How can a club as big as Vitória SC get relegated? And how does that club immediately bounce back and, in their first season back in the top flight, match their best ever finish? The 2007/08 campaign will always be one for the ages for the Vimaranenses supporters.
They may have finished third before, but nobody had ever expected them to do it this time, with a side that, only months prior, was playing in the second tier. It was the season that showed how good Vitória could actually be and the never-ending fighting spirit that defines their DNA.
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The unthinkable happens
It was a dreadful sight. Nobody could understand what was really happening. The season had begun, as always, with high expectations. A place in Europe, the possibility of maintaining what looked like a sound sporting project. Then, this. The home crowd couldn’t hold back their tears. The defeat away to Porto, a week prior, had hurt them really badly, but this was a nightmare. Losing against Estrela, at home, meant Vitória were relegated after decades of first division football. Even if they had won, it wouldn’t have mattered because neither Naval 1º de Maio nor Belenenses lost, so it was like walking in flames for one of the most passionate fanbases in Europe.
Vitória have always been an enigma. They carry the support that no other club in Portugal can, bar the Big Three. They have the ground, the infrastructure, the economics of a city that boomed in the 1980s to back them up. Yet, by 2006, they had never won anything but a Super Cup. Not even a Portuguese Cup to their name. Not a runners-up place, let alone the title that Belenenses and Boavista managed to grab from the claws of the big boys. Nothing. It was hard to explain how such a great club could be so poorly managed by so many different boards.
Fans more passionate than ever in Liga II
Yet, nothing compared to this. A side that played in the Europa League months ago was now headed to the second division. And it was like purgatory. The supporters, though, never turned their back on the team. The home matches were packed week in, week out, beating every single attendance record in Portugal’s second tier. The away games too. In many places near Guimarães, there were more Vitória supporters outside of the ground than inside, shouting and screaming so that the players could feel they had their back. Places like Vizela, Trofa, Barcelos, Penafiel, Póvoa do Varzim, Gondomar, Vila do Conde, Matosinhos and Santa Maria da Feira were invaded by the passionate Vitória fanbase.
Yet, all that support felt like a burden to the squad, and they almost flunked it. An away win at Gondomar, the same day Rio Ave lost in Olhão, sealed their return to the top tier, celebrated a week later at home with an uninspiring draw against the Algarve side. Still, it was Leixões, not them, who topped the charts, and few had high expectations about their return to the first division. They were back, yes. But they would suffer to find the best version of themselves, everyone thought. They were wrong.
Cajuda keeps momentum going
Manuel Cajuda, the man responsible for taking them back to the top, kept driving their players to new levels coming into the new season. The side made very precise signings, taking Alan on loan from Porto while also bringing in João Alves, Fajardo, Carlitos, Andrezinho and Serbian striker Miljan Mrdakovic from Tel-Aviv. Five players who would find themselves immediately in the starting eleven alongside the likes of Geromel and Sereno, who bossed the defensive line, the all-round midfielder Flávio Meireles, the Algerian Khamel Ghilas and the Belgian winger Yves Desmarets with Nilson in goal. Young teenagers Rabiola, Tiago Ronaldo and Tiago Targino were also expected to make an impact throughout the campaign.
The season didn’t start spectacularly, however. The first three matches played resulted in three draws, at home against Vitória FC and away at Benfica and Leixões. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t bright either, so when wins against Nacional and Naval came in, the feeling was more of relief than excitement.
Victory in the Minho derby
The real test was the Minho derby against an up-and-coming Braga side who visited Guimarães hoping to state that they were now the big force to reckon with north of Porto. It was passionate, as every local derby is, and it ended with a crushing home win, with a Geromel goal and a series of monstrous saves by Nilson after Jorge Costa’s Braga went full attacking mode once Fajardo was sent off, to no avail. The win meant Vitória now lay third on the table, one point below Marítimo and six behind FC Porto, comfortable league leaders by then. Sporting and a trip to Alvalade was next on the cards, but Cajuda’s men couldn’t carry the momentum with them and were soundly beaten by the side who had already knocked them out of the League Cup as well, weeks before.
Losing in Lisbon was no cause for alarm though, and wins against Leiria and Marítimo followed, securing Vitória’s place in a European position, but then a draw versus Paços de Ferreira and a painful defeat away at Boavista meant the side fell behind Benfica, although they were hanging onto third place. Defeats to Porto and the Eagles were compensated with important wins versus Académica, Belenenses, Vitória FC, Nacional and Leixões, meaning that they were definitely now on course for a great season.
Relegation was never going to be an issue, and with the team just a single point behind Benfica, there was the feeling that Champions League football could actually turn into a reality. Sporting were just one point further back though, and they would need to be very competitive over the upcoming fixtures, before hosting the Lions for a showdown. Wins against Nacional and Naval and a goalless draw away versus Braga meant Vitória and Sporting were level pegging in the league table ahead of their clash. It was the moment that defined the season.
Sporting vanquished at the Dom Afonso Henriques
Paulo Bento’s Sporting were unrecognisable that night at the Dom Afonso Henriques. The home crowd was ferocious, and Vitória dominated the game from start to finish. Sereno scored before the break and Fajardo netted a second in stoppage time, with Sporting already playing with ten men after Grimi was sent off, but there was never really any doubt about who was winning the contest.
With eight matches to go, Vitória were four points clear of the Lions, and surprisingly it was now the other Vitória, from Setúbal, who seemed to pose the greater threat. Benfica were only two points ahead, lagging far behind Porto, so there was still a realistic chance of clinching second place that granted direct access to the Champions League group stage. They needed to be perfect and they almost were, with just one defeat, at home against already league champions FC Porto, and three draws away at Paços de Ferreira, Belenenses and Académica.
The scent of Champions League
It meant Vitória arrived at the final day of the season hosting Estrela da Amadora – the irony, after the 2006 disaster – hoping for a miracle. A surprise resurgence from Sporting meant they were now second on 52 points, two ahead of the Guimarães club and three clear of Benfica. There was a real possibility one of the Big Three would miss the Champions League playoff for the first time in six years, and that was big news. As the Eagles hosted and beat Setúbal to reach 52 points, everything depended on what Sporting and Vitória could do. The Lions came from behind to beat Boavista, thus making Vitória’s impressive 4-0 win against Estrela irrelevant in the fight for direct access to the Champions League.
The triumph versus the Amadora side, however, guaranteed them third position in the league table, the fourth time the club finished on the podium in the competition. Better, it paved the way for the possibility of playing in the Champions League if they were able to beat their rivals in the preliminary play-off round. Nobody would have ever expected a side coming from the second tier to rocket up the league table as they did, even if that side was Vitória. The city partied through the night after having suffered one of the hardest blows of their recent history only two seasons earlier. For Manuel Cajuda, it was the confirmation of his royal status in a city of kings.
European disappointment
Vitoria’s summer was busy. The sanctions from the Golden Whistle scandal meant that they were hoping Porto would be heavily penalised and drop down the league table, but in the end the punishment applied – and later reversed – was not enough for the Dragons to lose the league title won on the pitch. In the Champions League qualifiers Vitória were unable to beat Basel, after a much-discussed offside decision meant the goalless home draw wasn’t enough to progress, and they rebounded to the Europa League play-off where they ended up beaten in a penalty shootout by Portsmouth.
The league campaign was disappointing too, as Vitória finished eighth, fully twelve points behind Braga, who were starting to become the dominant force in the region. Vitória have never finished third in the league since, although they did enjoy winning the Portuguese Cup for the first time in 2012, the aptly named Rui Vitória leading them to victory in the final against Benfica.
That was a rare high. Since then, the club have gone through severe financial problems, had the 888 Sports Group coming in for a brief moment as minority shareholders, and despite an excellent production line of talented players through their academy and having successful managers in the dugout, things never seem to click for them.
Memorable year
In that spring of 2008, however, it felt like they were about to start something big, and for those who had experienced the hardships of the second tier just months before, that feeling made it the best season they had ever enjoyed as Vitória SC supporters.
