A Battle With Bilbao

[Sam91]

March

​

• 
  [*=left]Derby ends in a 2 - 2 draw
  [*=left]Bilbao draw Rubin Kazan in the Quarter Finals, winner will face either Fulham or Udinese
  [*=left]Llorente hits 4 past Atletico Madrid
  [*=left]Valencia sack Emery and hire Bielsa
  [*=left]Bilbao announce new youth intake and I get myself a fantastic young keeper!!

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Youth Intake

View attachment 251882View attachment 251883
So I got 2 absolute gems with my youth intake, Jose Maria looks awesome and will be my second choice keeper now, and Alex Aranburu will be my back up right winger which will spell the end for David Lopez


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So a very good month, the derby game was frustrating as we were the better side but 2 long range screamers from Sociedad meant a point each. The first leg against Besiktas was an incredible one man show from Llorente, also Muniain made a return from injury off the bench to set up the fourth goal. Oasasuna were swept aside with ease, the highlight being Muniain getting a goal in his first start since injury. The second leg against Besiktas was a good opportunity for me to rest some key men and I was happy to avoid defeat. I was so glad to get one over on Valencia after they beat us earlier in the year and Muniain was again really impressive with another MoM award along with a goal and both assists. The match against Atletico Madrid was fantastic, granted we got a massive favour with them going down to 10 men, but Llorente bagged 4 goals again. Benat's long range effort was enough for us to beat Sporting. The Barca match was tough, they took the lead then we had a man sent off and it was an uphill struggle from then on.




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La Liga


Athletic Bilbao 2 - 2 Real Sociedad

Gabilondo, Susaeta



Osasuna 1 - 3 Athletic Bilbao

San Jose(PEN), Muniain, Llorente



Athletic Bilbao 3 - 1 Valencia

Muniain, Victor Ruiz OG(2)


Atletico Madrid 1 - 4 Athletic Bilbao

Llorente(4)

View attachment 251854


Athletic Bilbao 1 - 0 Sporting

Benat



Barcelona 1 - 0 Athletic Bilbao




Euro Cup

Besiktas 1 - 4 Athletic Bilbao

Llorente (4)



Athletic Bilbao 1 - 1 Beskitas
Bilbao win 5 - 2 on aggregate

De Marcos



Rubin Kazan 2 - 1 Athletic Bilbao

Saul



Player Of The Month

Fernando Llorente

9 goals this month, speaks for itself


Table

View attachment 251892










​

 

[Sam91]

April

​

• 
  [*=left]Both youngsters make debuts
  [*=left]Champions League next year for us!!
  [*=left]Bilbao into Euro Cup final, where we will face OM after they beat Bayern 4-3 on aggregate turning over a 3-0 1st leg loss!!
  [*=left]We snap up a young striker for £4.3M
  [*=left]Man United wrap up the EPL, Sunderland finish second!!
  [*=left]Real Madrid beat Barca AGAIN
  [*=left]Aranburu bags his 1st club goal

Here's our new addition who will join us next season, bags of potential.

View attachment 251924


Etxaniz broke the youngest ever player for Bilbao AND La Liga

View attachment 251937

Aranburu becomes youngest goalscorer for La Liga (record previously held by Muniain)

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So we made it to the Euro Cup final, by penalties. It was incredibly nervous but we done it. Sevilla dominated us from the first whistle to the last, Alex Aranburu made his debut in the match. Next game Jose Maria Etxaniz made his debut in goal only conceding because of a penalty, Aranburu came off the bench and grabbed his first assist for the club. Mallorca were easily swept aside with goals from David Lopez and Saul, David Lopez is putting in some really good performances which is making me think twice about selling him. The first leg of our semi-final against Udinese was a walk over, San Jose missed a penalty and Ekiza scored his first goal for the club. In the match against Racing San Jose missed ANOTHER penalty so hes coming off peno duty. We won the match anyway, 4-0 up by half-time and that was that. The second leg against Udinese was a crazy game but we managed to progress on away goals!! Our reward? A final against OM who turned over a 3-0 loss to Bayern in the first leg and win 4-0 at their place. Aranburu scored his first goal in a 3-1 win over relegation bound Zaragoza.


​

La Liga


Athletic Bilbao 1 - 2 Sevilla

Llorente



Granada 1 - 4 Athletic Bilbao

Muniain, Llorente, Susaeta, Angel Dealbert OG



Athletic Bilbao 2 - 0 Mallorca

David Lopez, Saul




Racing 0 - 4 Athletic Bilbao

Herrera(2), Llorente, Gabilondo




Real Zaragoza 1 - 3 Athletic Bilbao

Llorente(2), Aranburu

View attachment 251960





Euro Cup

Athletic Bilbao 2 - 1 Rubin Kazan

De Marcos, Amorebieta


View attachment 251923




Athletic Bilbao 1 - 0 Udinese

Ekiza



Udinese 3 - 2 Athletic Bilbao
Bilbao through on away goals

Llorente(2)

View attachment 251959





Player Of The Month

Borja Ekiza

Solid performances at the back, plus it can't go to Llorente every month


Tables

View attachment 251963





​

 

[SammyJH94]

Well in for this season mate! cant wait for next season should be a good one, nice to see your getting great prospects for the future all capable of big things for the club !

 

[Sam91]

May

​

• 
  [*=left]Bilbao win Spanish cup with convincing win over Barcelona
  [*=left]Di Matteo sacked by Chelsea, I was linked but Mancini took the job (I wouldn't leave anyway)
  [*=left]Bilbao win Euro Cup in extra time
  [*=left]Barcelona win the league
  [*=left]Rayo, Zaragoza and Levante relegated
  [*=left]Muniain wins Young Player and I'm named Manager of the Year

So a fantastic month for us, the Spanish Cup final was a walk over as Barca fielded their kids and I played my strongest side and we walked it. The La Liga match against Getafe was pointless so I changed the whole side so my big names got some rest ready for the Euro Cup final against OM, we still managed a 3-0 win. In the Euro Cup final it was about as dramatic match possible, we took the lead through a San Jose penalty(yes I left him taking them even though he missed 2 in a row last month), then they equalised. In the second half Llorente robbed their centre back and slotted home, I thought we were heading towards a victory but in the last 3 minutes they equalised. So extra time came and we were dominating and in the dying stages we won a free kick on the edge of the area and up stepped Susaeta to curl it home and send myself mad!! Our last game of the season was against Levante and I chose to give some fringe players a run out, and even though Levante beat us it wasn't enough to save them from the drop bye bye.








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La Liga


Athletic Bilbao 3 - 0 Getafe

Toquero(2), Gurpegi


Levante 2 - 1 Athletic Bilbao

Toquero


Spanish Cup Final


Athletic Bilbao 3 - 0 Barcelona

Muniain, Llorente(2)


View attachment 251974View attachment 251975




Euro Cup Final



Athletic Bilbao 3 - 2 OM
AET

Llorente, San Jose(PEN), Susaeta

View attachment 251998View attachment 251999



End Of Season Awards
​

• 
  [*=center]Villa wins Spanish Player of the Year
  [*=center]Muniain wins Spanish Young Player of the Year
  [*=center]Villla wins Top Goalscorer (Llorente runner up)
  [*=center]Ronaldo wins Spanish League Player of the Year
  [*=center]Valdes named Keeper of the Year (Aranzubia 3rd place)
  [*=center]I was named Manager of the Year
  [*=center]Llorente only Bilbao player in team of the year as Barca have 9 players in there
  [*=center]Granada win Most Improved Club

View attachment 252004View attachment 252005



Final League Table and Player Ratings


View attachment 252006View attachment 252007View attachment 252008




So as you guys can see Barca were incredible, there was no way we were stopping them this year and probably not for a few years. But I do believe that Real Madrid can be caught next season as long as they don't go mad in the transfer window which they probably will!! Anyway I hope you all enjoyed my first season, I'm happy with what we have achieved. Hope your all enjoying it and if you want any screenshots of players, teams, or leagues(that I have loaded) please feel free to ask.





​

 

[Sam91]

Birch Gets Team GB Olympics Job!!!

View attachment 252011

My next update will be my squad choice​

 

[Sam91]

Well in for this season mate! cant wait for next season should be a good one, nice to see your getting great prospects for the future all capable of big things for the club !

Thanks mate, its been a great season, couldn't have asked for more really. Yeah good to grab a few good regens early on

Thanks for reading

 

[Klippybo]

Good first season - I finished 2nd in mine but didnt win the cup like you did (won the Europa league though). I got Aitor in my first years youth intake so that turned out to be the best thing in my save! Keep up the good work!

 

[Sam91]

Good first season - I finished 2nd in mine but didnt win the cup like you did (won the Europa league though). I got Aitor in my first years youth intake so that turned out to be the best thing in my save! Keep up the good work!

Cheers KLIPPY, I feared the the worst when we got Barca in the final of the Spanish Cup but it ended up being a walkover!! Yeah I didn't get an Aitor but pretty happy with Aranburu and Etxaniz Thanks mate

 

[Sam91]

Team GB Announced!!

View attachment 252067



Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young and Ashley Cole were the three Over 23 players, was a tough choice between Ben Amos and Jack Butland but Butland hasn't played a lot this season.​

 

[HE Pennypacker]

Insanely good first season with thew two trophies AND the best of the rest in La Liga. The goalkeeper regen looks an absolute beast, and I really like the Great Britain squad you've put together there too. Cleverley is a smart pick as he's better than his stats almost let on.

I'll be following this from now on.

 

[Sam91]

The Olympics

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So I'm leading Team GB to the Olympics, we had a fairly straightforward group up against Nigeria, Japan and Uruguay so lets see how we got on in the groups.

Heres's the tactic I'll be using

View attachment 252119


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Team GB 3 - 0 Nigeria

Chalobah(2), Welbeck

View attachment 252095



Team GB 4 - 1 Japan

Rooney(3), Bale

View attachment 252094



Team GB 3 - 0 Uruguay

Rooney, Sturridge, Young


View attachment 252096



Tables


View attachment 252098


So we walked the group, thought Uruguay might have put up a bit more of a fight but we proved too strong. Only thing is now Rooney and Walcott are both injured . Lets see if we could make it all the way!!


Quarter Final


Team GB 4 - 3 Ivory Coast

Sturridge(2), Chalobah, Welbeck

View attachment 252105View attachment 252106

An epic match which swung one way, then the other then back again. Absolutely bonkers but I'm glad we snatched the win



Semi Final


Team GB 3 - 2 Uruguay

Welbeck, Sturridge(3), Young, Polenta OG, Walcott

View attachment 252113View attachment 252114

So we had Uruguay in the semi's a team we easily dispatched of in our group. We were 2-1 down at one point but the result speaks for itself!! Now let see who we have in the final...


Final


Team GB 2 - 1 Brazil

Chalobah, Jones

View attachment 252123View attachment 252124



We won!!! It was tough and easily our hardest game but Chalobah done it again!! Not many people would pick him for the Olympics, heck I'm sure some people haven't even heard of him. But he's been immense for me along with Danny Sturridge.


Olympics Player Stats

View attachment 252136




Player Awards


Goal Of The Tournament

Leandro Damiao


GB Player of the Tournament

Nathaniel Chalobah


Top Scorer

Danny Sturridge

​

So there it is, I lead Team GB to Olympic Gold!!! Now to crack on with Bilbao for season 2, and I have some news... I've snapped up a real gem from Valencia!!​

 

[Sam91]

Insanely good first season with thew two trophies AND the best of the rest in La Liga. The goalkeeper regen looks an absolute beast, and I really like the Great Britain squad you've put together there too. Cleverley is a smart pick as he's better than his stats almost let on.

I'll be following this from now on.

Thank's mate, yeah he's pretty decent already started using him at the end of last season and he was pretty solid. I'll rotate him for another season then after that he'll be my number 1. Yeah the Olympic squad was interesting took a couple of risks but they paid off massively, especially Chalobah!!

Cheers I'll be following yours too

 

[Sam91]

Pre Season and August Results

​

• 
  [*=left]Inter Milan won last seasons Champions League
  [*=left]Chelsea sign Hazard for £35M (exactly like in real life)
  [*=left]Spain win Euro 2012 with 2-1 victory over England in the final

View attachment 252138
​

• 
  [*=left]Bilbao break transfer record for unproven youngster
  [*=left]Llorente was voted Fans Player of the Year
  [*=left]Real Madrid sign Hummels and Oscar
  [*=left]Bilbao add Spanish Super Cup to growing collection

​

Transfers Ins and Outs

Patricio Perez (£13M from Valencia): So this is the little gem I mentioned in the previous post. Yes i overpaid, yes his stats aren't great YET! But his potential is incredible

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View attachment 252145

Jacinto Rivas (£2.3M from Sevilla) a holding midfielder who ill train as a centre midfielder and he can then develop into Javi Martinez's backup/replacement

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View attachment 252148​

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Also the two lads I wrapped up during the end of last season ill just remind everyone


View attachment 252149View attachment 252150
​

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Both will be backups, and will play against weaker opposition so they get game time.




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I also got rid of a lot of deadwood, here's a screenshot of all the In's and Out's.​

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View attachment 252173

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Pre Season Friendlies

Recretivo 0 - 3 Athletic Bilbao

Perez, Llorente, Javi Martinez


View attachment 252155



Easy win, Perez took only 6 minutes to bag his first goal (even though its was just a friendly)



Cordoba 0 - 3 Athletic Bilbao

Llorente(2), Saul

View attachment 252158

Another easy win, good to see Llorente looking sharp already.

​

That's it for the friendlies due to my involvement in the Olympics, I would have wanted more but never mind.


​

Spanish Super Cup


Athletic Bilbao 5 - 2 Barcelona

Llorente(2), Ekiza, Susaeta, Henrique OG



Barcelona 3 - 2 Athletic Bilbao
Bilbao win 7 - 5 on aggregate

Javi Martinez, Perez


View attachment 252167View attachment 252168



What can I say?? We destroyed them in the first leg so I decided to field the kids in the second leg and they didn't let me down!! Perez bagged his first competitive goal, Etxaniz was incredible in goal and making me think he might be ready for more than just the occasional appearance against weaker sides. Alex Aranburu caused Barca all kinds of problems down the right and Garcia Martin was lively up top and will be more than capable of being Llorente's back up this year.

Oh and Perez'z goal against Barca meant he broke another record already

View attachment 252170



But then I got this message...

View attachment 252172

Perez crunched Aranzubia and our number 1 is now out for 2 to 3 months!! Step up Etxaniz!!!!



Champions League Draw


Manchester United
Sporting (POR)
Athletic Bilbao
Standard

A tough group, but hopefully we can finish second... we'll see



​

That's all for this month guys, no La Liga fixtures till next month which kicks off with the European Super Cup against Inter.

Let me know what you think of the regens, signings and Perez in particular Thanks for reading​

 

[Kezza96]

Good story, Sam! 3 Trophies already, nice

 

[Sam91]

September

​

• 
  [*=left]
  Bilbao suffer defeat in European Super Cup Final ​
  
  [*=left]Llorente nets hat-trick against Atletico Madrid
  [*=left]Bilbao sign 2 more youngsters
  [*=left]San Jose gets injured on International Duty
  [*=left]Jose Mourinho leaves Real Madrid for Man City

The Super Cup loss to Inter was depressing as we held the lead until the 87th minute and then to lose it in extra time... well never mind. We kicked off our La Liga campaign against Atletico Madrid, I chose Perez over Muniain purely because Muniain wasn't match fit yet and Perez put in a solid display, not quite as solid as Llorente though . Next up Sporting the Champions League and Muniain put them to the sword with a superb display. Back to the league and Sevilla dominated us, but we took our frustrations out on Villarreal as Perez and Susaeta tore them apart. But against Deportivo Perez turned the villan being sent off but the boys made up for it and Garcia Martin bagged his first goal for the club. After that we had Getafe and they were easily swept aside as Susaeta set up both goals.


So the two regens I signed were Jonathan for £10M and Jon Santano for £6.5M. Here they are


​

View attachment 252200View attachment 252201



La Liga

Atletico Madrid 1 - 3 Athletic Bilbao

Llorente(3)


View attachment 252193View attachment 252194




Sevilla 2 - 1 Athletic Bilbao

Muniain


Athletic Bilbao 3 - 1 Villarreal

Perez, Susaeta


Deportivo 0 - 3 Athletic Bilbao

Susaeta, Saul, Garcia Martin


Athletic Bilbao 2 - 0 Getafe

Llorente, Javi Martinez


European Super Cup

Inter Milan 3 - 2 Athletic Bilbao(AET)

Adler OG, Herrera


View attachment 252195View attachment 252196



Champions League

Sporting (POR) 0 - 3 Athletic Bilbao

Muniain(2), Ekiza



Player Of The Month

Markel Susaeta

Contributing with goals and assists consistently

Tables

View attachment 252232View attachment 252233


​

 

[Sam91]

October

​

• 
  [*=left]Lippi takes over Real Madrid
  [*=left]Barcelona and Madrid looking very strong again, but Malaga looking good too
  [*=left]The young guns looking very good
  [*=left]Aranzubia returns to full training... but will have a tough time getting his starting spot back

All in all a good month. The highlight being the win over Malaga who are looking really strong this year. The young lads are doing really well, Garcia Martin looking like he could replace Llorente in a few years. We're looking strong in the league, but I don't think we will be challenging this year. Sporting got points off United in the Champions League so thats given us some space at the top


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La Liga


Osasuna 0 - 1 Athletic Bilbao

Ruben OG



Athletic Bilbao 2 - 2 Real Sociedad

Benat, Javi Martinez



Malaga 1 - 4 Athletic Bilbao

Llorente(2), Muniain, Javi Martinez
View attachment 252280



Champions League


Athletic Bilbao 3 - 3 Manchester United

Saul(2), Javi Martinez



Athletic Bilbao 4 - 1 Standard

Garcia Martin(2), Muniain, Aranburu

View attachment 252271View attachment 252272



Spanish Cup 1st Leg


Leganes 1 - 2 Athletic Bilbao

Perez(2)




Player Of The Month

Javi Martinez

Been solid and consistent, chipped in with a few goals too



Table

View attachment 252282View attachment 252288






​

 

[SammyJH94]

Solid month mate looking good! should be another great season for the club, looking really strong for only your second season, or maybe Athletic are a strong team to start with im just not big for the spanish leauge

 

[Sam91]

Solid month mate looking good! should be another great season for the club, looking really strong for only your second season, or maybe Athletic are a strong team to start with im just not big for the spanish leauge

Thanks mate, should be a good year can't see us getting as many trophies as last year though.

Bilbao are a decent side, media prediction last season was 10th and I finished 3rd. In real life last year they finished 10th I believe but did make the Europa League final. You've got the big 2 obviously then the likes of Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Villarreal(who were actually relegated this year in real life) who all have good teams. Malaga have loads of money. The Bilbao, who's squad is decent with the likes of Muniain, Llorente, Susaeta, Javi Martinez and Herrera, plus others. But if you get Llorente and Muniain performing the you stand a chance against the top teams around you really. Plus the youth network is incredible for them have you seen the regen keeper I got?! Hes been my number 1 this season due to Aranzubia's injury and he's done really well and he's only 16 at the minute.

Thanks for ready buddy glad you're enjoying it

 

[Klippybo]

Doing well mate although I wouldnt dare dream spending that amount of cash on those youngsters - still after a few years you have more money than you possibly need but I like to keep my costs to a minimum anyway.

Having said that I just released a cb on £5Ok a week in my game who had 2 years left on his contract! Cost me the best part of £5m

 

[Sam91]

Doing well mate although I wouldnt dare dream spending that amount of cash on those youngsters - still after a few years you have more money than you possibly need but I like to keep my costs to a minimum anyway.

Having said that I just released a cb on £5Ok a week in my game who had 2 years left on his contract! Cost me the best part of £5m

Yeah, but I just could't not have them . Plus there wasn't any other Basque players around really, and had £32M just sitting there.

Aha couldn't you sell they guy?! You have plenty of money though!! £600M I believe lol