Joao Henriques exclusive: Jumping from Portugal to Slovenia; why Barcelona hasn't worked for Felix & Cancelo

At Santa Clara, Joao Henriques experienced a 'real' story of management. He tells TribalFootball.com exclusively: “The best experience for me was at Santa Clara because we built a team from the beginning in the second league and we got promoted to the first league.

“The first year in the top league was very difficult but we managed to stay up and in the second year we did very well and that was a huge achievement for me. I call this a real job because it has a beginning, a middle, and an ending."

The Portuguese coach led Santa Clara to two consecutive record-high tenth place finishes in the Primeira Liga. Henriques knows the league particularly well having also managed Pacos de Ferreira, VitoriaGuimaraes, Moreirense and Maritimo.

How does he reflect on this year's title race in Portugal?

"The league is very tight because we have two or three teams fighting for the title. We thought this year that Braga would also fight for the title, but it didn't happen and they are not doing as well as we thought they would before the season. Sporting is doing well this season and much better than last season, Benfica is the same and Porto have also not been as good as we thought they would be.

"There is one standout side though, and “at the top of the league, Sporting is the strongest team and they are playing better."

Henriques was often embroiled in relegation battles during his time in Portugal's top-flight. But he refuses to be drawn into a prediction of this year's toils. He says: “Regarding the bottom of the league, there are a number of different teams that are very close to each other. We cannot say who are going to be the teams that will go down because it's a hard battle."

After a lengthy spell managing in his native country,