Benfica competed domestically in the Primeira Divisão and the Taça de Portugal, and participated in the UEFA Cup after finishing second in the previous league.

[1] Swedish manager Sven-Göran Eriksson made some squad adjustments, releasing established players like Fernando Chalana, Diamantino Miranda and Álvaro Magalhães, and losing Aldair to Roma.

[6] To counter the departures, he brought back Rui Águas, from Porto,[7] Neno from Vitória de Guimarães, alongside William, and also added Isaías and Stefan Schwarz.

[15] The local Vitória played very aggressively, injuring three players from Benfica within the first 35 minutes: first Stefan Schwarz, followed by Fernando Mendes and then Vítor Paneira.

[12] They followed with an away win in Alvalade, but lost a point with Farense who played their home match in Estádio do Bonfim to intimidate Benfica after they recent loss there.

[12] The match was highly controversial because of the war-like tactics that Porto employed: Rocks were thrown at the team bus; the players had to walk to the locker room between a corridor of angry Porto fans; the locker room was sprayed with a chemical that made it impossible to use, with Benfica being forced to get dressed in the access tunnel; the pitch was flooded to prevent the ball from rolling.