Carlos Carvalhal Tactics At SC Braga 2024/2025 – Tactical Analysis

Throughout its existence, Portuguese football has been dominated by three teams.

Sporting CP, Benfica, and FC Porto are the most dominant teams in the country, with no other team coming even close to their level of success.

In recent years, a fourth team has emerged from the depths of the league, establishing itself as a fourth power in Portugal: SC Braga.

In the last 15 full seasons in Liga Portugal, Braga have finished inside the top five 14 times, with the 2013/14 season being a notable exception, resulting in a ninth-place finish.

Many great players and coaches have been part of the clubs ranks during these years.

For example, newly appointed Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim was a coach for Braga’s B-team and had a very short but successful stint at the first team before joining Sporting.

Other players, such as Francisco Trincão, David Carmo, Vitinha, Rafa Silva, and Galeno, also played for the club.

Braga are one of the teams with the most earnings from selling its players, and they incorporate young players well.

However, this summer was very turbulent for Braga.

Once again, the club saw many talented players depart the team.

Top goalscorer Simon Banza and midfield motor Al-Musrati left for the Turkish Süper Lig, Alvaro Djaló left for Athletic Bilbao, top talent Rodi Gomes left for Wolverhampton, and striker Abel Ruiz left for UEFA Champions League football at Girona.

However, the offseason was not just problematic in terms of player personnel.

Braga signed Daniel Sousa as their new head coach, but the former assistant coach of André Villas-Boas was fired after just five weeks and a draw on the first matchday.

Braga decided to sign a very familiar face, Carlos Carvalhal, to replace Sousa.

Carvalhal has been a professional manager for over 25 years and is now in his third stint at SC Braga.

Still, the team is sitting in a decent fifth place in the league again this year, but it is not good enough to challenge the top teams again.

In this tactical analysis and team analysis, we will examine what Braga does well and where the team still has the potential to break into the top three and return to Champions League football once again.

Bragas New Press Struggles

Sporting Clube de Braga have struggled a lot in defending in key situations.

While most statistics would suggest that Braga are actually playing well against the ball, the team has still conceded 23 goals in the 20 games under Carvalhal this season, including four against Sporting, which saw them throw away a 2-0 halftime lead against the current league leader.

Braga have struggled with generating pressure on opposing teams build-up plays.

While decent against weaker teams, Braga struggles significantly against better teams in terms of generating pressure during the build-up.

Carvalhal usually has his team lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Still, he changed his approach in the last couple of games, lining his team up in a 3-4-3 formation against Sporting and against Elfsborg in the UEFA Europa League.

While Braga are one of the better teams in the league, they usually are not playing with a very high line of press most of the time.

Carvalhal has his men play an attacking press, but the team usually does not press the goalkeeper; for example, instead, it waits for opposing teams to move forward slightly while still pressing them in their own third.

Here, we can see a very typical situation for Braga in their last couple of games.

The team is lined up in their new 3-4-3 formation, but with both full-backs dropping back into the defensive line, the team is in a 5-2-2-1 shape.

The striker is