The 2002–03 season was Sport Lisboa e Benfica's 99th season in existence and the club's 69th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. During the season, which lasted from 1 July 2002 to 30 June 2003, Benfica competed in the Primeira Liga and the Taça de Portugal.

Going into a second year without UEFA competitions, qualifying for Europe was one of the club's top priorities; to improve its competitiveness, Benfica signed some of the best domestic players, Ricardo Rocha and Petit, but also brought back former players, like Hélder and Nuno Gomes. Jesualdo Ferreira remained as manager for his first full season on the club.

Benfica's season started with four consecutive victories, to lead the league. In late September, they experienced their first loss and went on a win-less spree that saw them drop to fifth. In November, Benfica won again, but the results remained erratic and after a 7–0 trashing of Paços de Ferreira, they lost to Varzim. A few days later, in the Portuguese Cup, a home loss against Gondomar cost Ferreira his job. Fernando Chalana replaced him for one match, before the appointment of José Antonio Camacho.

With the Spaniard in charge, Benfica regained second place and slowly opened a gap over Sporting, eventually finishing with 75 points, qualifying for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League. Despite this, Camacho was unable to close the distance to Porto, who finished 11 points ahead. The season was also the last that Benfica played in the original Estádio da Luz, before a new version was built ahead of UEFA Euro 2004. Their final game was on 22 March 2003, with the remaining games being played in the Estádio Nacional in Oeiras.

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