# 2009–10 S.L. Benfica season

The 2009–10 European football season was the 106th season of Sport Lisboa e Benfica's existence and the club's 76th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. The season ran from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010; Benfica competed domestically in the Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga. The club also participated in the UEFA Europa League after qualifying from the competition's play-off round, which they had to play as a result of finishing third in the previous season.
On 16 June 2009, Jesus replaced Quique Sánchez Flores at the helm of Benfica. Jesus implemented a 4–1–3–2 formation, in which a winger, Ramires, provided cover and assistance to the defensive midfielder, Javi García, and other winger, Ángel Di María, conducted the counterattacks. Pablo Aimar, as an attacking midfielder, distributed play and Javier Saviola created space between lines for Óscar Cardozo, Aimar and Di María.
This fast-paced, attractive football proved to be successful and in his first year Jesus led Benfica to the first division title after a five-year wait (only two league defeats, 78 goals scored), also reaching the quarter-finals in the Europa League, losing to Liverpool on a 3–5 aggregate score (this would be the last match Benfica would lose in a run that lasted 27 games).
Benfica won their 32nd Primeira Liga and their second League Cup. They saw the definite breakthroughs of Ángel Di María, David Luiz and Fábio Coentrão, while Óscar Cardozo had his best season yet, scoring 26 league goals. The team's only disappointments of the season were a 4–1 loss to Liverpool at Anfield in the Europa League quarter-finals second leg, where Fernando Torres hit two second-half goals to knock Benfica out of Europe, and an early exit at the Taça de Portugal.

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Primeira Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Benfica (C) | 30 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 78 | 20 | +58 | 76 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Braga | 30 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 48 | 20 | +28 | 71 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Porto | 30 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 70 | 26 | +44 | 68 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round |
| 4 | Sporting CP | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 42 | 26 | +16 | 48 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Marítimo | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 41 | Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round |
* ↑ Porto qualified for the play-off round of 2010–11 UEFA Europa League after winning the 2009–10 Taça de Portugal.
* ↑ Marítimo ahead of Vitória de Guimarães on head-to-head record; Vitória de Guimarães–Marítimo 1–2, Marítimo–Vitória de Guimarães 0–1.

#### 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 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | W |
| Position | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Matches
### UEFA Europa League
#### Play-off round
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Benfica | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 15 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Everton | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 9 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | BATE Borisov | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 7 | |
| 4 | AEK Athens | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 4 | |

#### Knockout phase
##### Quarter-finals
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | Source |
| Primeira Liga | 16 August 2009 | 9 May 2010 | 30 | 24 | 4 | 2 | 78 | 20 | +58 | 080.00 | |
| Taça de Portugal | 17 October 2009 | 22 November 2009 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 050.00 | |
| Taça da Liga | 3 January 2010 | 21 March 2010 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 080.00 | |
| UEFA Europa League | 20 August 2009 | 8 April 2010 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 29 | 13 | +16 | 064.29 | |
| Total | Total | Total | 51 | 38 | 7 | 6 | 124 | 37 | +87 | 074.51 |

## Player statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Primeira Liga | Primeira Liga | Portuguese Cup | Portuguese Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Europa League | Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | POR | José Moreira | 5 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 1 | -1 | 2 | -3 |
| 12 | GK | POR | Quim | 33 | -20 | 30 | -20 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | BRA | Júlio César | 14 | -12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 12 | -10 |
| 31 | GK | BRA | Moretto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 14 | DF | URU | Maxi Pereira | 37 | 4 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| 22 | DF | POR | Luís Filipe | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | BRA | Luisão | 45 | 6 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 1 |
| 23 | DF | BRA | David Luiz | 49 | 3 | 29 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | BRA | Sidnei | 10 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | POR | Miguel Vítor | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | POR | Roderick Miranda | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | POR | Fábio Coentrão | 45 | 3 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| 25 | DF | POR | César Peixoto | 29 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | ARG | José Shaffer | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 35 | DF | POR | Jorge Ribeiro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 6 | MF | ESP | Javi García | 46 | 4 | 26 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| 2 | DF | BRA | Airton | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | POR | Ruben Amorim | 38 | 4 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Ramires | 43 | 5 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Pablo Aimar | 41 | 5 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| 24 | MF | BRA | Felipe Menezes | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 17 | MF | POR | Carlos Martins | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | ARG | Ángel Di María | 45 | 10 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 14 | 4 |
| 16 | MF | URU | Urreta | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Strikers ||||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | PAR | Óscar Cardozo | 47 | 38 | 29 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 10 |
| 30 | FW | ARG | Javier Saviola | 44 | 19 | 27 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 6 |
| 19 | FW | BRA | Weldon | 18 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 21 | FW | POR | Nuno Gomes | 23 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | BRA | Keirrison | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | FW | BRA | Alan Kardec | 13 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 32 | FW | BRA | Éder Luís | 10 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | ANG | Mantorras | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Transfers
### In
#### Summer

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving From | Type of Transfer | Contract Ends | Transfer fee | Notes |
| 6 | MF | Javi García | 22 | Real Madrid | Transfer | 2014 | €7M | N/A |
| 8 | MF | Ramires | 22 | Cruzeiro | Transfer | 2014 | €7.5M | N/A |
| 30 | FW | Javier Saviola | 27 | Real Madrid | Transfer | 2012 | €5M | N/A |
| 2 | DF | Patric | 20 | São Caetano | Transfer | 2013 | €1.9M | N/A |
| 3 | DF | José Shaffer | 23 | Racing Club | Transfer | 2013 | €1.7M | N/A |
| 13 | GK | Júlio César | 22 | Belenenses | Transfer | 2014 | €0.5M | N/A |
| 25 | DF | César Peixoto | 29 | Braga | Transfer | 2012 | €0.4M | N/A |
| 24 | MF | Felipe Menezes | 21 | Goiás | Transfer | 2014 | €1.1M | N/A |
| 19 | FW | Weldon | 28 | Recife | Transfer | 2011 | €0.2M | N/A |
| 11 | FW | Keirrison | 20 | Barcelona | Loan | 2010 | Undisclosed | N/A |
| 22 | DF | Luís Filipe | 29 | Vitória de Guimarães | Loan return | 2011 | Free | N/A |
| 18 | FW | Fábio Coentrão | 20 | Rio Ave | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Leandro Silva | 20 | Coritiba | Transfer | 2015 | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Ivan Santos | 20 | Boavista | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Yu Dabao | 21 | Olivais e Moscavide | Loan return | 2009 | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Ruben Lima | 19 | Desportivo das Aves | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A |
| # | MF | Miguel Rosa | 20 | Estoril | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | László Sepsi | 23 | Racing Santander | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Edcarlos | 24 | Fluminense | Loan return | 2013 | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Ariza Makukula | 28 | Bolton Wanderers | Loan return | 2013 | Free | N/A |
| # | MF | Andrés Díaz | 25 | Banfield | Loan return | 2011 | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Marco Zoro | 25 | Vitória de Setúbal | Loan return | 2011 | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Rafik Halliche | 22 | Nacional | Loan return | 2013 | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Marcel | 27 | Vissel Kobe | Loan Return | 2012 | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | André Carvalhas | 20 | Olhanense | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A |
| # | MF | Romeu Ribeiro | 20 | Desportivo das Aves | Loan return | 2011 | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Freddy Adu | 20 | Monaco | Loan return | 2013 | Free | N/A |

#### Winter

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving From | Type of Transfer | Contract Ends | Transfer fee | Notes |
| 2 | MF | Airton | 19 | Flamengo | Transfer | 2015 | €2.6M | N/A |
| 31 | FW | Alan Kardec | 20 | Vasco da Gama | Transfer | 2015 | €2.5M | N/A |
| 32 | FW | Éder Luís | 24 | Atlético Mineiro | Transfer | 2015 | €2M | For 50% economic right's |
Spend : €32.4M

### Out
#### Summer

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving to | Type of transfer | Transfer fee |
| # | MF | Kostas Katsouranis | 31 | Panathinaikos | Transfer | €3.5M |
| # | DF | Edcarlos | 23 | Cruz Azul | Transfer | €1.3M |
| # | DF | László Sepsi | 23 | Politehnica Timișoara | Transfer | €1.3M |
| # | MF | Romeu Ribeiro | 20 | Marítimo | Transfer | Free |
| # | MF | Andrés Díaz | 26 | - | Contract terminated | Free |
| 2 | DF | Patric | 20 | Cruzeiro | Loan | €0.15M |
| 26 | MF | Hassan Yebda | 25 | Portsmouth | Loan | €0.48M |
| # | MF | Gilles Binya | 24 | Neuchâtel Xamax | Loan | Free |
| # | DF | Rafik Halliche | 22 | Nacional | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Freddy Adu | 20 | Belenenses | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Yu Dabao | 21 | Mafra | Loan | Free |
| # | DF | Marco Zoro | 25 | Vitória Setúbal | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Ishmael Yartey | 19 | Beira-Mar | Loan | Free |
| # | DF | Leandro da Silva | 20 | Guimarães | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Marcel | 27 | Santos FC | Loan | Free |
| # | MF | Fellipe Bastos | 19 | Belenenses | Loan | Free |
| # | DF | Ruben Lima | 19 | Vitória Setúbal | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | André Carvalhas | 19 | Fátima | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Ivan Santos | 20 | Carregado | Loan | Free |
| # | MF | Miguel Rosa | 20 | Carregado | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Ariza Makukula | 28 | Kayserispor | Loan | Free |
| # | DF | Abel Pereira | 19 | Mafra | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Hélio Vaz | 18 | Mafra | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | André Soares | 19 | Carregado | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | José Coelho | 19 | Paços de Ferreira | Loan | Free |
| # | MF | David Simão | 19 | Fátima | Loan | Free |
| # | DF | João Pereira | 19 | Fátima | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | José Antonio Reyes | 24 | Atlético Madrid | Loan return | - |
| # | FW | David Suazo | 28 | Internazionale | Loan return | - |

#### Winter

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving to | Type of transfer | Transfer fee |
| # | FW | Yu Dabao | 21 | Tianjin Teda | Transfer | Free |
| # | GK | Moretto | 31 | Brasiliense | Contract terminated | Free |
| 11 | FW | Keirrison | 20 | Barcelona | Loan return | Free |
| # | MF | Fellipe Bastos | 19 | Servette | Loan | Free |
| 2 | DF | Patric | 20 | Avaí | Loan | €0.1M |
| 3 | DF | José Shaffer | 24 | Banfield | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Urreta | 19 | Peñarol | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Freddy Adu | 20 | Aris | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Javier Balboa | 24 | Cartagena | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Nélson Oliveira | 18 | Rio Ave | Loan | Free |
| # | DF | Abel Pereira | 20 | Tondela | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Ivan Santos | 21 | Atlético CP | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | Hélio Vaz | 19 | Tondela | Loan | Free |
| # | FW | André Soares | 19 | Atlético CP | Loan | Free |
    Transfer income: €6.83M