After only winning the Primeira Divisão, Benfica disputed the Supertaça, winning it for the third time. The league campaign was another controversial battle with Porto, who finished four points ahead of Benfica. Magnusson won the Bola de Prata. With attentions set on the European Cup, Benfica reached the final after defeating Marseille in the semi-finals. In the seventh European Cup final, Benfica lost for a fifth time, prolonging Guttmann's curse.
Season summary
The new season saw the arrival of Sven-Göran Eriksson for a second term.[1] After Benfica won the 1988–89 Primeira Divisão on 7 May 1989,[2] Eriksson confirmed that he would take over Toni's job only three days later.[1][3] In the transfer window, Benfica lost Shéu and Mozer, with the first retiring and the latter moving abroad.[4][5] To replace him, the club hired Brazilian defender Aldair and Swedish midfielder Jonas Thern.[6][7] Eriksson started working on 28 July with Benfica travelling to Netherlands the following day for a two-week tour.[8] They competed in the Rotterdam Tournament in early August and had their presentation game against Spartak Moscow on the 15.[9][10] They then won the Trofeo Cidade de Vigo and had a late friendly with Varzim, postponing the league opening game.[11][12]
Benfica's league campaign was again a clash with Porto.[13] The season was notable by the constant controversy surrounding referees and the battle for control of the Portuguese Football Federation.[14] The crucial Clássico on 11 March 1990 ended with a draw, keeping Porto with a three-point lead, nearly closing the title race.[15][13] Benfica was nonetheless, entirely focused on the European Cup, as Eriksson admitted that winning another European title was a target of President João Santos.[16] Eriksson led the team through easy wins against Derry City and Budapest Honvéd. The quarter-final matches with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk fell within a busy schedule, but despite that, Benfica flew past the Ukrainian with three-nil win.[13][17]
However, the semi-finals with Marseille were much different. Benfica lost in France by 2–1; their first loss after seven games and needed a win to go through, as Erisskon said "We are not dead yet. He have a 49% chance of going through" [13] The home reception to Marseille saw 120 thousand fans fill Estádio da Luz to witness Vata score the sole goal that qualified Benfica.[18][19] In the 83rd minute, in a corner, Vata rose above everyone and slipped the ball past Jean Castaneda with his hand.[19] Several players immediately surrounded referee Marcel Van Langenhove protesting that the goal was scored with the hand, but he disregarded their appeals.[19] Assistant manager Toni gave his opinion: "Vata was pulled and he could not fight for the ball – unable to use his chest or head, he used his hand. So what the referee should have done is signalled a penalty, which he did not do."[19][18]Bernard Tapie furiously screamed "The Portuguese are pigs, they are pigs. They gave something to the referee, it could only be. Benfica still has a lot of power and scares a lot of people. This was a disgrace."[20][21]
Benfica ended the league on 20 May, finishing four points behind Porto.[14][22] Three days later, they met AC Milan in the European Cup final in Vienna.[22] Before the final, Eusébio visited Béla Guttmann's grave and prayed for his curse to be lifted.[22] Dressed fully in red, Benfica was defeated with a goal from Rijkaard in the second half. Eriksson regretted the loss and explained his strategy: "It consisted of closely marking Gullit and van Basten, so they would be offside while simultaneously paying attention to the midfielders. I talked a lot about it and they executed it perfectly, until Rijkaard came from behind and stole our dream".[22][23]
The squad for the season consisted of the players listed in the tables below, as well as staff members Sven-Göran Eriksson (manager) and Toni (assistant manager), Eusébio (assistant manager), José Capristano (director of football), Shéu (Secretary of football department), Bernardo Vasconcelos (doctor), Amílcar Miranda (doctor), Asterónimo Araújo (masseur), António Gaspar (physiotherapist), Jorge Castelo (scout), Luís Santos (kit man), José Luís (kit man).[8][38][26][24]
Note 1: Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note 2: Players with squad numbers marked ‡ joined the club during the 1989-90 season via transfer, with more details in the following section.
^ ab"Jonas Thern assinou pelo Benfica" [Jonas Thern signs with Benfica]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 23037. 10 August 1989. p. 23. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
^ ab"Benfica: Apresentação" [Benfica: Presentation]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 23026. 28 July 1989. p. 21. Archived from the original on 24 February 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
^"Preparam o último adeus á Tacinha" [Say goodbye to little Cup]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 23069. 18 September 1989. p. 17. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
^"Ricky no Estrela" [Ricky signs with Estrela]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 22970. 20 May 1989. p. 15. Retrieved 30 December 2016.[permanent dead link]
^"Tueba:Da Luz para Santo Tirso" [Tueba:From Benfica to Santo Tirso]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 23017. 18 July 1989. p. 19. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
^"Benfica: a peneira funcionará na Holanda" [Benfica: Tour in the Netherlands will help define the squad]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 23027. 29 July 1989. p. 17. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
^ abc"Força de Leste gelou exames na Luz" [Eastern Force freezes tryout in Da Luz]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 23041. 16 August 1989. p. 23. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
^"Elzo no Brasil" [Elzo moves to Brazil]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 23061. 8 September 1989. p. 23. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
^"Augusto muda-se para Aveiro" [Augusto moves to Aveiro]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). No. 23035. 8 August 1989. p. 23. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
Bibliography
Tovar, Rui Miguel (2012). Almanaque do Benfica. Portugal: Lua de Papel. ISBN978-989-23-2087-8.
Miguéns, Alberto (2005). 100 anos 100 troféus. Portugal: Prime Books. ISBN972-8820-34-8.
Eriksson, Sven-Goran (2013). A minha História. Sweden: Norstedts. ISBN978-972-20-5590-1.
Quidnovi, Redacção (2004). Sport Lisboa e Benfica: 100 Gloriosos anos; As Taças Europeias. Portugal: Quidnovi. ISBN989-554-101-5.
Simões, António (2008). Equipamentos com história. Vol. 5. Portugal. ISBN978-972-99134-8-8. {{cite book}}: |newspaper= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Malheiro, João (July 2006). Memorial Benfica 100 Glórias [Benfica Memorial, 100 glories] (in Portuguese) (Third ed.). QuidNovi. ISBN978-972-8998-26-4.
