Scoring for fun, quality across the pitch, Ricardo Horta staying: Are Braga genuine title contenders?
Carlos Carvalhal's departure, for many, was expected to result in a minor transition period for Braga as the club acclimatised to life under a new manager. Instead, the Minho club have become an entirely new beast, and early season form is getting fans dreaming of a potential repeat of their 2009-10 season. Perhaps they can go one better…
Carvalhal enjoyed a successful reign at Braga. A Portuguese Cup triumph, a Europa League quarter final appearance, an entertaining - perhaps he might suggest revolutionary - style of football.
There were less exceptional moments. Though they did eventually make the final eight of the 2021-22 Europa League campaign, only just managing to finish 2nd in a very favourable group was disappointing, while in both his seasons in charge, Braga 'only' finished 4th, having secured 3rd place the year before his arrival.
That, however, is remarkably harsh criticism considering the financial disparity between themselves and the Big Three in Portugal; finishing above any of them is a feat, rather than an expectation, while their points tally in both of Carvalhal's campaigns was actually higher - by 4 and 5 points in 2020-21 and 2021-22 respectively - than in the year they finished 3rd directly before his arrival.
What this all means is that Carvalhal set the bar high. Even his relative shortcomings were understandable, and he did all that he did with such an impressively young squad. You can see why his departure will have been a concern to some of the Braga faithful.
Yet Braga's policy of promoting from within to keep their sporting project going has so far paid off big time. Since Artur Jorge took over as head coach, Braga have been breathtaking.
An exciting opening day 3-3 draw with Sporting proved that they were still very much part of a Big Four in the country, still challenging the status quo of the three largest clubs in the nation, and have since followed that up with a 0-3 win over Famalicão, a 5-0 triumph over Maritimo, and a 0-6 dismantling of Arouca.
It means Braga have scored a bizarre 17 goals in their opening 4 matches, a tally of scoring we haven't seen at this stage of the season in Portuguese top flight football in over 30 years. None of the traditional heavyweights of Benfica, Porto or Sporting have managed to score so many in this few games over the course of the last 3 decades, which just illustrates the scale of Braga's start to the season.
In Simon Banza, of Famalicão last season, they have brought in a proven goalscorer in the Portuguese top flight who has hit the ground running for his new side, already having found the back of the net 5 times, making him the early frontrunner in the race for the Bola de Prata. He has been excellent, and there is much excitement about his partnership with young forward Vitinha, who recently signed a new contract with the club.
Then there's Al Musrati in defensive midfield - for many in Portugal, the best defensive midfielder in the entire league, particularly after the departure of João Palhinha.
Goalkeeper Matheus has also been such a key figure. The Brazilian - who has previously expressed a desire to play for Portugal - is surely a club legend by this point, and has come to adore the place he has called home since 2014. If it were up to him, I imagine he'd retire at this football club.
But undoubtedly the biggest figure of them all is captain Ricardo Horta. His transfer saga has been chaotic throughout this window. That he has continued to play, and play well, through all this uncertainty, without even the slightest bit of fuss or unrest, is testament to him, and that his move to Benfica eventually proved too complicated to get over the line is a major boost for Braga for the upcoming season.
Horta staying ensures Braga have one of the very best players in the division to go alongside arguably the best defensive midfielder, one of the best goalkeepers, and two of the most promising strikers. That's not mentioning the quality and youth scattered across the rest of the field.
There is a feeling that things are falling into place for Braga for something very special to occur. Considering the sales both Porto and Sporting have seen this summer, and the relatively half-hearted job they've both done at bringing in proven replacements, at the very least Braga could push for a top 3 place - which this time around would provide the possibility of Champions League football.
If they went one better and finished 2nd, it would be guaranteed: we would see Braga finally return to the Champions League group stage after a decade away.
Top 3 would be an exceptional achievement. It would be overperforming. 2nd would be extraordinary. But maybe, just maybe, something even more surreal could occur.
SC Braga have never won the Portuguese league. In fact, only 5 teams have in the near-90-year history of Portuguese league football, two of them - Belenenses and Boavista - have only done so on one occasion. The other 86 titles have all been won by the Big Three. For Braga, there is nothing bigger than winning the Primeira Liga.
And some say that things may well be falling into place for something quite magical. It's still a massive longshot. Though Sporting do look out of sorts, particularly after the controversial sale of Matheus Nunes, Porto certainly will be pretty unstoppable this season, even after the blip of their 3-1 loss to Rio Ave.
Benfica, meanwhile, look imperious. Schmidt's side are comfortable favourites for the title, and it looks like it would take a special team to finish above them. But we've seen teams collapse in this league before, and if Braga just keep winning all the games they're expected to, they have a huge chance.
Will they do it? Probably not. But one thing is for sure. The fact it's even being discussed as a genuine and realistic possibility is brilliant news for Portuguese football and the competitiveness of the league.
By Анна Нэсси - https://www.soccer.ru/galery/1135596/photo/826357, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82104935
