It seems surreal, but it happened. With five different coaches, Vitória SC starred in one of the best seasons in history, highlighting the fact that they achieved their best score (63 points) ever in the I League since victories were worth three points. Even so, not everything was a 'bed of roses'.

The season started with Moreno Teixeira leading the Guimarães team, which would even be his second season in charge (something almost unprecedented in the club's recent past), but he quickly resigned. The 'assistant' João Aroso accepted the position for just one game, in order to make the 'bridge' for the surprising entry of Paulo Turra.

The Brazilian coach lasted just over a month in his first adventure in Portugal and Álvaro Pacheco appeared, who came to be seen almost as an idol in Guimarães (a rare thing), however, the season would not end without a fifth coach. Rui Cunha, a local man, was responsible for the final season of Vitória SC, although with a lot of drama in between. The most curious thing is that all these coaches always signed smiling debuts. Let's go in parts.

Moreno Teixeira, with the help of João Aroso, had led Vitória SC to a European qualification in the previous season.© Miguel Pereira/Global Imagens  

Three days, three coaches, three victories

Right at the beginning of the season, the Guimarães team was 'victim' of another early elimination in the Europa Conference League, against the 'unknown' Celje, leading Moreno Teixeira to want to 'abandon ship' of his heart club immediately. The truth is that the current coach of Desportivo de Chaves held on to the team's leadership until the first day, communicating his departure after the triumph at Reboleira, against Estrela da Amadora (0-1).

Fulfilling a request from the board headed by António Miguel Cardoso, João Aroso - who was an assistant in the 'design' of the technical team, but who appeared as head coach in the game sheet for regulatory reasons - took over the team's leadership in the following game, with a home victory against Gil Vicente (2-1), but guaranteed that it would not make sense to continue without Moreno - feeling that he reinforced in an interview with Desporto ao Minuto.

In six games, Paulo Turra started and ended his journey in Portugal with triumphs - the only two he achieved in his adventure in Guimarães.© Getty Images  

And since 'there are no two without three', Paulo Turra took over the technical command of Vitória SC on the third day to, imagine, lead the team to the third consecutive victory, against Vizela (2-0), for the championship lead. Surreal, at the very least. This was followed by three defeats, a draw and only then the return to victories, with a dramatic turnaround against Estoril (3-2). Two days later, the Brazilian coach would be 'surprised' by the dismissal, having given an interview to Desporto ao Minuto to address all the details.

Álvaro Pacheco gave stability... up to a point

From last August to the beginning of October, three coaches. From October to May, only one coach... and a 'carousel' of emotions. Álvaro Pacheco embraced the Vitória SC project with affection, after having left Estoril, and was quickly 'painted' as the right man to stay in Guimarães for many good years. The results, however, showed that the path seemed to be 'being taken' in that direction... up to a point.

The 52-year-old coach made his debut with a triumph at Famalicão's home ground (1-3) and began to 'equip' a sequence of quite commendable results. He kept the team in the 'pursuit' of the top places - often 'glued' to rivals Sporting de Braga in fourth position -, reached the 'semis' of the Portuguese Cup and achieved 18 triumphs in 32 games at the service of the Guimarães emblem. In the meantime, Jota Silva was even called up to the national team.

After the triumph against FC Porto (1-2) at the Estádio do Dragão, on April 7, there followed weeks that 'killed' all the dreams for an end of the season that could be a dream. Until then, there were 17 victories in 26 games. This was followed by four defeats, one draw and one victory, which made the dream of Jamor, the hope for the podium and the final fight for fourth place impossible. In the meantime, there was a 'buzz' from the big teams that once again brought to the surface the internal weaknesses that prevent the Guimarães emblem from reaching levels commensurate with its membership.