A Familiar Face to English Football at Braga
João Moutinho is still pulling the strings in the midfield at the age of 39 in his home country.
In a parallel universe, Forest will take on Braga tomorrow with almost as many eyes from Wolverhampton on the game as there would be from Nottingham. Nuno Espirito Santo and his coaching staff would be leading a Forest side containing Morgan Gibbs-White, Willy Boly & Adama Traore, and they’ll take on a key cog in that successful Wolves side in João Moutinho.
But instead, it will likely just be Gibbs-White & Joao Moutinho on the field - if they both start it will be the first time they’ve started in the same game since Nottingham Forest sent out a side containing 7 academy players in the Carabao Cup 2nd Round - the match resulted in a 4-0 defeat for Forest as Gibbs-White scored the final goal. Thankfully, Forest would go on to turn things around under Steve Cooper and surprise everybody by getting promoted.
Moutinho joined Braga in the summer of 2023, and has played in over 100 games for them in midfield. Despite his age, he’s been an important player for his side, and remains one of the higher performing midfielders in the Portuguese top flight.
No doubt the standard of competition comes into play here, but Moutinho’s numbers are still very impressive for a midfielder of any age. He consistently knows where to position himself to pick up second balls, and will then move the ball smartly up the field.
Moutinho rarely moves outside the width of the box to receive passes from his team mates, preferring instead to try and dictate play from central areas. If he and Gibbs-White do share the pitch from the start, then they’ll often find themselves in the same areas. This is a key battle that Gibbs-White will need to win for Forest if they’re to have a successful night.
Other Players to Watch:
Rodrigo Zalazar is a player I hoped Forest would target back in the summer of 2024 - he can play anywhere behind the striker (mostly from the right), and has put up some really good numbers for Braga in the last couple of seasons.
This season, he’s scored 7 goals in Liga Portugal (although 6 have been penalties), plus another 2 in their Europa League campaign. His prowess from the spot is something that Forest hope to not have to deal with.
Ricardo Horta has been a creative force for Braga, he’s got the most assists in the Europa League this season (3). Domestically though, despite creating plenty of chances he has 0 assists, fortunately for Braga he’s chipped in with 6 league goals.
What’s interesting about him is lack of carrying numbers - the data suggests he rarely carries the ball forward, instead trying to let the ball do the work rather than his own legs.
Sikou Niakaté has played mostly on the left of a back 3 for Braga this season, and my Player Impact model ranks him has the best centre back in a 3 in Portugal this season.
The Mali international, despite standing at just 6”1, has a tremendous aerial success rate of 78%. He’s also very good with the ball at his feet, seeing plenty of it and moving the ball forward well with lots of success.