The 2001–02 season, covering the period from 1 July 2001 to 30 June 2002, was Sport Lisboa e Benfica's 98th season in existence and the club's 68th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. Benfica competed domestically in the Primeira Liga and the Taça de Portugal (Portuguese Cup), but did not take part in European football due to their league finish in the previous season.

Expectations were high with head coach António José Conceição Oliveira (Toni), who had been part of Benfica's wins in 1988–89 and 1993–94, starting his third complete season with the team. In the transfer market, the club shipped out regular starters from the past seasons and brought in new players, mixing the experience of Zlatko Zahovič and Ljubinko Drulović with acquisitions Pedro Mantorras and Simão Sabrosa. By December the team was still in the title race after seven wins and seven draws. However, that month the team suffered its first defeat, a close draw against Sporting, and their exit from the Taça de Portugal. These setbacks caused Toni to resign and be replaced by his assistant, Jesualdo Ferreira. After the change, Ferreira guided the team to third-place by late March, where several injuries in key players impacted their momentum. They finished the season with 17 wins, twelve draws and five losses, putting them in fourth place and keeping them out of the European league for another year.

After the worst season since the start of the Primeira Liga, Benfica made significant changes, starting with bringing in former president of Futebol Clube de Alverca Luís Filipe Vieira to run all football-related affairs. One of his first decisions was transferring players deemed surplus to the new project, including Serhiy Kandaurov, Ronaldo Guiaro, José Calado, and both strikers of the previous season, Pierre van Hooijdonk and João Tomás.Argel Fucks, Ljubinko Drulović and Zlatko Zahovič, all players who gained notability at Porto, were added to the team, along with the highly expected Pedro Mantorras and Simão Sabrosa, the latter costing a record 12 million Euros. With Simão's signing, Filipe Vieira stated, "Now we have a dream-team".

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