In November, Benfica won again, but the results remained erratic and after a 7–0 trashing of Paços de Ferreira, they lost to Varzim.

With the Spaniard in charge, Benfica regained second place and slowly opened a gap over Sporting, eventually finishing with 75 points, qualifying for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League.

The season was also the last that Benfica played in the original Estádio da Luz, before a new version was built ahead of UEFA Euro 2004.

[1][2] In the transfer season, Maniche and Robert Enke left the club as their contracts expired; the former joined Porto, the latter, Barcelona.

[8] He joined a depleted attack, which only had the new signing from Porto Miklós Fehér as option, as both Mantorras and Tomo Šokota were injured.

[12][13] After a game in Palermo with Inter Milan on 21 July, Benfica returned to Portugal the next day, meeting up with Sporting in the Superbola Trophy on the 28th.

The team began September with a 3–2 away win against Moreirense; Fehér had a decisive influence, earning a penalty and scoring the winner in the 78th minute.

[22] Benfica hosted Vitória Setúbal on 5 October, dropping two points in a 1–1 draw, due to a "childish error, or better yet, a lack of sharpness of the back-four", in the words of Ricardo Tavares from Record.

Porto won 2–1 because to António Tadeira, they "reacted better to playing outnumbered, while Benfica lost their focus when Paulo Costa sent off Éder and then Miguel".

[31] Tinoco de Faria, the club vice-president, called the defeat "unacceptable";[32] Jesualdo Ferreira was relieved of his duties the day after.

[39] On 7 December, Benfica played their last game in the 46-year-old Estádio de Alvalade against city rivals Sporting in the Lisbon derby.

[42] Early in January 2003, Benfica announced the signing of Brazilian midfielder Geovanni, on a loan deal from Barcelona until the end of the season.

[44] In the stands, the problematic behaviour of the Benfica supporters group No Name Boys caused the governing body of the Portuguese league to punish both clubs by closing their stadiums for one game each.

[47] The final score, 3–0 to Benfica, was the biggest in the Camacho era; António Tadeia, writing for Record, complimented the team for the "more pleasing performance, after the very poor display against Moreirense".

[47] Porto won 1–0 through Deco's goal, in a match that Manuel Queiroz at Record defined as " ... ending the last doubts of who is the future champion and who is the best team in the league, defeating Camacho's Benfica for the first time ... "[56] Benfica rebounded with an away win against Académica on 15 March, beating them 4–1 in the Municipal José Bento Pessoa in Figueira da Foz.

[64] "Even with adversities on the bench, Benfica attained the great objective of the season; the return to European competitions through the big door – the UEFA Champions League.

Against a superior Porto, and with the bizarre elimination at home in the Taça de Portugal, Benfica soon focus on the battle for the second place against Sporting.

[62] In the words of António Tadeia, the visitors took on an approach of "ignoring the midfield ... and abusing of the long ball", inflicting a 1–2 loss upon Benfica.

[69] Benfica played their last game of the season on 1 June at home against Vitória Guimarães,[62] winning 4–0; Féher scored a hat-trick.

Simão was the joint highest scorer in the Primeira Liga, with 18 goals, equal to Beira-Mar's Faye Fary; the latter took the Bola de Prata award due to having played fewer games.

[71] Win Draw Loss Postponed The squad for the season consisted of the players listed in the tables below, as well as managers Jesualdo Ferreira and José António Camacho.