# 2020–21 S.C. Braga season

The 2020–21 season was S.C. Braga's 100th season in existence and the club's 25th consecutive season in the top flight of Portuguese football. In addition to the domestic league, S.C. Braga participated in this season's editions of the Taça de Portugal, the Taça da Liga and the UEFA Europa League. The season covered the period from 26 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
On 23 May 2021, Braga defeated Benfica in the 2021 Taça de Portugal Final to claim their third win in the competition in club history.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 12 February 2021.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | BRA | Matheus |
| 2 | DF | POR | Zé Carlos |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Vítor Tormena |
| 5 | DF | POR | Nuno Sequeira |
| 6 | DF | POR | Rolando |
| 7 | MF | POR | João Novais |
| 8 | MF | LBY | Ali Elmusrati |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Abel Ruiz |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Nicolás Gaitán |
| 11 | FW | BRA | Lucas Piazon |
| 12 | GK | POR | Tiago Sá |
| 15 | MF | POR | André Horta |
| 16 | DF | POR | David Carmo |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | FW | POR | Rui Fonte |
| 19 | FW | SVN | Andraž Šporar (on loan from Sporting CP) |
| 21 | FW | POR | Ricardo Horta |
| 22 | DF | BRA | Caju |
| 26 | DF | COL | Cristian Borja |
| 27 | MF | BRA | Fransérgio (captain) |
| 34 | DF | BRA | Raul Silva |
| 45 | MF | POR | Iuri Medeiros (on loan from Nürnberg) |
| 47 | DF | POR | Ricardo Esgaio |
| 74 | DF | POR | Francisco Moura |
| 88 | MF | POR | André Castro |
| 90 | FW | BRA | Galeno |
| 91 | GK | CZE | Lukáš Horníček |

### Others players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | CRO | Andrej Lukić |
| — | MF | BRA | Eduardo |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | BRA | Crislan |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | BRA | Bruno Viana (at Flamengo until 31 December 2021) |
| — | DF | POR | Bruno Wilson (at Tenerife until 30 June 2021) |
| — | MF | POR | Fábio Martins (at Al-Shabab until 30 June 2021) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | BRA | Ricardo Ryller (at Red Bull Bragantino until 30 June 2021) |
| — | FW | BRA | Murilo (at Mallorca until 30 June 2021) |
| — | FW | POR | Leandro Sanca (at Académica until 30 June 2021) |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred from | Fee | Date |
| 45 | MF | Iuri Medeiros | Nürnberg | Loan | 28 July 2021 |
| 8 | FW | Abel Ruiz | Barcelona | €8 million | 31 July 2021 |
| 8 | MF | Ali Elmusrati | Vitória de Guimarães | Undisclosed | 31 July 2021 |
| 10 | MF | Nicolás Gaitán | Lille | Free | 11 August 2020 |
| 11 | MF | Lucas Piazon | Chelsea | Undisclosed | 14 January 2021 |
| 26 | DF | Cristian Borja | Sporting | Undisclosed | 1 February 2021 |
| 19 | FW | Andraž Šporar | Sporting | Loan | 1 February 2021 |

### Out

| No. | Pos | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date |
| – | DF | Pablo | Hatayspor | Loan | 19 August 2020 |
| 4 | DF | Bruno Wilson | Tenerife | Loan | 30 August 2020 |
| 11 | FW | Murilo | Mallorca | Loan | 17 September 2020 |
| – | MF | Fábio Martins | Al-Shabab | Loan | 25 September 2020 |
| 20 | FW | Paulinho | Sporting CP | €16 million | 1 February 2021 |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overview

| 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 | 19 September 2020 | 19 May 2021 | Matchday 1 | 4th | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 53 | 33 | +20 | 055.88 |
| Taça de Portugal | 21 November 2020 | 23 May 2021 | Third round | Winners | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 5 | +17 | 085.71 |
| Taça da Liga | 17 December 2020 | 23 January 2021 | Quarter-finals | Runners-up | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 066.67 |
| Europa League | 22 October 2020 | 25 February 2021 | Group stage | Round of 32 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 15 | +0 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 52 | 31 | 9 | 12 | 95 | 56 | +39 | 059.62 |
Last updated: 23 May 2021 Source: Soccerway

### Primeira Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Porto | 34 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 74 | 29 | +45 | 80 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Benfica | 34 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 69 | 27 | +42 | 76 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Braga | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 53 | 33 | +20 | 64 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage |
| 5 | Paços de Ferreira | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 40 | 41 | −1 | 53 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round |
| 6 | Santa Clara | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 44 | 36 | +8 | 46 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round |
* 1 2 3 Braga qualified for the Europa League group stage by winning the 2020–21 Taça de Portugal. Since they would have qualified for the Europa Conference League third qualifying round by finishing fourth, the berth was awarded to the fifth-placed team (Paços de Ferreira), and the Europa Conference League second qualifying round berth reserved to the fifth-placed team was awarded to the sixth-placed team (Santa Clara).

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 19 May 2021. 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 | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | D | D | W | L | L | D | D | W | D |
| Position | 17 | 17 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 28 August 2020.

### UEFA Europa League
#### Group stage

The group stage draw was held on 2 October 2020.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | LEI | BRA | ZOR | AEK |
| 1 | Leicester City | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 13 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 4–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Braga | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 13 | Advance to knockout phase | 3–3 | — | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Zorya Luhansk | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 6 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–4 |
| 4 | AEK Athens | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 3 | | 1–2 | 2–4 | 0–3 | — |
* 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 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 The match was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal.
* 1 2 Head-to-head points: Leicester City 4, Braga 1.

#### Knockout phase
##### Round of 32

The draw for the round of 32 was held on 14 December 2020.

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Primeira Liga | Primeira Liga | Taça de Portugal | Taça de Portugal | Taça da Liga | Taça da Liga | UEFA Europa League | UEFA Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | BRA | Matheus | 30 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | POR | Tiago Sá | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 91 | GK | CZE | Lukáš Horníček | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | POR | Zé Carlos | 7 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Vítor Tormena | 26 | 3 | 7+5 | 0 | 4+1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5+1 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | POR | Nuno Sequeira | 28 | 0 | 14+2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | POR | Rolando | 9 | 1 | 5+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | POR | David Carmo | 21 | 0 | 11+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | BRA | Caju | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | COL | Cristian Borja | 7 | 1 | 3+1 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | BRA | Raul Silva | 18 | 1 | 8+2 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 |
| 47 | DF | POR | Ricardo Esgaio | 34 | 3 | 20 | 1 | 3+2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 74 | DF | POR | Francisco Moura | 8 | 2 | 2+3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 86 | DF | POR | Bruno Rodrigues | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 7 | MF | POR | João Novais | 26 | 2 | 7+8 | 1 | 2+1 | 1 | 0+3 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | LBY | Ali Elmusrati | 31 | 2 | 13+4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 4+3 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Nicolás Gaitán | 11 | 2 | 1+5 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 |
| 15 | MF | POR | André Horta | 25 | 1 | 1+11 | 1 | 2+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3+5 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | BRA | Fransérgio | 30 | 6 | 14+3 | 4 | 2+1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4+3 | 1 |
| 45 | MF | POR | Iuri Medeiros | 28 | 6 | 11+4 | 5 | 2+2 | 1 | 1+2 | 0 | 3+3 | 0 |
| 88 | MF | POR | André Castro | 25 | 2 | 13+1 | 2 | 2+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | ESP | Abel Ruiz | 24 | 6 | 6+6 | 0 | 4+1 | 5 | 2+1 | 1 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | BRA | Lucas Piazon | 12 | 3 | 3+4 | 3 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | POR | Rui Fonte | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | SVN | Andraž Šporar | 7 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | POR | Ricardo Horta | 33 | 12 | 17+1 | 7 | 2+3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5+2 | 3 |
| 57 | FW | POR | Rodrigo Gomes | 6 | 0 | 0+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 | MF | GNB | Hernâni Infande | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 90 | FW | BRA | Galeno | 34 | 6 | 17+2 | 2 | 4+1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| 99 | FW | POR | Vítor Oliveira | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who have made an appearance this season but have left the club ||||||||||||||
| 36 | DF | BRA | Bruno Viana | 22 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | POR | Paulinho | 24 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 2+1 | 1 | 1+2 | 3 | 5+1 | 3 |
| 95 | FW | BRA | Guilherme Schettine | 18 | 0 | 1+9 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+5 | 0 |
* Last updated: 25 February 2021
* Source: soccerway

### Goalscorers

    As of 23 May 2021
| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | Primeira Liga | Taça de Portugal | Taça da Liga | Europa League | Total |
| 1 | 21 | FW | | Ricardo Horta | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| 2 | 9 | FW | | Abel Ruiz | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| 3 | 20 | FW | | Paulinho | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 4 | 27 | MF | | Fransérgio | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 5 | 90 | FW | | Galeno | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 6 | 11 | MF | | Lucas Piazon | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 | 45 | MF | | Iuri Medeiros | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 8 | 8 | MF | | Ali Elmusrati | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 | 3 | DF | | Vítor Tormena | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | 10 | MF | | Nicolás Gaitán | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | 17 | MF | | João Novais | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | 19 | FW | | Andraž Šporar | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | 47 | DF | | Ricardo Esgaio | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 14 | 36 | DF | | Bruno Viana | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | 74 | DF | | Francisco Moura | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | 88 | MF | | André Castro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | 6 | DF | | Rolando | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 15 | MF | | André Horta | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 26 | DF | | Cristian Borja | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 34 | DF | | Raul Silva | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 99 | FW | | Vítor Oliveira | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 53 | 22 | 5 | 15 | 95 |