2020–21 Primeira Liga
The 2020–21 Primeira Liga (also known as Liga NOS for sponsorship reasons) was the 87th season of the Primeira Liga, the top professional league for Portuguese association football clubs. The season started later than usual, on 18 September 2020, due to the delayed end of the previous season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it concluded on 19 May 2021.
| Season | 2020–21 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 18 September 2020 – 19 May 2021 |
| Champions | Sporting CP 19th title |
| Relegated | Rio Ave Farense Nacional |
| Champions League | Sporting CP Porto Benfica |
| Europa League | Braga |
| Europa Conference League | Paços de Ferreira Santa Clara |
| Matches played | 306 |
| Goals scored | 739 (2.42 per match) |
| Best Player | Sebastián Coates (Sporting CP) |
| Top goalscorer | Pedro Gonçalves (23 goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | Antonio Adán (19 clean sheets) |
| Biggest home win | Sporting CP 4–0 Tondela (1 November 2020) Santa Clara 5–1 Nacional (11 April 2021) Porto 5–1 Farense (10 May 2021) Porto 4–0 Belenenses SAD (19 May 2021) Sporting CP 5–1 Marítimo (19 May 2021) Santa Clara 4–0 Farense (19 May 2021) |
| Biggest away win | Boavista 0–5 Porto (26 September 2020) Paços de Ferreira 0–5 Benfica (10 April 2021) |
| Highest scoring | Porto 4–3 Tondela (5 December 2020) Benfica 4–3 Sporting CP (15 May 2021) |
| Longest winning run | 7 matches Porto |
| Longest unbeaten run | 32 matches (record) Sporting CP |
| Longest winless run | 10 matches Nacional |
| Longest losing run | 10 matches Nacional |
| Highest attendance | 932 Santa Clara 1–2 Sporting CP (24 October 2020) |
| Lowest attendance | 0 |
← 2019–20 2021–22 → | |
This was the fourth Primeira Liga season to use video assistant referee (VAR). As was the case at the end of the previous season, there were limited or no attendance in the stadiums besides each team's staff and personnel.
Porto were the defending champions. Nacional and Farense were promoted from the second-tier 2019–20 LigaPro by decision of the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional, after the suspension of the 2019–20 LigaPro due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. They replaced Desportivo das Aves and Vitória de Setúbal, who were relegated to the 2020–21 Campeonato de Portugal.
On 11 May 2021, Sporting CP secured a 19th title after a 1–0 home win against Boavista, their first title since the 2001–02 season. It was also the first title since that season not being won by either Benfica or Porto.
Since Portugal ascended from seventh to sixth place in the UEFA association coefficient rankings at the end of 2019–20 season, the three best-ranked teams could qualify for the UEFA Champions League (the champions and runners-up entered directly into the group stage, and the third placed team entered the third qualifying round). The fourth and fifth-placed teams would qualified respectively to the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off and third qualifying rounds.