The 2011–12 season was

Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese football. Founded on 28 Febr ...

's 108th season in existence and the club's 78th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. It involved Benfica competing in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

and the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. Benfica qualified for the Champions League by finishing second in the previous Primeira Liga. In Jesus' third season at the helm of the club, he tried to implement a more balanced system, with

Axel Witsel Axel Laurent Angel Lambert Witsel (born 12 January 1989) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder or centre-back for club Atlético Madrid and the Belgium national team. He originally also played in more offensiv ...

replacing

Pablo Aimar Pablo César Aimar (born 3 November 1979) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer and current assistant coach of the Argentina national football team, Argentina national team. During his career, he played as an attack ...

as a more central midfielder, with Aimar pushed as to

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

role, to give more defensive support than

Javier Saviola Javier Pedro Saviola Fernández (; born 11 December 1981) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He represented both FC Barcelona, Barcelona and Real Madrid ...

. Nicolás Gaitán was moved to the right, with

Bruno César Bruno César Zanaki (born 3 November 1988) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for XV de Piracicaba. Club career Early career Bruno César began his professional career with Ulbra in 2009, before movi ...

and

Nolito Manuel Agudo Durán (; born 15 October 1986), known as Nolito (), is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a winger or a forward. Having begun his career at lower league clubs he signed for Barcelona in 2008, playing predomin ...

alternating on the left.

Rodrigo Rodrigo () is a Spanish, Portuguese and Italian name derived from the Germanic name ''Roderick'' ( Gothic ''*Hroþareiks'', via Latinized ''Rodericus'' or ''Rudericus''), given specifically in reference to either King Roderic (d. 712), the la ...

eventually gained his space in the starting eleven, replacing Aimar. This season, Benfica placed first in their

group, later reaching the competition's quarter-finals, and won their fourth

by defeating

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often refe ...

Competitions

Pre-season

Primeira Liga

League table

Results by round

Matches

Taça de Portugal

Taça da Liga

Group stage

Knockout phase

UEFA Champions League

Third qualifying round

Play-off round

Group stage

Knockout phase

=Round of 16

=Quarter-finals

Overall record

Player statistics

, - ! colspan="15" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center;", Goalkeepers , - ! colspan="15" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center;", Defenders , - ! colspan="15" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center;", Midfielders , - ! colspan="15" style="background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center;", Strikers

Competitions

Pre-season

Primeira Liga

League table

Results by round

Matches

Taça de Portugal

Taça da Liga

Group stage

Knockout phase

UEFA Champions League

Third qualifying round

Play-off round

Group stage

Knockout phase

=Round of 16

=Quarter-finals

Overall record

Player statistics

Transfers

In

Summer

Winter

Out

Summer

Winter

Overall transfer activity

Spending

Income

Expenditure

References