Benfica B

Full name	Sport Lisboa e Benfica "B"
Nicknames	As Águias (The Eagles) Os Encarnados (The Reds)
Founded	1999
Ground	Benfica Campus
Capacity	2,644
President	Rui Costa
Head coach	Nélson Veríssimo
League	Liga Portugal 2
2024–25	Liga Portugal 2, 8th of 18
Website	slbenfica.pt/equipa_b
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Active departments ofS.L. Benfica
Football Football B Football U19 Football (women's) Futsal Roller hockey Basketball Handball Volleyball Athletics Swimming Rugby union Table tennis Billiards Canoeing
Closed departments
Archery Beach soccer Cycling

Sport Lisboa e Benfica "B" (Portuguese pronunciation:[sɨˈpɔɾliʒˈβoɐiβɐ̃jˈfikɐˈβe]), commonly known asBenfica B, is a Portuguese professionalfootball team based inSeixal. Founded in 1999, dissolved in 2006, and restarted in 2012, it is thereserve team of Portuguese clubS.L. Benfica. They play in theLiga Portugal 2, holding home matches atBenfica Campus' main pitch.

During the 2012–13 season, Benfica B played home matches at theEstádio da Luz until February, when they moved toEstádio da Tapadinha to prevent excessive wear of the stadium's grass.^[1] In2013–14, they permanently moved to their own training ground, capable of receiving professional league matches.

As a reserve team, Benfica B cannot play in the same division as the club's main team, thus being ineligible for promotion to thePrimeira Liga. Moreover, they cannot enter domestic cup competitions such as theTaça de Portugal andTaça da Liga.

Since 2018–19, Benfica have anunder-23 team playing inLiga Revelação, a competition for players who leftthe under-19s but who are not ready to join or regularly play for the first-team.^[2]

AsBenfica sought a way to provide playing time fortheir youth and reserve players, they created a B team in 1999. The team officially started competing in the 1999–2000 season, with their first match played away againstPortimonense S.C. (2–2) in late August.^[3] After three seasons in thePortuguese Second Division, they suffered relegation to theTerceira Divisão, where they would spend three years,^{[citation needed]} before achieving promotion to the Portuguese Second Division in 2005. In May of the following year, the board of directors extinguished the side, which returned to activity shortly after as part of theLiga Intercalar. As part of this competition, the team's best league finish was a second place, behindEstoril B, in the South Zone of the 2010–11 season.

Before the end of the 2011–12 football season in Portugal, sevenPrimeira Liga clubs announced their interest in creating a reserve team to fill the six vacancies available in theSegunda Liga (now Liga Portugal 2) for the2012–13 campaign.^[4] Of those seven clubs, six were selected to take part in the competition: Benfica,Braga,Marítimo,Porto,Sporting CP andVitória de Guimarães.^[5]

LPFP, who organize the professional football tiers in Portugal, announced that the clubs would have to pay €50,000 to register themselves at the league in order to compete in the upcoming season.^[6] In addition, LPFP also required them to follow new rules regarding player selection, in which each B team must have a squad with a minimum of ten players formed at the club's academy and with an age between 15 and 21 years, and a maximum of three players above 23 years old. LPFP also decided that reserve teams are unable to compete in cup competitions and to gain promotion to the Primeira Liga due to the possibility of playing against their club's first team.

In late May 2012, it was officially announced that the B teams of six Primeira Liga clubs would compete in the 2012–13 Segunda Liga, a decision that increased the number of teams from 16 to 22 and the number of matches from 30 to 42.^[7]

In 2014, Benfica B were invited to play in thefirst Premier League International Cup. On 29 May 2015, they played a friendly againstF.C. United of Manchester inBroadhurst Park's official opening match.^[8][9] On 26 May 2019, they played a practice match againstLiverpool inMarbella, Spain, five days before the latter'sChampions League final.^[10]

As of 31 August 2025^[11][12]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player} 50 GK  POR Diogo Ferreira 51 GK  LTU Arnas Voitinovicius 54 FW  POR Francisco Neto 55 DF  POR João Fonseca 58 DF  POR Daniel Banjaqui 59 DF  POR Leandro Martins 60 MF  POR Nuno Félix 64 DF  POR Gonçalo Oliveira 66 DF  USA Joshua Wynder 67 FW  POR Rodrigo Rêgo 68 MF  POR João Veloso 69 DF  BEL Michée Ndembi 71 DF  POR Leandro Santos 74 FW  POR Olívio Tomé 77 MF  POR Gonçalo Moreira

No. Pos. Nation Player 79 DF  POR Kevin Pinto 84 MF  POR João Rego 85 MF  POR Martim Ferreira 86 MF  POR Diogo Prioste 88 MF  POR Tiago Freitas 89 DF  POR Tiago Parente 90 FW  POR Ivan Lima 91 FW  POR Francisco Silva 92 GK  SWE Alexander Sandahl 94 DF  POR Rui Silva 95 MF  LUX Tomás Moreira 96 FW  BEL Jelani Trevisan 97 FW  POR José Melro 98 GK  POR Ricardo Ribeiro 99 FW  POR Eduardo Fernandes

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  POR André Gomes(atAlverca until 30 June 2026) — DF  BRA Gustavo Marques(atRB Bragantino until 30 June 2026) — MF  POR Rafael Luís(atRC Strasbourg until 30 June 2026) — DF  POR Rafael Rodrigues(atAl Ain until 30 June 2026)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  FRA Beni Souza(atAcadémica until 30 June 2026) — DF  POR Diogo Spencer(atAVS until 30 June 2026) — FW  POR Gustavo Varela(atGil Vicente until 30 June 2026)

Season	Div	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Top scorer	Goals	Refs
1999–2000	III	13th	38	14	6	18	53	49	48	Cláudio Oeiras	11	[15][citation needed]
2000–2001	III	9th	38	14	11	13	58	57	57	Jorge Cordeiro	16	[16][citation needed]
2001–2002	III	18th	38	11	11	16	35	42	44	Jorge Ribeiro	5	[citation needed]
2002–2003	IV	3rd	34	14	14	6	47	25	56			[17]
2003–2004	IV	5th	34	15	8	11	63	48	53			[17]
2004–2005	IV	1st	34	21	9	4	71	29	72			[17]
2005–2006	III	11th	30	11	8	11	40	40	41	Vasco Firmino	5	[18][citation needed]
2012–2013	II	7th	42	15	17	10	71	54	62	Miguel Rosa	17	[citation needed]
2013–2014	II	5th	42	20	10	12	77	56	70	Funes Mori	13	[citation needed]
2014–2015	II	6th	46	22	11	13	81	60	77	Rui Fonte	17	[citation needed]
2015–2016	II	19th	46	15	10	21	59	64	55	Sancidino Silva	6	[citation needed]
2016–2017	II	4th	42	18	9	15	56	58	63	Heriberto Tavares	11	[citation needed]
2017–2018	II	13th	38	14	7	17	54	60	49	Heriberto Tavares	14	[19]
2018–2019	II	4th	34	15	7	12	47	42	52	Chris Willock	11	[20]
2019–2020	II	14th	24	7	7	10	31	35	28	Daniel dos Anjos	8	[21]
2020–2021	II	8th	34	12	8	14	53	43	44	Gonçalo Ramos Henrique Araújo	11	[22]
2021–2022	II	5th	34	17	6	11	61	44	57	Henrique Araújo	14	[23]
2022–2023	II	15th	34	10	8	16	52	58	38	Henrique Pereira	9	[24]
2023–2024	II	8th	34	12	9	13	48	48	45	Cauê	7
2024–2025	II	4th	34	15	10	9	53	38	55	Gustavo Varela	11

As of match played 27 May 2025. Only competitive matches are counted, including those in the Premier League International Cup.

Name	Nat	From	To	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Win %	Honours	Refs
Alan Murray		1999	November 1999	9	4	0	5	13	12	044.44		[25][citation needed]
José Morais		November 1999	2001	67	24	17	26	98	94	035.82		[26][citation needed]
António Veloso		9 June 2001	2002	38	11	11	16	35	42	028.95		[27][citation needed]
Carlos Gomes		2002	July 2004	68	28	24	16	107	72	041.18		[28][citation needed]
João Santos		2004	2006	64	32	17	15	111	69	050.00	2004–05 Terceira Divisão	[29][citation needed]
Luís Norton de Matos		4 May 2012	30 May 2013	42	15	17	10	71	54	035.71		[30][citation needed]
Hélder Cristóvão		3 July 2013[31]	12 May 2018	224	93	49	82	340	309	041.52		[32][citation needed]
Bruno Lage		1 July 2018[33]	3 January 2019	15	8	3	4	15	11	053.33		[34][citation needed]
Nélson Veríssimo (caretaker)		3 January 2019	15 January 2019	3	0	1	2	5	7	000.00		[35][citation needed]
Renato Paiva		15 January 2019	25 December 2020	58	21	12	25	84	85	036.21		[citation needed]
Nélson Veríssimo		25 December 2020	28 December 2021	36	18	10	8	64	38	050.00		[citation needed]
Paulo Mateus (caretaker)		28 December 2021	28 December 2021	1	0	0	1	1	2	000.00		[citation needed]
António Oliveira		5 January 2022	13 May 2022	18	7	3	8	37	57	038.89		[citation needed]
Luís Castro		2 June 2022	8 June 2023	34	10	8	16	52	58	029.41		[citation needed]
Nélson Veríssimo		6 July 2023	Present	76	28	22	26	110	99	036.84		[citation needed]

• Terceira Divisão
  • Winners (1): 2004–05

As of 7 September 2023^[36]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  SWE Alexander Sandahl — GK  POR João Félix — GK  POL Marcel Mendes — GK  SRB Luka Velickovic — DF  POR João Conceição — DF  POR Leandro Santos — DF  BRA Tiago Coser — DF  POR José Müller — DF  POR João Fonseca — DF  MLI Modibo Keita — DF  POR Tiago Parente — DF  POR Vladimir Mendes — MF  POR João Veloso

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  LUX Tomás Moreira — MF  AUS Paul Okon-Engstler — MF  CAN Carlos Meotti — MF  POR Tiago Freitas — FW  POR Gonçalo Moreira — FW  POR José Melro — FW  NED Kyanno Silva — FW  POR Ivan Lima — FW  POR Ricardo Nóbrega — FW  POR Rodrigo Rêgo — FW  EST Karel Mustmaa — FW  POR Martim Fortes — FW  USA Marcos Zambrano — FW  FRA Sofiane Dris

• Taça Revelação
  • Winners (1): 2024–25

• Official website(in Portuguese, English, Spanish, and French)
• S.L. Benfica B atLPFP(in English and Portuguese)

• S.L. Benfica B
• S.L. Benfica
• 1999 establishments in Portugal
• Association football clubs established in 1999
• Association football clubs disestablished in 2006
• 2012 establishments in Portugal
• Association football clubs established in 2012
• Reserve team football in Portugal
• Liga Portugal 2 clubs
• Premier League International Cup

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