Portuguese Handball League Cup

The idea to create a second domestic cup after Portuguese Handball Cup came from the conflict between Portuguese Handball Federation and the Liga Portuguesa de Andebol (Portuguese Handball League) in 2002.[1] The latter controlled the Divisão de Elite, a closed professional league, while the Federation controlled all others competitions.[2] In 2003, LPA expanded their influence and created their own cup, the Taça da Liga (League Cup). The first edition was played in the weekend of 6 and 7 December 2003 in the Pavilhão Municipal de Grijó.[3] Four clubs contested the tournament, FC Porto, ABC Braga, Águas Santas and Sporting.[4] In the semi-finals, Sporting beat Águas Santas by 24–21, while Porto defeated ABC by 32–26.[4] The following day, Carlos Resende scored 13 goals for Porto in a 31–28 win over Sporting.[5][6] The second edition took place in the Nave Polivalente de Espinho, on 11 and 12 December 2004.[7] Repeated contestants, Porto and ABC Braga were joined by two new one's, Belenenses and Sporting de Espinho.[7] Porto reached their second consecutive final after defeating the home team by 30–25; while in the other game, ABC surpassed Belenenses by 34–27 to qualify for the first time.[7] In the final, Porto beat ABC by 31–23 and added another trophy to its cabinet.[7] The third edition was decided on 12 February 2006 at the Pavilhão Municipal de Idanha-a-Nova, where Belenenses defeated Maia team, Águas Santas by 25–24.[8] The day before, Águas Santas had beat Porto, preventing them from reaching a three-peat.[9]

For the subsequent editions, the tournament moved to the Portimão Arena.[10] The first edition played there was in the weekend of 27 and 28 January 2007.[10] In the semi-finals, new entrance Benfica beat arch-rivals Sporting by 27–23, while Águas Santas exacted revenge from their loss in the previous edition by defeating Belenenses by 26–24.[11][10] On the final, Benfica aided by Georgi Zaikin, recovered from a three-goal deficit to beat Águas Santas by 33–23 and win their first title since the Supertaça in 1994.[12][10][13] In the fifth edition, eight teams battled for the trophy; Águas Santas–Sporting de Espinho, Sporting–Benfica, ISAVE–Sporting da Horta, São Bernardo–Madeira SAD.[14] After passing the quarter-finals, Sporting met ABC in the semis and beat them by 28–15. They would face Porto, who qualified for their third final, after overpowering São Bernardo by 26–17.[15] On 2 March 2008, Porto defeated Sporting by 23–18 and claimed their third win in the competition, the second against the same opponent.[16][17] In the sixth edition, the competition was played in a league format, with Benfica and Sporting qualifying for the final.[18] On 18 January 2009, Benfica won the competition for a second time after defeating Sporting by 29–25 in Portimão.[19][20] With the end of the Liga Portuguesa de Andebol in 2009, the competition ceased to exist.[21] Its competitive space was taken over by the Portuguese Handball Super Cup, run by the Federation.[22]