Hugo Miguel Ribeiro Leal is a Portuguese former footballer. A central midfielder, he was also a reliable set piece taker. He amassed Primeira Liga totals of 148 matches and nine goals over 11 seasons, having started his career with Benfica. He also played professionally, albeit with little impact in the countries' top division, in Spain and France.
Club career
Born in the Lisbon outskirts of Cascais, Leal started his career with local S.L. Benfica and, not yet 17, made his Primeira Liga debut against S.C. Espinho, in a 2–0 home win on 20 April 1997. He made his breakthrough in the 1998–99 season, playing 27 league games and scoring three goals; in between, he served a loan stint at Benfica's farm team F.C. Alverca, at the time also in the top level. In the summer of 1999, Leal moved abroad to play for Spain's Atlético Madrid. In his first year the club was relegated to the second division, and in his only goal of the campaign he was also sent off, in a 13May 2000 home draw against Sevilla FC; he stayed for the following season but could not help the Colchoneros win promotion back into La Liga, although he had established in the starting XI. Leal joined Paris Saint-Germain F.C. in 2001, helping the capital side to two French Cup finals in consecutive years. However, on 8 March 2002, in a match against FC Lorient for that competition, he suffered a serious injury to his left knee, being sidelined for the rest of the campaign after undergoing surgery and also missing that year's UEFA European Under-21 Championship; his playing time was gradually cut, and both the player and the team agreed on an early contract termination on 4 August 2004. In August 2004, Leal signed a four-year contract with FC Porto. He played for six months with the team before moving to Académica de Coimbraon loan as he did not get enough playing time; at this point, he seriously consider ending his playing career. For 2005–06, Leal moved to S.C. Braga, but left the club by mutual agreement in January 2007 after only managing 17 league appearances in nearly two seasons. In August, he returned to Lisbon and joined C.F. Os Belenenses in a one-year deal, in another campaign severely cut short due to injuries. In late October 2008, Leal signed a one-year contract with newly promoted C.D. Trofense. After their top division relegation, he returned to Spain after eight years, joining UD Salamanca in a 1+1 deal – second year only if promotion was attained. During his only season with the Castile and León side, Leal was an undisputed starter, but not only did they not promote but almost suffered relegation. The 30-year-old returned to his country in late July 2010, signing for Vitória de Setúbal. In his third game, at former team Benfica, he missed a penalty kick to equalise the score after the opponents had just been reduced to ten men, and Vitória eventually lost 0–3. On 5 June 2012, 32-year-old Leal returned to G.D. Estoril Praia after 21 years, agreeing to a one-year deal. In March 2015, following José Couceiro's departure, both he – who worked for his former youth club in the board of directors– and former assistant Fabiano took the reins until the end of the season, eventually leading the team to the 12th position in the top flight; in July, the former was appointed the sole head coach.
