Taça da Liga

This article is about the men's football tournament in Portugal. For the women's football tournament in Portugal, see Taça da Liga Feminina.

Taça da Liga

Organising body	Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional
Founded	2007
Region	Portugal
Number of teams	8 (2020–21 season)
Current champions	Sporting CP (3rd title)
Most successful club(s)	Benfica (7 titles)
Television broadcasters	SIC (final) Sport TV
Website	Taça CTT
2020–21 Taça da Liga

The Taça da Liga (Portuguese pronunciation:  [ˈtasɐ dɐ ˈliɣɐ] ), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tiers of Portuguese football. ^[1] Unlike Portugal's other domestic cup competition, the Taça de Portugal, the winners do not qualify for European competitions.

The Taça da Liga was established in the 2007–08 season, thus becoming the third official competition for professional clubs in Portugal, ^[1] after a proposal by Sporting and Boavista was approved by LPFP members on 28 November 2006. For sponsorship reasons, it is currently known as Allianz Cup (with the English word cup).

Benfica are the most decorated team, having won a record seven trophies, four of which consecutively. The current holders are Sporting who defeated Braga in the 2021 final to secure their third title in the competition, making Sporting the second most successful club in the competition after Benfica.

Format

The Taça da Liga format has suffered changes throughout the competition's history in order to increase the number of matches and also revenue for both clubs and LPFP. Since the 2015–16 season, the approved format has been the following:

• First round – One-legged ties between all Segunda Liga teams (except reserve or B teams), with the winner advancing to the next round. In case of an odd number of participating teams, one team receives a bye to the next round.
• Second round – One-legged ties between the first-round winners, the twelve Primeira Liga teams ranked 5th–16th in the previous season, and the two teams promoted from the Segunda Liga. The winner advances to the next round.
• Third round – Four groups of four teams played in a single round-robin format, each containing three second-round winners and one of the four top-placed Primeira Liga season teams of the previous season. The group winners advance to the next round.
• Knockout phase – Semi-finals and final played as one-legged fixtures played in a neutral ground.

Finals

Season	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Date	Venue
2007–08	Vitória de Setúbal	0–0 (3–2 p)	Sporting CP	22 March 2008	Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé
2008–09	Benfica	1–1 (3–2 p)	Sporting CP	21 March 2009	Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé
2009–10	Benfica (2)	3–0	Porto	21 March 2010	Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé
2010–11	Benfica (3)	2–1	Paços de Ferreira	23 April 2011	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra
2011–12	Benfica (4)	2–1	Gil Vicente	14 April 2012	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra
2012–13	Braga	1–0	Porto	13 April 2013	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra
2013–14	Benfica (5)	2–0	Rio Ave	7 May 2014	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria
2014–15	Benfica (6)	2–1	Marítimo	29 May 2015	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra
2015–16	Benfica (7)	6–2	Marítimo	20 May 2016	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra
2016–17	Moreirense	1–0	Braga	29 January 2017	Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé
2017–18	Sporting CP	1–1 (5–4 p)	Vitória de Setúbal	27 January 2018	Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga
2018–19	Sporting CP (2)	1–1 (3–1 p)	Porto	26 January 2019	Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga
2019–20	Braga (2)	1–0	Porto	25 January 2020	Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga
2020–21	Sporting CP (3)	1–0	Braga	23 January 2021	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria
Upcoming finals
Season	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Date	Venue
2021–22					Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria
2022–23					Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning years	Runner-up years
Benfica	7	0	2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016	—
Sporting CP	3	2	2018, 2019, 2021	2008, 2009
Braga	2	2	2013, 2020	2017, 2021
Vitória de Setúbal	1	1	2008	2018
Moreirense	1	0	2017	—
Porto	0	4	—	2010, 2013, 2019, 2020
Marítimo	0	2	—	2015, 2016
Paços de Ferreira	0	1	—	2011
Gil Vicente	0	1	—	2012
Rio Ave	0	1	—	2014

Participating clubs

	Team	City	Years	First season	Last season	Titles	Runners-up
1	Benfica	Lisbon	14	2008	2021	7	0
2	Sporting CP	Lisbon	14	2008	2021	3	2
3	Braga	Braga	14	2008	2021	2	2
4	Vitória de Setúbal	Setúbal	13	2008	2020	1	1
5	Moreirense	Moreira de Cónegos	10	2011	2020	1	0
6	Porto	Porto	14	2008	2021	0	4
7	Marítimo	Funchal	13	2008	2020	0	2
8	Paços de Ferreira	Paços de Ferreira	14	2008	2021	0	1
9	Rio Ave	Vila do Conde	13	2008	2020	0	1
10	Gil Vicente	Barcelos	12	2008	2020	0	1
11	Estoril	Estoril	14	2008	2021	0	0
11	Vitória de Guimarães	Guimarães	14	2008	2021	0	0
13	Académica	Coimbra	13	2008	2020	0	0
13	Desportivo das Aves	Vila das Aves	13	2008	2020	0	0
13	Feirense	Santa Maria da Feira	13	2008	2020	0	0
13	Leixões	Matosinhos	13	2008	2020	0	0
13	Nacional	Funchal	13	2008	2020	0	0
13	Portimonense	Portimão	13	2008	2020	0	0
13	Santa Clara	Ponta Delgada	13	2008	2020	0	0
20	Penafiel	Penafiel	12	2008	2020	0	0
20	Sporting da Covilhã	Covilhã	12	2009	2020	0	0
22	Belenenses	Lisbon	11	2008	2018	0	0
22	Oliveirense	Oliveira de Azeméis	11	2009	2020	0	0
24	Olhanense	Olhão	10	2008	2017	0	0
25	Arouca	Arouca	9	2011	2019	0	0
25	Varzim	Póvoa de Varzim	9	2008	2020	0	0
27	Beira-Mar	Aveiro	8	2008	2015	0	0
27	Trofense	Trofa	8	2008	2015	0	0
27	Freamunde	Freamunde	8	2008	2017	0	0
27	Chaves	Chaves	8	2010	2020	0	0
27	Tondela	Tondela	8	2013	2020	0	0
32	União da Madeira	Funchal	7	2012	2018	0	0
32	Boavista	Porto	7 [2] [3]	2008	2020	0	0
32	Académico de Viseu	Viseu	7	2014	2020	0	0
35	Naval	Figueira da Foz	6	2008	2013	0	0
36	União de Leiria	Leiria	5	2008	2012	0	0
36	Atlético CP	Lisbon	5	2012	2016	0	0
36	Farense	Faro	5	2014	2020	0	0
36	Famalicão	Vila Nova de Famalicão	5	2016	2020	0	0
40	Cova da Piedade	Cova da Piedade	4	2017	2020	0	0
40	Mafra	Mafra	4	2016	2021	0	0
42	Fátima	Fátima	3	2008	2011	0	0
42	Vizela	Vizela	3	2008	2017	0	0
44	Estrela da Amadora	Amadora	2	2008	2009	0	0
44	Gondomar	Gondomar	2	2008	2009	0	0
44	Oriental	Lisbon	2	2015	2016	0	0
44	Belenenses SAD	Lisbon	2	2019	2020	0	0
48	Carregado	Carregado	1	2010	2010	0	0
48	Fafe	Fafe	1	2017	2017	0	0
48	Real	Queluz	1	2018	2018	0	0
48	Casa Pia	Lisbon	1	2020	2020	0	0
48	Vilafranquense	Vila Franca de Xira	1	2020	2020	0	0

Players statistics

Appearances

As of 2018–19 season ^[4]

Rank	Nat.	Player	Apps	Goals	Years	Clubs
1		Jardel	38	1	2009–	Estoril, Olhanense, Benfica
2		Tarantini	37	4	2007–	Portimonense, Rio Ave
3		Ricardo Pessoa	35	7	2007–2018	Portimonense, Moreirense
4		João Pedro	34	4	2007–2015	Beira-Mar, União de Leiria, Oliveirense, Naval, Braga Belenenses, Moreirense
		Filipe Gonçalves	34	3	2007–	Vitória de Setúbal, Paços de Ferreira, Trofense, Moreirense, Estoril, Nacional, Oliveirense
6		Edgar Sá	33	2	2008–2016	Sporting da Covilhã, Santa Clara
7		Hélder Guedes	32	7	2007–2018	Penafiel, Paços de Ferreira, Rio Ave
8		Jorge Pires	31	5	2008–	Portimonense, Desportivo das Aves, Feirense, Moreirense, Penafiel
9		Edgar Costa	30	5	2009–	Nacional, Moreirense, Marítimo
		Lourenço Almeida	30	2	2007–2014	Penafiel, Beira-Mar, Vitória de Setúbal, Desportivo das Aves, Santa Clara, Académico de Viseu

Bold = Still active and playing in Portugal

Goalscorers

All-time top scorers

As of 2018–19 season ^[5]

Rank	Nat.	Player	Goals	Games	Years	Clubs
1		Tozé Marreco	12	25	2010–	Desportivo das Aves, União da Madeira, Naval, Tondela, Académica
2		Liédson	11	13	2007–2013	Sporting CP, Porto
3		Jonas	10	15	2014–	Benfica
4		Lima	9	16	2009–2015	Belenenses, Braga, Benfica
		Rabiola	9	16	2007–2015	Porto, Desportivo das Aves, Penafiel
		Dyego Sousa	9	21	2010–	Leixões, Tondela, Portimonense Marítimo, Braga
		Edinho	9	22	2007–	Marítimo, Académica, Braga, Vitória de Setúbal, Feirense
		Miguel Rosa	9	24	2008–	Estoril, Carregado, Belenenses, Cova da Piedade
		Clemente	9	27	2007–2019	Chaves, Oliveirense, Santa Clara

Bold = Still active and playing in Portugal

Goalscorers by seasons

Season	Player	Country	Club	Goals
2007–08	Matheus	Brazil	Vitória de Setúbal	5
2008–09	Liédson	Brazil	Sporting CP	4
2009–10	Carlão	Brazil	União de Leiria	3
2010–11	Hugo Vieira	Portugal	Gil Vicente	5
2011–12	Baba Diawara	Senegal	Marítimo	4
	Rodrigo	Spain	Benfica
	Miguel Rosa	Portugal	Belenenses
2012–13	Fabrício	Brazil	Sporting da Covilhã	5
	Josué	Portugal	Paços de Ferreira
	Rafael Porcellis	Brazil	Santa Clara
	Rabiola	Portugal	Desportivo das Aves
2013–14	Tozé Marreco	Portugal	Tondela	3
	Jackson Martínez	Colombia	Porto
	Moreira	Portugal	Leixões
	Ricardo Pessoa	Portugal	Portimonense
	Wágner	Brazil	Moreirense
2014–15	Jonas	Brazil	Benfica	5
2015–16	Raúl Jiménez	Mexico	Benfica	4
	Talisca	Brazil	Benfica
2016–17	Welthon	Brazil	Paços de Ferreira	4
2017–18	Gonçalo Paciência	Portugal	Vitória de Setúbal	5
2018–19	Paulinho	Portugal	Braga	4
	Dyego Sousa	Portugal	Braga
2019–20	Ricardo Horta	Portugal	Braga	4
	Soares	Brazil	Porto
2020–21	Paulinho	Portugal	Braga	3

Sponsorship

Since its inception (except in the period between 2011–15) the Taça da Liga has had the following naming sponsors meaning it has been known by different names:

Period	Sponsor	Name
2007–2010	Carlsberg	Carlsberg Cup
2010–2011	Bwin	Bwin Cup
2011–2015	No main sponsor	Taça da Liga
2015–2018	CTT	Taça CTT
2018–	Allianz	Allianz Cup

Records

As of 25 January 2021 ^{[update] [6]}

• Most tournament wins (team): 7 wins, Benfica
• Most final appearances (team): 7, Benfica
• Most tournament wins (individual): 7, Luisão for Benfica; Rúben Amorim for Benfica (5) as a player, and for Braga (1) and Sporting CP (1) as a manager
• Most final appearances: (individual): 6, Luisão for Benfica (2009–11, 2014–16)
• Most matches (team): 58, Benfica
• Most matches (individual): 43, Jardel
• Most game wins (team): 39, Benfica
• Most goals (team): 115, Benfica
• Highest goalscorer (career): 12 goals, Tozé Marreco & Paulinho ^[7]
• Highest goalscorer (season): 5 goals, by Matheus for Vitória de Setúbal (2007–08), Hugo Vieira for Gil Vicente (2010–11) and Jonas for Benfica (2014–15)
• Most goals scored in a match (individual): 4 goals, by Rabiola for Desportivo das Aves vs Trofense, 29 July 2012
• Biggest win: Sporting CP 6–0 União da Madeira, third round, 20 December 2017
• Biggest win in a final: Marítimo 2–6 Benfica, 20 May 2016
• Highest scoring game: 8 goals, Belenenses 5–3 Leixões, first round, 7 August 2011 and Marítimo 2–6 Benfica, final, 20 May 2016
• Most penalties in a deciding penalty shootout: 20 – Vitória de Guimarães 6–7 Sporting CP (27 September 2007)
• Youngest goalscorer in the final: Bruno Pereirinha, 20 years and 19 days, for Sporting CP vs Benfica, 2009
• Youngest player in the final: Nuno Mendes, 18 years, 7 months and 5 days for Sporting CP vs Braga, 2021
• Youngest captain in the final: João Moutinho, 21 years, 6 months and 14 days for Sporting CP vs Vitória de Setúbal, 2008

See also

• Taça de Portugal
• Taça Ribeiro dos Reis (unofficial predecessor organized by the Portuguese Football Federation)
• Taça Federação Portuguesa de Futebol (another predecessor organized by the Portuguese Football Federation)
• List of association football competitions in Portugal
• List of Taça da Liga winning managers

References

1. "Taça da Liga – Acerca desta Competição" [About this competition]. lpfp.pt (in Portuguese). Portuguese League for Professional Football . Retrieved 29 December 2012.
2. Boavista excluded from 2009 League Cup after missing players inscription deadline "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-08-05. Retrieved 2008-08-05. (Portuguese)
3. Boavista excluded from professional competitions after failing to pay debts (Portuguese)
4. "Taça da Liga: Estatísticas". zerozero.pt.
5. "Taça da Liga: Estatísticas". zerozero.pt.
6. "Stats". thefinalball. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
7. "Cardozo? Jonas? Jackson? Golos na Taça da Liga é mais com Tozé Marreco" [Cardozo ? Jonas ? Jackson? Goals in the League Cup is More with Toze Marreco] (in Portuguese). zerozero. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.

External links

• Official website (in Portuguese)
• Portugal - List of League Cup Finals, RSSSF.com