Penafiel in early February, which shortened their lead over Porto to only two points.

[23] A few days later, Benfica faced Jimmy Hagan's Belenenses for the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup, winning 1–0 and qualifying for the final.

[2] The season concluded with the Taça de Portugal final against Porto, where Nené scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 win, with Benfica securing a double.

[26] Before leaving, departing President José Ferreira Queimado signed a one-year extension with Baróti.

Note 2: Players with squad numbers marked ‡ joined the club during the 1980-81 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.