# 2008–09 Primeira Liga

The 2008–09 Primeira Liga was the 75th season of the Primeira Liga, the top professional league for Portuguese association football clubs. It began on 22 August 2008 and ended on 24 May 2009. Porto was the three-time defending champions and secured a fourth consecutive title for the second time in its history.

## Promotion and relegation
### Teams relegated to Liga de Honra

* Boavista
* União de Leiria
União de Leiria have been relegated to the Liga de Honra after finishing in last place in 2007–08 Primeira Liga.
Boavista were also relegated as a punishment for their participation in a match fixing scandal in 2003–04 season. Accordingly, Paços de Ferreira, which was originally scheduled to be relegated, was saved from demotion.

### Teams promoted from Liga de Honra

* Trofense
* Rio Ave
Leiria and Boavista were replaced by two promoted teams from Liga de Honra. The first was Trofense, which clinched the second level title. This was its first appearance in Primeira Liga.
Trofense was accompanied by Rio Ave, which returned to the Primeira Liga after two seasons in the Liga de Honra.

## Club information

| Club | Head Coach | City | Stadium | 2007–08 season |
| Académica | Domingos Paciência | Coimbra | Estádio Cidade de Coimbra | 12th in the Liga |
| Belenenses | Jaime Pacheco | Lisbon | Estádio do Restelo | 8th in the Liga |
| Benfica | Quique Sánchez Flores | Lisbon | Estádio da Luz | 4th in the Liga |
| Braga | Jorge Jesus | Braga | Estádio AXA | 7th in the Liga |
| Estrela da Amadora | Lázaro | Amadora | Estádio José Gomes | 13th in the Liga |
| Leixões | José Mota | Matosinhos | Estádio do Mar | 14th in the Liga |
| Marítimo | Carlos Carvalhal | Funchal | Estádio dos Barreiros | 5th in the Liga |
| Nacional | Manuel Machado | Funchal | Estádio da Madeira | 10th in the Liga |
| Naval 1º de Maio | Ulisses Morais | Figueira da Foz | Estádio Municipal José Bento Pessoa | 11th in the Liga |
| Paços de Ferreira | Paulo Sérgio | Paços de Ferreira | Estádio da Mata Real | 15th in the Liga |
| Porto | Jesualdo Ferreira | Porto | Estádio do Dragão | 1st in the Liga |
| Rio Ave | Carlos Brito | Vila do Conde | Estádio dos Arcos | 2nd in Liga de Honra |
| Sporting CP | Paulo Bento | Lisbon | Estádio José Alvalade | 2nd in the Liga |
| Trofense | Tulipa | Trofa | Estádio do Clube Desportivo Trofense | 1st in Liga de Honra |
| Vitória de Guimarães | Manuel Cajuda | Guimarães | Estádio D. Afonso Henriques | 3rd in the Liga |
| Vitória de Setúbal | Carlos Cardoso | Setúbal | Estádio do Bonfim | 6th in the Liga |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Porto (C) | 30 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 61 | 18 | +43 | 70 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Sporting CP | 30 | 20 | 6 | 4 | 45 | 20 | +25 | 66 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Benfica | 30 | 17 | 8 | 5 | 54 | 32 | +22 | 59 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round |
| 4 | Nacional | 30 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 47 | 32 | +15 | 52 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round |
| 5 | Braga | 30 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 38 | 21 | +17 | 50 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |
| 6 | Leixões | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 30 | 31 | −1 | 45 | |
| 7 | Académica | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 28 | 32 | −4 | 39 | |
| 8 | Vitória de Guimarães | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 32 | 36 | −4 | 38 | |
| 9 | Marítimo | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 35 | 36 | −1 | 37 | |
| 10 | Paços de Ferreira | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 37 | 42 | −5 | 34 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round |
| 11 | Estrela da Amadora (R) | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 26 | 38 | −12 | 34 | Relegation to Liga de Honra |
| 12 | Rio Ave | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 20 | 35 | −15 | 30 | |
| 13 | Naval 1º de Maio | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 25 | 39 | −14 | 29 | |
| 14 | Vitória de Setúbal | 30 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 21 | 46 | −25 | 26 | |
| 15 | Belenenses | 30 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 28 | 52 | −24 | 24 | |
| 16 | Trofense (R) | 30 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 42 | −17 | 23 | Relegation to Liga de Honra |
* 1 2 Paços de Ferreira ahead of Estrela da Amadora on head-to-head record; Paços de Ferreira–Estrela da Amadora 1–0, Estrela da Amadora–Paços de Ferreira 0–2.
* ↑ Since Porto, winners of 2008–09 Taça de Portugal, already qualified for 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, cup runners-up Paços de Ferreira earned a spot in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League.
* ↑ Estrela da Amadora were relegated after this season ended due to financial problems. Therefore, Belenenses was saved from relegation.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ACA | BEL | BEN | BRA | EST | LEI | MAR | NAC | NAV | PAÇ | POR | RAV | SCP | TRO | VGU | VSE |
| Académica | | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Belenenses | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 0–5 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Benfica | 0–1 | 3–1 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Braga | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | | 5–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Estrela da Amadora | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Leixões | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Marítimo | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–6 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 4–2 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 |
| Nacional | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Naval 1º de Maio | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Paços de Ferreira | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Porto | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Rio Ave | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 1–0 |
| Sporting CP | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Trofense | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 1–3 | 0–1 |
| Vitória de Guimarães | 3–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 1–1 |
| Vitória de Setúbal | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–4 | |

## Top scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Nenê | Nacional | 20 |
| 2 | Liédson | Sporting CP | 17 |
| 2 | Óscar Cardozo | Benfica | 17 |
| 4 | Ernesto Farías | Porto | 10 |
| 4 | Baba Diawara | Marítimo | 10 |
| 4 | Lisandro López | Porto | 10 |
| 7 | William | Paços de Ferreira | 9 |
| 7 | Lucho González | Porto | 9 |
| 9 | Albert Meyong | Braga | 8 |
| 9 | Hulk | Porto | 8 |
| 9 | Roberto | Vitória de Guimarães | 8 |

## Awards

* Primeira Liga Champions – Porto
* Primeira Liga Top Scorer – Nenê (20 goals)
* Primeira Liga Player of the Year – Bruno Alves
* Primeira Liga Goalkeeper of the Year – Beto
* Primeira Liga Referee of the Year – Olegário Benquerença