Very tough season with a happy ending for ‘Panteras’. This was a close call, despite having finished in 13. Boavista sat for several weeks on the bottom 3 and escaped relegation and playoffs only thanks to two narrow wins in the last 2 rounds.
Investment was considerable in the summer, with big veteran names Javi Garcia and Adil Rami joining an otherwise young and talented squad, in what seemed to be a statement for the season.
However, things went wrong right from the start. Vasco Seabra was sacked only after 9 rounds (just 1 win), but things didn’t improve immediately after experienced Jesualdo Ferreira was brought in. Boavista finished the first 15 rounds with just 1 win and sitting in last.
There was some improvement as Boavista started to play more as a team and Angel Gomes was not the only threat to the opponents. Jesualdo finally settled for a back-3 system with a talented midfield rather than a hard-working one.
Panteras were never able to take flight into a long sequence of winning, nonetheless. The few wins were always followed by a few other defeats. Only in the last final rounds Boavista pulled out their ranks and grabbed two decisive wins against Portimonense and Gil Vicente to get into a safe place.
All players were irregular throughout the season. Devenish and Chidozie had good moments as well as made terrible mistakes; Rami was injured most of the time, Sauer and Paulinho were the main men in midfield, but not always inspired. Elis was never able to properly balance his skills.
Gomes was brilliant when Boavista was mostly losing. Only goalkeeper Leo Jardim kept his level on every game, saving the team with important saves and safe hands.
