Liga II round-up: Chaves and Vizela haul themselves into promotion contention | OneFootball

How the tables have turned in the most exciting competition in Portugal. Since the last report, everything has changed in the battle for promotion to the main stage of Portuguese football. And what a battle awaits us!

Just four points separate 7 teams from 2nd to 8th in the standings, with all of them legitimate contenders to finish runners-up in Liga II and earn automatic promotion to the Primeira Liga, or secure third to earn themselves a shot at promotion through the playoff.

The main focus has to be Vizela. After a really poor start of the season for the Vizelenses, they have been catching up. Slowly, the performances improved. A new coach arrived, a new manager that was thrown out of Marítimo, Fábio Pereira. Since then: twelve matches played, zero losses. That is a run to be proud of.

After the Vizela seemed to have lost all hope of getting promoted back up to the top flight, they find themselves in third place and in a playoff spot following Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Paços de Ferreira. After the heartbreaking relegation season they had last year, they certainly deserve to be in this position right now.

FC Vizela 2-1 Paços de Ferreira highlights

However, the direct promotion spots have changed as well. Despite some poor performances, Tondela are still leaders. They have been playing the same way, prioritizing crossing the ball and it has been working. Chaves have clawed their way into the second spot after stringing together a few wins. Much like Tondela, their football is not the best, but they have got into the habit of securing the three points, which is the most important thing. On Saturday, they destroyed Oliveirense, also known as the “dead man walking”.

Alverca, Penafiel and Torreense are for sure the “losers” in the past few weeks. They have played against each other and everyone lost precious points that made them fall down from playoff and promotion spots into the core of the battle for promotion. The international break is probably the best thing that is going to happen for these teams that urgently need to regroup and think about their past performances.

Darkness returns at the bottom

After a good stint, the teams on the bottom of the table are going through a rough patch. They never really left the rough patch; they just played a less awful couple of games. FC Porto B are unrecognizable this season and now have only one win in their last five matches. Oliveirense is only one point away from the Dragões, but they are going back to their old ways of getting destroyed by every team.

And Mafra… what can you say about them? If I had to summarise their season with a feeling, it would be pity.

Player of the week: Heinz Morschel

Morschel is one of those cases that just warm your heart. An important asset for the Dominican Republic national team, he has always played in B-tier teams or B-tier championships. He came to Vizela to reinvent himself in Europe. And boy has he done that.

The second half of the season has been majestic from him. When he doesn’t score, he assists. When he doesn’t assist, he scores. When he does neither, he offers security in midfield. A deserved Player of the week for him after scoring twice against Paços de Ferreira from a free kick and the penalty spot.