2021–22 Primeira Liga
The 2021–22 Liga Portugal (also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons) was the 88th season of the Primeira Liga, the top professional league for Portuguese association football clubs, and the first season under the current Liga Portugal title.
This was the fifth Primeira Liga season to use video assistant referee (VAR). The start and end dates for the season were released on 21 May 2021, and the fixtures were released on 8 July 2021.
 | |
| Season | 2021–22 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6 August 2021 – 15 May 2022 |
| Champions | Porto 30th title |
| Relegated | B SAD Tondela Moreirense |
| Champions League | Porto Sporting CP Benfica |
| Europa League | Braga |
| Europa Conference League | Gil Vicente Vitória de Guimarães |
| Matches played | 306 |
| Goals scored | 807 (2.64 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Darwin Núñez (26 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Porto 7–0 Portimonense (16 April 2022) |
| Biggest away win | B SAD 0–7 Benfica (27 November 2021) |
| Highest scoring | Benfica 7–1 Marítimo (19 December 2021) |
| Longest winning run | 16 matches Porto |
| Longest unbeaten run | 30 matches Porto |
| Longest winless run | 16 matches Vizela |
| Longest losing run | 6 matches B SAD |
| Highest attendance | 48,790 Benfica 1–3 Sporting CP (30 December 2021) |
| Lowest attendance | 439 Tondela 3–2 Famalicão (25 September 2021) |
| Total attendance | 2,364,659 |
| Average attendance | 7,482 |
← 2020–21 2022–23 → | |
Sporting CP were the defending champions, having won their nineteenth Primeira Liga and their first title since the 2001–02 season at the previous season. Estoril, Vizela and Arouca joined as the promoted clubs from the 2020–21 Liga Portugal 2. They replaced Farense, Nacional and Rio Ave, which were relegated to Liga Portugal 2 the previous season.
This season saw the return of full capacity crowds, after the final third of the 2019–20 and the entirety of the 2020–21 seasons were held with limited or no attendance due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal.
Porto secured their 30th league title with one match remaining, following a 1–0 away victory over rivals Benfica on 7 May 2022.
Teams
Eighteen teams compete in the league – the top fifteen teams from the previous season and three teams promoted from the LigaPro: Estoril, Vizela and Arouca.
Changes
Estoril (promoted after a three-year absence) and Vizela (promoted after a 36-year absence) were promoted from the 2020–21 Liga Portugal 2 (finishing 1st and 2nd places), replacing Farense and Nacional (both relegated after only one year in the top flight).
Arouca (promoted after a four-year absence) was promoted after finishing in 3rd place in 2020–21 Liga Portugal 2 and winning the Promotion play-offs against Rio Ave (relegated after thirteen years in the top flight).
Stadia and locations
Personnel and sponsors
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner | Date of vacancy | Pos in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacos de Ferreira |  Pepa | Signed by Vitória de Guimarães | 1 July 2021 | Pre-season | Jorge Simão | 1 July 2021 | |
| Vitória de Guimarães | Moreno (caretaker) | End of caretaker spell | 1 July 2021 | Pepa | 1 July 2021 | ||
| Boavista | Jesualdo Ferreira | Mutual consent | 1 July 2021 | João Pedro Sousa | 1 July 2021 | ||
| Santa Clara | Daniel Ramos | 7 October 2021 | 15th | Nuno Campos | 12 October 2021 | ||
| Belenenses SAD | Petit | 19 October 2021 | 17th | Filipe Cândido | 19 October 2021 | ||
| Marítimo |  Julio Velázquez | Sacked | 11 November 2021 | 17th | Vasco Seabra | 14 November 2021 | |
| Boavista | João Pedro Sousa | Mutual consent | 30 November 2021 | 11th | Petit | 30 November 2021 | |
| Moreirense | João Henriques | 30 November 2021 | 16th |  Lito Vidigal | 4 December 2021 | ||
| Pacos de Ferreira | Jorge Simão | Sacked | 11 December 2021 | 13th | César Peixoto | 16 December 2021 | |
| Santa Clara | Nuno Campos | 13 December 2021 | 14th | Tiago Sousa (caretaker) | 13 December 2021 | ||
| Famalicão | Ivo Vieira | 19 December 2021 | 16th | Rui Pedro Silva | 19 December 2021 | ||
| Benfica | Jorge Jesus | Mutual consent | 27 December 2021 | 3rd | Nélson Veríssimo (caretaker) | 27 December 2021 | |
| Moreirense | Lito Vidigal | Sacked | 5 January 2022 | 16th | Ricardo Sá Pinto | 7 January 2022 | |
| Santa Clara | Tiago Sousa | End of caretaker spell | 10 January 2022 | 14th | Mário Silva | 10 January 2022 | |
| Belenenses SAD | Filipe Cândido | Resigned | 11 January 2022 | 18th | Franclim Carvalho | 11 January 2022 | |
| Tondela | Pako Ayestarán | Sacked | 16 March 2022 | 16th | Nuno Campos | 16 March 2022 |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porto (C) | 34 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 86 | 22 | +64 | 91 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Sporting CP | 34 | 27 | 4 | 3 | 73 | 23 | +50 | 85 | |
| 3 | Benfica | 34 | 23 | 5 | 6 | 78 | 30 | +48 | 74 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Braga | 34 | 19 | 8 | 7 | 52 | 31 | +21 | 65 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 5 | Gil Vicente | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 47 | 42 | +5 | 51 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round |
| 6 | Vitória de Guimarães | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 50 | 41 | +9 | 48 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
| 7 | Santa Clara | 34 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 38 | 54 | −16 | 40 | |
| 8 | Famalicão | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 45 | 51 | −6 | 39 | |
| 9 | Estoril | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 36 | 43 | −7 | 39 | |
| 10 | Marítimo | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 39 | 44 | −5 | 38 | |
| 11 | Paços de Ferreira | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 29 | 44 | −15 | 38 | |
| 12 | Boavista | 34 | 7 | 17 | 10 | 39 | 52 | −13 | 38 | |
| 13 | Portimonense | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 31 | 45 | −14 | 38 | |
| 14 | Vizela | 34 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 37 | 58 | −21 | 33 | |
| 15 | Arouca | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 30 | 54 | −24 | 31 | |
| 16 | Moreirense (R) | 34 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 33 | 51 | −18 | 29 | Qualification for the Relegation play-offs |
| 17 | Tondela (R) | 34 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 41 | 67 | −26 | 28 | Relegation to Liga Portugal 2 |
| 18 | Belenenses SAD (R) | 34 | 5 | 11 | 18 | 23 | 55 | −32 | 26 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head away goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Matches won; 7) Goals scored; 8) Play-off.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
Relegation play-offs
The relegation play-offs took place on 21 and 29 May 2022 between Moreirense who finished 16th in the Primeira Liga and Chaves who finished 3rd in Liga Portugal 2.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chaves | 2–1 | Moreirense | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Chaves | 2–0 | Moreirense |
|---|---|---|
João Teixeira  15'João Correia 67' | Report |
| Moreirense | 1–0 | Chaves |
|---|---|---|
| Paulinho 25' | Report |
Chaves won 2–1 on aggregate and were promoted to 2022–23 Primeira Liga; Moreirense were relegated to 2022–23 Liga Portugal 2.
