1996–97 S.L. Benfica season

The 1996–97 European football season was the 93rd season of Sport Lisboa e Benfica's existence and the club's 63rd consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. The season ran from 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997; Benfica competed domestically in the Primeira Divisão and the Taça de Portugal. The club also participated in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup as a result of winning the previous Taça de Portugal.

Benfica

1996–97 season
President	Manuel Damásio
Head coach	Paulo Autuori (until 19 January 1997) Mário Wilson (interin until 26 January 1997) Manuel José
Stadium	Estádio da Luz
Primeira Divisão	3rd
Taça de Portugal	Runners-up
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira	Runners-up
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: Donizete (7) All: João Pinto (16)
Highest home attendance	75,000 vs Porto (11 January 1997)
Lowest home attendance	3,000 vs Leça (18 May 1997)
Home colours Away colours

To manage the team in the new season, Benfica appointed Paulo Autuori. The Brazilian had just won the Brasileirão with Botafogo and was working in the background with the club since January 1996. He signed Jamir and Donizete from Botafogo, plus others like Jorge Bermúdez or Ronaldo Guiaro. Major departures included Ricardo Gomes, Paulo Bento and Daniel Kenedy.

The season started with different outcomes in the different competitions. While in the Primeira Divisão, Benfica reached the first place by September; in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, the panorama was the opposite, with Benfica conceding a five-nil home loss with FC Porto. Until January, Autuori led the team through the first and second round of the Cup Winner's Cup, and battled with Sporting over the second place.

In January, the league campaign took a turn for the worse, Benfica lost twice in a row and Autuori was sacked. Mário Wilson was interim in one game (another loss); before the permanent appointment of Manuel José. With José, Benfica performance in the Primeira Divisão became much more irregular. Consecutive wins and consecutive losses were followed by intercalating wins and draws. In May and June Benfica, lost four times in five match-days, and hit new record lows, both in number of losses and points to league winner. In the domestic cup, José led them to their second final in a row, but lost it to Boavista.

Season summary

In the wake of a Cup-winning campaign, Benfica opened the new season by appointing a new manager, Paulo Autuori, who had been working with the club for past six months.[1] The Brazilian manager had just finished the 1995 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, where he led Botafogo to their second league title in history. From his former club, he brought in Jamir and Donizete, plus directly recommended the purchase of Bermúdez.[1][2]

The season began with the first leg of the 1996 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira against FC Porto, bringing a one-goal deficit back.[3] A week later; on the opening game of the Primeira Liga, Benfica drops two points against S.C. Braga in a home draw.[4] Still, with two convincing wins in early September, Benfica reached top of the table, together with four other teams. With the second leg of the Supercup next, Benfica received Porto on 18 September. However, the contend quickly became an unbalanced one, with Porto scoring five goals to none, as Preud'Homme prevented an even darker outcome[5][2] The team was not disturbed by this defeat, and continued racking up consecutive league wins, even achieving a two-point lead over the second place; while the results in Europe were looking accordingly.[4]

"It is the first year of the longest title drought ever. Three managers pass through the bench to use 34 players and put Benfica in an unpleasant third place, with ten losses and at 27 points from the first (both club records). It starts badly with Paulo Autuori, and the loss of the Supercup, were the fans witness a consistent performance from Porto. The grief increased in January, with three straight losses, which did not happened in 40 years – Lusitano de Èvora, Belenenses and Sporting in October/November of 1957. Autuori is sacked and succeeded by Mário Wilson. A game later, Wilson relinquishes his place in favour of Manuel José, who succeeds in taking the team to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners Cup and to the Portuguese Cup final. In between, new embarrassment caused by three straight losses, curiously enough, caused by the same teams of the previous series."

— Rui Miguel Tovar on the season events[2]

In late October, Benfica visited Sporting for the Derby de Lisboa, losing one-nil and dropping down one position. A week later, with a further two more points dropped, Porto opened a three-point gap at the front.[6] By the time the Clássico arrived, the distance was already five points. Losing 1–2 to Porto, increased it to eight.[6] Affected by the defeat, Benfica lost for a second time on a row, with the priority changing from battling Porto in the title race, to defending the second place from Sporting. Autuori was sacked immediately, and Mário Wilson was appointed interim for one game.[2][7] The move did not have any effect on the team sharpness, as Benfica lost for a third in a row for the first time since 1957–58.[2] The club lapped the first round of the league already one point behind their cross-town rivals Sporting, and fourteen from Porto. Manuel José was chosen was new manager on 26 January. The 50-year-old had managed Sporting and Boavista before with mild success, and was tasked with saving the season.

José's first game was a difficult visit to Braga; Benfica equalized one-nil and brought a point home, but lost two for Sporting.[8] With the league race resolved, Benfica focused on the Portuguese Cup, progressing to the sixth round after defeating C.S. Marítimo.[9] March was a particularly difficult month, as the team dropped eight points in just three match-days, being in danger of losing third place fourth place.[8] In the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Benfica ended its European campaign, after not being able to revert a 2–0 home loss against Rui Costa's Fiorentina, despite a marginal win in Florence.[3]

In April, the team gained some distance to the fourth place, S.C. Salgueiros, allowing them to focus on the Portuguese Cup.[10] With the advantage of receiving smaller teams at home in the knock-out stages, Benfica progressed to the semi-finals after beating Dragões Sandinenses in the quarter-final, meeting Porto next. On the last day of April, the club defeated Porto by two-nil with goals from Valdir and Edgar Pacheco, reaching a second consecutive Portuguese Cup final, where they enter as title-holders.[9] On the league campaign, Benfica track record on the final six league match-days, was four losses, a win and a draw, losing fifteen more points, ending the season a record-breaking twenty-seven points from Porto, fourteen from Sporting.[2] On 10 June, in the 1997 Taça de Portugal Final, Benfica was surprised by Boavista, with a two-nil at the half-hour, they could not recover, giving Boavista their fifth national cup.[9]

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Overall record

Competition	First match	Last match	Record
			G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %	Source
Primeira Divisão	25 August 1996	15 June 1997	34	17	7	10	49	30	+19	050.00	[11]
Taça de Portugal	8 December 1996	10 June 1997	6	5	0	1	17	8	+9	083.33	[11]
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	12 September 1996	20 March 1997	6	4	1	1	10	5	+5	066.67	[11]
Supertaça	18 August 1996	18 September 1996	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6	000.00	[11]
Total			48	26	8	14	76	49	+27	054.17

Supertaça

18 August 1996 First leg	Porto	1–0	Benfica	Porto
20:30	Domingos  42'	Report		Stadium: Estádio das Antas Referee: Lucílio Baptista

18 September 1996 Second leg	Benfica	0–5 (0–6 agg.)	Porto	Lisbon
20:00		Report	Edmilson  3' Artur  43' Jorge Costa  46' Wetl  56' Drulovic  85'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Referee: António Rola

Primeira Divisão

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Porto (C)	34	27	4	3	80	24	+56	85	Qualification to Champions League group stage
2	Sporting CP	34	22	6	6	55	19	+36	72	Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
3	Benfica	34	17	7	10	49	30	+19	58	Qualification to UEFA Cup first round
4	Braga	34	15	10	9	39	40	−1	55
5	Vitória de Guimarães	34	15	8	11	51	46	+5	53

Source: Primeira Divisão
Rules for classification: 1st points, 2nd head-to-head, 3rd goals average
(C) Champion.

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	D	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	D	W	W	W	D	W	L	L	L	D	W	W	W	L	L	D	W	D	W	W	D	L	W	L	L	L
Position	12	3	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3

Source: ForaDeJogo
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

25 August 1996 1	Benfica	1–1	Braga	Lisbon
19:30	Hélder  82' (pen.)	Report	84' Idalécio  35'  55' Rodrigão	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 40,000 Referee: José Rufino

7 September 1996 2	Gil Vicente	0–3	Benfica	Póvoa de Varzim
20:00		Report	Hélder  28' Donizete  73', 79'  71'  89'	Stadium: Estádio do Varzim Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Paulo Paraty

15 September 1996 3	Benfica	5–1	Vitória Setúbal	Lisbon
19:30	Bruno Caires  28' João Pinto  39' Hassan  49' Panduru  83' Luís Gustavo  83'	Report	Paulo Ribeiro  82'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: José Leirós

22 September 1996 4	União de Leiria	0–2	Benfica	Leiria
20:30		Report	Panduru  74' Donizete  87'	Stadium: Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Paulo Costa

30 September 1996 5	Benfica	3–0	Desp. Chaves	Lisbon
19:30	Valdo  16' Hélder  86' Donizete  89'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Soares Dias

13 October 1996 6	Salgueiros	0–1	Benfica	Porto
21:15		Report	Donizete  23'	Stadium: Estádio Prof. Dr. José Vieira de Carvalho Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Monteiro da Silva

21 October 1996 7	Benfica	2–0	Estrela da Amadora	Lisbon
18:15	João Pinto  2' Donizete  77'	Report	Jordão  37'  57'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 15,000 Referee: António Costa

26 October 1996 8	Sporting	1–0	Benfica	Lisbon
21:30	Beto  51'	Report	Jamir  34'  62' Tahar El Khalej  42'  81'	Stadium: Estádio de Alvalade Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Vitor Pereira

4 November 1996 9	Benfica	1–1	Boavista	Lisbon
20:45	Iliev  30' João Pinto  80'	Report	Hélder  36'  54' Jimmy Hasselbaink  85'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Isidoro Rodrigues

16 November 1996 10	Espinho	0–3	Benfica	Porto
17:00		Report	Iliev  10' Valdo  85' Luís Gustavo  89'	Stadium: Estádio Prof. Dr. José Vieira de Carvalho Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Augusto Duarte

24 November 1996 11	Benfica	2–1	Farense	Lisbon
20:00	Valdo  44' (pen.) Iliev  50' Hélder Cristóvão  44'  83'	Report	Dos Santos  60'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Paulo Paraty

30 November 1996 12	Rio Ave	0–1	Benfica	Vila do Conde
20:15		Report	Bermúdez  24' Pedro Henriques  58'  72'	Stadium: Estádio do Rio Ave FC Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Martins dos Santos

22 December 1996 13	Benfica	0–0	Maritimo	Lisbon
21:15		Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Luís Miranda

3 January 1997 14	Leça	1–5	Benfica	Leça da Palmeira
19:00	Zé da Rocha  90'	Report	Donizete  5' João Pinto  13' Martin Pringle  35', 56' Pedro Henriques  48'	Stadium: Estádio do Leça FC Attendance: 5,000 Referee: José Pratas

11 January 1997 15	Benfica	1–2	Porto	Lisbon
20:00	João Pinto  50'	Report	Mário Jardel  24' Jorge Costa  57'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 75,000 Referee: Lucílio Baptista

19 January 1997 16	Vitória Guimarães	1–0	Benfica	Guimarães
19:00	Quim Berto  9' (pen.) João Pinto  23'  68'	Report		Stadium: Estádio D. Afonso Henriques Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Bento Marques

25 January 1997 17	Benfica	1–2	Belenenses	Lisbon
19:00	Bruno Caires  49'	Report	Paulo Fonseca  6' Bermúdez  30' (o.g.)	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Paulo Paraty

1 February 1997 18	Braga	1–1	Benfica	Braga
20:30	Zé Nuno Azevedo  39' Mozer  29'  73'	Report	Glenn Helder  28'	Stadium: Estádio 1º de Maio Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Paulo Costa

8 February 1997 19	Benfica	1–0	Gil Vicente	Lisbon
19:00	Martin Pringle  80'	Report	Carlitos  70'  72'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Soares Dias

15 February 1997 20	Vitória de Setúbal	0–2	Benfica	Porto
20:30		Report	Jamir  17' Edgar Pacheco  74'	Stadium: Estádio das Antas Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Augusto Duarte

23 February 1997 21	Benfica	1–0	União de Leiria	Lisbon
20:30	Edgar Pacheco  60'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Paulo Baptista

1 March 1997 22	Desp. Chaves	3–1	Benfica	Chaves
21:15	Miner  24' Dani Diaz  55' Milinković  84'	Report	Jorge Soares  48'	Stadium: Estádio Municipal de Chaves Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Paulo Paraty

16 March 1997 23	Benfica	3–4	Salgueiros	Lisbon
19:00	Edgar  14' Tahar  63' João Pinto  82'	Report	Abílio  36' Nandinho  62' Marcos Severo  89', 90'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Francisco Ferreira

24 March 1997 24	Estrela da Amadora	1–1	Benfica	Lisbon
20:00	Gaúcho  39'	Report	João Pinto  89'	Stadium: Estádio da Reboleira Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Paulo Costa

4 April 1997 25	Benfica	1–0	Sporting	Lisbon
20:00	João Pinto  15'	Report	Pedro Barbosa  74'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Pinto Correia

12 April 1997 26	Boavista	1–1	Benfica	Porto
20:00	Jimmy Hasselbaink  5'	Report	Valdir  89'	Stadium: Estádio do Bessa Attendance: 8,000 Referee: José Leirós

20 April 1997 27	Benfica	2–0	Espinho	Lisbon
20:30	Valdir  13' Valdo  64' (pen.)	Report	Carvalhal  8'  56' Lino  63'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 15,000 Referee: José Pratas

26 April 1997 28	Farense	1–2	Benfica	Faro
20:30	Dragan Punišić  9' Paixão  60'  83'	Report	Valdir  23' Edgar Pacheco  76'	Stadium: Estádio de São Luís Attendance: 14,000 Referee: Isidoro Rodrigues

4 May 1997 29	Benfica	0–0	Rio Ave	Lisbon
19:00		Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 50,000 Referee: Pinto Correia

10 May 1997 30	Maritimo	2–0	Benfica	Funchal
19:00	Edmilson  41', 65'	Report	João Pinto  55'  72'	Stadium: Estádio dos Barreiros Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Cunha Antunes

18 May 1997 31	Benfica	1–0	Leça	Lisbon
17:05	Jorge Soares  14'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Soares Dias

24 May 1997 32	Porto	3–1	Benfica	Porto
20:30	Mário Jardel  57', 62' Jorge Costa  76'	Report	Valdo  71' (pen.) Tahar El Khalej  52'  75'	Stadium: Estádio das Antas Attendance: 45,000 Referee: António Costa

30 May 1997 33	Benfica	0–2	Vitória Guimarães	Lisbon
19:00		Report	Vítor Paneira  63' Quim Berto  89'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 30,000 Referee: José Leirós

15 June 1997 34	Belenenses	1–0	Benfica	Lisbon
21:00	Andrade  77'	Report		Stadium: Estádio do Restelo Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Lucílio Baptista

Taça de Portugal

8 December 1996 Fourth Rd	Benfica	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Vitória Guimarães	Lisbon
18:00	Bermúdez  10' João Pinto  32', 95'	Report	Capucho  38' Alexandre  84'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Referee: Lucílio Baptista

11 February 1997 Fifth Rd	Benfica	2–1	Maritimo	Lisbon
20:30	Martin Pringle  44' Valdo  82' (pen.)	Report	Carlos Jorge  56'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Referee: José Rufino

9 March 1997 Sixth Rd	Benfica	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Desp. Aves	Lisbon
20:30	João Pinto  87' Valdo  100' Nicǎ Panduru  108'	Report	Noverça  61'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Referee: António Rola

2 April 1997 Quarter-finals	Benfica	5–1	Dragões Sandinenses	Lisbon
20:30	João Pinto  12', 15', 89' Marinho  20' Valdir  82'	Report	Landu  54'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Referee: António Costa

30 April 1997 Semi-finals	Benfica	2–0	Porto	Lisbon
20:30	Valdir  28' Edgar Pacheco  32'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Referee: Lucílio Baptista

10 June 1997 Final	Boavista	3–2	Benfica	Lisbon
20:30	Erwin Sánchez  7', 58' (pen.) Nuno Gomes  28'	Report	Calado  35' Paulo Jorge Sousa  60' (o.g)	Stadium: Estádio Nacional Referee: Paulo Paraty

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

First round

12 September 1996 First leg	Benfica	5–1	Ruch Chorzów	Lisbon
19:00	Donizete  25' João Pinto  26' Jamir  32' Valdo  70', 90'	Report	Gęsior  73'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Hermann Albrecht

26 September 1996 Second leg	Ruch Chorzów	0–0 (5–1 agg.)	Benfica	Chorzów
19:00		Report		Stadium: Stadion Ruchu Referee: Mika Peltola

Second round

17 October 1996 First leg	Benfica	1–0	Lokomotiv Moscow	Lisbon
19:00	João Pinto  8'	Report		Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Alain Sars

31 October 1996 Second leg	Lokomotiv Moscow	2–3 (4–2 agg.)	Benfica	Moscow
19:00	Solomatin  9' Haras  58'	Report	Panduru  47' Donizete  63' João Pinto  90'	Stadium: Lokomotiv Stadium Referee: Knud Erik Fisker

Quarter-finals

6 March 1997 First leg	Benfica	0–2	Fiorentina	Lisbon
19:00		Report	Baiano  45' Batistuta  89'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Helmut Krug

20 March 1997 Second leg	Fiorentina	0–1 (1–2 agg.)	Benfica	Florence
19:00		Report	Edgar  22'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Referee: Mario van der Ende

Friendlies

7 August 1996[12] Mario Cecchi Gori	Fiorentina	1–1 (8–9 p)	Benfica	Florence
	Luís Oliveira  42'		35' João Pinto	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi

7 August 1996[12] Mario Cecchi Gori	Benfica	3–1	Arsenal	Florence
	Panduru  16' Donizete  36' Hassan  39'		33' John Hartson	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi

10 August 1996[13]	Coventry City	2–7	Benfica	Coventry
				Stadium: Highfield Road

27 August 1996[14] Santiago Bernabéu	Real Madrid	4–0	Benfica	Madrid
	Rául  2' Šuker  15' (pen.) Victor  54' Lasa  70'			Stadium: Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Antonio Lopez Nieto

Player statistics

The squad for the season consisted of the players listed in the tables below, as well as staff member Paulo Autuori (manager), Mário Wilson (manager) and Manuel José (manager).[15][11]

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 1996-97 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Primeira Divisão		Taça de Portugal		Supertaça		UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Michel Preud'homme	47	-48	34	-30	5	-7	2	-6	6	-5
2^‡	DF		Tahar El Khalej	38	1	25	1	6	0	1	0	6	0
3^‡	DF		Jorge Soares	28	2	20	2	6	0	0	0	2	0
4	DF		Hélder Cristóvão	15	3	10	3	0	0	2	0	3	0
4^‡	DF		Ronaldo Guiaro	4	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
5^‡	DF		Jorge Bermúdez	38	2	27	1	3	1	2	0	6	0
6^‡	MF		Jamir Gomes	21	2	12	1	1	0	2	0	6	1
8	MF		João Vieira Pinto	42	16	28	7	6	6	2	0	6	3
9	FW		Hassan Nader	13	1	7	1	1	0	1	0	4	0
10	MF		Valdo Filho	43	9	30	5	6	2	2	0	5	2
11	MF		Basarab Panduru	28	4	19	2	2	1	1	0	6	1
12	GK		Fernando Brassard	1	-1	0	0	1	-1	0	0	0	0
13	DF		Dimas Teixeira	13	0	8	0	0	0	2	0	3	0
13^‡	MF		Tiago Pereira	22	0	19	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
14	DF		Marinho	21	1	15	0	4	1	0	0	2	0
15	MF		Paulão	7	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
16^‡	MF		Luís Gustavo	14	2	10	2	1	0	2	0	1	0
17	DF		Pedro Henriques	26	1	21	1	3	0	0	0	2	0
18	FW		Mauro Airez	17	0	12	0	3	0	0	0	2	0
19	MF		Bruno Caires	26	2	18	2	2	0	2	0	4	0
20	MF		Ilian Iliev	28	3	21	3	2	0	1	0	4	0
21^‡	FW		Valdir	13	5	10	3	3	2	0	0	0	0
21^‡	FW		Donizete	22	9	16	7	1	0	2	0	3	2
22	MF		José Calado	35	1	24	0	5	1	2	0	4	0
23	MF		Edgar Pacheco	23	6	15	4	5	1	0	0	3	1
24	FW		Akwá	4	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
25^‡	FW		Martin Pringle	17	4	15	3	2	1	0	0	0	0
27	DF		Nélson Veríssimo	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28^‡	DF		Abdelkrim El Hadrioui	8	0	5	0	2	0	0	0	1	0
29^‡	MF		Glenn Helder	13	1	11	1	1	0	0	0	1	0
30^‡	MF		Amaral	24	0	19	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
34	MF		Hugo Leal	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
35^‡	DF		Lúcio Wagner	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
37^‡	DF		Nélson Morais	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Transfers

[16]

In

Entry date	Position	Player	From club
July 1996	CB	Jorge Soares	Farense
July 1996	CB	Tahar El Khalej	União Leiria
July 1996	CB	Jorge Bermúdez	América de Cali
July 1996	CM	Tiago Pereira	Marítimo
July 1996	ST	Donizete	Verdy Kawasaki
July 1996	CM	Luís Gustavo	Marítimo
July 1996	ST	Martin Pringle	Helsingborgs
July 1996	CB	Ronaldo Guiaro	Atlético Mineiro
July 1996	DM	Jamir Gomes	Botafogo
January 1997	LB	Abdelkrim El Hadrioui	AS.FAR

In by loan

Entry date	Position	Player	From club	Return date
December 1996	LW	Glenn Helder	Arsenal	30 June 1997
January 1997	DM	Amaral	Parma	30 June 1997
March 1997	LB	Lúcio Wagner	Corinthians Alagoano	30 June 1997
March 1997	ST	Valdir	Atlético Mineiro	30 June 1997
March 1997	FB	Nélson Morais	Alverca	30 June 1997

Out

Exit date	Position	Player	To club
July 1996	CB	Ricardo Gomes	Retired
July 1996	GK	José Veiga	Alverca
July 1996	LB	Paulo Pereira	Genoa
July 1996	CB	King	Farense
July 1996	DM	Paulo Bento	Oviedo
July 1996	LB	Daniel Kenedy	Paris Saint-Germain
July 1996	FW	Luiz Gustavo	Internacional
July 1996	ST	Marcelo	Deportivo Alavés
January 1997	LB	Dimas	Juventus
January 1997	CB	Hélder	Deportivo
January 1997	ST	Donizete	Corinthians

Out by loan

Exit date	Position	Player	To club	Return date
July 1996	CM	Maniche	Alverca	30 June 1997
July 1996	CB	Paredão	Alverca	30 June 1997

References

1. "100 anos: Paulo Autuori". Record (in Portuguese). 26 May 2003. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
2. Tovar 2012, p. 548.
3. Tovar 2012, p. 554.
4. Tovar 2012, p. 549.
5. "Supertaça: "Marquei ao grande PreudHomme", recorda Arnold Wetl" [Supercup: "I scored to the great PreudHomme" remembers Arnold Wetl]. Mais Futebol (in Portuguese). 4 August 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
6. Tovar 2012, p. 550.
7. "Mário Wilson". Glórias do Passado (in Portuguese). 30 October 2008.
8. Tovar 2012, p. 551.
9. Tovar 2012, p. 553.
10. Tovar 2012, p. 552.
11. Tovar 2012, p. 555.
12. Erik Garin (12 December 2008). "Memorial Mario Cecchi Gori (Firenze)". RSSSF. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
13. Alberto Miguéns (21 November 2011). "Que Benfica Em Inglaterra". Em Defesa do Benfica. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
14. "El Madrid se pasea" [Madrid on vacation]. El Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 28 August 1996. p. 46. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
15. "Sport Lisboa e Benfica Squad 1996-97". Thefinalball.com.
16. "Transfers". Thefinalball.com. Retrieved 22 March 2017.

Bibliography

• Tovar, Rui Miguel (2012). Almanaque do Benfica [Benfica Almanac]. Portugal: Lua de Papel. ISBN 978-989-23-2087-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)