Vasco Matos Tactics At CD Santa Clara 2024/2025: From Second-Tier To European Football – Tactical Analysis

This tactical analysis explores Vasco Matos work at CD Santa Clara during their outstanding 2024/2025 Portuguese League season.

After winning promotion as champions of Liga Portugal 2 in the previous campaign, Santa Clara made an immediate impact upon returning to the top flight, finishing in a remarkable fifth place and securing qualification for the UEFA Conference League.

This achievement is even more impressive because Santa Clara retained the core of the squad that had competed in the second division.

The most frequently used starting eleven remained largely unchanged, providing a sense of continuity and tactical familiarity that proved essential in the club’s seamless transition to the top tier.

Under Matos’ guidance, the Azorean side finished behind only the traditional big three: Benfica, Porto, and Sporting CP, as well as Braga, while outperforming established top-half teams such as Vitória SC and Famalicão.

This success was no accident: it was the result of Vasco Matoss clearly defined tactical structure, intelligent in-game management, and a collective mentality instilled by the coach.

This Vasco Matos analysis breaks down the key tactical principles that defined Matos’ tactics, from their in-possession structure to pressing mechanisms and key player roles, and how these contributed to one of the most impressive seasons in the club’s history.

CD Santa Clara Identity: Stability & Continuity

One of the key factors behind Santa Clara’s success in 2024/2025 has been the remarkable stability and continuity implemented by Vasco Matos, not only throughout the season but also from one year to the next.

After achieving promotion in 2023/2024 as champions of Liga Portugal 2, Matos maintained both his tactical blueprint and the core of the squad, creating a strong identity that adapted seamlessly to the demands of the top flight.

Santa Clara operated with clear structural consistency, utilising a 5-4-1 formation out of possession and transitioning into a 3-4-3 formation in possession.

This model allowed the team to remain defensively compact without the ball, while offering width and depth through wing-backs and interior wingers when building attacks.

This shape was used in both seasons, demonstrating tactical conviction and strong internal development processes.

The squad was carefully assembled, with a significant number of players coming from either lower tiers of Portuguese football or arriving as young prospects from Brazil, particularly from clubs with strong youth development backgrounds.

No fewer than 17 players from the second division campaign remained part of the first division squad, most of them maintaining or even strengthening their role in the team.

In goal,