Benfica

Sport Lisboa e Benfica is a Portuguese football club based in the city of Lisbon. They are one of the heavyweights in Portuguese football, having won the Portuguese championship a record 31 times.

The club was founded on February 28,1904 as Grupo Sport Lisboa and played their first match in January 1905. In 1908 the Grupo Sport Lisboa tookover the Sport Clube de Benfica and the club soon began to win regional titles and championships.

After a somewhat downbeat 1920s, Benfica soon escalated in the 1930s and were one of the founding members of the Portuguese national leagues in 1933. They won the champinships three times in a row between 1936 and 1938.

Benfica continued winning domestic honours and won their first international honour when they emerged victorious in the Latin Cup in 1950. Then they won two European Cups in succession in 1961 and 1962, guided by the Portuguese football legend Eusebio.

From the 1970s onwards Benfica simply rode through in Portugal and from 1994 to 2003 when they failed to win the Portuguese league even once. But they once again gained prominence in the 2004-2005 season when they won the national championships for the 31st time in their history and reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in the 2005-2006 season.

Benfica play their home matches at the Estadio da Luz (Stadium of Light) that can entertain a crowd of 65,200. Benfica bear the nicknames O Glorioso (the Glorious), As Aguias (the Eagles), Lampioes (Lamps), Diabos Vermelhos (The Red Devils).

Some of the club’s major achievements include: -31 Portuguese league titles -24 Portuguese Cups -2 European Cups(now known as the UEFA Champions League)