It was a brilliant season for Braga, who almost finished third in the process. Bracarenses very soon got ahead of competition for the 4th place, and by now the club is closer to the BIG-3 than from the rest of the teams in the country. A very solid squad and a very competent new coach with firm ideas about a well played, dominant football was the basis for the success of the season.
From early on, it was clear that this could be a special season for Braga. The quality of the squad and, most surprisingly for a team outside the elite of three on Portuguese football, the quantity of options for Abel Ferreira was very promising. But the strongest sign of Braga’s potential was when in the early stages one could witness a combination of attractive and efficient football being played. Braga was playing like a big team, and winning like one. Until the final rounds where clearly Braga had a slight drop on performance, Braga only had dropped six points if we take away the clashes with the big-3. And all must be due to Braga’s dominant approach to this season, which is in sync with the board’s ambition of taking the club into the next level and have them fight for the title in the near future.
By the time the season was halfway through, Braga had already a significant distance to the 5th place, after a respectable first half of season. Still, there was room for improvement, as Braga did had a couple of upsets when visiting Setúbal and Marítimo. And so they did! After defeats with Benfica and Porto, Braga went into a respectable run of 7 wins, all of them very convincing when it wasn’t purely overwhelming. The last match of that run was an encouraging home win over Sporting, which at that time feed their hopes of having a word on the race for the third place. But that eventually ended up not happening, as Braga missed a great chance on the very final game. When Sporting cracked down at Barreiros, against Marítimo, Braga failed to win their match against Rio Ave, ending the season one win away from the third place.
It is hard to make individual references when the biggest strength of the team was the whole team. Ricardo Esgaio’s amazing tendency to be connected with Braga’s goals, either by direct assist or simply by taking an important part on the build-up made him probably the most consistent piece of Abel Ferreira’s collective. Danilo had a good influence on the team in the first rounds, but slowly started to lose his importance and eventually even lost his place in the lineup to André Horta. The other Horta brother, Ricardo, was also a very important player, particularly during the second half of the season, where Abel Ferreira fixed down his favourite eleven and stopped the heavy rotation used during the first months. Paulinho’s goal proficiency, particularly in the last third, also deserves an individual reference. The player Braga found in lower leagues was one of the most exciting revelations of the season, and is now claiming for a spot on Portuguese national team squad for Russia.
