# 2003–04 Primeira Liga

The 2003–04 Primeira Liga was the 70th edition of top flight of Portuguese football. It started 16 August 2003 with an opening game between Académica de Coimbra and Sporting Clube de Portugal, and ended on 9 May 2004. It was contested by 18 teams. FC Porto were the defending champions and became champions again, winning the Portuguese title in two consecutive seasons.
The first goal of the season was scored by Académica's Filipe Alvim in the opening game against Sporting CP. The first red card of the season was given to Paços de Ferreira's Portuguese midfielder Pedrinha in the 3rd game of the season against Nacional and the first yellow card was given to Sporting's Portuguese midfielder Custódio in the opening game of the season. Porto's Benni McCarthy was the top scorer of the season, scoring 20 goals.
Porto qualified for the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League group stage, along with Benfica, who qualified for the third round. Sporting, Nacional, Braga and Marítimo qualified for the 2004–05 UEFA Cup; in opposite, Alverca, Paços de Ferreira and Estrela da Amadora were relegated to the Segunda Liga.

## Promotion and relegation
### Teams relegated to Segunda Liga

* Varzim
* Santa Clara
* Vitória de Setúbal
Varzim, Santa Clara, and Vitória de Setúbal were consigned to the Liga de Honra following their final classification in 2002–03 season.

### Teams promoted from Segunda Liga

* Rio Ave
* Alverca
* Estrela da Amadora
The other three teams were replaced by Rio Ave, Alverca, Estrela da Amadora from Segunda Liga.

## Teams
### Team summaries

| Club | Head Coach | City | Stadium | 2002–2003 season |
| Académica de Coimbra | João Carlos Pereira | Coimbra | Estádio Cidade de Coimbra | 15th |
| Alverca | José Couceiro | Alverca | Complexo Desportivo FC Alverca | 2nd in the Segunda Liga |
| Belenenses | Augusto Inácio | Lisbon | Estádio do Restelo | 9th |
| Benfica | José Camacho | Lisbon | Estádio da Luz | 2nd |
| Boavista | Jaime Pacheco | Porto | Estádio do Bessa | 10th |
| Braga | Jesualdo Ferreira | Braga | Estádio Municipal de Braga | 14th |
| Estrela da Amadora | Miguel Quaresma | Amadora | Estádio José Gomes | 3rd in the Segunda Liga |
| Gil Vicente | Luís Campos | Barcelos | Estádio Cidade de Barcelos | 8th |
| União de Leiria | Vítor Pontes | Leiria | Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa | 5th |
| Marítimo | Manuel Cajuda | Funchal | Estádio dos Barreiros | 7th |
| Nacional | Casemiro Mior | Funchal | Estádio da Madeira | 11th |
| Paços de Ferreira | José Mota | Paços de Ferreira | Estádio da Mata Real | 6th |
| Beira-Mar | António Sousa | Aveiro | Estádio Municipal de Aveiro | 13th |
| Moreirense | Manuel Machado | Guimarães | Estádio do Moreirense | 12th |
| Porto | José Mourinho | Porto | Estádio do Dragão | 1st |
| Sporting CP | Fernando Santos | Lisbon | Estádio José Alvalade | 3rd |
| Rio Ave | Carlos Brito | Vila do Conde | Estádio dos Arcos | 1st in the Segunda Liga |
| Vitória de Guimarães | Jorge Jesus | Guimarães | Estádio D. Afonso Henriques | 4th |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manage | Manner | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Académica de Coimbra | Artur Jorge | Resigned | 28 August 2003 | Vítor Oliveira | 28 August 2003 |
| Vitória de Guimarães | Augusto Inácio | Sacked | 8 December 2003 | Jorge Jesus | 8 December 2003 |
| Paços de Ferreira | José Gomes | Mutual Consent | 21 October 2003 | José Mota | 22 October 2003 |
| Estrela da Amadora | João Alves | Sacked | 3 November 2003 | Miguel Quaresma | 3 November 2003 |
| Gil Vicente | Mário Reis | Sacked | 11 November 2003 | Luís Campos | 25 November 2003 |
| Belenenses | Manuel José | Resigned | 22 November 2003 | Bogićević | 23 November 2003 |
| Belenenses | Bogićević | Sacked | 19 January 2004 | Augusto Inácio | 20 January 2004 |
| Académica de Coimbra | Vítor Oliveira | Sacked | 26 January 2004 | João Pereira | 27 January 2004 |
| Boavista | Erwin Sánchez | Sacked | 8 March 2004 | Jaime Pacheco | 8 March 2004 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Porto (C) | 34 | 25 | 7 | 2 | 63 | 19 | +44 | 82 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Benfica | 34 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 62 | 28 | +34 | 74 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Sporting CP | 34 | 23 | 4 | 7 | 60 | 33 | +27 | 73 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Nacional | 34 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 56 | 35 | +21 | 56 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Braga | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 36 | 38 | −2 | 54 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Marítimo | 34 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 35 | 33 | +2 | 48 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Rio Ave | 34 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 42 | 37 | +5 | 48 | |
| 8 | Boavista | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 32 | 31 | +1 | 47 | |
| 9 | Moreirense | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 46 | |
| 10 | União de Leiria | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 45 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup third round |
| 11 | Beira-Mar | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 36 | 45 | −9 | 41 | |
| 12 | Gil Vicente | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 43 | 40 | +3 | 40 | |
| 13 | Académica | 34 | 11 | 5 | 18 | 40 | 42 | −2 | 38 | |
| 14 | Vitória de Guimarães | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 31 | 40 | −9 | 37 | |
| 15 | Belenenses | 34 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 35 | 54 | −19 | 35 | |
| 16 | Alverca (R) | 34 | 10 | 5 | 19 | 33 | 49 | −16 | 35 | Relegation to Segunda Liga |
| 17 | Paços de Ferreira (R) | 34 | 8 | 4 | 22 | 27 | 53 | −26 | 28 | Relegation to Segunda Liga |
| 18 | Estrela da Amadora (R) | 34 | 4 | 5 | 25 | 22 | 74 | −52 | 17 | Relegation to Segunda Liga |
* ↑ Maritimo qualified for the UEFA Cup because Benfica, the Portuguese Cup winners qualified for Champions League

## Results

| Home \ Away | ACA | ALV | BEM | BEL | BEN | BOA | BRA | EST | GVI | MAR | MOR | NAC | PAÇ | POR | RAV | SCP | ULE | VGU |
| Académica | | 4–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Alverca | 2–1 | | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–4 |
| Beira-Mar | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 |
| Belenenses | 0–5 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Benfica | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–3 | | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Boavista | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Braga | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 2–1 |
| Estrela da Amadora | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Gil Vicente | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–4 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Marítimo | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Moreirense | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Nacional | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 4–2 |
| Paços de Ferreira | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Porto | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Rio Ave | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 4–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Sporting CP | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| União de Leiria | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 0–0 |
| Vitória de Guimarães | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | |

## Statistics
### Top goal scorers

| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Benni McCarthy | Porto | 20 |
| 2 | Adriano | Nacional | 19 |
| 3 | Evandro | Rio Ave | 15 |
| 3 | Liédson | Sporting | 15 |
| 5 | Ricardo Sousa | Boavista | 14 |
| 6 | Derlei | Porto | 13 |
| 7 | Simão Sabrosa | Benfica | 12 |
| 8 | Zé Manuel | Paços de Ferreira | 11 |
| 8 | Ferreira | Gil Vicente | 11 |
| 8 | Wender | Braga | 11 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | Nationality | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Henry Antchouet | Gabon | Belenenses | Estrela da Amadora | 4–0 | 7 September 2003 |
| Adriano | Brazil | Nacional | Vitória de Guimarães | 4–2 | 5 October 2003 |
| Liédson | Brazil | Sporting | Estrela da Amadora | 4–0 | 10 April 2004 |
| Adriano Rossato | Brazil | Nacional | Beira Mar | 3-0 | 25 April 2004 |
| Benni McCarthy | South Africa | Porto | Paços de Ferreira | 3–1 | 9 May 2004 |