Sport Lisboa e Benfica is a Portuguese professional football club based in Lisbon whose involvement in European competition dates back to the 1950s.

Additionally, their 42 participations in the Champions League (formerly the European Cup) are only surpassed by Real Madrid, and as of December 2023, Benfica occupy the eighth place at the competition's all-time ranking.

[1] That year, Benfica had won the Primeira Divisão, but the European Cup organizers selected Sporting CP to take part in the first edition.

[5] Benfica's first European silverware came in 1950 when, managed by Ted Smith, they beat French side Bordeaux at the Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, Portugal, to win the Latin Cup.

A hat-trick from Ferenc Puskás put the Spanish champions ahead before half-time, but a double from Coluna and rising star Eusébio overturned the score to 5–3.

[15] Benfica replaced him with Fernando Riera, and while the Chilean manager led the team to a third-straight European Cup final, he was unable to emulate Guttmann's success.

[16] In a time when substitutions did not exist, Benfica played the rest of the match crippled, and two second-half goals from José Altafini sent the trophy to Italy.

[20] A mistake from Alberto da Costa Pereira, allowing a shot from Jair to pass between his legs, cost Benfica their second attempt at a European Cup treble.

[31] As historic players like Eusébio and Simões left the club, Benfica only secured two European Cup quarter-final presences in the late 1970s: in 1975–76 they lost 5–1 to the holders Bayern Munich;[32] and in 1977–78 they were knocked out by the defending champions Liverpool with a 6–2 aggregate score.

[34] This performance was bested two seasons later, as Benfica reached the 1983 UEFA Cup Final after overcoming a quarter-final bout against a Roma side featuring Falcão and Bruno Conti.

In the second leg, fourteen days later, Benfica manager Sven-Göran Eriksson chose not to start Zoran Filipović and João Alves, both undisputed starters, and the team drew 1–1, losing another European final.

After eliminating teams like Anderlecht and Steaua București, they reached their sixth final in the competition, where they met PSV in a match played at Stuttgart's Neckarstadion on 25 May 1988.

The Dutch side – fielding five Netherlands national team players that would go on to conquer the UEFA Euro 1988 a month later – converted all of their penalty kicks, whereas António Veloso allowed goalkeeper Hans van Breukelen to defend his penalty kick, and sealed Benfica's fourth consecutive European Cup final loss.

[39] Benfica did not wait long to make another appearance in the European Cup's showpiece match, as two years later – and with Swedish manager Eriksson again in charge – a team including Brazil's starting centre-backs Ricardo Gomes and Aldair, together with midfielders Valdo and Jonas Thern, eliminated Marseille with a controversial handled goal from Vata to reach their seventh European Cup final.

They reached the tournament's group stage after a successful performance at Highbury against Arsenal, with Isaías and Vasili Kulkov scoring in extra time.

[44] In 1992–93, Benfica reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, beating eventual winners Juventus at home (their only loss in the competition), but losing 3–1 in Turin.

[48] The team's performances were subpar, with their lowest peak coming in the form of a 7–0 loss against Celta Vigo, Benfica's heaviest European defeat.

There, the team played their first European match at the new Estádio da Luz (3–1 win against Molde) and reached the fourth round, where they were eliminated by Inter Milan with a 4–3 away loss.

[51] After another season without playing in the Champions League, Benfica returned to UEFA's main competition in 2005–06, where they achieved their best performance in eleven years.

Benfica knocked Manchester United out of the competition in the group stage and eliminated title holders Liverpool in the subsequent round, grabbing the club's first-ever win at Anfield.

Benfica lost the first final on 17 May 2013 to then Champions League holders Chelsea, with a 2–1 injury-time header from Branislav Ivanović,[59] and drew 0–0 against Sevilla on 15 May 2014, losing the match penalty shoot-out 4–2.