Gil Vicente v Brentford - match preview, kick-off time and more

Keith Andrews will take charge of his first Brentford game on Friday (7.30pm kick-off GMT), as the Bees travel to Barcelos to face Gil Vicente in their opening pre-season friendly of the summer.

New signings Caoimhín Kelleher, Antoni Milambo and Jordan Henderson could also make their first appearances for the club against the Primeira Liga side in Portugal.

Pre-match Analysis

Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: Bees set for 'good test' in pre-season opener

Brentford’s first pre-season clash of the 2025/26 campaign sees them take on Gil Vicente in northern Portugal this Friday - and the Bees can expect a good test against one of the Primeira Liga's more assured possession sides.

With new boys Kelleher, Milambo and Henderson all in contention for their first game in a Brentford jersey, head coach Keith Andrews will no doubt be looking to ease his side into pre-season, while starting his reign with a win.

Coached by their former defender César Peixoto, Gil Vicente finished 13th in the Portuguese top tier last season and earned plaudits for a progressive approach that saw only six teams in the division dominate more of the ball on average last term.

Still only 45, the Roosters' head coach Peixoto has quickly garnered a reputation for being well-organised and methodical, and the Brentford fans in attendance - hopefully enjoying a balmy Iberian evening - are likely to see the hosts play patiently out from the back.

The Portuguese outfit had one of the better defensive records in the Primeira Liga in 2024/25, especially at home, where they conceded only 19 goals, but they did struggle in terms of firepower - only five teams netted fewer league goals than Gil Vicente (34), who averaged exactly a goal a game.

That lack of ammunition in attack could be exacerbated by the fact that Peixoto’s side have seen their top scorer and their most creative playmaker leave this summer.

Nine top-flight goals earned winger Félix Correia a move to Lille, while Japanese midfielder Kanya Fujimoto - who contributed five assists - has signed a three-year deal with Championship new boys Birmingham City following the expiry of his contract.

One potentially interesting sub-plot could concern Gil Vicente’s decision-making in and around their visitors’ penalty box on Friday.

Last season, the Portuguese side took relatively few shots in total and fewer shots from outside the box (just 22) than any team in the Primeira Liga. But they will face a Brentford team who regularly enticed their opponents into taking low-quality, low-odds strikes from distance.

Will Peixoto’s side bide their time and look to create clear openings, or will they be lulled into snapshots and speculative long-range efforts by the Bees?

One player Brentford will have to keep an eye on is Gil Vicente’s 20-year-old holding midfielder Mohamed Bamba.

Signed back in February from Stade de Reims as a replacement for the highly-rated Mory Gbane, who moved in the opposite direction, the Ivorian had just nine minutes of Ligue 1 action under his belt when he joined Gil Vicente - but he settled in seamlessly.

Tall and athletic, Bamba has made an impact in his 12 Primeira Liga appearances to date, and he could very well catch the eye.

Scout Report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Gil Vicente aiming to carry momentum from finish to 2024/25 into new campaign

Wins were hard to come by at the start of last season for Gil Vicente. They won just two of their first 12 Primeira Liga games and were only two points off the bottom after a 4-0 thumping away at Vitória SC on 2 December.

It was probably to be expected, in all honesty. Just two days before the start of the campaign, manager Tozé Marreco left the club.

Bruno Pinheiro was brought in as his replacement four days later, with little time to prepare, and struggled to get a tune out of the squad he inherited.

There were high points, notably a run to the Taça de Portugal quarter-finals for the second season in succession and a rare victory against Portuguese giants Porto on 19 January.

But, less than a month later, after a run of eight league games without a win, Pinheiro was sacked after just over six months in the job.

The Gilistas were 14th after 22 games, just three points above the relegation play-off place and seven off the bottom two with 12 to play.

Former player César Peixoto - who had been dismissed by Moreirense on 24 February - returned to the club to take over as Pinheiro’s successor, signing a contract until the end of the 2025/26 season.

In the interim, Under-19s head coach José Pedro Pinto had taken charge of the league game against Casa Pia and the visit of Sporting in the Taça de Portugal quarter-final, both of which ended in 1-0 defeats.

Later that month, Brentford and Gil Vicente agreed a strategic partnership aimed at sharing knowledge and improving player development. The teams played a friendly shortly afterwards, with a Brentford XI winning 1-0 behind-closed-doors at the Robert Rowan Performance Centre.

The sole focus for Peixoto thereafter was to retain the club’s status in the top flight for a seventh straight season.

He picked up only four points from his first six games, which meant the gap to the relegation play-off spot was still just three points by 18 April. The cushion between his side and the bottom two had narrowed to five.

When the going got tough, though, Gil Vicente dug in and did what was needed. Two wins and two draws from the final five games was enough to see them survive relegation by a reasonably healthy margin of seven points.

While that gave them reason to celebrate, they finished the season having recorded their lowest amount of Primeira Liga wins (8) and points (34) since they were relegated in 2014/15.

Having finished on a relative high, they will be hoping the momentum they built at the end of last season will be able to propel them to a more comfortable position in 2025/26.

In the Dugout

César Peixoto

After starting out in hometown club Vitória SC’s youth set-up, César Peixoto’s professional career began in the third and fourth tiers of Portuguese football at Caçadores Taipas, but he was soon spotted by Belenenses and, by 2001, had made the leap to the Primeira Liga.

He settled well, so much so that he earned a move to José Mourinho’s Porto the following summer.

In five seasons at Estádio do Dragão, he managed only 41 league appearances but left in 2007, having been part of the squads that won three league titles, one Portuguese Cup and two Portuguese Super Cups, as well as the UEFA Cup in 2002/03 and the Champions League in 2003/04.

Peixoto moved on to Braga in 2007, following loans at Vitória and Espanyol, and earned his sole Portugal cap in 2008.

Three years at Benfica followed, before he retired in 2014 after a two-year spell with Gil Vicente.

He moved into management in 2019 and, in his first four years, managed Varzim, Académica, Chaves, Moreirense and Pacos Ferreira.

He returned to Moreirense last summer, but was dismissed earlier this year after a run of one win in 12 games.

His unemployment lasted less than a week, however, as he returned to Gil Vicente on a contract until the end of the 2025/26 season.

The Gameplan

With Aaron Barton, Portuguese football writer and data editor for Opta

Aaron Barton, Portuguese football writer and data editor for Opta explains how Gil Vicente are likely to be set up to take on the Bees.

"César Peixoto has more often than not gone with a 4-2-3-1 formation since arriving at the club in March, and has used it in eight of his 11 Primeira Liga matches to date," said Barton.

"They will try and move the ball carefully and patiently. In fact, from when Peixoto was appointed in March until the end of last season, Gil Vicente had the slowest direct speed of any Primeira Liga club, and only Sporting CP, Porto, Braga and Benfica averaged longer average sequence time than them.

"It is easier said than done to keep hold of the ball when playing against a side as talented as Brentford, however, who will present a huge step up for Gil Vicente compared to the vast majority of Primeira Liga outfits."

Read our full interview with Arron Barton here.

Last Meeting

Brentford XI 1 Gil Vicente 0 (behind-closed-doors friendly, 21 March 2025)

In the only previous meeting of the sides, a Brentford XI narrowly beat Gil Vicente at Robert Rowan Performance Centre in March.

Romelle Donovan, who the club signed permanently in the summer and promoted to the first team, scored the only goal of the game on 30 minutes, as he cut in from the right flank and found the top corner from distance.

Rico Henry, Sepp van den Berg, Paris Maghoma and Ji-soo Kim also featured for the Bees.

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