Taça da Liga

Taça da Liga
	File:Tacadaligalogo.png
Organising body	Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional
Founded	2007
Region	Portugal
Number of teams	34 (2018–19 season)
Current champions	Sporting (1st title)
Most successful club(s)	Benfica (7 titles)
Television broadcasters	RTP; Sport TV
Website	Taça CTT
	2018–19 Taça da Liga

The Taça da Liga (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈtasɐ dɐ ˈliɣɐ]), known outside Portugal as the 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.^[2] Unlike the French and English league cups, 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,^[2] after a proposal by Sporting and Boavista was approved by LPFP members on 28 November 2006. Due to sponsorship reasons, it is currently known as Allianz Cup.

Benfica are the most decorated team, having won a record seven trophies. The current holders are Sporting, who defeated Vitória de Setúbal (the first club to win the trophy) in the 2018 final to secure their first title in the competition.

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 is 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

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons	Runner-up seasons
Benfica	7	0	2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16	—
Sporting CP	1	2	2017–18	2007–08, 2008–09
Braga	1	1	2012–13	2016–17
Vitória de Setúbal	1	1	2007–08	2017–18
Moreirense	1	0	2016–17	—
Porto	0	2	—	2009–10, 2012–13
Marítimo	0	2	—	2014–15, 2015–16
Paços de Ferreira	0	1	—	2010–11
Gil Vicente	0	1	—	2011–12
Rio Ave	0	1	—	2013–14

Participating clubs

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

Players statistics

Appearances

As of match played 10 January 2017^[5]

Rank	Player	Apps	Goals	Years	Clubs
1	João Pedro	34	4	2007–2015	Beira-Mar, Leiria, Oliveirense, Naval, Braga Belenenses, Moreirense
1	Ricardo Pessoa	33	6	2007–	Portimonense, Moreirense
3	Edgar Sá	33	2	2008–2016	Covilhã, Santa Clara
4	Jardel	32	1	2009–	Estoril, Olhanense, Benfica
4	Tarantini	32	4	2007–	Portimonense, Rio Ave
6	Guedes	30	7	2007–	Penafiel, Paços Ferreira, Rio Ave
6	Lourenço Almeida	30	2	2007–2014	Penafiel, Beira-Mar, Vitória de Setúbal, Desportivo das Aves, Santa Clara, Académico de Viseu
7	Steven Vitória	29	4	2007–2014	Olhanense, Covilhã, Estoril, Benfica
	Filipe Gonçalves	29	2	2007–2016	Vitória Setúbal, Paços Ferreira, Trofense, Moreirense, Estoril
	Pedro Ribeiro	29	1	2007–2017	Gil Vicente, Trofense, Belenenses, Penafiel

Goalscorers

All-time top scorers

As of match played 10 January 2017^[6]

Rank	Player	Goals	Games	Years	Clubs
1	Tozé Marreco	12	24	2011–	Desportivo das Aves, União da Madeira, Naval, Tondela
2	Liédson	11	13	2007–2011	Sporting
3	Jonas	9	11	2014–	Benfica
	Rabiola	9	16	2009–	Porto, Desportivo das Aves, Penafiel
	Lima	9	16	2009–2015	Belenenses, Braga, Benfica
	Miguel Rosa	9	22	2008–	Estoril, Carregado, Belenenses
	Clemente	9	25	2009–	Chaves, Oliveirense, Santa Clara
8	Rafael Porcellis	7	9	2012–	Santa Clara, Feirense, União da Madeira
	Matheus	7	11	2007–2011	Vitória de Setúbal, Braga
	Óscar Cardozo	7	18	2007–2014	Benfica
	Hélder Guedes	7	30	2007–	Penafiel, Paços Ferreira, Rio Ave

Bold = Still active

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
	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
2015–16	Talisca	Brazil	Benfica	4
2016–17	Welthon	Brazil	Paços de Ferreira	4
2017–18	Gonçalo Paciência	Portugal	Vitória de Setúbal	5

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

Other sponsors

Allianz
RTP

Records

As of 10 January 2016^[update]^[7]

Most tournament wins (team): 7 wins, Benfica
Most final appearances (team): 7, Benfica
Most tournament wins (individual): 7, Luisão for Benfica
Most final appearances: (individual): 6, Luisão for Benfica (2009–11, 2014–16)
Most matches (team): 45, Benfica
Most matches (individual): 34, João Pedro & Ricardo Pessoa
Most game wins (team): 37, Benfica
Highest goalscorer (career): 12 goals, Tozé Marreco^[8]
Highest goalscorer (season): 5 goals, by Matheus for Vitória 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 C.D. Aves vs C.D. Trofense, 29 July 2012
Biggest win: Moreirense 1–6 Benfica, third round, 26 January 2016
Biggest win in a final: Marítimo 2–6 Benfica, 20 May 2016
Highest scoring game: 8 goals, Belenenses 5–3 Leixões S.C., 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 (27 September 2007)
Youngest goalscorer in the final: Bruno Pereirinha, 20 years and 19 days, for Sporting vs Benfica, 2009
Youngest captain in the final: João Moutinho, 21 years, 6 months and 14 days for Sporting vs Vitória Setúbal, 2008

References

^ "Taça da Liga com transmissão na RTP" [Taça da Liga with broadcasting on RTP]. TSF (in Portuguese). TSF. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Taça da Liga – Acerca desta Competição" [About this competition]. lpfp.pt (in Portuguese). Portuguese League for Professional Football. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
^ 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. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) (Portuguese)
^ Boavista excluded from professional competitions after failing to pay debts [1] (Portuguese)
^ "Stats". thefinalball. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
^ "Stats". thefinalball. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
^ "Stats". thefinalball. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
^ "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 Template:Pt icon
Portugal - List of League Cup Finals, RSSSF.com

[1] "Taça da Liga com transmissão na RTP" [Taça da Liga with broadcasting on RTP]. TSF (in Portuguese). TSF. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.

[about-2] "Taça da Liga – Acerca desta Competição" [About this competition]. lpfp.pt (in Portuguese). Portuguese League for Professional Football. Retrieved 29 December 2012.

[3] 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. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) (Portuguese)

[4] Boavista excluded from professional competitions after failing to pay debts [1] (Portuguese)

[5] "Stats". thefinalball. Retrieved 10 January 2016.

[top_scorers-6] "Stats". thefinalball. Retrieved 10 January 2016.

[7] "Stats". thefinalball. Retrieved 10 January 2016.

[8] "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.

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v t e Taça da Liga
Seasons	2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Finals	2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Winning managers

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