Meanwhile, Porto comfortably secured their place in the final 7-4 on aggregate, despite losing 3-2 at Villarreal in the second leg of their semifinal encounter.
Benfica had beaten Braga to the Portuguese title last season, and held a narrow 2-1 advantage from the first leg in Lisbon.
However, that lead disappeared in the 19th minute when Braga scored what proved to be the only goal of the game.
Hugo Viana's out-swinging corner from the left was met perfectly by Custudio, who out-jumped the visiting defenders to power home a bullet header.
Benfica fought back and were inches from drawing level in the 42nd minute when Javier Saviola fired Oscar Cardozo's low center against the post.
As the match went on, Benfica got closer and closer to scoring. Saviola just failed to convert a flicked-on corner from close range, Alan Kardec's back-post header with two minutes remaining was cleared off the line.
But Braga, who were one of the teams that came down from the Champions League after the group stages, held on to reach their first ever European final.
Meanwhile, Colombian striker Radamel Falcao broke Jurgen Klinsmann's record for most goals in a European season, as he notched his 16th goal as Porto comfortably secured their final place.
The new Portuguese champions hammered their Spanish opponents 5-1 in the first match, making the second leg appear a formality, but Villarreal gave themselves early hope by going ahead in the 17th minute when Cani slotted home after a one-two with Marco Ruben.
But the visitors levelled before half-time thanks to a deflected 25-yard strike from Hulk, and Falcao gave Porto the lead five minutes after the break, slotting home Fredy Guarin's pass from the left.
However, Villarreal came back into the match and won on the night thanks to a volley from Joan Capdevila and a Giuseppe Rossi penalty after Nicolas Otamendi had fouled Ruben in the area.
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