After a season back in the third tier with Mafra, Janota returned to Atlético CP, where he finally made his first appearance in the newly renamed Segunda Liga.
Ahead of the 2007–08 season, he had a trial with Spanish third-tier club León,[5] and in October spent a week with Dutch Eredivisie side FC Utrecht to gain experience.
[6] Janota made his senior debut for Atlético in February 2008, as a first-half substitute when goalkeeper Filipe Leão was sent off against Carregado, and kept a clean sheet the following week against Lusitânia.
He spent the 2009–10 season as Estrela da Amadora's main goalkeeper, before moving up to the Liga de Honra (second tier) as one of eleven new signings for Trofense.
He kept a clean sheet as Atlético beat Porto B 1–0 to secure only their second win of the season; he was beaten only once, by a shot that hit the post, and, in what Record's correspondent described as a great display, made several good interventions to contribute to the victory for his tiring team.
He made his first appearance on 9 October, against Feirense in the League Cup: after 75 minutes, with Tondela already 2–0 down and playing with ten men, he rushed out of his area, brought down an opponent, and was sent off.
After Ramos was sent off very late in the previous match, Janota made his Primeira Liga debut at the age of 30, away to Vitória de Guimarães on 9 April 2017; Tondela lost 2–1.
[16] In the second year of his contract, he made only one first-team appearance, in the third round of the Portuguese Cup: Tondela let slip a two-goal lead away to second-tier Leixões and lost 3–2 in extra time.
[21] The sixth-place finish achieved in this competition guaranteed qualification for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup;[22] Janota, by this time an Atlético CP player, was again selected for the squad, but made no appearances.