After a 13th and a 14th place in previous seasons, Boavista had this year a top half of table position, the first since their return to top flight. And, judging by the smooth way Axadrezados granted such a position, the fans might be entitled to expect Boavista to gradually settle as a top flight important team and eventually reach the heights of past years where Boavista was consistently the 4th biggest team of the country with frequent intermission in the top three.
After last season’s struggle to avoid relegation, this one didn’t start much better with Bolivian coach Erwin Sanchez, with the team having three defeats and two draws in the first 6 rounds. An early knock-out in Taça de Portugal at home made the board decide to replace Sanchez with Portuguese Miguel Leal, who had an instant impact in the team. Some upsets between November and December were soon compensated with a great run of 13 games with only two defeats, one of which against title contenders FC Porto. In the last 8 games, Boavista collected only two victories, having dropped a few places in the table but, by that time, relegation was clearly away from the horizon, and the team was just having an early relax mode, something they haven’t had since coming back to top flight.
There were a couple of interesting individual performances during the season: the centre-halves duo formed by Henrique and Lucas Tagliapietra was very solid until the first got a severe injury that took him out of half of the season. Midfielder Idriss was a rock in midfield, and Fábio Espinho clearly had a crucial role in the playmaking position. But the unquestionable star of the team and most influential player of the season was the talented left-footed winger Iuri Medeiros who, just like last year when at Moreirense, did enough to deserve a shot in nxt season at Sporting’s main squad.
