The day Mantorras and Alverca humbled a Benfica in disarray | OneFootball

For a short period of time, Alverca became Benfica’s particular bête noire. There was something about the clashes between the Lisbon giants and the minnows for nearby Ribatejo that sparked a different energy. The history of both clubs ended up being deeply connected, with Luís Filipe Vieira – who served as Alverca’s CEO – later becoming Benfica’s president and Pedro Mantorras, the exciting, promising starlet signing for the Eagles in 2001.

However, before that came the unforgettable 2000/01 campaign, a season where the Ribatejo red and blues won not once but twice against the mighty Eagles.

Benfica in meltdown

The 2000/01 campaign didn’t start well for Benfica. The last league title had been won six seasons before, and even their neighbours Sporting were able to end an 18-year-long drought the past campaign. João Vale e Azevedo, the troublemaker president who would end up convicted and jailed years later for embezzlement and fraud, had just released the golden boy of the Estádio da Luz João Vieira Pinto as a free agent, weeks before he became one of the best players of the Euro 2000 finals.

The sporting project under Graeme Souness had finished in disarray, and the president decided to sign a promising young manager who had worked as an assistant coach for five seasons in Barcelona, after spells with both Sporting and Porto. José Mourinho’s first job was not an easy one, but he became a sort of lifeboat for Azevedo, who knew he would face tough competition in the upcoming winter elections. The season began poorly, and even if Mourinho quickly began to show how brilliant he would turn out to be, the quality of the squad and the civil war atmosphere within the club during those famed Vietnam years didn’t help. A 3-0 thrashing of reigning champions Sporting could have become a talismanic moment in the season, but it turned out to be quite the opposite.

Presidential and managerial musical chairs

By then, Vale e Azevedo had already been ousted by Manuel Vilarinho, and the new president promised supporters he would put Toni back in the dugout, the iconic legend, the last manager to have won a league for Benfica before being sacked unfairly by Manuel Damásio in 1994. Mourinho had demanded after the win that his contract be renewed for another season. Once the request was duly denied, and with Sporting already ready to make him an offer, he resigned, thus paving the way for Toni to come back sooner than he would have wanted.

Benfica coach Toni was coming under increasing pressure after a disastrous season

By then, Benfica were already lagging behind in the title race, which looked like a duel exclusively between FC Porto and Boavista, and Toni would be working with a squad that did not fit his style of play in the slightest. The first match in charge was an uncomfortable trip to Alverca. Luís Filipe Vieira, the Alverca president, had been a backer of Vilarinho all along and was promised a role as sporting director at Benfica for the upcoming season. He had also vowed to bring with him the young Pedro Mantorras, an Angolan striker he had taken under his wing at Alverca, so supporters from rival clubs expected nothing but an easy win on Toni’s debut. They were in for a surprise.

Benfica’s season stumbles from bad to worse

Alverca, coached by Jesualdo Ferreira – he too a former assistant of Toni’s and a well-known Benfica supporter – ran riot that cold December night and won 2-1, with André Macanga and Nikola Milinkovic turning the match around after a brilliant João Tomás opener. Nobody expected that, but afterwards no Benfica fans believed the team was in a position to salvage the rest of the season. Supporters took to heart the idea that the second half of the campaign was just a long pre-season and that they would return stronger in the upcoming summer, with Toni already exerting full power over the squad.

Still, by week 30, everything had turned sour already. A 3-0 smashing at the Alvalade meant Benfica trailed fifth in the league table, three points above União de Leiria, and sixteen behind league leaders Boavista. Worst, only the top three – or four, depending on the outcome of the Cup final – would be playing continental football the following campaign and Braga were two points above the Eagles in the charts. They needed to smash as many points as possible in the last four fixtures and pray for a miracle to avoid the unthinkable and miss out of European competition.

Next stop would be welcoming back Alverca to the old Estádio da Luz. Once again, the Vieira-Vilarinho connection seemed enough for supporters to expect a much-needed win. They were in for a surprise.

A miserly crowd of around 8000 spectators turned up for the match, many of them waving white handkerchiefs at the end

Alverca on the up

Alverca had just been beaten by Boavista at home and sat in a comfortable 11th, already clear of any danger regarding relegation, which was the club’s main goal. They had been promoted for the first time to the top flight back in 1998, and they had held on ever since. Now there were doubts about their future, with both Vieira and probably some star players tipped to make the move down the road to Lisbon the following summer. Jesualdo Ferreira, who had worked under Eriksson, Toni and Carlos Queiroz for much of the 1980s and 1990s, was also starting to make a name for himself as head coach, and he hoped to grab a precious win at home against his former club.

Despite Benfica’s need for points, the stadium was empty with just 8,000 coming in to watch a match that went down in history as one of the worst moments in the Vietnam era. Toni, who was already by then suffering abuse from the crowds, knew he had to win at all costs and called upon the Argentine goalkeeper Carlos Bossio, alongside Ivan Dudic, Ronaldo, Paulo Madeira and Diogo Luís to form the defensive line, with Fernando Meira, Maniche, Carlitos and a young Rui Baião in support of the attacking partnership of João Tomás and Dutch striker Pierre van Hooijdkonk.  With future World Cup winner Carlos Marchena on the bench, alongside Spanish playmaker Chano and the Brazilian number 10 Roger, it didn’t look much like a quality side, which in turn explains how the season ended up so badly for the Eagles.

Ferreira, on the other hand, had almost all his top players available, and selected the usual starting eleven of Paulo Santos, Veríssimo, Ricardo Carvalho – on loan from Porto – Zé António, Hugo Costa, Ramires, Milinkovic, Diogo, Macanga, Rui Borges and the inevitable Mantorras.

Mantorras and company too good for sorry Benfica

Playing in their alternative white shirt and black shorts, Alverca were primed to spoil the party, and they did so right from the start. Most of Benfica’s supporters had actually come more to see Mantorras, who everyone knew would be the star signing for the following season, than their own team and on a rainy afternoon, they would have a grasp of his genius once again.

Maniche, one of the good news stories of the season for the Eagles, blasted an early shot towards goal that didn’t scare Paulo Santos too much, and in the 18th minute Dudic inadvertently put the ball into his own net to gift Alverca an early lead. The Serbian deflected a poor clearance from Maniche, just as Rui Borges was ready to tap it in after a brilliant assist by Ramires. Alverca remained in control for much of the first half, with Benfica unable to pose any danger for Santos’ goal. At half time, Toni surprisingly replaced the Dutch striker with Roger, to gain more influence in the middle of the park. The substitution had no effect whatsoever, and minutes later, it was Rui Baião who came off for the Ukrainian midfielder Kandourov.

It was all Alverca, though, and Diogo outwitted the young Diogo Luís on the hour and crossed for Mantorras who seemed certain to score, but the striker was beaten by the veteran Paulo Madeira, who miraculously managed to clear the ball off the line. Minutes later, Alverca netted a second. Mantorras dropped deep and released Diogo, who showed no mercy to Ronaldo before crossing to the box, where Borges coolly scored. Game over.

Red card, white handkerchiefs

Ferreira, who by then had replaced Milinkovic with veteran Tito, sent on Anderson for the goalscorer Rui Borges, while Toni, in despair, called on Chano to replace Fernando Meira, to no avail. By then, Maniche had already been sent off for a disgraceful foul on Mantorras, and everyone realised the night was done. João Tomás had his only shot on target in the dying minutes, but Santos made a brilliant save to deny the striker a consolation prize. White handkerchiefs followed as the teams returned to the dressing room with the Luz crowd already aware that it would be almost impossible for Benfica to qualify for the European competitions at the end of the season.

A Braga home win against Marítimo meant they were now five points clear of Benfica with three games to spare, and Leiria were only two points behind, having drawn at home against Desportivo das Aves. It would get worse. The following week, Benfica was hammered 3-0 at Gil Vicente, failing to take advantage of Braga also losing in Aveiro and Leiria being beaten by Porto. Belenenses, though won in Alverca and suddenly were level with Benfica on 52 points. There was a genuine possibility that the Eagles would finish the league in 7th, which would have been their worst ever result.

Benfica’s lowest ebb

They finally finished sixth, after another home draw against Salgueiros and a 4-4 clash at Aves, behind not only Braga but also Leiria, but that still ranked as their worst ever finish league position and meant there would be no European nights for the Luz faithful. Benfica’s last win of the season was in fixture 29, the lowest point of a decade of sporting crisis. Alverca finished the campaign beating Campomaiorense at home, ending the season 12th, one of their most memorable ever. Jesualdo Ferreira would eventually replace Toni when he was sacked during the 2001/02 season, before moving to Braga and then to Porto, where he became the first Portuguese manager to win three league titles in a row.

Benfica had to wait until 2004/05 to celebrate a championship victory again as José Mourinho, the man Vilarinho didn’t trust to steady the ship, guided Porto to back-to-back league wins, and monumental UEFA Cup and Champions League triumphs in successive seasons. Of the side that played Alverca on that gloomy 5th of May afternoon, only substitute goalkeeper Moreira remained when they won the league.

The 2000/2001 season was possibly Benfica’s lowest point in the club’s long and proud history. The headline in A Bola’s Benfica player ratings articles said it all: "Please, finish this Championship"

Pedro Mantorras, the boy wonder who had been touted as the next Eusébio, was subbed in on the memorable night at Boavista’s Bessa stadium as Benfica earned the title after a ten-year drought. His career was destroyed by recurrent injuries that never allowed him to show his real potential. That afternoon, though, everyone believed that if there was someone who could guide Benfica back to glory, it was him. And he would indeed do his part, even if in a secondary role.