O Clássico
Encyclopedia
SL Benfica
vs FC Porto, or O Clássico, is the most important match in Portuguese football. Many see this as the new power (FC Porto) in Portuguese football versus the traditional strong force (Benfica).It became one of the greatest classics of the world.
"Lisbon
shows off while Porto
works," is the adage used to describe Portugal's north-south divide. And the flagship clubs of the laid back capital and the industrious northern port, who between them have taken every league title but three over the past 30 years, represent the constant behind-the-scenes domestic power struggle.
Benfica dominated in the 1960s (8 Portuguese Leagues, 3 Cups of Portugal and 2 European Cups), 1970's (6 Portuguese Leagues, 2 Portuguese Cups) and in the 1980s a balance appears (Benfica: 5 Portuguese Leagues, 6 Portuguese Cups and 3 Portuguese Super Cups; FC Porto: 3 Portuguese Leagues, 2 Portuguese Cups, 4 Portuguese Supercups, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 Champions league and 1 European Supercup). FC Porto dominated 1990's (8 Portuguese Leagues, 3 Portuguese Cups and 7 Portuguese Supercups) and 2000's (6 Portuguese Leagues, 5 Portuguese Cups, 5 Portuguese Supercups, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup and 1 UEFA Europa League). Once serious TV money was available, coaches and chairmen influenced the media and officialdom by fair means of foul, with scandal the inevitable result. Porto fans claim corruption allegations against former coach Antonio Oliveira
were planted in the Lisbon press. Oliveira and his brother Joaquim own powerful TV and sports marketing company Olivedesportos, while Joaquim runs sports daily O Jogo
.
In 1997, Benfica's president João Vale e Azevedo declared a media war. On the pitch, national team-mates Joao Pinto
(Benfica) and Paulinho Santos
(Porto) openly declared their hatred of each other, and yellow and red cards were flourished on derby day.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;font-size:95%"
! International Competition
! width="100" | FC Porto
! width="100" | SL Benfica
|-
| Intercontinental Cup
/ FIFA Club World Cup
| 2
| -
|-
| UEFA Champions League
| 2
| 2
|-
| Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
/ UEFA Cup
/ UEFA Europa League
| 2
| -
|-
| UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
| -
| -
|-
| UEFA Super Cup
| 1
| -
|-
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;font-size:95%"
! National Competition
! width="100" | FC Porto
! width="100" | SL Benfica
|-
| Portuguese Championships
| 25
| 32
|-
| Portuguese Cup
| 20
| 27
|-
| Portuguese League Cup
| -
| 3
|-
| Portuguese Supercup
| 18
| 4
|-
| Total
| 70
| 68
|}
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! width="150" | Club
! width="25" | P
! width="25" | W
! width="25" | D
! width="25" | L
|-
! colspan="8" | Portuguese League
|-
| FC Porto
| align="center" | 155
| align="center" | 60
| align="center" | 42
| align="center" | 53
|-
| SL Benfica
| align="center" | 155
| align="center" | 53
| align="center" | 42
| align="center" | 60
|-
! colspan="8" | Portuguese Cup
|-
| FC Porto
| align="center" | 40
| align="center" | 12
| align="center" | 5
| align="center" | 23
|-
| SL Benfica
| align="center" | 40
| align="center" | 23
| align="center" | 5
| align="center" | 12
|-
! colspan="8" | Portuguese League Cup
|-
| FC Porto
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 0
| align="center" | 0
| align="center" | 1
|-
| SL Benfica
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 0
| align="center" | 0
|-
! colspan="8" | Portuguese Supercup
|-
| FC Porto
| align="center" | 25
| align="center" | 13
| align="center" | 7
| align="center" | 5
|-
| SL Benfica
| align="center" | 25
| align="center" | 5
| align="center" | 7
| align="center" | 13
|-
! colspan="8" | Totals
|-
| FC Porto
! 221
! 85
! 54
! 82
|-
| SL Benfica
! 221
! 82
! 54
! 85
|}
SL Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica , commonly known as simply Benfica or occasionally as Benfica Lisbon, is a Portuguese multi-sports club based in Lisbon. Although they successfully compete in a number of different sports, Benfica is mostly known for its association football team...
vs FC Porto, or O Clássico, is the most important match in Portuguese football. Many see this as the new power (FC Porto) in Portuguese football versus the traditional strong force (Benfica).It became one of the greatest classics of the world.
"Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
shows off while Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
works," is the adage used to describe Portugal's north-south divide. And the flagship clubs of the laid back capital and the industrious northern port, who between them have taken every league title but three over the past 30 years, represent the constant behind-the-scenes domestic power struggle.
Benfica dominated in the 1960s (8 Portuguese Leagues, 3 Cups of Portugal and 2 European Cups), 1970's (6 Portuguese Leagues, 2 Portuguese Cups) and in the 1980s a balance appears (Benfica: 5 Portuguese Leagues, 6 Portuguese Cups and 3 Portuguese Super Cups; FC Porto: 3 Portuguese Leagues, 2 Portuguese Cups, 4 Portuguese Supercups, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 Champions league and 1 European Supercup). FC Porto dominated 1990's (8 Portuguese Leagues, 3 Portuguese Cups and 7 Portuguese Supercups) and 2000's (6 Portuguese Leagues, 5 Portuguese Cups, 5 Portuguese Supercups, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup and 1 UEFA Europa League). Once serious TV money was available, coaches and chairmen influenced the media and officialdom by fair means of foul, with scandal the inevitable result. Porto fans claim corruption allegations against former coach Antonio Oliveira
António Luís Alves Ribeiro Oliveira
António Luís Alves Ribeiro de Oliveira is a retired Portuguese football attacking midfielder and manager.As a player, he notably represented two of the Big Three in his country, Porto and Sporting, amassing totals of 277 games and 87 first division goals between the two, and also later managing...
were planted in the Lisbon press. Oliveira and his brother Joaquim own powerful TV and sports marketing company Olivedesportos, while Joaquim runs sports daily O Jogo
O Jogo
O Jogo is a Portuguese daily sport newspaper. The paper has a daily circulation of 28,900 .It was first published on 22 February 1985 by the Jornal de Notícias company in Porto, and it was seen as appealing mainly to supporters of Futebol Clube do Porto, suppressing the gap of the two other...
.
In 1997, Benfica's president João Vale e Azevedo declared a media war. On the pitch, national team-mates Joao Pinto
João Pinto
João Pinto may refer to:*João Domingos Pinto , former Portuguese football defender*João Vieira Pinto , former Portuguese football forward*João Oliveira Pinto , former Portuguese football midfielder...
(Benfica) and Paulinho Santos
Paulinho Santos
João Paulo Maio dos Santos , aka Paulinho Santos, is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a defensive midfielder....
(Porto) openly declared their hatred of each other, and yellow and red cards were flourished on derby day.
Honours
These are the major football honours of FC Porto and SL Benfica.{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;font-size:95%"
! International Competition
! width="100" | FC Porto
! width="100" | SL Benfica
SL Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica , commonly known as simply Benfica or occasionally as Benfica Lisbon, is a Portuguese multi-sports club based in Lisbon. Although they successfully compete in a number of different sports, Benfica is mostly known for its association football team...
|-
| Intercontinental Cup
Intercontinental Cup (football)
The European/South American Cup, commonly referred to as the World Club Championship, Intercontinental Cup or Toyota Cup, was a football competition endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL, contested between the winners of the European Cup and the South American Copa Libertadores...
/ FIFA Club World Cup
FIFA Club World Cup
The FIFA Club World Cup is a football competition between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations.The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in January 2000...
| 2
| -
|-
| UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
| 2
| 2
|-
| Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The competition was the idea of Swiss pools supremo Ernst Thommen, Ottorino Barassi from Italy, and the English Football Association general secretary Stanley Rous, all of whom later became senior officials...
/ UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
/ UEFA Europa League
| 2
| -
|-
| UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
| -
| -
|-
| UEFA Super Cup
| 1
| -
|-
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;font-size:95%"
! National Competition
! width="100" | FC Porto
! width="100" | SL Benfica
SL Benfica
Sport Lisboa e Benfica , commonly known as simply Benfica or occasionally as Benfica Lisbon, is a Portuguese multi-sports club based in Lisbon. Although they successfully compete in a number of different sports, Benfica is mostly known for its association football team...
|-
| Portuguese Championships
Portuguese Liga
The Primeira Liga , formerly called Primeira Divisão, currently named Liga ZON Sagres after their main sponsors, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system...
| 25
| 32
|-
| Portuguese Cup
| 20
| 27
|-
| Portuguese League Cup
Portuguese League Cup
The Taça da Liga , officially known as bwin Cup, is a competition organized by the Portuguese League for Professional Football started in the 2007–08 football season. For the first three seasons it was known as Carlsberg Cup for sponsorship reasons...
| -
| 3
|-
| Portuguese Supercup
| 18
| 4
|-
| Total
| 70
| 68
|}
Statistics
As of 22rd April 2011{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! width="150" | Club
! width="25" | P
! width="25" | W
! width="25" | D
! width="25" | L
|-
! colspan="8" | Portuguese League
|-
| FC Porto
| align="center" | 155
| align="center" | 60
| align="center" | 42
| align="center" | 53
|-
| SL Benfica
| align="center" | 155
| align="center" | 53
| align="center" | 42
| align="center" | 60
|-
! colspan="8" | Portuguese Cup
|-
| FC Porto
| align="center" | 40
| align="center" | 12
| align="center" | 5
| align="center" | 23
|-
| SL Benfica
| align="center" | 40
| align="center" | 23
| align="center" | 5
| align="center" | 12
|-
! colspan="8" | Portuguese League Cup
|-
| FC Porto
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 0
| align="center" | 0
| align="center" | 1
|-
| SL Benfica
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 1
| align="center" | 0
| align="center" | 0
|-
! colspan="8" | Portuguese Supercup
|-
| FC Porto
| align="center" | 25
| align="center" | 13
| align="center" | 7
| align="center" | 5
|-
| SL Benfica
| align="center" | 25
| align="center" | 5
| align="center" | 7
| align="center" | 13
|-
! colspan="8" | Totals
|-
| FC Porto
! 221
! 85
! 54
! 82
|-
| SL Benfica
! 221
! 82
! 54
! 85
|}
External links
- Official Websites:
- Daily Sports Papers:
- Others: