January 2039
Another transfer window opens, so it’s time to look at what’s going on: ST Drake, GK Makengo and CB Rincon’s contracts all expire in the summer. Rincon is retiring, so isn’t so much of a problem. Makengo’s contract is £200k a week which is a lot. I’m considering allowing him to go and pick up a cheaper back-up option on a free - a number of good options are available.
Drake is the biggest headache. Having failed to agree terms with Man City in the summer for his move away, he’s now unhappy and refusing to a sign a new contract. He’s a world-class talent so I am very keen to keep him at the club. However, if he does leave, we have Juan Mas who could step into his shoes for next season but he needs gametime so going out on loan would be the best option for the remainder of this season before, essentially, replacing Drake next season.
Eibar
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Watching that was like wading through treacle.
Getafe (Spanish Cup, 5th Round, 1st Leg)
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A game of firsts as both Sanchez and Garrancho score their first goals for the club in a comfortable result that should guarantee progression.
Zaragoza
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A Benali-inspired thumping win takes us top of the league as Real fail to win at San Sebastien. Those goals take Benali’s season total to 20 goals, 16 in the league, to give him his best goalscoring season in a Barca shirt…and we’re still only in January. That makes it 13 wins in the last 14 games and just one goal conceded in the last 11.
Getafe (Spanish Cup, 5th Round, 2nd Leg)
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It’s a good job the first leg was comfortable, as that was a bit of an anti-climax. Real Madrid await in the quarter finals.
A Bilbao
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Two awful defensive errors give Bilbao the way back into the game and just as it looks like they’ve done enough to earn themselves a point, Benali tucks away a penalty in injury time.
Real Madrid (Spanish Cup, Qtr Final 1st leg)
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We finally manage a win over Real and it’s a fairly comprehensive one although it took a pretty drastic change just after half time to consolidate the win.
Espanyol
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Once again, Benali is the player that makes the difference although we didn’t play particularly well and were stretched in parts.
Real Madrid (Spanish Cup, Qtr Final 2nd leg)
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The formation stays the same, but some fairly substantial tactical changes are made to give us the best chance of progression and an utterly dominant display ensures that we do. We hunted in packs, smothered Real high up the pitch and kept the ball ourselves, all of which meant that it was going to be a low scoring affair.
View attachment 53028
Watching that was like wading through treacle.
Getafe (Spanish Cup, 5th Round, 1st Leg)
View attachment 53027
A game of firsts as both Sanchez and Garrancho score their first goals for the club in a comfortable result that should guarantee progression.
Zaragoza
View attachment 53026
A Benali-inspired thumping win takes us top of the league as Real fail to win at San Sebastien. Those goals take Benali’s season total to 20 goals, 16 in the league, to give him his best goalscoring season in a Barca shirt…and we’re still only in January. That makes it 13 wins in the last 14 games and just one goal conceded in the last 11.
Getafe (Spanish Cup, 5th Round, 2nd Leg)
View attachment 53025
It’s a good job the first leg was comfortable, as that was a bit of an anti-climax. Real Madrid await in the quarter finals.
A Bilbao
View attachment 53024
Two awful defensive errors give Bilbao the way back into the game and just as it looks like they’ve done enough to earn themselves a point, Benali tucks away a penalty in injury time.
Real Madrid (Spanish Cup, Qtr Final 1st leg)
View attachment 53023
We finally manage a win over Real and it’s a fairly comprehensive one although it took a pretty drastic change just after half time to consolidate the win.
Espanyol
View attachment 53022
Once again, Benali is the player that makes the difference although we didn’t play particularly well and were stretched in parts.
Real Madrid (Spanish Cup, Qtr Final 2nd leg)
View attachment 53021
The formation stays the same, but some fairly substantial tactical changes are made to give us the best chance of progression and an utterly dominant display ensures that we do. We hunted in packs, smothered Real high up the pitch and kept the ball ourselves, all of which meant that it was going to be a low scoring affair.
Valencia await…
Malaga
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Gonzalez’s goalscoring has somewhat petered out recently so Drake starts and he gets his goal. It takes a while to actually seal the win, but it gets more comprehensive the longer the game went on.
What can I say - Benali is just quality. 20 league goals in just 21 games and on top of that he leads the assists charts. Gonzalez has slowed after a very good start and even Drake as a bit part player has been making a significant contribution although the vast majority of his goals have been in the cups.
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It’s pretty obvious that us and Real are head and shoulders above the rest of the league as we’ve already pulled 13 points clear of the chasing pack. We have a pretty poor record against Real, but a fantastic one against everyone else so it may just be a case of hoping Real slip up against the smaller teams which should be enough. The Champions League is the big one though.
View attachment 53018
View attachment 53020
Gonzalez’s goalscoring has somewhat petered out recently so Drake starts and he gets his goal. It takes a while to actually seal the win, but it gets more comprehensive the longer the game went on.
What can I say - Benali is just quality. 20 league goals in just 21 games and on top of that he leads the assists charts. Gonzalez has slowed after a very good start and even Drake as a bit part player has been making a significant contribution although the vast majority of his goals have been in the cups.
View attachment 53019
It’s pretty obvious that us and Real are head and shoulders above the rest of the league as we’ve already pulled 13 points clear of the chasing pack. We have a pretty poor record against Real, but a fantastic one against everyone else so it may just be a case of hoping Real slip up against the smaller teams which should be enough. The Champions League is the big one though.
View attachment 53018