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Second half of season 3
January transfer window
Not too much to report about here. I wasn't really looking for any players and no player caught my eye on the cheap. Therefore the transfer window ended with just one sale and a few promising youngsters to go out on loan and no players coming in at all.
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We say goodbye to Joao Novais, who i bought when i first arrived at the club. He has been a good servant for the club and always did what i asked of him. A very reliable player. Unfortunately for him, he just wasn't the first choice in any position. In fact he was 3rd choice. And with Reko Silva also playing as AMC now, he got no game time there anymore either. A decent fee for a fringe player who I only payed around £1 million for.
Most notable loan is Ricardo Costa(regen) who joins Belenenses on loan for the rest of the season as their main striker. Hope he gets some good first team experience as he is only 4th choice for me.
League cup
As expected, Porto, Benfica, Sporting and ourselves were the ones who made it through the groups in the League cup meaning that it would be some big semi-finals. We drew Benfica:
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A 3-1 win meaning that we are in the final against Porto who beat Sporting in the other semi-final.
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A very secure 3-0 win in the final. It has to be said though that Porto were without a few key players who were out injured.
That means the first league cup is in the bag, and even though its the "small" cup in Portugal its still a trophy i wanted to win, as you normally have to beat two of the big teams to win it.
Europa League run
As written in the previous update we ended on 3rd place in our Champions League group which means we enter the Europa League in the knockout face.
First knockout round
For the first knockout round we drew FC København who, to be fair, is a team we should beat without major problems.
Leg 1:
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Leg 2:
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A 5-2 win on aggregate and some players rested in the 2. leg proved that i was right about the quality difference of the teams.
Second knockout round
For the second knockout round we drew Celta Vigo who should prove to be a bigger challenge than FCK and give us an even match.
Leg 1:
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Leg 2:
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A 7-3 score on aggregate, and i probably overestimated Vigo's strength. Very pleasing display all in all.
Quarter Final
After the win against Celta Vigo we drew another Spanish side for the quarter finals, Valencia. Joao Novais will return to Braga, although as an enemy this time.
Leg 1:
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Leg 2:
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I would have liked to say a disappointing 3-1 defeat on aggregate, but to be fair they were just a bit better than us across both matches.
All in all a respectable run Europe this year I would say, and definitely something we can build on having gotten more experience.
The title race hots up
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As you can see, the title race is intensifying, but what a big surprise it is that it's not with Sporting, Porto and/or Benfica. Vitoria Guimares have been the big surprise of the season and is the only team really challenging us for the title. They are on a freak run(as ourselves) with 11 won games out of the last 12 played(only losing to us)
Portuguese Premier League comes to an end
The League is over, and in the end Guimares couldn't hold their nerves as they dropped a few more points than usual in the very end.
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This means we won the league! After two 2. places in a row we finally climb to the top of the league after an impressive season with only one loss.
Taca de Portugal final
Yes you read correctly. Not only did we win the league cup and the league itself but we are also in the final of Taca de Portugal.
Along the way to the final we beat Sporting in the fourth round and have only met teams from the best division in the other rounds, at least right until the final. Because amazingly, Fafe(who are they even?) have managed to get their way all the way to the final after beating no other than Benfica in the semifinals.
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A secure(and expected) 3-0 win in the final means we won the Taca de Portugal for the second time in a row and furthermore do the domestic treble. A very big season which I can only be happy about!
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Fixtures and goalscorers
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Team of the season awards
Team of the season
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Not any real surprises i would say.
In goal Rajkovic claimed the spot as first choice after battling with Marafona until late October/early November where he finally convinced me that he should be the secure first choice.
In central defense i chose Bruno Viana ahead of Raul Silva. Not that Raul Silva did bad, and he could just as well have been in the team but because Viana had some crucial goals and he actually netted 6 times in the league after corners and free kicks.
Besides those two positions i would say the team of the season was as expected.
Player of the season
Who to pick? We had an incredible season and to be honest i don't want really want to point out one specific player. A few who stood out though was; Ricardo Ferreira, Mayke, Grujic, Amaral and Trincao.
Since i have to pick though it will be Amaral again though. He is a beast!
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14 goals and 24 assists across all competitions is just insane, and an average rating of 7.69 in the league.
Young player of the season
Trincao.. Not really much else to say, he is just so good and keeps improving.
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14 goals and 14 assist across the season and i just renewed his contract until 2024 so he hopefully wont leave in the upcoming summer window.