after giovanni trapattoni led benfica to their first league title in 11 years, he resigned for personal reasons. to replace him, the club hired ronald koeman, who was assisted by bruins slot and fernando chalana. benfica remained highly active in the transfer market, signing and releasing over twelve players. noticeable additions were anderson, léo and nélson to the back four; karagounis and miccoli to the offence. the departures included miguel, the biggest loss.