Portuguese Football Championship
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| Country | Portugal |
|---|---|
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Founded | 1934 |
| Number of teams | 18 (from 2014–15) |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Segunda Liga |
| Domestic cup(s) |
Taça de Portugal Supertaça |
| League cup(s) | Taça da Liga |
| International cup(s) |
UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League |
| Current champions |
Benfica (35th title) (2015–16) |
| Most championships | Benfica (35 titles) |
| TV partners | List of broadcasters |
| Website | LigaPortugal.pt |
 2016–17 Primeira Liga
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The Primeira Liga (Portuguese: [pɾiˈmɐjɾɐ ˈliɣɐ]; English: Premier League), also known as Liga NOS for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system. It is organised and supervised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional. As of the 2014–15 season, the Primeira Liga is contested by 18 teams, with the two lowest placed teams relegated to the Segunda Liga and replaced by the top-two non-reserve teams from this division.
Founded in 1934 as an experimental league, it was officialised in 1938 and named Primeira Divisão (First Division) until 1999, when it recovered the original naming. A total of 70 teams have competed in the Primeira Liga, but only five have been crowned champions. Among them, the "Big Three" – Benfica (35 titles), Porto (27) and Sporting CP (18) – have won all but two Primeira Liga titles; the other winners are Belenenses (1945–46) and Boavista (2000–01).
The Primeira Liga has increased its reputation in the last few years, occupying the 5th place of UEFA's league ranking. It broke into the top five for the first time in the 2011–12 season, passing the French Ligue 1, one of the historical "big five" European leagues, for the first time since 1990. The Primeira Liga also reached a world ranking of 4th according to IFFHS's 2011 ranking.
Before the Portuguese football reform of 1938, an experimental competition on a round-basis was already being held – the Primeira Liga (Premier League) and the winners of that competition were named "League champions". Despite that, a Championship of Portugal in a knock-out cup format was the most popular and defined the Portuguese champion, although the winners of this competition no longer count as Portuguese football champions.
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