The rise of Vitória, a special club with special supporters, gunning for a first European quarter-final in four decades | OneFootball

Often cited as the great underachievers of Portuguese football, there are evident signs that Vitória Sport Clube are at last heading towards sustainable growth built on solid foundations. Based in Guimarães, the birthplace of Portugal, Vitória’s fanbase might not be the most numerous in a country dominated by three football colossuses, but it is arguably the most passionate in the land.

Zach Lowy takes an in-depth look at where the club are, how they arrived here, and this season’s brilliant European campaign, which could incorporate another golden chapter against Real Betis tomorrow.

Vitória break Portugal’s Conference League curse

Since its inception in 2021/22, the UEFA Conference League has provided the platform for clubs outside of Europe’s top five leagues to compete for silverware. In its inaugural season, Dutch side Feyenoord made it all the way to the final, only to lose 1-0 to Roma. The second edition would see teams from Poland, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands advance to the quarterfinals, whilst Dutch side AZ Alkmaar and Swiss side Basel reached the final four. And in last year’s edition, Olympiacos shocked the world by beating Fiorentina in extra time and becoming the first Greek side to win a continental trophy. Teams that would otherwise suffer an early elimination in the Champions League or Europa League have managed to embark on storybook campaigns in the Conference League, which became UEFA’s new tertiary competition after the dissolution of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1999.

But for all the Cinderella stories that the tournament has witnessed in its embryonic stages, Portuguese teams haven’t quite been afforded the same luck. Santa Clara and Paços de Ferreira failed to reach the 2021/22 group stage after losing to Serbian colossus Partizan and English outfit Tottenham Hotspur, respectively, in the final round of qualifiers. Primeira Liga clubs suffered a similar fate in 2022/23; Vitória fell to Croatian giants Hajduk Split in the third qualifying round, whilst Gil Vicente ended up on the wrong end of a 6-1 demolition versus AZ in the playoffs. They fared even worse in 2023/24 – Vitória lost on penalties to Slovenian side Celje in the second qualifying round, whilst Arouca fell to Norwegian club Brann in the third round. With Portugal’s allocation being reduced from two teams to one, it seemed their woes in the Conference League were doomed to continue in 2024/25 with Vitória. Instead, it has proven to be third time lucky for Os Vimaranenses.

A nation is born

Vitória Sport Clube are based in Guimarães, known as the ‘Cidade Berço’ or the cradle of Portuguese civilization. It was here where Afonso Henriques was born, and it was here where the Battle of São Mamede took place. On 24 June 1128, Portuguese armed forces led by Afonso Henriques defeated the militia of Theresa, Countess of Portugal – Afonso’s mother – and her lover Fernando Pérez de Traba, thus paving the way for Portugal’s autonomy. Known as ‘O Conquistador’ (The Conqueror), Afonso served as the first king of Portugal from 1139 until his death in 1185.

Any tourist that steps foot in Guimarães’ historic town centre – which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001 – is bombarded with a slew of reminders of the city’s historical significance. They can find it in the Castelo de Guimarães, built in the 10th century to defend the monastery from attacks by Moors and Norsemen, where a bronze statue of Afonso adorns the main entrance, proudly watching over his dominion. They can find it in Torre da Alfândega, where an insignia of “Aqui Nasceu Portugal” (Portugal was born here) emblazons its wall. They can find it in the 30000 capacity Estádio Dom Afonso Henriques, where 11 footballers pour their blood, sweat and tears to defend a jersey whose crest depicts none other than the founder of Portugal.

Fervent fan base

Perhaps it’s that cultural patrimony that explains why Vitória have the most passionate, the most numerous, and the most cacophonous fanbase in Portugal outside of the Big Three of Benfica, Porto, Sporting. Despite the fact that they’ve only won two trophies in their entire history – the 1988/89 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira and the 2012/13 Taça de Portugal – and despite the fact they’ve been leapfrogged by local rivals Braga over the past two decades, they boast a dedicated group of supporters who turn out in droves to watch their team home and away. In contrast to other similarly sized Portuguese cities like Aveiro, Viseu, Coimbra and Leiria whose fans will mainly support one of Os Três Grândes whilst casually accompanying their local side as a second team, the vast majority of Guimarães’ 54000 population commit themselves to the sacred matrimony of cheering on Vitória.

Founded in 1922, Vitória have spent 80 seasons in Portugal’s top-flight, second only to Benfica, Porto and Sporting (91), but it wasn’t until the arrival of president Pimenta Machado in 1980 that they managed to consolidate themselves in the upper tier of Liga Portugal and become a regular participant in European football. They achieved their deepest European run in 1987 where they made it all the way to the UEFA Cup quarterfinals before losing to Borussia Mönchengladbach, and their best ever result a decade later when they ousted Carlo Ancelotti’s star-studded Parma side.

Cardoso brings boardroom stability

However, the new millennium brought stormy weather for Vitória under Machado, who was accused of embezzlement and falsifying documents. After a quarter-century at the helm, Machado was replaced by Domingos Vítor Abreu de Magalhães in 2004, but he was out three years later after suffering relegation to the second tier. Vitória passed through the administrations of Emílio Macedo da Silva, Júlio Martins Faria Mendes, and Miguel Pinto Lisboa before falling into the hands of António Miguel Cardoso in 2022 on the cusp of the club’s centenary. And since taking charge, Cardoso has been hard at work to provide Vitória with the financial stability to compete on the domestic and international front. Three years after becoming Vitória’s 24th president after winning the elections with 62.5% of the vote, Cardoso was re-elected for a second term on 1 March with a commanding 89.4% of the ballot.

In contrast to Minho rivals Braga, who have been able to build for success on and off the pitch and establish themselves as a top-four side in Portugal since the arrival of president António Salvador in 2003, Vitória have failed to take the next step and consolidate themselves in the upper echelon due to risky business decisions and ill-advised signings, causing them to rack up heavy debts. Eager to reduce their financial burden and give their budget a much-needed boost, Cardoso reached an agreement to sell 46% of the club’s shares to holding group V Sports in February 2023, led by Aston Villa’s co-owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens. However, with Villa and Vitória both qualifying for the 2023/24 Europa Conference League, V Sports were forced to reduce their stake to 29% as well as vacate their spot on Vitória’s board of directors in order to comply with UEFA regulations. Whilst Villa would go on to finish fourth in the Premier League and reach the Conference League semifinals under Unai Emery, Vitória finished fifth in the table; over the past seven seasons, Vitória have placed no higher than fifth and no lower than seventh.

Big-money sales

Despite selling top scorer Jota Silva to Nottingham Forest and starting left-back Ricardo Mangas to Spartak Moscow, Vitória ended the 2023/24 financial year with losses of €15.85 million. It’s why they decided to undergo a fire sale and offload three key players in January: Alberto Costa joined Juventus for €13.8 million, Manu Silva moved to Benfica for €12 million, whilst Kaio César headed to Al-Hilal for €9 million.

“In order to achieve stability in Portuguese football and buy the players you want in the transfer market, you need to be able to sell players effectively,” stated Pedro Varela, a Porto-based Sporting fan who is the co-host of the Sporting 160 Podcast. “Vitória have had a lot of financial problems in recent years, and that’s why Cardoso has tried to sell a lot of players and utilize young players from their academy. He’s trying to level the debts and achieve stability in order for them to take the next step…that’s the path they’re trying to undertake,” added Varela, who attended Vitória matches on a regular basis during his seven-year residence in Guimarães.

Managerial graveyard

Due to these financial shortcomings, due to the enormous expectations from the fanbase, and due to being stuck in a purgatory of being too good for relegation fights but not good enough to finish in the top four, Vitória has proven to be a powder keg for coaches. The club went through three different managers in 2017/18, four in 2020/21 and five in 2023/24. Rui Borges took charge in the summer of 2024 after leading newly promoted Moreirense to a best-ever finish of sixth, and he passed his first tests with flying colours. Vitória thrashed Maltese side Floriana and Swiss club Zürich 5-0 on aggregate before demolishing Bosnian club HŠK Zrinjski Mostar 7-0 to become the first Portuguese team to reach the main draw of the Conference League. The impressive results continued as Vitória finished with the second-best record in the entire 36-team league phase, only behind Chelsea with 14 points from 6 matches.

That success came at a cost though, as it was why, after losing Rúben Amorim to Manchester United, and after Amorim’s replacement João Pereira failed to convince, Sporting absconded with Borges at Christmas, forcing Vitória to appoint a new manager in Daniel Sousa. Sousa would last just three matches before being given the axe following a 2-1 defeat to fourth-tier Elvas in the Taça de Portugal, with Luis Freire taking over on January 14.

Highly-rated Freire appointed

At 39 years of age, Freire has earned a reputation as one of Iberia’s most promising managers, having won seven promotions with five clubs and establishing Rio Ave as a comfortable midtable side before parting ways in November. He was just two months out of work before finding a new role in Guimarães, presiding over a 2-2 draw to Arouca and a 1-0 loss at Estoril before guiding them to a 2-0 win against newly promoted AVS on 1 February, which was their first victory in two months. Samu opened the scoring against 10-man AVS in the 55th minute, whilst Telmo Arcanjo doubled the lead in the 78th minute.

Arcanjo makes good on potential

Like Nuno Mendes, Gelson Fernandes, Nani and many more, Arcanjo is the latest player of Cape Verdean descent to make a name for himself in Europe, and he has taken on an extra importance following Kaio César’s move to Saudi Arabia. Under the stewardship of Cardoso, Vitória have focused heavily on developing both homegrown youths and young players of high potential identified and brought in. Arcanjo is another example of how Vitória have skilfully nurtured a footballer of immense talent. He was born in Lisbon to Cape Verdean parents, starting off at Olivais before spending a spell at Sporting in their junior team in 2012/13 — precisely the same year that Gelson was playing for Sporting’s first team. He then bounced around from Belenenses to Tondela before making his way to Vitoria in 2023. After recovering from a bad injury last season, Arcanjo has become the lynchpin of the team’s attacking game under Freire.

It hasn’t taken long for Freire to build a well-oiled machine where every player knows their role. Having failed to keep a clean sheet in their previous 10 matches, Vitória would string together three clean sheets on the bounce after beating AVS and holding Famalicão and Braga to goalless stalemates, before escaping Porto with a 1-1 draw thanks to Úmaro Embaló’s late equalizer and eking out a 1-0 win against Casa Pia courtesy of Embaló’s late winner. Tiago Silva and Tomás Händel have pulled the strings from the double pivot, whilst Toni Borevković and Mikel Villanueva (and Filipe Relvas as of late) have formed a stalwart pairing in central defence.

Varela shines in well-balanced team

Captain Bruno Varela has staked his claim as one of the finest goalkeepers in the league, capable of thwarting attacking onslaughts and organising his backline. Varela doesn’t just have an imposing frame and wingspan, but the confidence and quick reactions to command his penalty area and sweep up danger without giving away a costly foul. Miguel Maga and João Mendes have provided the bedrock for Vitória’s 4-2-3-1 as their main fullback duo, a different João Mendes has been tasked with orchestrating their attacks into the final third from the #10 position, whilst Arcanjo, Vando Félix, Nuno Santos and Embálo have provided plenty of pace and creativity from the wide areas.

Vitória don’t have an elite-level goalscorer. Their top scorers in the league are midfielders Tiago Silva and Gustavo Silva with four apiece. They’ve had to rely on goals from different places, like on Thursday when they travelled to Real Betis for the first leg of the Conference League Round of 16. Betis took the lead after halftime via Cédric Bakambu, but Vitória would level proceedings immediately as João Mendes (the midfielder) teed up Nuno Santos for the equaliser. Isco restored the Spaniards’ lead in the 75th minute, but the Portuguese outfit tied things up shortly after as João Mendes (the left back) found veteran striker Nélson Vieira for the second goal to secure a creditable 2-2 draw in Andalusia. As such, Vitória made history by becoming the first Portuguese team to go unbeaten in the first 13 matches of a European competition during a single season.

The Conquistadores then headed to Porto where they faced off against Boavista on Sunday. Despite mounting waves of pressure on Tomáš Vaclík in goal, Boavista withstood the onslaught and took the lead before half time from the penalty spot. However, Vitória stormed back in the second half and equalised via an own goal before completing the comeback win thanks to Tiago Silva’s penalty, making it seven matches in a row without defeat.

Vitória fans ecstatic

As soon as Ilija Vukotić’s botched clearance made its way into his own net, the away stand erupted in elation. Packed to the brim with Vitória supporters – making it Boavista’s highest attendance of the season, an even bigger crowd than against Benfica – they applauded loudly, they pumped their fists, they waved Vitória flags, they ignited firecrackers and torches, they scattered confetti throughout the night sky, and they chanted songs in honour of their beloved club whilst wrapping the arms around their fellow supporters’ shoulders. It was a breathtaking display of exultation from a fanbase that, for the first time in a while, has a tangible objective to strive towards: their first European quarterfinal in 38 years.

Nearly 900 years after Afonso Henriques’ military achieved independence from the Kingdom of León, Vitória will be going into the battle and looking to slay a Spanish behemoth and achieve an improbable victory in front of their home supporters in Thursday’s return match. According to Transfermarkt, Betis’ squad contains a total market value of €164.95 million, nearly quadruple Vitória’s value (€47.33m). Boasting Champions League winners like Marc Bartra and Isco as well as Premier League-winning manager Manuel Pellegrini and €95 million signing Antony (on loan from Manchester United), Betis will go into the match as favourites after winning five of their past seven matches in all competitions.

However, when they step foot on the pitch of the Estádio Dom Afonso Henriques, they will be welcomed by an ear-splitting cauldron of ardent Vitória supporters willing their team to continue on their path towards fulfilling the club’s huge potential.