Nacional's New Coach Alexandre Santos Arrives Five Games Late
Nacional have a new head coach. Alexandre Santos, 49, was presented on 7 September 2026, the club’s second manager of a season that was already five rounds old, and his first game in charge ended in a 1–3 home defeat by Alverca.
Rui Alves Changed Coach After Four Rounds and One Win
João Gião lasted four matchdays. He arrived last May to replace Tiago Margarido, took one win, one draw and two defeats, and was gone within days of a 2–3 home defeat by Estrela da Amadora on 30 August. President Rui Alves was unusually blunt about why: he said he did not believe in the working process, and that he does not wait on results to make a decision. Bruno Abreu took the team on an interim basis for the trip to Sporting, which Nacional lost 2–0.
Alves confirmed Alexandre Santos on 4 September and the club presented him on Monday 7 September, on a contract that runs to the end of the season. The president did not dress up the timing either: he told the room the presentation was happening five matchdays late, and that there was still time to correct a shape he had not liked.
A First Primeira Liga Job at 49, After Angola, Tunisia and Morocco
Santos started out as an assistant, including under José Peseiro, and took his first job as a number one at Real SC. Alverca followed, and then a long spell abroad: Petro de Luanda in Angola, CS Sfaxien in Tunisia, FAR Rabat in Morocco and Kuwait SC. Nacional is the first time he has been a head coach in the Portuguese top flight, and he said at his presentation that getting there had been one of the goals of his career.
He also made it clear he was not going to tear up what he found. With five days between the presentation and his first match, he said, changing a lot at once could have been a shot at themselves. A compact block first, then the attacking patterns, and no revolution.
I know I am ready for this challenge.
Alexandre Santos
Nacional 1–3 Alverca Made It Four Defeats in a Row
Alverca came up to Choupana on Saturday 12 September and were three goals up by half time. Chissumba opened the scoring on 34 minutes, Dawda Camara scored twice in six minutes before the break, and Matchói Djaló pulled one back on 81. Santos called it a lesson and admitted his squad were still digesting the afternoon, and digesting it badly.
That is four straight league defeats, and four points from six games. Back in April we wrote about Nacional fighting for survival while Marítimo chased promotion, and this season has opened in much the same place for the alvinegros, except that the pressure now lands on a coach who has been in the building less than two weeks.
Nacional Host Famalicão at Choupana on 19 September
The Estádio da Madeira sits up at Choupana, in the hills behind Funchal, and holds about 5,200. Santos takes charge there for the second time on Saturday 19 September at 15:30, against Famalicão, still looking for his first point. Tickets go through the club’s ticket office, the stadium windows open ninety minutes before kick-off, and there is a three-level car park at the ground.
The date worth putting in the diary, though, is Friday 27 November, when Nacional go down to Marítimo’s Estádio dos Barreiros at 20:15. Marítimo are back in the top flight as champions of Liga Portugal 2, with Mitchell van der Gaag in charge, so the two island clubs are in the same division for the first time since 2020/21. The last Madeira derby played in the Primeira Liga was in March 2021.
Alexandre Santos has ten weeks to make that a fair fight.
