entering the decisive part of the season, and still present in all competitions, benfica's first game of february was a visit to estádio dr. magalhães pessoa to face união de leiria. the home side startled benfica, beating them 3–1. the loss, which koeman called a small setback, granted sporting the chance to catch benfica in second place. on 8 february, benfica met nacional at home for the sixth round of the portuguese cup; the match ended in a goalless draw, even after extra time. benfica won the match after a penalty shoot-out. four days later, benfica returned to the winning path in the primeira liga after beating penafiel 4–0. geovanni opened the scoring in the first half, after which nuno gomes, simão and an own goal from roberto set the final result. on 18 february, benfica played on the road against vitória de guimarães. they did not play as expected and conceded two goals—one in each half—losing 2–0. the loss severely hampered their title defence after being overtaken by sporting and braga and allowing leaders porto—their next league opponent—to gain an eight-point advantage. three days after guimarães, benfica hosted liverpool for the first leg of the champions league round of 16. according to adrian harte, the match was "largely disappointing", but benfica secured a vital win against liverpool when luisão scored with an 84th-minute header. the final match of february was a home to porto, the second clássico of the season. the high-tension match was decided with a free kick from laurent robert that vítor baía could not stop. the win relaunched benfica's title race and porto's lead was reduced to five points. it was the first time in 29 years since 1976–77 benfica had beaten porto twice in the league and was also their first home win over porto since 2000–01.