“We’ll see on Saturday.” This was Luís Pinto’s response when, after defeating Sporting 2-1 in the League Cup semi-final, he was asked whether Leiria was, for him, a talismanic city. This Saturday, the Dr. Magalhães Pessoa Stadium once again became a stage of happiness for the Vitória de Guimarães coach, who led the Guimarães team to win the first Allianz Cup in the club’s history.
It was in Cidade do Lis that the 36-year-old coach took on his first role as head coach, succeeding, in 2018, Rui Amorim in charge of the UD Leiria main team, a group of which he had already been assistant coach in the previous two years.
Seven years later, in the 2024/2025 season, it was precisely in this venue that, at the helm of Tondela, Luís Pinto won the first trophy of his coaching career. At the start of the last round of Liga Portugal 2, no team had yet secured promotion to the division. The Tondelenenses, who had entered the final round of the second division with 61 points, one more than Alverca and two more than Vizela, fulfilled their role, defeated UD Leiria 2-0 and guaranteed not only access to the first division, but also the conquest of the Second League.
Luís Pinto headed to Cidade-Berço in the summer. At the service of Vitória de Guimarães, this Saturday, just over seven months after having been happy at Tondela, he achieved the second trophy of his career: the Guimarães turned around the derby against SC Braga, won 2-1 and won the League Cup, in a game played precisely at the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, in Leiria.
It was in Leiria that he began his career as a head coach, it was in Leiria that he won League 2 and it was in Leiria that he won the League Cup. «Leiria doesn’t exist» is a joke known all over the internet: according to the page Visit Leiriawent viral after a 2020 post on Reddit, was popularized by the video game Euro Truck Simulator 2, which, in 2021, omitted the city from the Iberian map and was even the inspiration for a song. For Luís Pinto there is no doubt that Leiria really exists and this Saturday it was proven that it really is a talismanic city.
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