2012 Taça da Liga Final
| Event | 2011–12 Taça da Liga | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||
| Date | 14 April 2012 | ||||||
| Venue | Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Axel Witsel | ||||||
| Referee | Jorge Sousa | ||||||
| Attendance | 23,452 | ||||||
The 2012 Taça da Liga Final was the final match of the 2011–12 Taça da Liga, the 5th season of the Taça da Liga. It was played on 14 April 2012 at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra in Coimbra, between Benfica and Gil Vicente. Benfica won 2–1 and claimed their fourth consecutive title. The winners also received €1 million in prize money, while the runners-up received €350,000.
The competition involved the 32 clubs playing in the top two tiers of the Portuguese football league system – the Primeira Liga and the Segunda Liga – during the 2011–12 season. Benfica were the three-time defending champions and, as such, participated in their fourth consecutive final. In contrast, it was Gil Vicente's first-ever final in any national competition. Before this match, Benfica were on a 19-match unbeaten run in this competition, with their last defeat coming in a fourth round match against Vitória de Setúbal in October 2007.
Benfica will go into the match as the Taça da Liga title holder, having won the previous three finals, in 2009, 2010 and 2011. This will be the first ever appearance by Gil Vicente in any final. Both teams started at different stages in the competition. Gil started in the second round, having been promoted from the Liga de Honra the previous season. Benfica started in the third round as they finished in the top eight of the 2010–11 Primeira Liga.
Benfica topped Group B with three wins from three games. In the first game of the group stage, they beat Vitória de Guimarães 4–1 at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques. Their next two group stage games were at home; they beat Liga de Honra side Santa Clara 2–0 before also recording a 3–0 win against Marítimo. This qualified the team for the semi-final, in which they played at home against bitter rivals Porto. Benfica won the game 3–2. The semi-final is so far the most viewed program of the year in Portugal, with approximately 4.6 million viewers.
...
Wikipedia