{"id":1773,"date":"2012-01-01T22:59:20","date_gmt":"2012-01-01T22:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stadiumguide.nl\/?p=1773"},"modified":"2012-06-21T22:18:40","modified_gmt":"2012-06-21T22:18:40","slug":"estadiodaluz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stadiumguide.com\/estadiodaluz\/","title":{"rendered":"Est\u00e1dio da Luz (1954)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Key facts<\/h3>\n

Club: SL Benfica | Opening: 1954 | Closing: 2003 | Final capacity: 78,000 | Maximum capacity: 120,000<\/p>\n

Description<\/h3>\n

Est\u00e1dio da Luz was SL Benfica\u2019s home for almost 50 years before it got replaced in 2004 by a new stadium with the same name.<\/p>\n

Construction of the stadium, then also known as the Est\u00e1dio de Carnide, started in July 1953 and was completed by the end of 1954. The stadium officially opened on the 1st<\/sup> of December of that year with a match between Benfica and Porto (1-3).<\/p>\n

Initially the stadium had a capacity of about 50,000, but this was increased to 80,000 in 1960 with the construction of a third tier. The third tier was first only built over one long end, but was extended over the whole stadium in 1985. This brought the capacity to over 120,000, making the Est\u00e1dio da Luz the largest stadium in Europe at that time.<\/p>\n

In 1992 the Est\u00e1dio da Luz hosted its only ever European cup final, which was a Cup Winners\u2019 Cup final between Werder Bremen and AS Monaco (2-0).<\/p>\n

The stadium got converted into an all-seater in 1998, bringing the capacity down to 78,000 seats.<\/p>\n

After Portugal got awarded the Euro 2004<\/a> championships in 1999 the need arose for a more modern stadium. Initial proposals for the renovation of the stadium were rejected and instead was chosen to build a new stadium, which meant demolishing the old one.<\/p>\n

On the 22nd<\/sup> of March 2003 Benfica played its last match at the partly demolished stadium, a league match against Santa Clara. After completing the season in Est\u00e1dio Nacional, the club then moved into their new Est\u00e1dio da Luz<\/a> in the fall of 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n \t\t\n\t\t\t\t