2017–18 S.L. Benfica season

Benfica

2017–18 season
President	Luís Filipe Vieira
Manager	Rui Vitória
Stadium	Estádio da Luz
Primeira Liga	2nd
Taça de Portugal	Fifth round
Taça da Liga	Third round
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira	Winners
UEFA Champions League	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Jonas (34) All: Jonas (37)
Highest home attendance	63,526 v Porto (15 April 2018)
Lowest home attendance	21,355 v Portimonense (20 December 2017)
Average home league attendance	53,209
Biggest win	Benfica 6–0 Vitória de Setúbal (26 November 2017)
Biggest defeat	Basel 5–0 Benfica (27 September 2017)
Home colours Away colours
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The 2017–18 season was Sport Lisboa e Benfica's 114th season in existence and the club's 84th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. It started on 5 August 2017 with Benfica's victory in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira and concluded on 13 May 2018.^[1]

Benfica played in the Primeira Liga as four-time defending champions for the first time in their history and finished second. Benfica also entered the Taça de Portugal as title holders but were eliminated in the fifth round. Moreover, they were eliminated in the third round of the Taça da Liga.

Internationally, Benfica competed in the UEFA Champions League for the eight time in a row but failed to gain a single point in the group stage for their first time, finishing with a negative goal difference of 13, which became the worst campaign of a Portuguese team in that competition.^[2]

On 29 June 2017, club president Luís Filipe Vieira gave the motto for the coming season, "Rumo ao Penta", and promised a renewed ambition to conquer an unprecedented fifth-straight Primeira Liga title for Benfica.^[3] The following day, manager Rui Vitória explained his approach to the new season: "We know that there's a goal previously assumed by the President and the best way to achieve it is to go on together, like it was the first time. It is fundamental to have the first time ambition. Humble and focused so that it can happen."^[4] Despite the ambition, on 31 July, Vieira said "one can mortgage a title or another but not the future [of the club]", referring to a strategy of managing the club's debt through the sale of players.^[5]

Haris Seferovic, Filip Krovinović, Martin Chrien and Bruno Varela transferred to Benfica. Diogo Gonçalves and Rúben Dias were promoted from Benfica B and João Carvalho integrated the team after a loan spell at Vitória de Setúbal.

Benfica lost three players from the starting 11 before the season started: on 1 June, Ederson signed with Manchester City for €40 million; on 14 June, Victor Lindelöf left to Manchester United for €35 million; and on 14 July, Nélson Semedo moved to Barcelona for €30.5 million. On 31 July, referring to the club's sales, Vieira said, "Until we do not have control over the debt, we will not stop selling."^[5]

Later in August, Benfica loaned out André Carrillo to Watford and André Horta to Braga, while Mile Svilar joined from Anderlecht. On transfer deadline day, Benfica announced the signings of Douglas and Gabriel Barbosa, both on a one-year loan spell from their respective clubs. The same day, Kostas Mitroglou, Benfica's top goalscorer in the previous season, was transferred to Olympique de Marseille for €15 million.

During the mid-season transfer window, Lisandro López signed with Inter Milan on a half-year loan deal with an option to make the switch permanent. On 25 January, Filipe Augusto was loaned out to Alanyaspor for one-and-a-half years and Barbosa's contract was terminated.

The pre-season started on 30 June 2017 with the usual medical exams and physical tests at Caixa Futebol Campus and at Hospital da Luz. Until 12 July, the work schedule took place on the club's training ground. As for the team's commitments, the program included the Uhrencup in Switzerland, a five-day stay in Algarve with two matches, and a stage at St George's Park in England, from 23 to 28 July, before the Emirates Cup.^[6] Benfica finished third in the Swiss tournament after a 5–1 defeat to Young Boys.^[7] The team redeemed itself with a victory in the Algarve Football Cup thanks to a brace by newly signed Seferovic. On 26 July, Benfica played a behind-closed-doors friendly against Swindon Town at Futebol Campus, where Seferovic and Andrija Živković scored for Benfica in a 2–1 win.^[8] Once again, Benfica stood powerless in the Emirates Cup. By losing both matches, the team repeated its fourth-place finish achieved in 2014. Due to Chapecoense's cancellation, Benfica did not host the Eusébio Cup in the pre-season for the first time since its first edition in 2008.

As with the previous season,^[9] Benfica kept struggling with player injuries. On 17 June, Álex Grimaldo did not take part in Spain's squad for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship due to a "little injury" resulting in him missing the start of Benfica's pre-season.^[10] Nine days after signing with Benfica, Krovinović underwent surgery on 23 June to correct a left inguinal hernia.^[11] He was one of three players absent from the squad who travelled to Switzerland, along with Luisão (right knee injury) and Eduardo Salvio (right tibiotarsal sprain).^[12] André Almeida suffered a contusion on his right thigh, which prevented him from travelling to Algarve.^[13]

For the opening match of the regular season, Benfica had five players on the injury list: Júlio César, Živković, Carrillo, Horta and Mitroglou.^[14] Andreas Samaris was also not an option because he was serving the first of a four-match suspension for having punched Diego Ivo on 9 April.^[15] Benfica defeated Vitória de Guimarães 3–1 with goals from Jonas, Seferovic and Raúl Jiménez. Raphinha scored for Vitória. It was the first time Benfica managed to win back-to-back Super Cup trophies. Seferovic made his official debut for Benfica and Varela, a former Benfica B player, debuted for the first team after being called-up to the substitutes' bench nine times since 2011.^[16][17] Grimaldo suffered a muscular injury on his right leg and was substituted for Eliseu in the 75th minute.^[18]

With three consecutive victories, Benfica achieved their best start in the Primeira Liga since the 2004–05 season. By scoring a goal in each of those matches, Seferovic managed to score in his first four official appearances for Benfica, repeating the feat of Mário Coluna and Nolito (all behind Eusébio).^[19] A 1–1 draw at Rio Ave, in a match where Jardel was substituted due to injury on his right tight,^[20][21] left Benfica in third place of the league by the end of August. After losing 2–1 at Boavista and drawing 1–1 with Marítimo at the Estádio dos Barreiros, Benfica were 5 points behind leaders Porto before October's international break.

Benfica won their next three matches but maintained the point difference to the top of the table. By scoring, at least, one goal per match between Match 3 and Match 11, Jonas became the third Benfica player to score in nine consecutive Primeira Liga matches after Julinho (1949–50) and Eusébio (1964–65).^[22] He improved his mark by scoring in the following match. Benfica ended 2017 with 36 points, 3 less than their two rivals.

2018 started with the Lisbon derby at home, which ended in a 1–1 draw. Midway through January, in a match against Chaves, Krovinović suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee.^[23][24] The results of round 21 lifted Benfica into second place, thus surpassing Sporting CP on the account of the goal difference criteria. Despite the ascendant in the league table, Benfica still could not avoid player injuries;^[25] Salvio suffered another right knee injury^[26] and was submitted to an arthroscopy.^[27]

After a 5–0 home win on 3 March, Benfica achieved five consecutive victories for the first time during the season. On 10 March, Benfica assured a place in Europa League's qualifying rounds. On round 28, Benfica regained the first place, with a one-point lead over Porto. The nine-match win streak came to an end after a 1–0 home defeat in O Clássico, a result that also culminated in a return to the second place. It was the fourth match in a row Benfica could not beat Porto at the Estádio da Luz (two draws and two defeats), a negative record achieved for the third time.^[28] With a 3–2 home loss to Tondela, Benfica suffered two consecutive league defeats at Estádio da Luz for the first time since the 2008–09 season.^[29]

With a 1–0 home win against Moreirense on the last matchday, Benfica attained 80+ points in the Primeira Liga for the fourth consecutive season. Due to the defeat of Sporting CP at Funchal, Benfica's result allowed the club to secure the second place and the qualification for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.

Twenty five players made Benfica's list for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.^[31] Benfica started the European campaign with a 2–1 home defeat to CSKA Moscow, in what was their first loss of the season. On 27 September, Benfica moved to the bottom of Group A after a 5–0 away loss to Basel. It was Benfica's biggest defeat in the UEFA Champions League (tied with the loss to Borussia Dortmund in the 1963–64 European Cup) and second overall in international competition.

On 18 October, Svilar became the youngest goalkeeper to play in Champions League,^[32] in a match where Benfica suffered a 1–0 home loss against Manchester United. Benfica was eliminated from European competitions after a 2–0 away loss to CSKA Moscow. By failing to score, Benfica put an end to Igor Akinfeev's streak of 43 straight UEFA Champions League group stage matches without a clean sheet.^[33] Also, with this result, Benfica lost 6 consecutive European matches for the first time in their history.^{[citation needed]} This entry increased to seven consecutive losses with a 2–0 home defeat on the last matchday. Benfica became the nineteenth club, and the first seeded into Pot 1, to finish the UEFA Champions League group stage with 0 points.

Benfica started with a 1–1 home draw against Braga, in a match where Krovinović made his official debut. It was the first time since 2007 that Benfica did not win in the competition at the Estádio da Luz, ending a 20-home-game win run.^[34] After the final whistle, Samaris was involved in an altercation with Paulinho and saw a yellow card. Six days later, Samaris was punished by the Disciplinary Committee with a three-match suspension, missing Primeira Liga fixtures.^[35] Benfica continued to perform under expectations and, on 20 December, they had another home draw, despite having a 2–0 lead before the break. Two days later, they were eliminated from the competition after Vitória de Setúbal defeated Braga. With a third draw in the last match, Benfica ended their participation in the Taça da Liga without a single win for the first time.

On 14 October, Benfica beat Olhanense 1–0 away from home in the third round of Taça de Portugal. The match was initially scheduled to be played at the Estádio José Arcanjo but was changed to the Estádio Algarve.^[36] Four players (Júlio César, Eliseu, Jardel and Jonas) missed the game due to injury,^[37] while Douglas, Carvalho and Svilar made their debut for Benfica. On 13 December, for the second time in this season, Benfica could not win at the Estádio dos Arcos. After a 2–2 draw at the end of regulation time, Hélder Guedes scored the winning goal for Rio Ave, thus eliminating the reigning title holders. Luisão got injured (right thigh muscle injury^[38]) during the second half's stoppage time, leaving Benfica to play the extra time in numerical disadvantage.^[39]

On 11 June, Vieira regretted the club's disappointing season overall and took responsibility for not managing to win the penta and for the negative campaign in the Champions League. Despite that, he denied disinvestment in the football team and highlighted its competitiveness.^[40] Former Benfica player and sporting director António Simões criticised the team's lack of quality and said, "With this squad and other rivals reinforcing themselves, Benfica will not win again."^[41] By failing to win the Primeira Liga and the Taça de Portugal, Benfica did not qualify for the 2018 edition of the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, breaking a streak of four consecutive appearances at the competition.

Five Benfica players were called by their respective national team to take part in the 2018 FIFA World Cup: Dias (Portugal), Salvio (Argentina), Živković (Serbia), Seferovic (Switzerland) and Jiménez (Mexico).

On 7 July, Benfica announced that Shéu Han, the team's technical secretary since 1989, decided to leave his post.^[42] On 31 July, Paulo Lopes announced his retirement via Instagram, making this his last season as a professional footballer.^[43] Although Luisão integrated the squad for the following season, his last professional match was on round 34 of Primeira Liga, before retiring on 25 September.^[44] Eliseu had not competed since December 2017, but in a 2019 interview he said that his career is on standby.^[45]

Source: ^[46]

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Since	App	Goals	Ends	Transfer fee	Notes
1	GK		Svilar	18	2017	9	0	2022	€4.5M
3	LB		Grimaldo	22	2016 (Winter)	63	3	2021	€2.12M
4	CB		Luisão (captain)	37	2003	538	46	2018	Undisclosed
5	DM		Fejsa	29	2013	131	2	2021	Undisclosed
7	CM		Samaris	29	2014	135	3	2019	€10M
8	RB		Douglas	27	2017	10	0	2018	Undisclosed	On loan from Barcelona
9	ST		Raúl	27	2015	120	30	2020	€21.8M	Record signing
10	ST		Jonas	34	2014	152	122	2019	Free
13	GK		Paulo Lopes	40	2012	11	0	2018	Free	Originally from youth system
14	FW		Seferovic	26	2017	27	7	2022	€3.9M
17	RW		Živković	21	2016	54	4	2021	€6M
18	RW		Salvio	27	2010–2011 2012	238	55	2019	€13.5M	Played on loan in the 2010–11 season
19	LB		Eliseu	34	2014	109	4	2018	Undisclosed
20	MF		Krovinović	22	2017	19	2	2022	€3.5M
21	CM		Pizzi	28	2014	175	31	2022	€14M
22	LW		F. Cervi	24	2016	78	11	2022	€5.74M
27	LW		Silva	25	2016	56	3	2021	€16.4M
30	GK		B. Varela	23	2017	35	0	2022	Undisclosed	Originally from youth system
33	CB		Jardel (VC)	32	2011 (Winter)	211	13	2020	Undisclosed
34	RB		A. Almeida	27	2012	196	4	2021	Undisclosed
66	CB		Rúben Dias	21	2017	29	3	2021	Youth system	Promoted from Benfica B
84	FW		D. Gonçalves	21	2017	13	0	2021	Youth system	Promoted from Benfica B
90	MF		J. Carvalho	21	2017	10	0	2021	Youth system

No.	Pos	Player	Contract length	Contract end	Date	Source
19	LB	Eliseu	1 year	2018	19 July 2017	Benfica
34	RB	André Almeida	3 years	2021	11 August 2017	Benfica
5	DM	Ljubomir Fejsa	2 years	2021	11 September 2017	Benfica
—	CM	Talisca	1 year	2020	10 January 2018[48]	Record
—	LB	Yuri Ribeiro	5 years	2023	19 May 2018	Benfica
9	FW	Raúl Jiménez	1 year	2021	Undisclosed	Record

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving from	Type	Transfer window	Ends	Transfer fee	Source
14	FW		Haris Seferovic	25	Free agent	Transfer	Summer	2022	€3.9M	BenficaA Bola
—	DF		Patrick Vieira	26	Free agent	Transfer	Summer	2020	Free	Record
20	MF		Filip Krovinović	21	Rio Ave	Transfer	Summer	2022	€3.5M	Benfica zerozeroA Bola
42	CM		Martin Chrien	21	Viktoria Plzeň	Transfer	Summer	2022	Undisclosed	Benfica Viktoria Plzeň
84	FW		Diogo Gonçalves	20	Benfica B	Promotion	Summer	2021	N/A	Benfica
66	CB		Rúben Dias	20	Benfica B	Promotion	Summer	2021	N/A	Benfica
24	FW		Chris Willock	19	Free agent	Transfer	Summer	2022	Free	Arsenal Benfica
90	MF		João Carvalho	20	Vitória de Setúbal	Loan return	Summer	2021	N/A	O Jogo zerozero
28	FW		Cristian Arango	22	Millonarios	Transfer	Summer	2022	Undisclosed	Benfica Millonarios
—	MF		Salvador Agra	25	Nacional	Transfer	Summer	2020	Undisclosed	zerozero
30	GK		Bruno Varela	22	Vitória de Setúbal	Transfer	Summer	2022	Undisclosed	Benfica
—	RB		Mato Miloš	24	Istra 1961	Transfer	Summer	Undisclosed	€400k	Istra 1961
1	GK		Mile Svilar	18	Anderlecht	Transfer	Summer	2022	€4.5M	Anderlecht Record
8	RB		Douglas	27	Barcelona	Loan	Summer	2018	Undisclosed	Benfica
11	FW		Gabriel Barbosa	21	Inter Milan	Loan	Summer	2018	€1.6M	Benfica SAPO Desporto
—	MF		Erdal Rakip	21	Free agent	Transfer	Winter	2023	Undisclosed	A Bola
Disclosed total
€13.9M

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Transfer fee	Source
1	GK		Ederson	23	Manchester City	Transfer	Summer	€40M	BBC Sport Benfica Man City
—	MF		Daniel Candeias	29	Rangers	Transfer	Summer	€800k	Benfica O Jogo Rangers
—	CM		Bryan Cristante	22	Atalanta	Loan	Summer	Undisclosed	Record
14	CB		Victor Lindelöf	22	Manchester United	Transfer	Summer	€35M	Benfica Manchester United
—	DF		Marçal	28	Lyon	Transfer	Summer	€4.5M	Benfica Lyon
—	LW		Nuno Santos	22	Rio Ave	Transfer	Summer	Undisclosed	Rio Ave
35	ST		Luka Jović	19	Eintracht Frankfurt	Loan	Summer	Undisclosed	Benfica Eintracht
—	MF		Pedro Nuno	22	Tondela	Loan	Summer	Undisclosed	zerozero
63	MF		Pelé	25	Rio Ave	Transfer	Summer	Undisclosed	Rio Ave
95	LB		Yuri Ribeiro	20	Rio Ave	Loan	Summer	Undisclosed	Rio Ave
—	FW		Kevin Friesenbichler	23	Austria Wien	Transfer	Summer	Undisclosed	Austria Wien
—	DF		Patrick Vieira	26	Vitória de Setúbal	Loan	Summer	Undisclosed	Vitória de Setúbal
—	MF		Salvador Agra	25	Desportivo das Aves	Loan[a]	Summer	Undisclosed	Aves
50	RB		Nélson Semedo	23	Barcelona	Transfer	Summer	€30.5M	Barcelona Benfica
—	CM		Guillermo Celis	24	Vitória de Guimarães	Transfer	Summer	€1M	Vitória de Guimarães zerozero
—	CB		César	24	Vitória de Setúbal	Loan[b]	Summer	Undisclosed	Vitória de Setúbal
—	FW		Jhon Murillo	21	Kasımpaşa	Loan	Summer	€400k	Kasımpaşa zerozero
—	FW		Derley	29	Free agent	Contract termination	Summer	N/A	Aves O Jogo
28	FW		Cristian Arango	22	Desportivo das Aves	Loan	Summer	Undisclosed	zerozero
15	RW		André Carrillo	26	Watford	Loan	Summer	Undisclosed	Benfica Watford
31	FW		Victor Andrade	21	Estoril	Transfer	Summer	Undisclosed	Estoril
8	CM		André Horta	20	Braga	Loan	Summer	Undisclosed	Benfica Braga
—	MF		Luis Fariña	26	Free agent	Contract termination	Summer	N/A	Aves zerozero
—	DF		Mato Miloš	24	Lechia Gdańsk	Loan	Summer	Undisclosed	Lechia Gdańsk
11	ST		Kostas Mitroglou	29	Marseille	Transfer	Summer	€15M	Benfica Marseille zerozero
12	GK		Júlio César	38	Free agent	Contract termination	N/A	N/A	Benfica zerozero
38	LB		Marcelo Hermes	22	Cruzeiro	Loan	Winter	Undisclosed	Cruzeiro Record
2	CB		Lisandro López	28	Inter Milan	Loan	Winter	Undisclosed	Benfica Inter Milan
—	MF		Diego Lopes	23	Free agent	Contract termination	Winter	N/A	Público Rio Ave
23	RB		Pedro Pereira	19	Genoa	Loan	Winter	Undisclosed	Genoa zerozero
—	MF		Erdal Rakip	21	Crystal Palace	Loan	Winter	Undisclosed	Crystal Palace
6	DM		Filipe Augusto	24	Alanyaspor	Loan	Winter	Undisclosed	Alanyaspor
11	FW		Gabriel Barbosa	21	Inter Milan	Loan termination	Winter	N/A	O Jogo Santos
—	CB		César	25	Juventude	Loan	Winter	Undisclosed	Juventude zerozero
—	MF		Salvador Agra	26	Granada	Loan	Winter	Undisclosed	Granada
Disclosed total
€127.2M

Supplier: Adidas^[49]

Sponsors: Emirates^[50][51] (front), Sagres^[52] (back)

Home kit: Inspired by a model used in the 1960s, this vivid red kit featured a classical design with a white polo collar and white sleeve cuffs. On the front, the manufacturer logo and the iconic sponsor phrase "Fly Emirates" were both white, as well as the beer brand logo on the back. The shirt also presented an embroidered symbol at the bottom, allusive to the 75th birthday of Eusébio.^[53] The shorts were white and the socks were in the same red shade as the shirt's. The first appearance of this kit was against Neuchâtel Xamax on 13 July.^[54]

Away kit: The alternative kit featured two tones of grey, with the body of the shirt being lighter and the sleeves and necktie (V-neck) darker. The three white Adidas' stripes were displayed vertically along the sides of the shirt. The club's badge was monochromatic and, just like in the previous seasons, it had the three stars above, each representing 10 league titles won by the club.^[55] The shorts were dark grey and the socks were predominantly light grey, with the exception of a horizontal stripe. The first appearance of this kit was against Real Betis on 20 July.^[56]

On 26 April 2017, it was announced that Benfica would take part in the Emirates Cup.^[57] It was the club's second participation in the tournament, after the presence in 2014.^[58] On 17 May, the schedule for the Uhrencup was announced; Benfica played against Neuchâtel Xamax and Young Boys.^[59] On 20 July, Benfica faced Real Betis in the Algarve Football Cup.^[60][61] On 30 June, Benfica announced their pre-season program, which included a standalone friendly match against Hull City on 22 July.^[6]

A match between Benfica and Chapecoense was announced on 21 April, to be played on 22 July as part of the annual Eusébio Cup, but it was cancelled on 13 June due to incompatibilities with the Brazilian's team schedule, according to the Brazilian Football Confederation.^[62]

  Win   Draw   Loss

Benfica v Neuchâtel Xamax

13 July 2017 Uhrencup	Benfica	2–0	Neuchâtel Xamax	Grenchen, Switzerland
20:00 CEST	Jonas 5' (pen.) Filipe Augusto  14' Seferovic 19'	Report		Stadium: Stadion Brühl Referee: Vladimir Ocharov (Switzerland)

Benfica v Young Boys

15 July 2017 Uhrencup	Benfica	1–5	Young Boys	Biel, Switzerland
17:00 CEST	Jonas 22'  31'	Report	Assalé 25', 74' Sulejmani 51' Fassnacht 86', 89'	Stadium: Tissot Arena Attendance: 5,200[63] Referee: Sascha Amhof (Switzerland)

Benfica v Real Betis

20 July 2017 Algarve Football Cup	Benfica	2–1	Real Betis	Faro and Loulé
20:30 WEST	Seferovic 15', 50'	Report	León 32'	Stadium: Estádio Algarve Referee: Luís Godinho (Évora)

Benfica v Hull City

22 July 2017 Friendly	Benfica	0–1	Hull City	Faro and Loulé
20:30 WEST	Filipe Augusto  90+2'	Report	Bowen 59' Dawson  77'	Stadium: Estádio Algarve Referee: Hélder Malheiro (Lisbon) & Nuno Almeida (Algarve)[c]

Arsenal v Benfica

29 July 2017 Emirates Cup	Arsenal	5–2	Benfica	London, England
16:20 BST	Walcott 24', 32' López 52' (o.g.) Giroud 64' Iwobi 70'	Report	Cervi 11' Eliseu  27' Salvio 39'	Stadium: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 54,538[64] Referee: Anthony Taylor (England)

RB Leipzig v Benfica

30 July 2017 Emirates Cup	RB Leipzig	2–0	Benfica	London, England
16:20 BST	Halstenberg 19' Compper 52'	Report		Stadium: Emirates Stadium Referee: Peter Green (Australia)

On 8 September, the Eusébio Cup match was again announced, this time with Rangers as guests.^[65][66] It was scheduled to take place in Canada on 6 October, but Benfica announced its cancellation on 30 September due to the promoters' (Elite Soccer Entertainment) non-compliance with deadlines.^[67][68] "Unforeseen reasons and poor ticket sales" were the explanations given by the organising entity for the unexpected outcome.^[69][70]

Statistics by competition

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win%	Top scorer(s)
Primeira Liga	34	25	6	3	79	22	+57	073.53	Jonas, 34
Taça de Portugal	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	066.67	5 players, 1
Taça da Liga	3	0	3	0	5	5	+0	000.00	5 players, 1
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	100.00	5 players, 1
UEFA Champions League	6	0	0	6	1	14	−13	000.00	Haris Seferovic, 1
Total	47	28	9	10	93	45	+48	059.57	Jonas, 37

On 5 July 2017, Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional announced nine stipulations for the Primeira Liga fixture draw that took place on 7 July. Among previous conditions, two new were added, with one directly concerning Benfica: the two teams who would play the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira could not play against Sporting CP (Portuguese team in the UEFA Champions League play-off round) on the first two matchdays.^[72]

Chaves v Benfica

14 August 2017 2	Chaves	0–1	Benfica	Chaves
21:00 WEST (UTC+01:00)	Pereira  90+5'	Report	Almeida  14' Seferovic 90+3' Jiménez  90+3'	Stadium: Estádio Municipal Eng. Manuel Branco Teixeira Attendance: 8,480 Referee: Jorge Sousa (Porto)

Benfica v Belenenses

19 August 2017 3	Benfica	5–0	Belenenses	Lisbon
20:30 WEST (UTC+01:00)	Jonas 2', 89', 90+3' Salvio 27' Seferovic 32'	Report	Hanin  53'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 56,262 Referee: Rui Costa (Porto)

Benfica v Paços de Ferreira

23 September 2017 7	Benfica	2–0	Paços de Ferreira	Lisbon
20:30 WEST (UTC+01:00)	Cervi 20' Dias  44' Živković  50' Jonas 61' Seferovic  68'	Report	Leão  90+1'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 47,309 Referee: Carlos Xistra (Castelo Branco)

Desportivo das Aves v Benfica

22 October 2017 9	Desportivo das Aves	1–3	Benfica	Vila das Aves
18:00 WEST (UTC±00:00)	Defendi 75'	Report	Jonas 29' (pen.), 79' (pen.) Seferovic 50' Salvio  59' Pizzi  90+1' Fejsa  90+2'	Stadium: Estádio do CD Aves Attendance: 5,450 Referee: Nuno Almeida (Algarve)

Benfica v Feirense

27 October 2017 10	Benfica	1–0	Feirense	Lisbon
19:00 WEST (UTC±00:00)	Jonas 11'	Report	Alcénat  67' Babanco  79' Kakuba  90+1'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 47,207 Referee: Luís Godinho (Évora)

Vitória de Guimarães v Benfica

5 November 2017 11	Vitória de Guimarães	1–3	Benfica	Guimarães
18:00 WET (UTC±00:00)	Martins 85'	Report	Jonas 22' Fejsa  48' Svilar  56' Luisão  68' Samaris 75' Salvio 78' Almeida  90+3'	Stadium: Estádio D. Afonso Henriques Attendance: 25,702 Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Porto)

Benfica v Vitória de Setúbal

26 November 2017 12	Benfica	6–0	Vitória de Setúbal	Lisbon
20:15 WET (UTC±00:00)	Luisão 7' Jonas 39', 66' Grimaldo  45+1' Salvio 47' Almeida 67'  90+2' Živković 86'	Report	Pinto  33'  44'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Attendance: 47,632 Referee: Luís Godinho (Évora)

Porto v Benfica

1 December 2017 13	Porto	0–0	Benfica	Porto
20:30 WET (UTC±00:00)	Otávio  62'	Report	Luisão  36' Živković  80'  82'	Stadium: Estádio do Dragão Attendance: 49,809 Referee: Jorge Sousa (Porto)

Moreirense v Benfica

7 January 2018 17	Moreirense	0–2	Benfica	Moreira de Cónegos
16:00 WET (UTC±00:00)	Sagna  48'	Report	Pizzi 23' Jonas 73'	Stadium: Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas Attendance: 4,507 Referee: Manuel Mota (Braga)

Sporting CP v Benfica

5 May 2018 33	Sporting CP	0–0	Benfica	Lisbon
20:30 WEST (UTC+01:00)	Piccini  61' Fernandes  90+5' Mišić  90+7'	Report	Jardel  71'	Stadium: Estádio José Alvalade Attendance: 49,339 Referee: Carlos Xistra (Castelo Branco)

Olhanense v Benfica

14 October 2017	Olhanense	0–1	Benfica	Faro and Loulé
19:00 WEST (UTC+01:00)	Léléco  79'	Report	Barbosa 4'	Stadium: Estádio Algarve Referee: Bruno Paixão (Setúbal)

Benfica v Vitória de Setúbal

18 November 2017	Benfica	2–0	Vitória de Setúbal	Lisbon
18:15 WET (UTC+01:00)	Cervi 25' Pizzi  45' Krovinović 81'	Report	Podstawski  37'	Stadium: Estádio da Luz Referee: João Capela (Lisbon)

Initially, Real was drawn into group A of the Taça da Liga; however, due to the irregular use of Abou Touré, the Disciplinary Committee of the Portuguese Football Federation awarded the team with an administrative loss in their second round match. After reformulation, Real was replaced by Portimonense.^[73]

Matches 2 and 3 were originally intended to be played on 25 October and 29 November, respectively, but were rescheduled to 20 and 29 December.