# 2023–24 S.C. Braga season

The 2023–24 season was the 103nd season in the history of S.C. Braga and their 28th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. The club participated in the Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal, Taça da Liga, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.
On 27 January 2024, Braga defeated Estoril in the final of the Taça da Liga on penalties after a 1–1 draw to claim their third league cup title.

## Players

    As of 11 August 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | BRA | Matheus (vice-captain) |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Víctor Gómez |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Vítor Tormena |
| 4 | DF | FRA | Sikou Niakaté |
| 5 | DF | TUR | Serdar Saatçı |
| 6 | DF | POR | José Fonte |
| 7 | FW | POR | Bruma |
| 8 | MF | LBY | Al-Musrati |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Abel Ruiz |
| 10 | MF | POR | André Horta |
| 11 | FW | POR | Roger Fernandes |
| 12 | GK | POR | Tiago Sá |
| 14 | FW | ESP | Álvaro Djaló |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | POR | Paulo Oliveira |
| 16 | MF | URU | Rodrigo Zalazar |
| 17 | DF | SWE | Joe Mendes |
| 18 | MF | BRA | Vitor Carvalho |
| 19 | DF | ESP | Adrián Marín |
| 20 | MF | POR | Rony Lopes |
| 21 | FW | POR | Ricardo Horta (captain) |
| 22 | MF | POR | Pizzi |
| 23 | FW | COD | Simon Banza |
| 26 | DF | COL | Cristian Borja |
| 28 | MF | POR | João Moutinho |
| 88 | MF | POR | André Castro |
| 91 | GK | CZE | Lukáš Horníček |

### Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 31 | MF | BRA | Lucas Piazon |
| 47 | DF | POR | Diogo Fonseca |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | GNB | Hernâni Infande |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 13 | DF | POR | Tiago Esgaio (at Arouca until 30 June 2024) |
| 25 | MF | BRA | Lucas Mineiro (at Cuiabá until 31 December 2023) |
| 29 | MF | FRA | Jean-Baptiste Gorby (at Paços de Ferreira until 30 June 2024) |
| — | FW | POR | Rodrigo Gomes (at Estoril until 30 June 2024) |

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Primeira Liga | 11 August 2023 | 18 May 2024 | Matchday 1 | 4th | 34 | 21 | 5 | 8 | 71 | 50 | +21 | 061.76 |
| Taça de Portugal | 19 October 2023 | 10 January 2024 | Third round | Fifth round | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 066.67 |
| Taça da Liga | 1 November 2023 | 27 January 2024 | Third round | Winners | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 050.00 |
| UEFA Champions League | 8 August 2023 | 12 December 2023 | Third qualifying round | Group stage | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 050.00 |
| UEFA Europa League | 15 February 2024 | 22 February 2024 | Knockout round play-offs | Knockout round play-offs | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 53 | 31 | 8 | 14 | 106 | 77 | +29 | 058.49 |
Source: Liga Portugal

### Primeira Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Benfica | 34 | 25 | 5 | 4 | 77 | 28 | +49 | 80 | Qualification for the Champions League league phase |
| 3 | Porto | 34 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 63 | 27 | +36 | 72 | Qualification for the Europa League league phase |
| 4 | Braga | 34 | 21 | 5 | 8 | 71 | 50 | +21 | 68 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 5 | Vitória de Guimarães | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 52 | 38 | +14 | 63 | Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round |
| 6 | Moreirense | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 36 | 35 | +1 | 55 | |
* ↑ Since Atalanta, the winners of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League, qualified for the Champions League via league position, Benfica was promoted from the Champions League third qualifying round to the league phase, as the team with the highest coefficient out of all the teams in Champions League qualifying.
* ↑ Porto qualified for the Europa League league phase by winning the 2023–24 Taça de Portugal.
* 1 2 Since the 2023–24 Taça de Portugal winners, Porto, finished in top three, the spot given to the third-placed team (Europa League second qualifying round) was passed to the fourth-placed team, and the spot given to the fourth-placed team (Conference League second qualifying round) was passed to the fifth-placed team.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Liga Portugal

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | W | D | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | L | W | D | L | W | D | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | L |
| Position | 13 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Points | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 36 | 37 | 40 | 40 | 43 | 46 | 49 | 50 | 53 | 56 | 56 | 59 | 62 | 62 | 65 | 68 | 68 |

#### Matches
### Taça da Liga
#### Third round

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | BRA | CAS | NAC |
| 1 | Braga | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 4 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 1–1 | — |
| 2 | Casa Pia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | | — | — | 2–1 |
| 3 | Nacional | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 0 | | 1–3 | — | — |

#### Final
### UEFA Champions League
#### Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 31 August 2023.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | RMA | NAP | BRA | UNB |
| 1 | Real Madrid | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 18 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 4–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Napoli | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 10 | Advance to knockout phase | 2–3 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| 3 | Braga | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 4 | Transfer to Europa League | 1–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 |
| 4 | Union Berlin | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 2 | | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–3 | — |

### UEFA Europa League
#### Knockout phase
##### Knockout round play-offs

The draw for the knockout round play-offs was held on 18 December 2023.

## Statistics
### Squad appearances and goals

    As of 12 December 2023
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Primeira Liga | Primeira Liga | Taça de Portugal | Taça de Portugal | Taça da Liga | Taça da Liga | UEFA Champions League | UEFA Champions League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | BRA | Matheus | 23 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | POR | Tiago Sá | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | BRA | Bernardo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 | GK | CZE | Lukáš Horníček | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | ESP | Víctor Gómez | 19 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | FRA | Sikou Niakaté | 16 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | TUR | Serdar Saatçı | 13 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | POR | José Fonte | 20 | 0 | 8+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | POR | Paulo Oliveira | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | SWE | Joe Mendes | 13 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | ESP | Adrián Marín | 15 | 0 | 3+4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | COL | Cristian Borja | 18 | 0 | 10+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 47 | DF | POR | Diogo Fonseca | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 8 | MF | LBY | Al-Musrati | 17 | 4 | 8+1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6+2 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | POR | André Horta | 19 | 2 | 4+6 | 2 | 1+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+5 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | URU | Rodrigo Zalazar | 22 | 0 | 7+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 5+4 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | BRA | Vitor Carvalho | 21 | 0 | 6+4 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8+1 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | POR | Pizzi | 21 | 4 | 6+6 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4+2 | 2 |
| 28 | MF | POR | João Moutinho | 18 | 0 | 3+7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 |
| 88 | MF | POR | André Castro | 6 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 1 |
| 90 | MF | SEN | Djibril Soumaré | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||
| 7 | FW | POR | Bruma | 21 | 7 | 8+3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 8+1 | 5 |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Abel Ruiz | 22 | 2 | 4+6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4+5 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | POR | Roger Fernandes | 7 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | ESP | Álvaro Djaló | 25 | 12 | 10+3 | 5 | 1+1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7+2 | 5 |
| 20 | FW | POR | Rony Lopes | 14 | 3 | 1+7 | 1 | 1+1 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | POR | Ricardo Horta | 24 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 1+1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | COD | Simon Banza | 23 | 13 | 10+3 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 4+5 | 0 |
| Players who have made an appearance this season but have left the club ||||||||||||||