They share all but two of the Portuguese Football Championships ever played, and generally end up sharing the top three positions. None of them has been relegated from the Primeira Liga either, having been participants in all editions since its first season in 1934–35. Benfica's lowest position was 6th in 2000–01, while Porto's 9th-place finish in 1969–70 is the closest any of the three sides have come to relegation. Sporting's worst finish was a 7th-place finish in 2012–13.
Benfica and Porto are the only Portuguese teams to have won the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, which they have both won on two occasions. The closest Sporting came was in 1983, when they reached the quarter-finals.
The only two clubs outside the Big Three to have won the Portuguese league are Belenenses, in the 1945–46 season, and Boavista, in the 2000–01 campaign. Belenenses has been relegated four times to the second tier, while Boavista has been in the third tier twice.
In this trio of rivalry between fans, popular terms and nicknames were created that easily identify any of the clubs. Thus, Benfica fans are known as “benfiquistas” or “encarnados / incarnates”, but their rivals are called “lampiões”.[3] Sporting's "sportinguistas" or "leões / lions" are called "lagartos / lizards".[4] Those from Porto, "portistas" or "dragões / dragons" or "tripeiros" (those from the city of Porto) are nicknamed "andrades".[5]
Eight footballers have played for Benfica, Porto, and Sporting. Of those, only Eurico Gomes won the domestic league for all three (twice with each club). Additionally, Eurico is also the only player to enter the following list without having played for another club in-between his Big Three career.[6]
Carlos Alhinho: Sporting 1972–75; Porto 1976; Benfica 1976–77, 1978–81
Eurico Gomes: Benfica 1975–79; Sporting 1979–82; Porto 1982–87
Romeu Silva: Benfica 1975–77; Porto 1979–83; Sporting 1983–86
Paulo Futre: Sporting 1983–84; Porto 1984–87; Benfica 1993
Fernando Mendes: Sporting 1985–89; Benfica 1989–91, 1992–93; Porto 1996–99
Emílio Peixe: Sporting 1991–95, 1996–97; Porto 1997–2002; Benfica 2002–03
Derlei: Porto 2002–05; Benfica 2007 (loan); Sporting 2007–09
Maniche: Benfica 1995–96, 1999–2002; Porto 2002–05; Sporting 2010–11
Miguel Lopes: Benfica 2005–06; Porto 2009–10, 2012–13; Sporting 2013, 2014–15
Managers who managed all three clubs
Otto Glória: Benfica 1954–59, 1968–70; Sporting 1961, 1965–66; Porto 1964–65
Fernando Riera: Benfica 1962–63, 1966–68; Porto 1972–73; Sporting 1974–75
Fernando Santos: Porto 1998–2001; Sporting 2003–04; Benfica 2006–07
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