A Spanish Revolution - a Deportivo De La Coruna Story

[sahajpal97]

This season looks a bit shaky and it seems like things could collapse any minute. Most of the wins have been narrow. The most enjoyable season was the season where you first qualified for the Champions League with Deportivo la Coruna.

 

[leckuno]

This season looks a bit shaky and it seems like things could collapse any minute. Most of the wins have been narrow. The most enjoyable season was the season where you first qualified for the Champions League with Deportivo la Coruna.

Yeah it’s a fear I have going into every match just now but also makes it more enjoyable in my eyes sometimes.

 

[leckuno]

February

Copa del Rey Quarter Final
Deportivo v Celta Vigo

A very dominant performance as we move onto the Semi Final here but Fuchs got us off to a great start with a goal right out the top drawer.

Alaves v Deportivo

Turns out we only play dominant football in the cups as we go back to just doing enough to get the 3 points.

Copa del Rey Semi Final 1st Leg
Deportivo v Espanyol

Ok I take that last comment back as we have to fight back from a goal down to get the win here but its good to see our youngsters getting game time and getting on the score sheet.

Deportivo v Almeria

Almeria have struggled this season at times and Aguilar really made them suffer here and Doku had his best performance yet with 2 goals and 2 assists.

Champions League 1st Knockout Round 1st Leg
Deportivo v Dortmund

Dortmund gave us a huge advantage after 17 minutes with the sending off but we still really struggled here to break them down but thanks to Dossena we take a narrow lead to Germany for the 2nd leg.

Deportivo v Sevilla

A huge win for us as we still look for our first title as Dossena score a nice chip after only 8 minutes and Garcia secures it in the 2nd half with a great strike from just outside the box

Cadiz v Deportivo

Our best performance yet even if they are sitting just above the relegation zone. Aguilar is making a name for himself as we might need to find space for him and Dossena to play upfront together

League

We still sit in 3rd spot but after a great month for us and other results going our way we're now just 1 point off top with 11 games left to play and a huge 14 points ahead of 5th as well

March

Two very important 2nd legs this month so there will be rotation in the league as we look to progress in both cups​

 

[MidKnightDreary]

Nervy stuff

 

[leckuno]

March

Copa del Rey Semi Final 2nd Leg
Espanyol v Deportivo

A much better performance as we make our consecutive finals and get to try and hold onto our title. What a 2nd half from Dossena with his first 2 goals coming in 2 minutes before rounding off his hat-trick

Deportivo v Mallorca

We rotated the squad here for going to Germany but sadly we didn't have enough in us for anything apart from a goalless draw.

Champions League 1st Knockout Round 2nd Leg
Dortmund v Deportivo

Our away form continues as we seem unbeatable just now as we put in a very dominant performance and progress to the next round.

Deportivo v Athletic Club

Back to struggling in the league at home as the legend that is Noel Lopez just keeps going and gets us the 3 points

Granada v Deportivo

I was really disappointed with this result as we managed to throw away a 2 goal lead but at least we still managed to get the point in the end.

League

We fall 5 points behind top spot again here and Barca even close the gap on us to 2 points now as well

Youth Intake

We only have 1 stand out player from the intake this year that might make it one day in Brais Manrique who is a very promising DMC but we will be looking to retrain him to a natural MC where he would be utilised a lot more down the line.

April

3 big games this month as we have the Champions League Quarter Final with the 2nd leg 3 days before our cup final against Barcelona​

 

[leckuno]

April

Espanyol v Deportivo

What a difference a red card can make as we were able to take full advantage of it and win the game.

Champions League Quarter Final 1st Leg
Deportivo v Manchester United

The game didn't really go to plan as we conceded in the opening quarter and then struggled as to get back into it but we did manage to walk away with a draw to keep us in the tie

Getafe v Deportivo

We rotate where we can to rest players and they do us proud with a good win here

Champions League Quarter Final 2nd Leg
Manchester United v Deportivo

Sadly we just couldn't handle them here as they ran away with the tie and progress to the semi final

Copa del Rey Final
Barcelona v Deportivo

What a start as Salinas slots home in only the 6th minute to give us the lead before Dossena doubles it in the 2nd half to secure back to back cup wins for us

Deportivo v Atletico Madrid

Atletico continue to disappoint their fans as we continue our dominance over them with a convincing win

Levante v Deportivo

Back to struggling for a win here as Aguilar keeps his form up and is making a compelling argument to be starting more games.

Deportivo v Celta Vigo

We went out there and performed for the fans in the derby game as Rodrigo and Lopez who are both homegrown step up and tear Celta Vigo to pieces

League

3 games to go and we could still finish top or 5th so its going to be a fun run in for everybody

May

A nice steady finish to the season with Valencia hopefully being the toughest game out the 3​

 

[leckuno]

May

Real Sporting v Deportivo

We left it late before getting on the scoresheet but Dossena grabs a brace to keep our title hopes alive.

Deportivo v Real Zaragoza

Our biggest win yet as we absolutely hammer Real Zaragoza here as we have 3 players get braces but Roger Lopez's brace from the middle was the best from the middle of the park with 2 long range shots

Valencia v Deportivo

Garcia gets us off to a great start putting us ahead before Tavers doubled the lead late on to give us every chance of finally securing the title.

League

We came so close to winning the title but sadly our goal difference just wasn't good enough as Real just pip us so we'll just have to try again next season.

Budgets

Well there is no increase in wage budget and a measly £15m to spend so we're going to have to sell off a player or two to bring some cash in.​

 

[sahajpal97]

Wow, this was really a make or break season for you in a way. I hope you can hold on to your best players and hopefully win the title next season. For the first time in the save it looks like you need to focus on retaining your key players rather than necessarily focusing on buying new ones, who may or may not replicate the form that you have shown this season.

 

[Evandro Roncatto]

Ah man, what a way to finish!

Been a really great read so far, hope you can finally crack it next season!

 

[leckuno]

Wow, this was really a make or break season for you in a way. I hope you can hold on to your best players and hopefully win the title next season. For the first time in the save it looks like you need to focus on retaining your key players rather than necessarily focusing on buying new ones, who may or may not replicate the form that you have shown this season.

Yeah its going to be a big summer for us this year as if we sell we're going to have to replace with a similar quality so we don't undo all the hard work

Ah man, what a way to finish!

Been a really great read so far, hope you can finally crack it next season!

Cheers, glad your enjoying it hopefully another season we can give it another good shot

 

[leckuno]

Season 8

Transfers Out

We went on a bit of a fire sale and sold a whopping 8 players as I decided we could reinvest some of the cash but its a sad day as we've had to sell some of our first team players and even sold a club icon but we did bring in just shy of £280,000,000

The big players to leave though were Leandro Salinas who came through our youth ranks but not wanting to take a Spanish nationality on really made it a bit of an easier decision to sell him for £85million. We also sold starting RB Nick Grafina so thats our whole starting right side gone. We then also sold Renan Lodi who again was our starting LB but we needed a big step up in quality there and he was on a high wage. We only signed Txini Aguirre last summer but we got offered a lot of money for a youth player so grabbed it with both hands. Eduardo Garcia also moved to spurs but I felt that we had some other young Spanish players who could fill his position so it made sense. Finally we let Noel Lopez go as he had been with us since the beginning of the save but sadly the time has come to let him go as we cash in for a whopping £45m for somebody who would of been 3rd choice and was starting to moan about game time. He's contributed a lot over the last 7 seasons but its time to say goodbye

Transfers In

So we have spent a small fortune on just 4 players so far but I really fell like 3 of them will add a lot to the squad this season and will be first team players from the off.

Mattia Cancelli

Cancelli became the starting LB for France recently and has been at Lyon since he started his career but we snap him up for £70,000,000. He will hopefully justify his transfer fee and become our long term LB as we have chopped and changed over the seasons.

Oskitz Uranga

Uranga was transfer listed by Athletic Club and at £2,500,000 he could be a bargain if his development goes to plan and if not we should be able to sell him for a nice fee. We have sent him out to Real Valladolid for first team football this season.

Carlos Diego

You might remember this name from when he scored against us in the Champions League Quarter Final for Manchester United but with selling Salinas we needed another RW and Diego should fill that space quite nicely. He even has Spanish as his 2nd nationality as he came through the Barcelona youth ranks before moving to Manchester United. He cost us £55,000,000 which isn't too bad.

Muharrem Demeli

At only 20 he looks like a world beater already and even a regular for Turkey at international level as well. He can play both as a LW and as a CM where I will be looking to utilise him in the middle of the park to run our midfield for the season ahead to add some more creativity there.

Friendlies

We had a large pre season as I wanted to make sure everybody would hit the ground running for us this season and also gave us a chance to change a couple of things as well tacitly and it all went well with us not losing any games but we did avoid friendlies with the big teams this summer.

Expectations

The board are finally expecting a bit more from us this season with the toughest being reaching the Copa del Rey Final again but apart from that I wouldn't be expecting anything else from us.

August

For the 2nd season in a row we start with 2 games against Real and Barca but at least they are both at home so I feel like it should give us a good chance this year for early wins to move ahead in the table
​

 

[leckuno]

August

Deportivo v Barcelona

Not how we wanted to start the league campaign at all but we can't complain really since it was Barca

Athletic Club v Deportivo

We still struggled a bit here with the new signings still gelling in with the rest of the squad but Rodrigo got an early goal with a well placed shot from just inside the box

Deportivo v Real Madrid

We finally get our first big performance of the season as what a final few minutes it was to the game as we took full advantage of Real here as Dossena and Aguilar linked up really well for the final 2 goals. It was even better to come back in the 2nd half after going in at the break 1-0 down

League

Only 3 games in so still far too much to go before looking into it too deeply

Transfers

We only had one player leaving the club this month as David Tavares Fernandes joined Leicester for £55,000,000 so it was a £53,000,000 profit even though he had been a key player for us for the last 3 seasons. We have replaced him with 2 new players though.

Nicolas Burgoa

We have probably paid over the odds since he cost us £65,000,000 from River Plate but I feel he has a real future at the club and with some game time can develop into a top class winger for us

Leonardo Butina

Already a full international at only 18 he comes in as we needed a player who could be a comfortable backup and he can cover both wings which makes him a perfect player for us as he can only get better and will get plenty of game time for us.

Champions League Group

Not the easiest of groups here for us to get our of in the top 2 but at least we have a history of beating Dortmund which will give us a chance

September

With the two big teams out of the way it makes things a lot easier for us but we do have the Champions League to look forward to again now​

 

[leckuno]

September

Valencia v Deportivo

We got off to a great start but sadly our legs gave out and Valencia were able to take advantage of that in the final 15 minutes as we fall to our 2nd defeat in 4 games.

Champions League Group Stage
Deportivo v Manchester United

A decent start to the group here as we managed to fight back from behind just like the 1st leg of the quarter final last year. The big test will be the return fixture.

Villarreal v Deportivo

Diego seems to have taken to the team well like a duck to water as he scores another 2 goals for us and even Rodrigo got in on the action to keep his form going.

Deportivo v Alaves

Our strikers seem to be forming a lethal partnership with another goal each. If I need to go back to 1 striker I don't know who we'll pick.

Osasuna v Deportivo

We decided to rotate some of the squad here to rest some players but the dynamic duo keep on scoring. Its like one wants to outdo the other

Champions League Group Stage
Dinamo Zagreb v Deportivo

They just keep scoring. Both strikers will be easily getting 30 goals plus this season if they keep scoring like this.

League

So after 7 games we're down in 5th spot but only 3 points behind top so nothing to worry about just yet.

International Call Up

Its taken 8 seasons but we have our first player called up to the Spanish national team and hopefully Rodrigo will get on the pitch at some point

October

The biggest game of the month is against Dortmund and the games in the league should allow us to rotate a bit and give some other players a chance again​

 

[leckuno]

October

Deportivo v Granada

A bit of a nervy game here but we did get off to a very fast start with two goals in 6 minutes before we started to flag and let Granada back into it.

Deportivo v Eibar

We take full advantage of the newly promoted team here as we score an excellent 5 goals to make sure we keep up with Barca and Real in the goals scored.

Champions League Group Stage
Deportivo v Dortmund

Well nobody saw this coming before the game but the sending off made a world of difference for us as their 10 men just couldn't keep up with us at all

Deportivo v Real Oviedo

Another newly promoted side we're able to sweep aside with ease as we get a goal in the opening 30 seconds to send us on our way

Espanyol v Deportivo

The dynamic duo strike again here to see us by Espanyol as Dossena even sets up Aguilar for his goal as well

Mallorca v Deportivo

Dossena is at it again as he just keeps scoring. It is only a matter of time before a bigger team steals him from us.

League

Well we sit top of the league by 3 points but Valencia do have a game in hand. We're also 5 points ahead of Real which I didn't see happening

November

A nice quiet month thanks to international call ups but the 3 games in the league this month won't be the easiest.​

 

[leckuno]

November

Champions League Group Stage
Dortmund v Deportivo

We get off to a good start in the first half before Dortmund go down to 10 men again and we take advantage again after our ex player equalized for them.

Deportivo v Real Sociedad

A poor game from us at home and we really should have done better here

Atletico Madrid v Deportivo

Atletico have been really poor since we came up so again we should have done better here again.

Champions League Group Stage
Deportivo v Dinamo Zagreb

We get off to a very quick start after just 3 minutes and then they got a player sent off and we were able to tear them to pieces as they just couldn't cope with Aguilar who netted 6 goals. Another 2 players with hat-tricks as well to show how good a night it was.

Deportivo v Sevilla

Sevilla have always been up the top every season so far so to get a win here was huge for us and ensures we stay in the title challenge

League

We slip down to 3rd as it could be anybody's title with it all still to play for

December

Just the 4 games to look forward to as the winter break is brought forward this year for some reason but we need to make the most of it.​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Feeling positive that this could be your year to win La Liga. Barca and Real proving hard nuts to crack, but gives the save some really good longevity

 

[sahajpal97]

I like the fact that you made expensive signings for some reason. It just fits. I see a lot of players when they do these kinds of saves, they go for younger but economical options, like they won't spend over 30 million pounds on a player, maximum over 40 million pounds on a player if he is really good. Firstly it is good, because the big spending shows a shift in mentality and an ambition so that even if it doesn't go well, it was not for a lack of trying. Deportivo in the current years of your save very much remind me of Malaga when they were taken over by rich owners in the early 2010's. Except in the case of your save, the bank balance grew and your money is the product of your own success and you're spending it.

 

[leckuno]

Feeling positive that this could be your year to win La Liga. Barca and Real proving hard nuts to crack, but gives the save some really good longevity

yeah I've been really enjoying it because of that as they are always going to be right up there and if we can beat them on a regular basis it should help with the Champions League as well

I like the fact that you made expensive signings for some reason. It just fits. I see a lot of players when they do these kinds of saves, they go for younger but economical options, like they won't spend over 30 million pounds on a player, maximum over 40 million pounds on a player if he is really good. Firstly it is good, because the big spending shows a shift in mentality and an ambition so that even if it doesn't go well, it was not for a lack of trying. Deportivo in the current years of your save very much remind me of Malaga when they were taken over by rich owners in the early 2010's. Except in the case of your save, the bank balance grew and your money is the product of your own success and you're spending it.

Yeah I firmly believe that if you sell a first team player and don't have a ready made replacement then you need to sign a player just as good if not better if we want to keep progressing or we'll go backwards

 

[leckuno]

December

Deportivo v Celta Vigo

What a win in the derby for us as Celta Vigo couldn't cope with us at all. Its a shame we couldn't take advantage of the extra man to really punish them

Champions League Group Stage
Manchester United v Deportivo

We get off to a flying start but sadly it wasn't enough as Man Utd equalise 22 minutes later. We did get very lucky though as Utd had a goal chopped off for offside in the 2nd half

Cadiz v Deportivo

We had to rest some players here but Dossena was able to come on at half time to get the all important goal to get us the 3 points.

Deportivo v Almeria

A much better performance here as Aguilar is showing he might be able to fully replace Dossena in the team if need be.

League

We're back up to top of the table and its still a 4 horse race but whose going to give first.

January

A busier month again and it will only get busier if we progress in the cup as expected.​

 

[leckuno]

January

Supercopa Semi Final
Deportivo v Sevilla

Butina with two great solo goals in the opening 20 minutes to see us into the final for a 2nd year in a row.

Supercopa Final
Barcelona v Deportivo

We lose the final for the 2nd year in a row and this was a sore one was we took the lead twice and threw it away so we'll just need to come back and try again next year.

Levante v Deportivo

Not a lot to say here apart from we should of done better.

Copa del Rey 3rd Round
Llanes v Deportivo

We got given a scare here when they equalised but thankfully the red card let us win the game with a poor performance.

Barcelona v Deportivo

A respectable draw here away to Barca

Real Madrid v Deportivo

Not the best start here as they controlled it right from the kick off and scored early but we did well to restrict it at that

Cope del Rey 4th Round
Deportivo v Real Oviedo

A much better performance from us here as we get back on a decent run of goals. Galvez also got a debut goal here as well

Deportivo v Athletic Club

We get our first win the league in 4 games as Demeli scores a screamer.

Cope del Rey Quarter Final
Real Madrid v Deportivo

We'll we won't be making it 3 cup wins in a row as Real get the better of us again for the 2nd time this month as they score another very early goal.

League

Real Madrid are running away from us now as have fallen down to 4th and 8 points behind

Transfers

We only bring in one player this month as we signed Gary Suazo from Univeridad de Chile for £2.9million and loaned him straight back to them as we are already maxed out with non-EU players just now

February

We've got PSV in the first knockout round of the Champions League and we should have a good chance of progressing here.​