After securing back-to-back league titles, Jimmy Hagan remained for a third year. Benfica signed Manuel Bento, Nelinho and brought back Augusto Matine. A late start to the pre-season did not hurt Benfica domestically, who started his league campaign with easy wins. However, in the European Cup, after passing Malmö FF, they lost 3–0 on aggregate with Derby County in the second round and were knocked-out. Leaving only the domestic competitions to battle for, Benfica kept his winning pace and recorded win after win, despite difficult wins against Porto in November and CUF in December. Lapping the first half of the season with 15 wins in 15 games, Benfica already had an eight-point lead over second place Belenenses. Another hard-fought win followed with Beira-Mar in January, but Benfica remained undisturbed and with 23 consecutive wins, they won their 20th league title on 11 March. They were finally stopped by Porto in Estádio das Antas on 1 April, but still a European record for most consecutive domestic wins with 29, dating back to April 1972. A week later, they also lost their domestic invincibility when Leixões defeated them for the Portuguese Cup, ending over one-year of undefeated streak. In final part of the season, Benfica drew again with Atlético but remained undefeated winning 28 games in 30, setting a record for longest distance for second place with 18 points. Eusébio with 40 goals was the European Golden Shoe for his second time.
The league campaign started on 9 September, with a home win with Leixões.[14] On the following Wednesday, Benfica also began his European Cup campaign, losing 1–0 with Malmö FF.[15] In the return leg, Benfica beat them by 4–1 and qualified for the second round.[16] In the domestic campaign, on 8 October, Benfica defeated Sporting by 4–1 with four goals from Eusébio.[16][17] With the win, Benfica opened a two-point lead over their rivals.[18] They continued on their winning run, beating Belenenses at home by 5–0 on match-day 7.[16][17] With seven wins in seven matches, their lead was now three points.[19] Back on the European stage, Benfica visited Baseball Ground to face Derby County on 25 October.[16] Three first-half goals from Derby County surprised Benfica, who failed to react and lost 3–0.[20] Before the second leg, Benfica played the Clássico with Porto for the Primeira Divisão.[21] Porto scored first and was winning by 2–0 until the 78th minute, when Benfica scored the 1–2 with the result eventually being a 3–2 win for Benfica.[21][17] Three days later, on 8 November, Benfica was knocked-out of the European Cup after a 0–0 draw with Derby County.[21] Now solely focused on the league campaign, Benfica kept their winning record in November after beating Vitória de Guimarães, ending the month with a six-point lead over Belenenses.[21] In early December, the team was nearly stopped by CUF, if it was not for a 90th-minute goal from Eusébio.[22] On 17 December, Benfica finished the first half of the season with an away win against Montijo.[21] Accounting for wins all the matches played, Benfica had now an eight-point lead over second place Belenenses and had scored 49 goals and conceded just five.[17] Before closing December, Benfica conquered another Taça de Honra by beating Atlético on penalties.[23]
In the opening month of 1973, Benfica again experienced a difficult away win, the opponent being Beira-Mar. Artur Jorge scored the winning goal on the 87th minute.[24] With 18 wins in 18 match-days, Benfica's lead at this point was nine points.[24] They closed the month with an away win in
Estádio de Alvalade against Sporting.[25] Benfica had now a 10-point advantage over Belenenses and 16 over Sporting.[25] In February, the team went on a tour in South east Asia, playing in Hong Kong, Macau and Jakarta.[25] The Primeira Divisão resumed in latter part of the month and for the last match in February, Benfica visited Estádio do Restelo to face Belenenses. They defeated them by 2–0.[26] With 22 wins in 22 matches, Benfica's lead was now 13 points.[26] On 11 March, on match-day 23, Benfica beat Vitória de Setúbal at home by 3–0.[25][17] With a 14–point lead with seven match-days to go, Benfica secured their 20th league title after 23 consecutive wins.[25][17] Having already won the league, Benfica visited Estádio das Antas on 1 April, to play Porto.[27][17] They drew 2–2 after a controversial late penalty signalled by António Garrido, stopping their winning run.[27][17] Still, Benfica had set a European record for consecutive wins in domestic league.[28] It had started on 9 April 1972, on match-day 25 from 1971–72 and lasted nearly a full year.[28] Competition continued on 8 April, with Benfica facing Leixões for the Portuguese Cup.[27] They lost 2–0 and ended one-year and 13 days of domestic invincibility.[27] The final part of the season was solely focused on making Eusébio win the European Golden Shoe, as Müller was his main contestant.[29] After another four wins and second draw, with Atlético, Müller and Eusébio were tied with 36 goals, leaving everything for the last match-day.[30][17] With four goals in a 6–0 win over Montijo, Eusébio reached 40 and confirmed his second Golden Shoe.[30][31] Benfica had ended the league undefeated with 28 wins and two draws, 58 points in 60 possible, 18 points ahead of second place, setting a new domestic record for difference over second place.[30][17] They also scored 101 goals and conceded only 13, a goal difference of 88 goals.[30][32]
The squad for the season consisted of the players listed in the tables below, as well as staff member Jimmy Hagan (manager), Fernando Cabrita (assistant manager), Fernando Neves (Director of Football).[6][54]
Note 1: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note 2: Players with squad numbers marked ‡ joined the club during the 1972-73 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.
^"O Benfica começa sem Eusebio e Hagan" [Benfica starts without Eusébio and Hagan]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17835. 17 August 1972. p. 14. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Benfica e Sporting na América do Norte" [Benfica and Sporting in North America]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17800. 13 July 1972. p. 19. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ ab"Empate forjado pelo árbitro" [Draw made up by the referee]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17804. 17 July 1972. p. 19. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ ab"Carranza fica em Espanha" [Carranza stays in Spain]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17846. 28 August 1972. p. 20. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ ab"Benfica continua a ganhar" [Benfica keep on winning]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17853. 4 September 1972. p. 15. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Sporting e Montijo saltam barreiras" [Sporting and Montijo jump fences]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17860. 11 September 1972. p. 16. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Faltou um general, sobraram capitães" [A general less, too much captains]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17942. 4 December 1972. p. 21. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ ab"O Benfica ganhou a Taça de Honra" [Benfica won the Taça de Honra]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17962. 24 December 1972. p. 20. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ ab"Benfica: unico vencedor forra" [Benfica: only team to win away]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17982. 15 January 1973. p. 19. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ ab"Um trio ao ataque ao segundo lugar" [A trio to attack second place]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 18024. 26 February 1972. p. 16. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Benfica: na Indonesia em passeio" [Benfica: on vacation in Indonesia]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17851. 2 September 1972. p. 15. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^ abAntónio Manuel Morais; Carlos Perdigão; João Loureiro; José de Oliveira Santos (1994). Benfica: 90 Anos de História (in Portuguese). SOGAPAL. p. 255.
^"Os Homens não morrem aos 30 anos" [Men do not die at 30]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17959. 21 December 1972. p. 27. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Nova vitória do Benfica em Hong Kong" [Another Benfica win in Hong Kong]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 18003. 5 February 1973. p. 20. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Benfica Imparável" [Benfica unstoppable]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 18007. 9 February 1973. p. 17. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Benfica goleou Macaistas 11-0" [Benfica defeated Macau team]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 18010. 12 February 1973. p. 21. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Cumprido" [Fulfilled]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 18102. 17 May 1973. p. 15. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Um empate com sabor a vitória" [A draw that tasted like win]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 18108. 23 May 1973. p. 20. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Benfica no Oriente" [Benfica in the East]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 18116. 31 May 1973. p. 16. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Empate benfiquista em Reims" [Benfica draws in Reims]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 18122. 6 June 1973. p. 20. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Futebol não parou" [Football did not stop]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17764. 6 June 1972. p. 21. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Hugo e Osvaldo regressam ao Sporting" [Hugo and Osvalldo return to Sporting]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17794. 7 July 1972. p. 19. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Noticias de Futebol" [News of football]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17830. 12 August 1972. p. 18. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Noticias de Futebol" [Football news]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17836. 18 August 1972. p. 17. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"CUF está em Bruxelas" [CUF is in Brussels]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17868. 19 September 1972. p. 15. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
^"Atlético: Zero em comportamento" [Atlético: Zero in behavior]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 17874. 25 September 1972. p. 20. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
Bibliography
Tovar, Rui Miguel (2012). Almanaque do Benfica. Portugal: Lua de Papel. ISBN978-989-23-2087-8.
Miguéns, Alberto (2005). 100 anos 100 troféus. Portugal: Prime Books. ISBN972-8820-34-8.
Simões, António (1994). História de 50 anos do Desporto Português. Portugal. {{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
