Chapecoense's plane crash over a year ago was the biggest disaster in the club's history to say the least. It affected the fans, the players and the board and re-building the team wasn't an easy mission at all. The players had to deal with several deaths and it was a difficult task to deal with this and to form a new outfit. The 2017 season wasn't an easy one at all with that in mind. Manager Vagner Mancini had to leave the club due to the disappointing start and Vinicius Eutropio, his replacement, didn't push the performances to a higher level at all.
The team from Chapeco even dropped to the 18th spot at some point, but they finally managed to show their potential eventually when Gilson Kleina, the third coach of the season, entered the club. The last ten matches showed Chapecoense's amazing progression to say the least. Gilson Kleina's men managed to stay unbeaten in the last ten matches of the campaign, which was even enough to claim the eighth spot after 38 matches of football and the ticket for the second stage of the Copa Libertadores, one of the biggest and heart-warming surprises in Brazilian football last season. The fans, who are still dealing the plane crash as well, can be proud of this new formation and the atmosphere will be positive despite last year's disaster.
