2021–22 Taça da Liga
# 2021–22 Taça da Liga

The 2021–22 Taça da Liga was the fifteenth edition of the Taça da Liga (also known as Allianz Cup for sponsorship reasons), a football league cup competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional and contested exclusively by clubs competing in the top two professional tiers of Portuguese football – the Primeira Liga and the LigaPro. It began on 26 July 2021 and concluded with the final in Leiria on 29 January 2022.

Sporting CP were the holders and three-time winners, after beating Braga 1–0 in the 2021 final, and they won their fourth title after defeating Benfica 2–1 in the 2022 final.

## Format

Twenty-eight teams consisting in all teams from Primeira and Segunda Liga with exception of the top 6 teams in 2020–21 Primeira Liga take part in the first round; one-legged ties with no extra-time were played between Twenty-eight teams.

In the second round, the fourteen teams advancing from the previous round are joined by the teams placed 5th and 6th in the 2020–21 Primeira Liga. Again, one-legged ties with no extra-time were played between sixteen teams.

The third round features the eight teams advancing from the previous round and the four best-placed teams in the 2020–21 Primeira Liga. The twelve teams will drawn into four groups that are contested in a single round-robin schedule, with each team playing one game at home and one game on the opposition's home.

The four group winners qualify for the knockout phase, which features single-legged ties, again with no extra-time being played. The semi-finals and final are played at a neutral venue, set to be in Leiria in January 2022.

| Round | Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from previous round |
| - | - | - |
| First round (28 teams) | 16 teams from the 2021–22 Liga Portugal 2 9 teams ranked 7th–15th in the 2020–21 Primeira Liga 3 teams promoted to the 2021–22 Primeira Liga | |
| Second round (16 teams) | 2 teams ranked 5th and 6th in the 2020–21 Primeira Liga | 14 winners from the first round |
| Third round (12 teams) | 4 teams ranked 1st–4th in the 2020–21 Primeira Liga | 8 winners from the second round |
| Semi-finals (4 teams) | | 4 group winners from the third round |
| Final (2 teams) | | 2 winners from the semi-finals |

### Tiebreakers

In the third round, teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are tied on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:

* highest goal difference in all group matches;
* highest number of scored goals in all group matches;
* lowest average age of all players fielded in all group matches (sum of the ages of all fielded players divided by the number of fielded players).

In all other rounds, teams tied at the end of regular time contest a penalty shootout to determine the winner. No extra-time is played.

## Teams

Thirty-four teams competing in the two professional tiers of Portuguese football for the 2021–22 season are eligible to participate in this competition. For teams that were either promoted or related, the final position in the previous league season determines in which round they enter the competition.

Third round (Primeira Liga) :

| Sporting CP (1st) | Porto (2nd) | Benfica (3rd) | Braga (4th) |
| - | - | - | - |
| Second round (Primeira Liga) ||||
| Paços de Ferreira (5th) | Santa Clara (6th) | | |
| First round (Primeira and Segunda Liga) ||||
| Vitória de Guimarães (7th) | Moreirense (8th) | Famalicão (9th) | Belenenses SAD (10th) |
| Gil Vicente (11th) | Tondela (12th) | Boavista (13th) | Portimonense (14th) |
| Marítimo (15th) | Estoril (P1) | Vizela (P1) | Arouca (P1) |
| Rio Ave (R1) | Farense (R1) | Nacional (R1) | Académica (4th) |
| Feirense (5th) | Chaves (6th) | Penafiel (7th) | Casa Pia (9th) |
| Leixões (10th) | Mafra (12th) | Sporting da Covilhã (13th) | Académico de Viseu (14th) |
| Varzim (15th) | Vilafranquense (17th) | Trofense (P2) | Estrela da Amadora (P2) |

### Key

* Nth: League position in the 2020–21 season
* P1: Promoted to the Primeira Liga
* R1: Relegated to the Liga Portugal 2
* P2: Promoted to the Liga Portugal 2

## Schedule

| Round | Round | Draw date | Match date(s) | Teams | Fixtures |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| First round | First round | 8 July 2021 | 23–26 July 2021 | 34 → 20 | 14 |
| Second round | Second round | 8 July 2021 | 30 July & 1 August 2021 | 20 → 12 | 8 |
| Third round | Matchday 1 | 2 September 2021 | 21–23 September 2021 | 12 → 4 | 12 |
| Third round | Matchday 2 | 2 September 2021 | 26–28 October 2021 | 12 → 4 | 12 |
| Third round | Matchday 3 | 2 September 2021 | 14–16 December 2021 | 12 → 4 | 12 |
| Final four | Semi-finals | 2 September 2021 | 25–26 January 2022 | 4 → 2 | 2 |
| Final four | Final | 2 September 2021 | 29 January 2022 | 2 → 1 | 1 |

## First round

Twenty-eight teams consisting in all teams from Primeira and Segunda Liga with exception of the top 6 teams in 2020–21 Primeira Liga took part in the first round. Twenty-eight teams were paired against each other for fourteen single-legged ties. The draw took place on 8 July 2021, and the matches were played on 23 and 26 July 2021. Games tied at the end of regular time were decided by a penalty shoot-out, with no extra time being played. The first team drawn in each fixture played at home.

Notes:

* ↑ The match was originally scheduled to be played Viseu. However due to works, it was later decided it would be played in Lisbon, at Casa Pia home.

## Second round

In the second round, the fourteen first-round winners joined the two teams ranked 5th and 6th in the 2021–22 Primeira Liga. Sixteen teams were paired against each other for twelve single-legged ties. The draw took place on 8 July 2021, and the matches were played on 30 July and 1 August 2021. Games tied at the end of regular time were decided by a penalty shoot-out, with no extra time being played. The first team drawn in each fixture played at home.

## Third round

In the third round, the eight second-round winners joined the four top-ranked teams from the 2020–21 Primeira Liga: Sporting CP (1st), Porto (2nd), Benfica (3rd) and Braga (4th). These twelve teams were drawn into four groups of three, each group containing one of the four top-ranked Primeira Liga teams. Group matches were played in a single round-robin schedule, ensuring that each team played at least one match at home.

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BEN | GUI | SCC |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Benfica | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 4 | Advance to knockout phase | — | — | 3–0 |
| 2 | Vitória de Guimarães | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 | | 3–3 | — | — |
| 3 | Sporting da Covilhã | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 | | — | 0–2 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SPO | FAM | PEN |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sporting CP | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 6 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 2–1 | — |
| 2 | Famalicão | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 3 | | — | — | 5–0 |
| 3 | Penafiel | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0 | | 0–1 | — | — |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BOA | PAÇ | BRA |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Boavista | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 6 | Advance to knockout phase | — | — | 5–1 |
| 2 | Paços de Ferreira | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 1 | | 1–2 | — | — |
| 3 | Braga | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 1 | | — | 0–0 | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | STA | POR | RAV |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Santa Clara | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 3–1 | — |
| 2 | Porto | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | | — | — | 1–0 |
| 3 | Rio Ave | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 1 | | 2–2 | — | — |

## Knockout phase

The knockout phase was contested as a final-four tournament by the four third-round group winners in one-legged semi-finals and final. All matches were played in a single venue, decided before the competition started. As in the first and second round, games tied at the end of regular time were decided by a penalty shoot-out, with no extra time being played.

All matches were played at Estádio Municipal de Leiria, in Leiria, with the semi-finals scheduled to be played on 25–26 January, and the final on 29 January 2022.

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - |
| 25 January – Estádio Municipal de Leiria | 25 January – Estádio Municipal de Leiria |
| Benfica (p) | 1 (3) |
| Benfica (p) | 1 (3) | 29 January – Estádio Municipal de Leiria | 29 January – Estádio Municipal de Leiria |
| Boavista | 1 (2) | 29 January – Estádio Municipal de Leiria | 29 January – Estádio Municipal de Leiria |
| Boavista | 1 (2) | Benfica | 1 |
| 26 January – Estádio Municipal de Leiria | 26 January – Estádio Municipal de Leiria | | Benfica | 1 |
| 26 January – Estádio Municipal de Leiria | 26 January – Estádio Municipal de Leiria | Sporting CP | 2 |
| Sporting CP | 2 | Sporting CP | 2 |
| Santa Clara | 1 | | |
