Only major signing was Rui Águas, but Benfica fought to kept a trio composed of Carlos Manuel, Diamantino Miranda and José Luís from leaving.

In April, the season took a dramatic turn when Benfica lost at home to Sporting and were matched in first place by Porto, who confirmed their title a week later.

[4] The summer story instead revolved around the contract extensions for Carlos Manuel, Diamantino Miranda and José Luís.

[11] Benfica then took part in the regional Taça de Honra and in the Lisbon International Tournament, winning both.

[21] In early December, Benfica drew in Antas and won their second Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, after having previously beat them by one-nil at home.

[21] Closing the year, Benfica defeated Boavista and lapped the first round of the league in first place, after recovering five points since September.

[26] Despite leading the league for most of second round, they lost 2–1, which allowed Porto to catch them in the first place, with a better head-to-head record.

[27] On the last day of the campaign, Porto beat last classified, Sporting da Covilhã and won the league, while Benfica lost in Bessa with Boavista.

Note 2: Players with squad numbers marked ‡ joined the club during the 1985-86 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.