 | |||||||
| Event | 2013–14 Taça da Liga | ||||||
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| Date | 7 May 2014 | ||||||
| Venue | Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa,Leiria | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Rodrigo (Benfica)[1] | ||||||
| Referee | Hugo Miguel (Lisbon)[2] | ||||||
| Attendance | 23,119[3] | ||||||
| Weather | Dry 18 °C (64 °F) | ||||||
←2013 2015 → | |||||||
The2014 Taça da Liga final was the final match of the2013–14 Taça da Liga, the seventh season of theTaça da Liga.
Benfica defeatedRio Ave 2–0 to win a record fifth title in the competition.
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).
| Rio Ave | Round | Benfica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opponent | Result | Stadium | First round | Opponent | Result | Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bye | Bye | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opponent | Result | Stadium | Second round | Opponent | Result | Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bye | Bye | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opponent | Result | Stadium | Third round | Opponent | Result | Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paços de Ferreira | 2–0 (H) | Estádio dos Arcos | Matchday 1 | Nacional | 1–0 (A) | Estádio da Madeira | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vitória de Setúbal | 1–1 (H) | Estádio dos Arcos | Matchday 2 | Leixões | 2–0 (H) | Estádio da Luz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sporting da Covilhã | 3–1 (A) | Complexo Desportivo da Covilhã | Matchday 3 | Gil Vicente | 1–0 (H) | Estádio do Restelo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Group A winners
| Final standings | Group D winners
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| Opponent | Result | Stadium | Knockout phase | Opponent | Result | Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Braga | 2–1 (H) | Estádio dos Arcos | Semi-finals | Porto | 0–0 (4–3p) (A) | Estádio do Dragão | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As aPrimeira Liga team, Rio Ave entered the2013–14 Taça da Liga in thethird round. The third round consisted of three group stage matches with the group winner progressing to the semi-finals. Rio Ave were drawn ingroup A, alongside Primeira Liga sidesPaços de Ferreira,Vitória de Setúbal andSegunda Liga'sSporting da Covilhã.[4] TheVilacondenses opening match was a home tie against fellow first division side Paços de Ferreira. Rio Ave defeated their opponents comfortably with goals in either half from Egyptian strikerAhmed Hassan and wingerUkra.[5] Rio Ave's second group stage match saw the visit of Vitória de Setúbal to theEstádio dos Arcos. After trailing to a first half goal from Setúbal'sNélson Pedroso, Rio Ave's managerNuno Espírito Santo brought on three attacking minded players in the second half in order to salvage a point for the home side. Nuno's substitutions paid off, as six minutes from the endJoeano's free kick curled into the top corner and beat Vitória'sPaweł Kieszek to postpone the decision of who would progress to the semi-finals for the last group stage match.[6] For their final group stage match, Rio Ave played away to Sporting da Covilhã. In a must win match, Rio Ave defeated the Segunda Liga side 3–1 thanks to goals fromBruno Braga,Pedro Santos and Ukra to qualify for a second consecutive League Cup semi-final.[7]
In the semi-finals, Rio Ave played host to group C winnersBraga. In an evenly contested match, Rio Ave took the lead on 40 minutes through Ahmed Hassan, who converted from the penalty spot. The penalty came about after a long ball found an on-rushing Bruno Braga who was fouled by Braga'sAderlan Santos. As Aderlan Santos was the last man of Braga's defense, match officialOlegário Benquerença had no other option but to send off the Brazilian and reduce Braga to ten men. Replays showed that Santos did not make any contact with Braga, and that the foul occurred outside the penalty area. On the verge of half time, Braga equalized throughCustódio, afterRaul Rusescu's free kick was saved by Rio Ave's Ederson and Custódio was quickest to react to level the encounter at 1–1. Rio Ave would regain the lead on 69 minutes. A right wing cross from Ukra saw Braga fail to clear the ball on two occasions, which found Bruno Braga on the edge of the box and saw the midfielder strike a volley intoEduardo's right hand top corner to make it 2–1 to the home side. Despite Braga's late pressure, Rio Ave would hold on to reach the final of the Taça da Liga for the first time in their history.[8][9]
On 20 January, thePortuguese League for Professional Football (LPFP), announced that three venues — theEstádio Cidade de Coimbra inCoimbra, theEstádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa inLeiria and theEstádio Municipal de Braga inBraga — made applications to the LPFP to show their intention of hosting the final of the Taça da Liga.[10][11] On 24 February, the LPFP announced that the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria would host the final for the first time.[12][13]
The Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa was the home stadium ofUnião de Leiria between 2003 and 2011 and occasionally hostsPortugal national team matches. It has a seating capacity for 23,888 spectators.[14] Between 2002 and 2003, the stadium underwent renovation works as it was selected by thePortuguese Football Federation as one of the host venues for theUEFA Euro 2004. The stadium played host to two group stage matches, when bothFrance andSwitzerland played againstCroatia.
          Benfica |      Rio Ave |
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