Estadio da Luz Stadium, Lisbon

The stadium of light (Estadio da Luz) is the home of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, often shortened to just Benfica. The football stadium the largest in Portugal was constructed as part of the massive building project for 2004 European Championship and Estádio da Luz hosted the final. The Estádio da Luz has an official capacity of 65,400.

The Estadio da Luz stadium for traveling football fans is very easy to reach either by car or by metro. By car the stadium is on the major east west ring road and there is plenty of parking surrounding the purpose built site. The Estádio da Luz is connected to the blue metro line and is served by the Colegio Mililitar / Luz station. Due to this reason there is no real need to rent a hotel room close to the stadium the central Baixa district is much more touristy and interesting.

For non-football fans who may have be dragged to the Estadio da Luz stadium there is Lisbon’s largest shopping centre on the opposite side of the ring road the Centro Colombo. Colombo Shopping is vast and there is an array of designer stores and specialist boutique stores, great for non football fans.

Benfica play their home games at the stadium of Estádio da Luz and during the football season, from mid September to early June, tickets can be purchased from the ticket office at the stadium. Tickets are significantly cheaper than many other European leagues and do not sell out months before a match.

The Portuguese football league is interesting as there is a mix of Portuguese and young Brazilian players hoping to be noticed by one of the large European clubs. Due to the similar languages Lisbon is a suitable first destination for the young Brazilian players and many have a first season in Portugal.

The new Estadio da Luz stadium was completed in 2003 built on the location of the old stadium which was traditional known as the cathedral. The old stadium was constructed during an era when people stood to watch football and the total capacities where huge.

In 1987 the match between Benfica and F.C. Porto had an estimated attendance of 135,000 - just to gauge this the present day population of Lisbon is 564,477 - making the old cathedral stadium one of the largest the world has ever seen. The stadium Estádio da Luz is named after the parish of Lisbon that the stadium stands in, Nossa Senhora da Luz (Our Lady of the Light) the parish name is often shorted to Luz (light) hence the metro station name Colegio Mililitar / Luz.