Spanish Super Cup Final 1st Leg Athletic Bilbao 1 (Garcia 40) Barcelona 0
I was without several players here and we just managed to sneak it. Both sides had a man sent-off too.
--
Deportivo La Coruna 0 Athletic Bilbao 3 (Garmendia 14, Hondo N'Dongo 40, Alfredo 79)
A decent start to the league campaign.
--
UEFA European Super Cup Athletic Bilbao 1 (Herrera 36) Arsenal 1 (Gajdek 38) (AET - Athletic Bilbao win 4-2 on penalties)
How Arsenal got this to a penalty shoot out is beyond me as we battered them but just couldnt get the winning goal.
--
LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Barc
1-0
David
Azpilicueta
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
Ruiz*
Garmendia
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Gutierrez
Garcia
Alonso, Ayechu, Valcarcel
Dep
3-0
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Garmendia*
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia
Vinas, Gutierrez, Alfredo
****
1-1
David
Ruiz
Valcarcel
Palacios
De la Torre
Garmendia
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia
Gutierrez, Vinas, Alfredo
--
SUMMARY
A quiet start to the new season as we hold a slight advantage going into the 2nd leg of the Spanish Super Cup and claimed the European version on penalties. Not much else to say really!!!
In the Champions League we have been drawn alongside Rosenborg, Bordeaux and Roma.
Spanish Super Cup Final 2nd Leg Barcelona 2 (Redaelli 57, Florescu 84) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Herrera 29, Hondo N'Dongo 89) (Athletic Bilbao win 3-2 on aggregate)
Our late equaliser meant that we can still go through the entire campaign unbeaten. Once again in the Redaelli v Herrera battle it was even.
Fermin Garcia was immense here as he scored 4 and assisted the other.
--
Granada 0 Athletic Bilbao 1 (Hondo N'Dongo 64)
--
Athletic Bilbao 3 (De la Torre 17, Gomez 32, Hondo N'Dongo 73) Malaga 0
3 of my 4 defenders got on the scoresheet here which is a rarity.
--
LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Barc
2-2
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Valcarcel
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera*
Garcia
Vinas, Alonso, Gutierrez
Gijon
3-0
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia* 2
Garmendia, Gutierrez, Alonso
Rose
6-0
David
Azpilicueta
Palacios
Valcarcel
Rafael
Garmendia
Vinas
Rojo
Gutierrez
Ordonez Lopez* 2
Alfredo
Toni, Ayechu, Alonso
Ten
5-0
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia* 4
-
Gran
1-0
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo*
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia
Gutierrez
Malaga
3-0
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre*
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia
Alfredo, Gutierrez, Garmendia
--
SUMMARY
This was a solid month as we drew with Barcelona to win the Super Cup and then won the next 5 games, keeping a clean sheet in them all.
Izurza and Ruiz have done quite well so far and are handling the pressures of regular first team football at the highest level. I am trying to get Juame Gutierrez more game time too as he is developing fast.
UEFA Champions League Group B Roma 2 (Di Caro 16, Lamela 77) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Garcia 2, 61pen, Herrera 19)
We got lucky here as Roma were far better than us and had a goal disallowed.
--
Real Betis 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Garcia 20, Perez Villarroya 22)
--
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Perez Villarroya 53, 90, Hondo N'Dongo 61) Real Madrid 2 (Brown 7, 71)
A fantastic result this. A draw would have been a fair result but Perez Villarroya struck in stoppage time for us to claim the points.
--
UEFA Champions League Group B Athletic Bilbao 6 (Ruffier og5, Muniain 7, 67pen, 88, Garmendia 34, Alfredo 46) Bordeaux 3 (Fernando 75, 79, Poirot 90)
An entertaining match as there was 9 goals and a sending off. My old keeper, Stephane Ruffier, scored the first for us here. He is still playing at 39!!!
Fermin Garcia is having a much better season than last and his hat-trick here shows that.
--
Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg Extremadura 1 (Lopez 51) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Alfredo 57, Ayechu 77)
Sure we won but we should have scored much, much, much more!
--
LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Roma
3-2
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia* 2
Ordonez Lopez, Alonso, Gutierrez
Real Betis
2-0
David
Azpilicueta
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Garmendia
Cidoncha
Gutierrez
Perez Villarroya*
Ordonez Lopez
Garcia
Vinas, Rafael, Ayechu
Real M.
3-2
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Muniain
Perez Villarroya* 2
Herrera
Garcia
Garmendia, Alonso, Alfredo
Bord
6-3
David
Alonso
Palacios
Valcarcel
Rafael
Garmendia
Vinas
Muniain* 3
Ibanez
Ordonez Lopez
Alfredo
Gutierrez, Ayechu
Esp
3-1
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Valcarcel
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia* 3
Ordonez Lopez, Gutierrez, Vinas
Ext
2-1
David
Azpilicueta
Palacios
Valcarcel
Rafael
Garmendia
Vinas
Muniain
Ibanez*
Gutierrez
Alfredo
Ayechu, Sanchez, Damia
--
SUMMARY
This was a very successful month as we won all our games including a win over Real Madrid. The only worrying thing is that our defence has been leaking a few too many goals.
Next month we have a kind fixture list so I am hoping that we can step up a gear and bang in a lot of goals.
We struggled a bit here but just got the win when Muniain struck in the 4th minute of stoppage time.
--
UEFA Champions League Group B Bordeaux 2 (Poirot 46, Pinto 83pen) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Valcarcel 53, Ayechu 79)
--
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Cidoncha 85) Atletico Madrid 0
A decent win and it is always nice to see Cidoncha score. David got a rare man of the match award. Garcia got injured and is out for a couple of months.
--
Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg Athletic Bilbao 6 (Muniain 14, 26, 50, Valcarcel 37, Gutierrez 45, Palacios 89) Extremadura 0 (Athletic Bilbao win 8-1 on aggregate)
I expected this margin of victory in the first leg but I am happy enough with it here.
This month saw us do very well. Our defence was solid and strong and David has kept a clean sheet in each of his last 5 matches. Going forward we did ok but with the constant chopping and changing it was difficult to get any sort of consistancy - that said Jaume Gutierrez was impressive.
On the downside Fermin Garcia and Oceano Hondo N'Dongo suffered long term injuries so Ander Valcarcel and Alfredo will get an extended run in the side.
I gave my own centre half, Ander Valcarcel, his debut and also Argentinian striker Alan Barreto. Hondo N'Dongo got injured before the match and is out for a couple of months.
Another fine victory and performance. Now we head for the World Club Cup!
--
FIFA World Club Cup SF Monterrey 0 Athletic Bilbao 1 (Ayechu 76)
We struggled here but just managed to squeak through.
--
FIFA World Club Cup Final Athletic Bilbao 6 (Santano 27, 64, Herrera 30, Izurza 45, Perez Villarroya 62, Ayechu 89) Estudiantes (LP) 0
If only every cup final was this easy!!
--
LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Roma
2-2
David
Alonso
Valcarcel
Sanchez
Rafael
Garmendia
Ordonez Lopez
Muniain
Ibanez
Gutierrez
Ayechu
Toni, Eric, Zubizarreta
R. Val
2-0
David
Ruiz
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Vinas
Izurza
Perez Villarroya*
Herrera
Alfredo
Ayechu, Muniain
R. Soc
3-0
David
Ruiz
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano*
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Alfredo
Ayechu, Muniain
Sev
3-1
David
Ruiz
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya*
Herrera
Alfredo
Ayechu, Garmendia
Mont
1-0
David
Alonso
Valcarcel*
Palacios
Rafael
Garmendia
Vinas
Muniain
Ibanez
Gutierrez
Ayechu
Ordonez Lopez, Azpilicueta
Est
6-0
David
Ruiz
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano* 2
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Alfredo
Ayechu, Azpilicueta, Muniain
--
SUMMARY
December is always a busy month (except not nearly as busy as January) and we coped quite well and managed to remain unbeaten. As expected we also won the FIFA World Club Cup as we defeated Monterrey in a close match and then we followed that by thrashing Estudiantes in the final.
In the Champions League we have been drawn against Liverpool while in the World Cup my Spain side will face the Czech. Republic, USA and Egypt.
3 goals conceded at home against this lot is not on but David got injured before the match and Ismael Bilbao came in so maybe that was the reason.
--
Copa del Rey QF 1st Leg Barcelona 1 (Bustamante 75) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Ibanez 77, Ayechu 83)
An excellent win. We fell behind late on but quickly levelled and then they had Bustamante sent off and Ayechu scored the winner.
--
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Romero og6, Garcia 14pen, Palacios 48, Muniain 61) Valencia 1 (Berasaluce 45)
Fermin Garcia came back from injury here and managed to grab a goal.
-- Copa del Rey QF 2nd Leg Athletic Bilbao 2 (Ibanez 33, Muniain 86) Barcelona 2 (Redaelli 3, Osokin 89) (Athletic Bilbao win 4-3 on aggregate)
I am pleased that we managed to edge out Barcelona and also remain unbeaten this season.
--
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Herrera 22, Muniain 90) Deportivo La Coruna 0
More injury heartache here as Gaspar Perez Villarroya got injured and is out for 2-3 months.
--
Copa del Rey SF 1st Leg Athletic Bilbao 2 (Garcia 60, Cidoncha 68) Leganes 0
--
Real Sociedad 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Alfredo 88, 90)
--
LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Esp
2-0
David*
Ruiz
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Alfredo
Ayechu
Esp
1-1
David
Alonso
Valcarcel
Palacios
Rafael
Ordonez Lopez
Vinas
Muniain
Ibanez*
Gutierrez
Ayechu
Damia, Antonio
Rayo
4-3
I.Bilbao
Ruiz
Palacios
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Alfredo* 3
Alonso, Ibanez, Gutierrez
Barc
2-1
I.Bilbao
Ruiz
Palacios
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Alfredo
Muniain, Ayechu, Ibanez
Val
4-1
I.Bilbao
Ruiz
Palacios
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya*
Muniain
Garcia
Gutierrez, Garmendia, Ayechu
Barc
2-2
I.Bilbao
Alonso*
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Vinas
Izurza
Ibanez
Herrera
Garcia
Alfredo, Muniain, Rafael
Dep
2-0
I.Bilbao
Ruiz
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera*
Garcia
Ibanez, Muniain, Palacios
Leg
2-0
I.Bilbao
Alonso
Valcarcel
Palacios
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Ibanez
Muniain
Garcia*
Rafael, Gutierrez, Garmendia
R. Soc
2-0
David
Ruiz
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Muniain
Herrera
Garcia
Alfredo* 2, Ibanez, Garmendia
--
SUMMARY
9 games was played this month and we came through it unscathed. We are still top of the table having won all 19 of our league games and we also managed to knock out Barcelona in the cup and have one foot in the final after beating Leganes.
I did nothing in the transfer window as I am happy with the balance of my squad. In any case there is nobody out there I would even consider buying anyway!!!
Compared to recent seasons our goal tally seems to be lower but this helps and it was surprising as I was without my first 4 picks in the 3 AM positions!! (Herrera, Muniain, Izurza, GVP)
--
LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Leg
2-1
David
Alonso
Palacios
Gomez
Rafael
Garmendia*
Vinas
Muniain
Ibanez
Herrera
Alfredo
Ayechu, Damia, Lora
Gijon
3-0
David
Ruiz
Valcarcel
Gomez*
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Muniain
Herrera
Garcia
Palacios, Vinas, Ayechu
Barc
1-1
David
Ruiz*
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Garmendia
Cidonlcha
Izurza
Muniain
Herrera
Garcia
Vinas, Gutierrez, Ibanez
Ten
3-0
David
Ruiz*
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Garmendia
Cidoncha
Izurza
Muniain
Herrera
Garcia
Vinas, Ayechu, Ibanez
Gran
2-0
David
Ruiz
Valcarcel*
Gomez
De la Torre
Garmendia
Cidoncha
Izurza
Muniain
Herrera
Garcia
Azpilicueta, Ayechu, Gutierrez
Liv
2-0
David
Alonso
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Garmendia
Cidoncha
Izurza
Muniain
Herrera*
Garcia
Ayechu, Rafael, Toni
Mal
6-1
David
Alonso
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Garmendia 2
Cidoncha
Gutierrez
Ibanez
Ayechu
Garcia* 3
Rafael, Palacios, Luis Manuel
--
SUMMARY
We keep on keeping on as the Bilbao train shows no signs of stopping. We had some good results, especially against Barcelona and Liverpool, scored plenty of goals and generally did well.
I have finally agreed to sell Andoni Santano who keeps on wanting a new challenge. He will join Atletico Madrid for $40m in the summer and Ander Ibanez may be joining them too for $18m but that is yet to be confirmed.
Aitor celebrated signing a new contract by banging in a hat-trick here.
--
UEFA Champions League QF 1st Leg Benfica 2 (Guilherme 52, Ganchev 73) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Garcia 37, Santano 41)
I am content with this result, especially since they had a goal disallowed!!
--
LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Real Betis
3-1
David
Alonso
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Muniain
Herrera*
Garcia
Rafael, Ibanez, Gutierrez
Lev
4-1
David
Alonso
Valcarcel
Gomez
De la Torre
Toni
Vinas
Izurza
Muniain* 2
Herrera
Garcia
Damia, Ayechu
R. Mad
3-2
David
Alonso
Valcarcel
Gomez
Rafael
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Muniain
Herrera
Garcia* 2
Ordonez Lopez, Palacios, Gutierrez
Liv
2-0
David
Alonso
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez* 2
De la Torre
Toni
Cidoncha
Izurza
Muniain
Gutierrez
Garcia
Ibanez, Ayechu, Rafael
Esp
5-1
David
Alonso
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Ordonez Lopez
Cidoncha
Gutierrez*
Muniain
Herrera
Garcia
Rafael, Garmendia, Ayechu
Lev
3-1
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Valcarcel
De la Torre
Ordonez Lopez
Cidoncha
Izurza
Muniain
Herrera*
Garcia 2
Gutierrez, Rafael, Garmendia
Alm
5-0
David
Alonso
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
Rafael
Santano
Cidoncha
Gutierrez
Muniain
Herrera* 3
Garcia
Alfredo, Garmendia
Ben
2-2
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Gutierrez
Muniain
Herrera*
Garcia
Garmendia, Ibanez, Rafael
--
SUMMARY
We are set up for a successful end of season here after we put in a strong set of results this month. We are 14pts clear at the top of the league and all but champions while we are in a good position to qualify for the Champions League semis.
Individually some players really stepped up a gear. Roberto Gomez was immense, Fermin Garcia was superb too after being injured but both were eclipsed by god himself, Aitor Herrera as he played 7 games, scored 6, assisted 11 and got 4 man of the match awards!!!!!
I got a decent keeper in the youth intake but the best he can aspire to be is my long term backup keeper as David will be inbetween the posts for a few years to come yet!
Lineup - David, De la Torre (Fabinho), Valcarcel, Gomez, Hudson, M.Ruiz (Vinas), Cidoncha, Izurza (Gutierrez), Cano*, Herrera, Garcia (Barreto)
I had several injuries for this match so gave two Brazilians a debut (Fabinho and Hudson) as well as my own player - Vinas.
Atletico Madrid 1 (Traore 36) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Garcia 10)
Not a great result but I will take it. I put on Valcarcel and he got sent-off straight away. Perez Villarroya returned from injury here.
--
UEFA Champions League QF 1st Leg Athletic Bilbao 2 (Herrera 21, Gutierrez 75) Benfica 0 (Athletic Bilbao win 4-2 on aggregate)
--
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Perez Villarroya 6, Garcia 56pen, 83pen) Gimnastic 1 (Miranda 74)
It just occurred to me - this save is 95% about Aitor Herrera. So why the **** he isnt my captain and doesnt take the penalties to boost his goals record I have no clue!!! He has decent stats for everything after all.
--
Real Valladolid 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 14, Perez Villarroya 54)
I rested a few players here for the upcoming Champions League match.
--
UEFA Champions League SF 1st Leg Manchester United 2 (Daws 11, 19) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Garcia 64)
AAAGGGHHH!!!! Our first defeat of the season!!! To be fair we were awful and had Vinas sent-off in stoppage time.
-- UEFA Champions League SF 2nd Leg Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 18, Garcia 46, 105)
Manchester United 1 (Foster 32) (AET - Athletic Bilbao win 4-3 on aggregate)
We make it into the final and deservedly so. Izurza had a goal disallowed but admittedly we were helped by them having a man sent-off.
--
LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Atl M.
1-1
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Muniain
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia
Valcarcel, Garmendia, Gutierrez
Ben
2-0
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
Rafael
Santano
Cidoncha
Muniain
Perez Villarroya
Herrera*
Garcia
Gutierrez, Garmendia, Alonso
Gim
3-1
Daivd
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Muniain
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia* 2
Garmendia, Gutierrez, Vinas
R. Val
2-0
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre*
Santano
Cidoncha
Muniain
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia
Alfredo, Alonso
Sev
3-0
David
Azpilicueta
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
Rafael
Garmendia*
Cidoncha
Gutierrez
Ibanez
Herrera
Garcia
Ordonez Lopez, Ayechu, Vinas
Man Utd
1-2
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Muniain
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia
Vinas, Gutierrez, Valcarcel
Rayo
3-0
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre*
Santano
Cidoncha
Muniain
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia
Gutierrez, Alonso, Garmendia
Man Utd
3-1
David
Alonso
Hondo N'Dongo
Valcarcel
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Muniain
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia* 2
Izurza, Garmendia, Rafael
--
SUMMARY
On paper this month was decent enough but I have higher standards and I am disappointed with this month overall - after all we lost our first game of the season!!!!!!
We made it to the Champions League final by finishing off Benfica and narrowly beating Manchester United. Awaiting us in the final is Lyon and I am confident of our chances of winning the cup.
We have 3 league games left so it is imperative that we remain unbeaten and we also have two cup finals next month so it should be fun!!!
Valencia 3 (James 5, David og75, Segovia 86) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Alfredo 30, Valcarcel 42, Garmendia 45)
This was both Ibanez's and Azpilicueta's last game for the club and while I am happy that we ended another league campaign unbeaten I am annoyed at throwing away a 2 goal lead.
--
UEFA Champions League Final Lyon 0 Athletic Bilbao 1 (Izurza 60)
This was an awful final. The first half was a non event and things livened up a bit just after the break when they had a goal disallowed. Izurza struck the only goal of the game and we held on. Santano got the man of the match award in his last game for the club.
--
LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Barc
3-2
David
Azpilicueta
Valcarcel
Palacios
Ruiz
Garmendia
Vinas
Muniain
Ibanez
Gutierrez
Alfredo* 2
Izurza, Luis Manuel, Ordonez Lopez
Real Betis
4-1
David
Ruiz
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano
Cidoncha
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera*
Garcia
Muniain, Alfredo, Alonso
Leg
3-1
David
Alonso
Valcarcel
Palacios
De la Torre
Garmendia
Vinas
Muniain
Ibanez*
Ordonez Lopez
Alfredo
Ayechu, Lora, Luis Manuel
Val
3-3
David
Azpilicueta
Valcarcel*
Palacios
De la Torre
Garmendia
Vinas
Muniain
Ibanez
Gutierrez
Alfredo
Ayechu, Lora, Ordonez Lopez
Lyon
1-0
David
Alonso
Hondo N'Dongo
Gomez
De la Torre
Santano*
Garmendia
Izurza
Perez Villarroya
Herrera
Garcia
Muniain, Alfredo, Rafael
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SUMMARY
This was a decent end of the season as we kept the unbeaten run until the end of the campaign which was no mean feat considering I fielded a backup side against Barca and Valencia. The Copa del Rey final wasnt a contest and we won that easily enough.
Once again we triumphed in the UEFA Champions League but it was a disappointing final as we just sneaked it 1-0. It reminds me of the time when Aberdeen won the Scottish Cup in 1983........ <font size="4"><span style="font-family: book antiqua">[video=youtube;GoSiBq2Q0MU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoSiBq2Q0MU[/video]
Same old same old!!! We won every competition entered and did it fairly comfortably. The only regret was our 1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the Champions League.
Individually there were some excellent performances. Ibanez, when picked, was a beast and got an assist a game almost despite having lesser stats than his compatriots. Ruiz, Rafael, Garmendia, Izurza, Gutierrez and Vinas all made decent progress while Valcarcel and Palacios didnt look out of place either.
Aitor had a quiet season I suppose but in 47 games he scored 23 and assisted 28 so I am not complaining!!! Finally Fermin Garcia was back to his best and almost got a goal a game.
AWARDS
Spanish Player of the Year - A.Herrera Spanish Young Player of the Year - U.Garmendia Liga BBVA Player of the Year - A.Herrera Liga BBVA Manager of the Year
Liga BBVA Top Spanish Scorer - F.Garcia Liga BBVA Team of the Year - R.Gomez, A.Herrera, F.Garcia (David, A.De la Torre) FIFA World Player of the Year - A.Herrera FIFA World Golden Ball - A.Herrera FIFA World Team of the Year - David, A.Herrera (G.Perez Villarroya)
Lineup - David, De la Torre, Hondo N'Dongo, Gomez, Granell, Santano, M.Ruiz, Izurza (Muniain), Perez Villarroya (Cano), Herrera*, Garcia (Barreto)
Czech. Republic 1-1 Egypt
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We qualify as group winners but I am not happy with our performances as we should have won all 3 games fairly comfortably in my opinion.
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