# 2011–12 S.L. Benfica season

The 2011–12 season was Sport Lisboa e Benfica's 108th season in existence and the club's 78th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. It involved Benfica competing in the Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal, Taça da Liga and the UEFA Champions League. Benfica qualified for the Champions League by finishing second in the previous Primeira Liga.
In Jesus' third season at the helm of the club, he tried to implement a more balanced system, with Axel Witsel replacing Pablo Aimar as a more central midfielder, with Aimar pushed as to second striker role, to give more defensive support than Javier Saviola. Nicolás Gaitán was moved to the right, with Bruno César and Nolito alternating on the left. Rodrigo eventually gained his space in the starting eleven, replacing Aimar.
This season, Benfica placed first in their UEFA Champions League group, later reaching the competition's quarter-finals, and won their fourth Taça da Liga by defeating Gil Vicente.

## Competitions

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Primeira Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Porto (C) | 30 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 69 | 19 | +50 | 75 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Benfica | 30 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 66 | 27 | +39 | 69 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Braga | 30 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 59 | 29 | +30 | 62 | Qualification to Champions League play-off round |
| 4 | Sporting CP | 30 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 47 | 26 | +21 | 59 | Qualification to Europa League play-off round |
| 5 | Marítimo | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 41 | 38 | +3 | 50 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |

#### 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 | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | D | L | W | W | D | W | L | W | D | W | W |
| Position | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### Matches
### 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 | 12 August 2011 | 12 May 2012 | 30 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 66 | 27 | +39 | 070.00 | |
| Taça de Portugal | 14 October 2011 | 2 December 2011 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 066.67 | |
| Taça da Liga | 3 January 2012 | 14 April 2012 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | +10 | 100.00 | |
| UEFA Champions League | 27 July 2011 | 4 April 2012 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 042.86 | |
| Total | Total | Total | 52 | 34 | 11 | 7 | 105 | 47 | +58 | 065.38 |

## Player statistics

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Primeira Liga | Primeira Liga | Portuguese Cup | Portuguese Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Champions League | Champions League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | BRA | Artur | 47 | -43 | 29 | -26 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -3 | 14 | -14 |
| 39 | GK | POR | Mika | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | GK | POR | Eduardo | 9 | -7 | 1 | -1 | 3 | -2 | 5 | -4 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 14 | DF | URU | Maxi Pereira | 43 | 3 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 2 |
| 22 | DF | POR | André Almeida | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | BRA | Luisão | 41 | 2 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| 33 | DF | BRA | Jardel | 18 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ARG | Ezequiel Garay | 41 | 2 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | POR | Miguel Vítor | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 38 | DF | ESP | Joan Capdevila | 12 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Emerson | 39 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 36 | DF | POR | Luís Martins | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 6 | MF | ESP | Javi García | 39 | 2 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| 21 | DF | SRB | Nemanja Matić | 30 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 5 | MF | POR | Ruben Amorim | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Pablo Aimar | 42 | 3 | 24 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| 28 | MF | BEL | Axel Witsel | 49 | 5 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 2 |
| 35 | MF | ARG | Enzo Pérez | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | POR | David Simão | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | POR | Rúben Pinto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Bruno César | 44 | 13 | 26 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| 12 | FW | POR | Yannick Djaló | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | ARG | Nicolás Gaitán | 44 | 4 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| 9 | MF | ESP | Nolito | 48 | 15 | 29 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 3 |
| Strikers ||||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | PAR | Óscar Cardozo | 45 | 28 | 29 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 5 |
| 11 | FW | ARG | Franco Jara | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | POR | Nélson Oliveira | 22 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 19 | FW | ESP | Rodrigo | 38 | 16 | 22 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| 30 | FW | ARG | Javier Saviola | 31 | 6 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | URU | Rodrigo Mora | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

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

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving From | Type of Transfer | Contract Ends | Transfer fee | Source | Notes |
| 1 | GK | Artur | 30 | Braga | Transfer | 2016 | €200,000 | N/A | |
| 28 | MF | Axel Witsel | 22 | Standard Liège | Transfer | 2017 | €6,500,000 | N/A | |
| 24 | DF | Ezequiel Garay | 24 | Real Madrid | Transfer | 2016 | €5,500,000 | N/A | |
| 8 | MF | Bruno César | 22 | Corinthians | Transfer | 2016 | €5,300,000 | N/A | |
| 21 | MF | Nemanja Matić | 22 | Chelsea | Transfer | 2016 | €7,614,350 | N/A | Transfer of David Luiz |
| 35 | MF | Enzo Pérez | 25 | Estudiantes La Plata | Transfer | 2016 | €5,500,000 | N/A | |
| 3 | DF | Emerson | 25 | Lille | Transfer | 2015 | €2,000,000 | N/A | |
| 38 | DF | Joan Capdevila | 33 | Villarreal | Transfer | 2013 | €1,000,000 | N/A | |
| 39 | GK | Mika | 20 | União de Leiria | Transfer | 2016 | €500,000 | N/A | |
| # | DF | Lorenzo Melgarejo | 20 | Independiente FBC | Transfer | 2015 | €750,000 | N/A | |
| 9 | MF | Nolito | 24 | Barcelona B | Transfer | 2016 | Free | N/A | |
| 34 | DF | André Almeida | 20 | Belenenses | Transfer | 2016 | €1,100,000 | N/A | |
| 22 | FW | Rodrigo Mora | 23 | Defensor | Transfer | 2015 | €780,000 | N/A | |
| 47 | GK | Eduardo | 28 | Genoa | Loan | 2012 | Free | N/A | |
| # | MF | Nuno Coelho | 23 | Académica de Coimbra | Transfer | 2014 | €100,000 | N/A | |
| # | DF | Daniel Wass | 22 | Brøndby | Transfer | 2015 | Free | N/A | |
| 36 | DF | Luís Martins | 19 | Benfica U19 | Promoted | 2016 | Free | N/A | |
| 37 | MF | Rúben Pinto | 19 | Benfica U19 | Promoted | 2015 | Free | N/A | |
| 26 | MF | David Simão | 21 | Paços Ferreira | Loan return | 2015 | Free | N/A | |
| # | DF | Marco Zoro | 27 | Universitatea Craiova | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A | |
| # | DF | José Shaffer | 24 | Banfield | Loan return | 2013 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | Jonathan Urretavizcaya | 21 | Peñarol | Loan return | 2013 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | Freddy Adu | 22 | Çaykur Rizespor | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | Javier Balboa | 26 | Albacete | Loan Return | 2012 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | Marcel | 29 | Vasco da Gama | Loan return | 2011 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | Ishmael Yartey | 21 | Beira-Mar | Loan return | 2013 | Free | N/A | |
| # | GK | Jan Oblak | 18 | Olhanense | Loan return | 2015 | Free | N/A | |
| 3 | DF | Fábio Faria | 22 | Real Valladolid | Loan return | 2014 | Free | N/A | |
| # | DF | Abel Pereira | 22 | Gondomar | Loan return | 2013 | Free | | |
| # | FW | Evandro Brandão | 20 | Gondomar | Loan return | 2013 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | Hélio Vaz | 20 | Casa Pia | Loan return | 2012 | Free | | |
| # | DF | Hassan Yebda | 27 | Napoli | Loan Return | 2013 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | Rodrigo | 20 | Bolton Wanderers | Loan return | 2016 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | Nélson Oliveira | 19 | Paços Ferreira | Loan return | 2018 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | José Coelho | 21 | Fátima | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | Ivan Santos | 22 | Espinho | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | André Carvalhas | 22 | Fátima | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A | |
| # | MF | Miguel Rosa | 22 | Belenenses | Loan return | 2015 | Free | N/A | |
| # | MF | Lassana Camará | 19 | Servette | Loan Return | 2013 | Free | N/A | |
| # | FW | André Soares | 21 | Servette | Loan return | 2013 | Free | N/A | |
| # | MF | Leandro Pimenta | 20 | Fátima | Loan return | 2013 | Free | N/A | |
| # | DF | Mário Rui | 20 | Fátima | Loan return | 2013 | Free | N/A | |
| # | DF | Miguel Vítor | 22 | Leicester City | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A | |
| # | DF | Jorge Ribeiro | 29 | Vitória de Guimarães | Loan return | 2012 | Free | N/A | |

#### Winter

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving From | Type of Transfer | Contract Ends | Transfer fee | Notes | Source |
| 12 | MF | Yannick Djaló | 25 | - | Transfer | 2015 | €250,000 | | |
| 34 | DF | André Almeida | 21 | União de Leiria | Loan return | 2015 | Free | N/A | |
Spend : €27,050,000

### Out
#### Summer

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving to | Type of transfer | Transfer fee | Source |
| 18 | DF | Fábio Coentrão | 23 | Real Madrid | Transfer | €30,000,000 | N/A |
| 12 | GK | Roberto | 25 | Real Zaragoza | Transfer | €8,600,000 | CMVM |
| 1 | GK | José Moreira | 29 | Swansea City | Transfer | €850,000 | N/A |
| 21 | FW | Nuno Gomes | 34 | Braga | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| 22 | DF | Luís Filipe | 32 | Olhanense | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Marco Zoro | 27 | - | Contract Terminated | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Freddy Adu | 22 | Philadelphia Union | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Marcel | 29 | Suwon Bluewings | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Weldon | 30 | CFR Cluj | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Abel Pereira | 22 | Doxa | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Evandro Brandão | 20 | Videoton | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Hassan Yebda | 27 | Granada | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Jorge Ribeiro | 29 | Granada | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Ivan Santos | 22 | Oliveirense | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | André Carvalhas | 22 | Trofense | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | MF | Lassana Camará | 19 | Real Valladolid | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | André Soares | 21 | Marítimo B | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Mário Rui | 20 | Parma | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Javier Balboa | 26 | Beira-Mar | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| 24 | DF | Lionel Carole | 20 | Sedan | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Daniel Wass | 22 | Evian | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | MF | José Luis Fernández | 23 | Estudiantes La Plata | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Lorenzo Melgarejo | 20 | Paços de Ferreira | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Fábio Faria | 22 | Paços de Ferreira | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | MF | Nuno Coelho | 23 | Beira-Mar | Loan | Free | N/A |
| 34 | DF | André Almeida | 20 | União de Leiria | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | José Shaffer | 24 | União de Leiria | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | MF | Elvis | 20 | Leiria | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | GK | Jan Oblak | 18 | Leiria | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Jonathan Urretaviscaya | 21 | Vitória de Guimarães | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Hélio Vaz | 20 | Atlético CP | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | José Coelho | 21 | Atlético CP | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | MF | Leandro Pimenta | 20 | Atlético CP | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | MF | Miguel Rosa | 22 | Belenenses | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Franco Jara | 22 | Granada | Loan | €400,000 | N/A |
| # | MF | Carlos Martins | 29 | Granada | Loan | €500,000 | N/A |
| # | GK | Júlio César | 24 | Granada | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Sidnei | 21 | Beşiktaş | Loan | €200,000 | N/A |
| # | MF | Airton | 21 | Flamengo | Loan | €300,000 | N/A |
| # | FW | Alan Kardec | 22 | Santos | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | Ishmael Yartey | 21 | Servette | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Roderick | 20 | Servette | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | MF | Eduardo Salvio | 20 | Atlético Madrid | Loan Return | Free | N/A |

#### Winter

| No. | Pos. | Name | Age | Moving to | Type of transfer | Transfer fee | Source |
| 25 | DF | César Peixoto | 31 | Gil Vicente | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| # | FW | José Coelho | 21 | Sheriff Tiraspol | Transfer | Free | N/A |
| 5 | MF | Ruben Amorim | 26 | Braga | Loan | Free | N/A |
| 35 | MF | Enzo Pérez | 25 | Estudiantes La Plata | Loan | €300,000 | N/A |
| 22 | FW | Rodrigo Mora | 24 | Peñarol | Loan | Free | N/A |
| 26 | MF | David Simão | 21 | Académica de Coimbra | Loan | Free | N/A |
| # | DF | Fábio Faria | 22 | Rio Ave | Loan | Free | N/A |
    Transfer income: €41,150,000