JANUARY Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg v Marbella 1 (Fernandez 16) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Montes 3, 49, Nunez 47) Lineup - Simon, Segura, A.Lopez, Yeray, Jimenez, Nunez, Montes*, X.Lopez (Castano), Saizar, Muniain (Adria), Goni (Perez)
Manolo Montes was the star man here as he scored 2 goals. Going into the game my young wonderkid striker, Zubillaga, got injured so I gave the nod to Inaki Goni who has scored 25 goals in the U19s and who has just been promoted to the B team. Inigo Perez came on for him has scored 14 for my B team and is the top scorer in the 2nd tier.
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v Eibar 0 Athletic Bilbao 1 (Sancet 2)
Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain (Montes), Sancet*, Williams, Morilla, Gonzalez (Muniain), Martin (Zubillaga)
The scoreline does not reflect our dominance as we had 25 shots to their 1 but as it was Oihan Sancet's bullet from 25 yards in the 2nd minute was enough for us to win.
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Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg v Athletic Bilbao 4 (A.Lopez 5, Zubillaga 6, 31, 42) Marbella 0 (Agg: 7-1) Lineup - Simon, Segura, A.Lopez, Yeray, Adria, Nunez, Montes (U.Zubillaga), X.Lopez, Saizar (Castano), Muniain (Goni), B.Zubillaga*
Finally my youngsters put in a good performance and get a few goals to go with it. Borja Zubillaga scored a fantastic hat-trick - his 2nd goal was a beauty from 20 yards and Unai Zubillaga made his debut, he is a good prospect in the B team who plays CM.
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v Athletic Bilbao 3 (Morilla 14, 45, Gonzalez 30pen) Real Madrid 0
The cup draw was again very kind as we got the worst team in the top division without a win so I put out my youngsters and they got the win to give us an advantage in the 2nd leg.
After playing the side without a league victory in our previous match we come up against the side with only 1 league victory to their name here. We were excellent in the first half and scored 4 but I am annoyed that we didn't score anymore in the 2nd half.
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Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (A.Lopez 27, Montes 39, Goni 90) Real Valladolid 1 (Borrego 46) (Agg: 4-1)
Lineup - Simon, Segura, A.Lopez, Yeray, Jimenez, Nunez, Montes*, X.Lopez, Saizar (Castano), Muniain (Adria), Zubillaga (Goni)
We reach the final and in every game so far I have put out my youngsters. Manolo Montes continued to impress here and he is really challenging Nolaskoain for a spot in the starting XI now.
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v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Nolaskoain 22, Gonzalez 47) Levante 0
All hail my assistant manager (cant remember his name lol) as he managed the team to victory here as I had a touchline ban after criticising the referees after Martin had a goal disallowed in our last match. Sure it was annoying to concede the late goal but we have a strong advantage.
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SUMMARY
We kicked off 2024 in fine style as we took charge in both league and cup. We had 9 games to play including matches against Real Madrid and Barcelona but in 4 of the matches I played my youngsters so my squad was well rested. In the league we have opened up an 8pt gap at the top of the table with the highlight being the 3-0 victory against Real Madrid.
In the cup we had easy draws right up to the semis so my youngsters got us through there with Montes, Zubillaga and Alfonso Lopez particularly impressing and we have the advantage over Barcelona heading into the 2nd leg.
As for the transfer window I loaned in a young player from Barcelona to make him have Basque nationality. View attachment 23304
Next month we have a run of 5 away fixtures in a row!!!!
v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Williams 14, Gonzalez 36, Morilla 65) Sevilla 0 Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain, Sancet, Williams, Morilla, Gonzalez*, Martin (Muniain)
Another great performance as we put Sevilla to the sword here. Gonzalez has scored in his last 4 matches in the league. Martin is struggling for goals though.
We reach the final of the Copa del Rey and we didn't need to get out of first gear as Barcelona were so poor. We weren't great either but we were never really troubled.
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v
Celta Vigo 1 (Moreno 59) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Martin 6, Morilla 52, Williams 56)
Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino (A.Lopez), Yeray, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain (Montes), Sancet, Williams* (Muniain), Morilla, Gonzalez, Martin
After 5 games without a goal in the league Ignacio Martin finally scored here. We were always in control and we are beginning to find good performances more regularly now compared to the start of the season.
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v
Malaga 0 Athletic Bilbao 1 (Saizar 75)
Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain, Sancet, X.Lopez, Morilla (Saizar*), Gonzalez (Muniain), Martin (Zubillaga)
Quite possibly this was our worst performance of my time here. We didn't dominate possession, only had 6 shots and we only won it due to a moment of magic from Alberto Saizar as he bent a shot in from 25 yards.
Not good enough but I suppose with games coming every 3 days and with us in a run of away matches plus the fact this was a huge derby match means that I can accept this result a little easier than normal.
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
v
Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Kane 45) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Morilla 49, Williams 68, Gonzalez 73)
A great result and it was our 2nd half performance which did it as we were awful in the 1st half but with 3 away goals and a 2 goal advantage to take back to the San Mames I am quite confident that we can get through.
I am happy with this win as it was our 5th away game on the spin and with every game coming every 3 days each match was getting harder but Ignacio Martin's superb hat-trick won it for us.
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v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Williams 31, Martin 34) Sporting Gijon 0
Home sweet home. After 5 away games on the trot we return to the San Mames and get a victory very easily..
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SUMMARY
This was a very tough month mainly due to the fixture list in giving us 5 away fixtures on the spin. Despite that we managed to negotiate the month without suffering a defeat although there was a couple of draws, In the league we are 8pts clear and just need a couple of slip ups from Barcelona to secure the title but considering we are unbeaten in the league so far I feel there is no need to panic.
We will face Real Madrid again in the Copa del Rey final and in the Champions League we got a good 3-1 victory away against Spurs so a quarter-final is looking likely.
Huesca 0 Athletic Bilbao 5 (Sancet 45, 86, Martin 54, Muniain 67, X.Lopez 84) Lineup - Simon, Segura, Iturrino, Yeray, Melgarejo (Jimenez), Montes (Nunez), Sancet*, X.Lopez, Morilla, Muniain (Adria), Martin
This is a great result away from home and a great performance too made even better considering I was without 4 or 5 players. Sancet was immense as he scored twice with his 2nd goal being a screamer from over 20 yards.
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v
Real Betis 1 (Ivanovic 69) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Morilla 60, Zubillaga 75)
Lineup - Simon, Odriozola*, Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain, Sancet, Williams, Morilla, Gonzalez (Muniain), Martin (Zubillaga)
This was a really tough match and it took 2 fantastic goals to win it. Firstly Morilla twisted and turned on the edge of the area before surprising the keeper at his near post with a snapshot and then our winner came when Sancet picked out Borja Zubillaga with a lofted 30 yard through ball and Zubillaga met it first time and lobbed it over the advancing keeper.
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Gonzalez 26pen, Williams 34) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Sims 23) (Agg: 5-2)
Alex Iturrino - fresh from starring for Spain continued his excellent form with another free-kick goal here and then it was the Inaki Williams show. 5 of my youngsters in the 1st team squad were unavailable as they were on international duty (Jimenez, Zubillaga, Montes, Castano, X.Lopez).
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SUMMARY
A good month. We are 8pts clear with 9 games to go so I cant see us letting that slip in fact we are still unbeaten in the league this season having won 26 games and drawing 3. The highlight of the month in the league was our 5-0 thumping of Huesca away from home.
We also progressed in the Champions League by defeating Spurs and in the next round we have Atletico Madrid who I am confident in defeating.
Spain 1 (Sancet 13) Slovenia 0 Lineup - De Gea (Simon), Odriozola, Martinez, Mere (Iturrino), Gaya, Saul (Rodri), Sancet*, Suso (Mayoral), Morilla (Fornals), Gonzalez, Martin (Isco)
We had 33 shots to their 1 so how we only won 1-0 I don't know. My very own Alex Iturrino and Borja Mayoral of Leipzig made their international debuts here - Iturrino is only 18y/o!
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Friendly
v
Spain 6 (Gonzalez 30, Tursunov 39og, Iturrino 52, 87, Williams 58, Koke 62) Uzbekistan 0 Lineup - De Gea (Simon), Bellerin, Iturrino*, Mere (Yeray), Grimaldo, Rodri (Koke), Fornals, Williams, Morilla (Isco) (Mayoral), Gonzalez, Martin
It certainly hasn't taken Alex Iturrino long to make his mark on the international stage!!!! He scored 2 goals (to become the countrys youngest ever scorer) here on his 2nd cap, one with a header the other with a free-kick as we destroyed Uzbekistan. Isco missed a penalty, they had a man sent-off while Williams scored with a low first time effort from 30 yards.
Bad news though - Morilla got injured and is out for nearly a month.
v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Martin 46, Williams 52, Saizar 90pen) Real Valladolid 0 Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain (Nunez), Sancet, Williams, Saizar*, Gonzalez (Muniain), Martin
Valladolid have collected their 1st league win of the season since we faced off last but they were awful here and we had 33 shots to their 2.
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v
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Martin 26, 80, Gonzalez 44pen, Marin 89og) Deportivo La Coruna 0
Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain (Nunez), Sancet, Williams, Saizar, Gonzalez, Martin*
Another convincing victory and dominant performance. Martin's 2nd goal was his 100th for the club - he is continually being linked with a move to PSG.
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UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg
v
Atletico Madrid 3 (Rodri 39, Jovic 48, Saul 73) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Saizar 28, Montes 81)
Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino (A.Lopez), Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain (Montes), Sancet, Williams (Zubillaga), Saizar, Gonzalez, Martin
Not good enough. I am just thankful that Manolo Montes scored a late free-kick (to become the Champions League's youngest ever scorer) to reduce our deficit and give us the 2nd away goal. A disappointing result but I am still confident in progressing.
This draw ends our 8 game win streak in the league but it does secure Champions League football for next season. We were going through the motions really and it wasn't until I put on 3 teenagers as subs that things changed for us with Castano setting up Adria for our last minute equaliser.
Our initial transfer budget for next season? £276m lol.
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UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Gonzalez 14, 18)
Atletico Madrid 1 (Jovic 54) (Agg: 4-4 - Athletic Bilbao win on away goals)
We gain our revenge on Atletico Madrid and reach the Champions League semis. Gonzalez scored 2 early goals to put us in control but in the 2nd half they pulled a goal back and we got nervous but Atletico couldn't score again so we sneak through on away goals.
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v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Morilla 9, Melgarejo 53) Atletico Madrid 0
Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Yeray, Laporte, Melgarejo*, Nolaskoain, Sancet (Nunez), Williams, Morilla (Castano), Adria (Bengoetxea), Martin
A fine victory. Morilla returned from injury and grabbed the opening goal and Melgarejo struck home a free-kick for the 2nd. Kepa Bengoetxea came off the bench to make his debut. Even better was the fact that Barcelona drew so we move 8pts clear.
What a strange game. Barcelona dominated throughout yet somehow we found ourselves 3-1 up and I was happy but then Morilla got sent-off and it all went the shape of pears and in truth we were very fortunate to get a point.
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v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Gonzalez 55, 59, Williams 63) Eibar 0
A nice win as we are on the brink of retaining another title. Gonzalez is on a rich vein of form just now!!
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SUMMARY
The penultimate month of the season is done and we head into the final month just one win away from winning the title, we have a cup final to play and we are in the Champions League semis.
Our results were decent this month. We got some decent wins and had a few draws away to Barcelona and Valencia which means we are still unbeaten in the league this season and if we can avoid defeat away to Real Madrid in a few games time I fancy us to go the whole campaign unbeaten (we have only 2 defeats in all comps).
In the Champions League we lost the 1st leg of our quarter final against Atletico Madrid but we bounced back to win the 2nd leg and go through via away goals. In the semis we will play Barcelona which will be tough but we are the best team in the country so I am confident.
v
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Martin 53, 89, Williams 54, Iturrino 90) Barcelona 2 (Guilherme Arana 24, Oliva 88) Lineup - Simon, Odriozola (Segura), Iturrino, Laporte, Jimenez, Nolaskoain, Montes, Williams, Morilla (Saizar), Gonzalez (Adria), Martin
What a match this was!!! We were behind at half-time but 2 goals in as many minutes put us ahead. With 2min to go Pep Oliva (a wonderkid who may get a call up to the Spain side) levelled but Martin quickly put us back in front and then we still had time to grab the 4th when Iturrino scored with a free-kick.
We fell behind twice here but dug in to get the win. I had no left back so didn't play with one and played Adria as LM and pushed Gonzalez up front and he scored twice for the 3rd league game in a row.
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UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg v
Barcelona 2 (Ilic 14, Pogba 31) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Martin 34) (Agg: 4-5) Lineup - Simon, Odriozola (Segura), Iturrino, Laporte, Jimenez, Nunez, Montes, Williams, Morilla (Saizar), Gonzalez (Adria), Martin
We reach the Champions League final but we were fortunate as once again Barcelona battered us and although they got the win this time it wasn't enough for them to get through.
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v
Real Madrid 0 Athletic Bilbao 5 (Morilla 14, 17, Odriozola 59, Williams 64, Nolaskoain 81)
Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino, Laporte, Jimenez, Nolaskoain, Sancet, Williams, Morilla*, Gonzalez, Martin (Antonio David)
WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!!
What a result this is. Normally I play my backups with the title sewn up but with our unbeaten record at stake I had to play my full strength team and they just destroyed Real Madrid (managed by Brendan Rodgers) who we will face in the Copa del Rey final.
I will play my backups in the final league game against hapless Rayo Vallecano - they better not let me down!!!
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v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Saizar 22pen, Adria 45) Rayo Vallecano 0
Lineup - Simon, Segura, Yeray, A.Lopez, Jimenez, Nunez, Montes, X.Lopez, Saizar (Castano), Adria*, Antonio David (Zubillaga)
WE ARE THE INVINCABLES!!!!
My backups won us the match to ensure that we finish the league campaign unbeaten and finish on 104pts.
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Copa del Rey Final
v
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Gonzalez 29pen, 61, 68, Martin 31) Real Madrid 1 (Hernandez 24) Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo (Adria), Nolaskoain (Montes), Sancet, Williams, Morilla (Saizar), Gonzalez*, Martin
WE WIN THE COPA DEL REY!!!!
I thought Real would be gunning for revenge after we humiliated them a couple of games back and when they took the lead I was worried but we quickly bounced back and the Gonzalez-Martin partnership worked their magic. Gonzalez scored 3 and setup the other. Both Gonzalez and Martin have now scored 29 goals this season.
We were ruthless here as Liverpool arguably were the better side here but we took the lead when Iturrino's free-kick came off the post and hit Alisson and went in and then Martin scored just before half time. Then when Gonzalez bent in a 3rd it was game over.
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SUMMARY
What an end to the season that was!!! We saw out the league campaign to remain unbeaten and undoubtedly our result of the season occurred when we won 5-0 against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. In the Copa del Rey we handed out another thrashing to Real as we beat them 4-1 to retain the cup.
Then in the Champions League we beat Barcelona 4-2 and although we lost the 2nd leg we reached the final to face Liverpool and we comfortably beat them 3-0.
Next up is the end of season post and then its all about Spain in the European Championships.
From now on at the top of a post I will do a feature on Athletic legends...........
END OF SEASON POST
We had 6 trophies to play for and we won all 6 with 64 games played and only 3 defeats - all coming in the Champions League - which meant we were unbeaten in the domestic campaign.
In the league it was tighter than last year. We only won it with 3 games to go compared to last years 5 or 6 games and we scored 15 less goals however we did only concede 18 goals which is pretty incredible and of course we were unbeaten. The highlight was our penultimate game of the campaign when we thrashed Real Madrid 5-0 away from home.
We won the Supercopa and in the Copa del Rey although my first team players won the final against Real Madrid 4-1 it was all due to my youngsters as I played them in every game up to the final as the draw was extremely kind.
In the Champions League we topped our group despite losing to a 10 man Juventus side and then after beating Spurs we knocked out our fellow Spanish sides Atletico Madrid and Barcelona before we dealt with Liverpool 3-0 in the final.
The European Super Cup was flukily won as we scored 2 last minute goals however we strolled it in the FIFA Club World Cup as we defeated Boca Juniors 7-0 in the final!
As for my B team for half a season they were running away with the 2nd tier but then they hit a brick wall and started losing game after game and with a game to go are in 9th place. I think the problem was that I loaned out a wonderkid defender, Zabalza, and didn't have much else there and although we had a great CM pairing in Zubillaga and Lasa and 4 or 5 excellent strikers for that level (including introducing wonderkid Goni from the U19s in January) we didn't have the squad depth.
FIRST TEAM SQUAD View attachment 22810View attachment 22809
Goalkeeper - Unai Simon - we had 64 games and he played in all of them!!! Enough said.
Defence - They all got plenty of games - even the backups - but special mention goes to Odriozola who got 15 assists which was immense. Melgarejo continues to impress while Iturrino had a fantastic season as he was first choice for the 1st time. LaPorte was great but he only scored 1 goal as he no longer took penalties.
Midfield - In the central positions Sancet and Nolaskoain were solid as usual with both of them popping up with the odd goal but special mention goes to Manolo Montes who at the age of 16 played over 40 games, scored a few goals and despite half his games being as a sub had an average rating over 7.00.
On the wings I had Williams on the right as usual and he scored over 20 goals again but it was Imanol Gonzalez who stood out as he was played out of position but was still joint top scorer with 30 goals from the left wing. As a striker he is rated 5 stars but he offers so much on the left wing at the moment - he has set the standard.
In AMC Pelayo Morilla had his best season yet as he scored 14 goals and performed very well after a sticky start. Saizar did decent too but he really needs a run of starts despite being valued at £60m!!!
Forwards - I will discount Gonzalez here as he barely played up front. Martin - who had the European Golden Boot - scored 30 goals in all competitions which was 15 less than last season but I suppose during games I was more liable to substitute him to move Gonzalez up top so that might have affected him. Zubillaga did OK but suffered from injuries while I have a host of up and coming strikers in the shape of Nunez, Perez, A.Martinez, D.Martinez and Goni!!!
My Player of the Year - Imanol Gonzalez My Young Player of the Year - Alex Iturrino Must Do Better - Iker Muniain
-- AIMS FOR PRE-SEASON
Not got any plans for major signings. Maybe a couple of youngsters. Should be quiet to be fair.
I thought this match would have been much tougher as I only had a handful of my first XI playing but we won this game very easily.
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Friendly
v
Spain 1 (Asensio 56) Scotland 0
Lineup - De Gea, Odriozola, Martinez, Mere (Iturrino), Gaya, Sancet, Saul (Rodri), Suso, Asensio*, Gonzalez, Martin (Morata)
Now this was a much harder workout as it was a hard fought match. We won it thanks to Asensio's long range strike and we had a Gonzalez goal disallowed but for a friendly it was competitive as they had a man sent-off and we had 4 or 5 bookings.
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Friendly
v
Spain 10 (Koke 2, 38, Morilla 12, 20, Martin 19, 33, Martinez 45, Williams 68, 88, Isco 76) Liechtenstein 0
Lineup - De Gea, Bellerin, Martinez, Mere (Iturrino), Grimaldo, Koke, Rodri, Williams*, Morilla, Isco, Martin
This was my usual final friendly before the tournament against a pub team to get a big win and gain extra confidence. In the first half we scored 7, Koke missed a penalty and we had 39 shots on goal!!!
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SQUAD FOR EURO 2024
Goalkeepers
NAME
POS
AGE
CLUB
VALUE
CAPS
GOALS
Kepa ARRIZABALAGA
GK
29
Chelsea
£55m
3
0
David DE GEA
GK
33
Manchester United
£49.5m
102
0
Unai SIMON
GK
26
Athletic Bilbao
£46.5m
5
0
Defenders
NAME
POS
AGE
CLUB
VALUE
CAPS
GOALS
Hector BELLERIN
DR
29
Arsenal
£49.5m
29
2
Jose GAYA
DL
29
Manchester City
£46.5m
34
1
Alex GRIMALDO
DL
28
Real Madrid
£15.25m
26
2
Alex ITURRINO
DC
18
Athletic Bilbao
£48.5m
4
2
Inigo MARTINEZ
DC
33
Inter Milan
£27m
46
5
Jorge MERE
DC
27
Arsenal
£50m
42
3
Alvaro ODRIOZOLA
DR
28
Athletic Bilbao
£60m
22
2
YERAY
DC
29
Athletic Bilbao
£54m
19
2
Midfielders
NAME
POS
AGE
CLUB
VALUE
CAPS
GOALS
Marco ASENSIO
AMLC
28
Liverpool
£71m
63
15
ISCO
AMLC
32
Real Madrid
£47.5m
78
23
KOKE
MC
32
Atletico Madrid
£42m
87
15
Pelayo MORILLA
AMC
22
Athletic Bilbao
£69m
7
3
RODRI
MC
27
Atletico Madrid
£58m
29
2
Oihan SANCET
MC
24
Athletic Bilbao
£69m
9
2
SAUL
MC
29
Atletico Madrid
£51m
56
7
SUSO
AMR
30
AC Milan
£58m
29
5
Inaki WILLIAMS
AMR
29
Athletic Bilbao
£71m
37
12
Forwards
NAME
POS
AGE
CLUB
VALUE
CAPS
GOALS
Imanol GONZALEZ
AML/ST
21
Athletic Bilbao
£80m
9
4
Ignacio MARTIN
ST
21
Athletic Bilbao
£77m
15
8
Alvaro MORATA
ST
31
Chelsea
£70m
70
30
As you can see there is not a single Barcelona player in the squad which is something!!! The 7 players that were culled from the 30 man squad were Alberto Saizar, Peru Nolaskoain, Aaron Martin, Borja Mayoral, David Raya, Pablo Fornals and Julio.
Also I am thinking that this will be the last tournament for Inigo Martinez and I will have to think about De Gea, Isco, Koke and Morata.
Russia 0 Spain 3 (Sancet 9, Martin 55, 87)
Lineup - De Gea, Odriozola (Bellerin), Iturrino, Mere, Gaya, Saul (Rodri), Sancet, Williams, Asensio, Gonzalez (Isco), Martin* We get our campaign off to a good start here with an easy win over the Russians and it was 2 of my Bilbao players who got the goals - maybe not a surprise considering 6 of the starting XI play for me lol.
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v
Spain 3 (Asensio 7, 58, Suso 90) Holland 2 (Zirkzee 5, Ilic 34)
Lineup - De Gea, Odriozola, Iturrino, Mere (Martinez), Gaya, Koke, Sancet (Saul), Williams (Suso), Asensio*, Gonzalez, Martin This looks like a great comeback victory but in truth we dominated from start to finish - they just scored 2 out of their 4 attempts. Our winner was a delight as Suso bent one in from an angle 20 yards out.
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v
Wales 1 (Roberts 42) Spain 2 (Martin 26, Sancet 57) Lineup - De Gea, Odriozola (Bellerin), Iturrino, Mere (Yeray), Grimaldo, Saul, Sancet*, Suso (Morilla), Isco, Gonzalez, Martin
We round off the group stage with a 100% record. Sancet's goal was a screamer from the edge of the area into the top corner and he even had a last minute goal disallowed.
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2nd Round
v
Belgium 1 (Lukaku 44) Spain 7 (Gonzalez 11, 18, 80pen, Martin 14, Williams 22, 31, Asensio 45) Lineup - De Gea, Odriozola, Iturrino, Mere (Yeray), Gaya, Koke, Rodri, Williams, Asensio (Isco), Gonzalez*, Martin (Morata) WOW!!!!!!!
Its fair to say that I wasn't expecting this scoreline! To go in at half-time 6-1 up against a team like Belgium is quite incredible.
Italy 2-1 Serbia France 4-2 Norway Greece 1-0 Czech Republic Denmark 0-0(P) Croatia
Germany 3-1 Russia England (P)2-2 Poland Scotland 0-2 Bosnia & Herzegovina
Lineup - De Gea, Odriozola (Bellerin), Iturrino, Mere, Grimaldo, Koke, Sancet (Saul), Williams, Asensio (Morilla), Gonzalez, Martin* This is getting ridiculous. Beating Belgium 7-1 was stupid but to follow it up by beating Germany 5-2 leaves me thinking the cup has our name on it. Martin got a hat-trick to move him up to 7 goals for the competition.
There was one bad point - Odriozola got injured and will miss the rest of the tournament.
Croatia 5-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina Italy 1-0 Greece France 1-0 England
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Semi-Final
v
Spain 1 (Isco 1) Croatia 0
Lineup - De Gea, Bellerin (Yeray), Iturrino, Martinez, Gaya, Saul, Sancet (Rodri), Suso, Morilla, Isco*, Morata I am delighted with the win here as I had 3 players ruled out due to injury and suspension and another 4 were unfit to play but we reach the final thanks to Isco's 1st minute strike.
Italy 0-2 France
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Final
v
France 1 (Alp Cetinkaya 81) Spain 2 (Martin 73, Williams 108) AET
Lineup - De Gea, Bellerin (Odriozola), Iturrino, Mere, Grimaldo (Gaya), Rodri, Sancet (Saul), Williams, Asensio (Morilla), Gonzalez, Martin
WE WIN THE EUROS!!!!
We were the better team throughout but we kept missing our chances however when we took the lead I thought that was it but they levelled to take it into extra-time but Williams popped up to score the winner.
We now are the holders of the Euros and the World Cup - now for that pesky Nations League!!
PRE-SEASON
Don't worry - the save itself is fine but I have had a nightmare summer with Athletic (obviously not with Spain lol) as I lost a key player due to his release clause and also my keeper Unai Simon got injured and will miss the first 2-3 month of the season!!!!
Really that's it and it could have been worse as Chelsea activated the £29m release clause for Alfonso Lopez but fortunately he signed a new and improved deal to end that deal.
Here comes the big news...….
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PLAYERS OUT
Ignacio Martin is gone!!!!!!!!
PSG bid £115m for him which I rejected, then £126m and obviously I was worried as his release clause was £139m but he didn't want to talk about a new contract so he left during the Euros when they met the clause. He is only 21y/o, and in 3 seasons with me played 150 games and scored 105 goals. I made a profit of over £125m on him but I am telling you now - unless any of my backup strikers step up to the mark - I will bring him back ASAP!!!
Martin wasn't the only first team player leaving however as Yeray has also left to join Spartak Moscow for £26.5m. He made 139 apps for me and scored 6 goals and I wish him well.
Otherwise I loaned out Juan Carlos to Juventus for £1m and a few other players left on loan while I sold my backup keeper (before Simon got injured), Marcellan to Leganes for £1m.
As for the B team I sold Unai Nunez who was a RB far from the first team to Inter Milan for £4.5m while Napoli signed my 4th choice keeper for an incredible £5.5m!!!!
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PLAYERS IN
I spent just under £15m but only 1 player came in for the first team. In fact I signed 3 player that I had already and that was £9m of that £15m taken care of. I wont bother putting up screenshots of all the players but I did bring back Marti Segarra from Espanyol for £2.5m and Miguel Borrega from AC Milan for £5.75m and they will go into the B team.
I also got a 16y/o keeper from Real Madrid for £1.8m to help the B team and a decent looking RW for £1.4m who will go into the U19s.
As for that first team player that I brought in it was Alex Remiro who comes back from Barcelona for £2.5m. He was signed as my backup keeper and with Simon's injury he will now get a chance to shine. View attachment 22657
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FIRST TEAM SQUAD
It is a case of promoting players from the B team and U19s apart from the arrival of Remiro of course. Zabalza, who was loaned out last season, apparently is a wonderkid so he replaces Yeray in the first team. Nolaskoain will hold off Montes in CM I think but it is close and on the LW I have promoted Bengoetxea from the U19s so I have to decide between him, Adria and Muniain. Inaki Goni has been brought up to the first team to replace Ignacio Martin although it will be Imanol Gonzalez who will play up front - it will be interesting to see how he does as a striker!!
Jose Angel Iribar
1962-1980
Goalkeeper
614 apps, 0 goals
Iribar is a true Athletic and Basque legend. He is the record appearance holder for Athletic, played 49 times for Spain, managed Athletic for 1 season and even managed the Basque representative side!!!
AUGUST Supercopa
v Real Madrid 1 (Hernandez 37) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Gonzalez 6, 48pen) Lineup - Remiro, Odriozola, Iturrino (A.Lopez), Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain (Montes), Sancet, Williams (Saizar), Morilla, Bengoetxea, Gonzalez*
We win the Supercopa. I decided to go with 16y/o Bengoetxea as my LW as Muniain is declining with age and Adria - though a wonderkid - still hasn learnt the AML role. In the end it was Imanol Gonzalez who made the difference as he scored twice as for basically the first time in over a year he played in his natural position.
--
UEFA European Super Cup v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Montes 19, Morilla 45) Chelsea 1 (Iheanacho 13) Lineup - Remiro, Odriozola, Iturrino, A.Lopez, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain (Saizar), Montes, Williams (X.Lopez), Morilla*, Muniain, Gonzalez (Goni)
We retain the European Super Cup with a narrow win over Chelsea but the scoreline doesn't reflect our dominance. They took the lead and that was all they did apart from Iheanacho getting sent-off just before half-time.
--
v Real Zaragoza 0 Athletic Bilbao 3 (Gonzalez 2, Morilla 47, Azon 66og) Lineup - Remiro, Odriozola, Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo, Saizar, Sancet (Castano), Williams (X.Lopez), Morilla*, Bengoetxea, Gonzalez (Zubillaga)
Going into this game I was without 4 CMs (Nolaskoain, Montes, Nunez and U.Zubillaga) so I played two AMCs instead in Saizar and Morilla. In the end it was an easy victory against newly promoted Zaragoza with the only worry being the fact that Gonzalez got injured but he is only out for a week or so.
--
SUMMARY
A decent start to the season as we won our first 3 games, collecting 2 trophies in the process. Gonzalez seems to like playing up front again while Pelayo Morilla is really performing at the top of his game.
Not much else happened tbh. I loaned out Inigo Perez to Zaragoza on deadline day and in the Champions League we will play AC Milan, Spartak Moscow and Fenerbahce.
Jose Francisco "Txetxu" Rojo
1965-1982
Forward
541 apps, 67 goals
Txetxu Rojo was a forward who is 2nd on the list of appearances for Athletic and also managed the club twice. He played for Athletic the same time as Iribar and also played alongside his brother in the side. He played 18 times for Spain and scored 3 goals.
SEPTEMBER
v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Morilla 7, 85, Nolaskoain 54) Villarreal 2 (Wilson 48, Andre Gomes 76) Lineup - Remiro, Odriozola (Segura), Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain, Sancet, Williams, Morilla*, Bengoetxea, B.Zubillaga (Goni)
A 3-2 win but considering we had 35 shots to their 6 this win should have been far more comfortable but as it was we had to rely on Morilla's late goal.
This time last season we were getting the results but not the performances but this season both are coming together as we were excellent here. Bengoetxea got his first goal for us.
--
UEFA Champions League Group F v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (A.Lopez 8, Saizar 58, Muniain 73) Fenerbahce 0 Lineup - Remiro, Segura, A.Lopez, Zabalza, Jimenez, Nunez (U.Zubillaga), Montes, X.Lopez, Saizar, Muniain* (Adria), B.Zubillaga (Goni)
With our favourable Champions League draw and the need to build up the fitness and give game time to my backups I put my faith in them for this match and they didn't let me down as they got a fantastic result.
--
v
Sevilla 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Gonzalez 43, 58pen)
Another easy win which was helped by the fact they had a man sent-off early on. Sure we probably should have scored more but hey ho.
--
v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Williams 24, B.Zubillaga 71, Nolaskoain 81) Real Sociedad 0 Lineup - Remiro, Odriozola, A.Lopez (Zabalza), Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain, Sancet, Williams, Morilla (Saizar), Bengoetxea*, Gonzalez (B.Zubillaga)
Derby day joy for us as we easily swot aside our bitter rivals. It was 16y/o Bengoetxea who ran the show as he got 2 assists. Nolaskoain has scored in 3 out of his 4 league games this season.
--
v Deportivo La Coruna 1 (Puigoriol 80) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Morilla 33, Laporte 45)
We continued our strong start to the season by winning all of our games in September and all reasonably comfortably including a 3-0 win over Real Sociedad in the Vasco derby. Another result that pleased me was the win over Fenerbahce as I decided to plunge my young backups straight into action in the group. It was a calculated risk that paid off.
6 games gone in the league - 2pts ahead - one happy manager.
Joseba Etxeberria
1995-2010
Forward
514 apps, 104 goals
Etxeberria is a true Athletic legend - despite starting his career at Real Sociedad. He played 53 times for Spain, scoring 12 goals and even played for free in his last year with Athletic.
OCTOBER
UEFA Champions League Group F
v
Spartak Moscow 0 Athletic Bilbao 1 (Zabalza 49)
Lineup - Remiro, Segura, A.Lopez, Zabalza*, Jimenez, Nunez (U.Zubillaga), Montes, X.Lopez, Saizar, Muniain (Adria), B.Zubillaga (Goni)
Yeray got to meet up with his old team mates here but it was his replacement, Zabalza, who got the winner as apparently he can take a mean free-kick.
Unai Simon made his return from injury here as we just scrape past Alaves. I am still in 2 minds about Borja Zubillaga so it is important for him to score when he gets a start as he did here.
--
UEFA Champions League Group F v
Athletic Bilbao 0 AC Milan 0 Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino, A.Lopez*, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain (Nunez), Montes, Williams, Morilla, Muniain (Adria), Gonzalez (B.Zubillaga)
Disappointing. We dominated this game but just couldn't find the goal. If this was at the San Siro it would have been acceptable but I fear that this was 2pts dropped.
--
v Barcelona 2 (Dybala 22, Coutinho 29) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Morilla 34, Nolaskoain 81) Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino, Laporte (Zabalza), Melgarejo, Nolaskoain, Sancet, Williams, Morilla, Muniain (Adria), Gonzalez (B.Zubillaga)
We keep our long unbeaten record in the league going and I am delighted that we managed to do so here after falling 2-0 behind but we dug in and admittedly got an undeserved point. This game makes it 48 unbeaten in the league and is a league record.
--
Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg
v
Mallorca 1 (Rey 76) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Adria 2, Saizar 68pen) Lineup - Simon, Borrega*, Oyono, Zabalza, Jimenez, Nunez (U.Zubillaga), Montes, X.Lopez, Saizar (Castano), Adria, B.Zubillaga (Goni)
My backups did the job here against a Mallorca side with Christian Benteke in their ranks.
--
SUMMARY
This month saw us have a lot of tight games and fortunately we came out on top on most apart from the draws with AC Milan and Barcelona. Our result at Barcelona was the highlight as we fought back from 2-0 down at the Nou Camp to salvage a draw which means we are still 2pts ahead of them in the league table.
Next month will be tough also as we play AC Milan again plus both of the Madrid sides.
Israel 0 Spain 7 (Gonzalez 28, 43, 62, Martin 56, Rodri 68, Asensio 84, 90)
Lineup - De Gea, Odriozola, Iturrino (Lopez), Mere (Julio), Aaron Martin, Rodri, Sancet, Morata, Asensio, Gonzalez*, Martin
A fantastic win as Ignacio Gonzalez scored a hat-trick from the left wing. Julio of Arsenal made his debut as we have now won our last 19 internationals.
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UEFA Nations League Division A Group 4
v
Spain 3 (Williams 2, Martin 41, Gonzalez 76) England 1 (Lingard 31)
Lineup - De Gea, Odriozola (Bellerin), Iturrino (Julio), Mere, Gaya, Koke, Saul*, Williams, Asensio (Morilla), Gonzalez, Martin
20 wins on the spin as we qualify from the group to reach the semis.
Iraola in his 12 seasons with Athletic played 30 games or more every season apart from one. He got 7 caps for Spain and was part of the side that reached the 2013 Europa League final.
NOVEMBER
v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Morilla 7, B.Zubillaga 79) Atletico Madrid 0 Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain, Sancet*, Williams (Saizar), Morilla, Muniain (Adria), Gonzalez (B.Zubillaga)
A fine win as after dropping points against Barca it was important not to do so here. Morilla gave us an early lead and we were always comfortable but it was nice to see Zubillaga net the 2nd - he is improving this year.
--
UEFA Champions League Group F v
AC Milan 1 (Silva 74) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Iturrino 21, Muniain 66, Williams 68)
We take charge of the group as we move 3pts clear of Milan with this win. Iturrino fired in a fre-kick to give us a lead and after that Milan dominated but 2 quickfire goals from Muniain and Williams sealed the win for us.
We go 5pts clear at the top with a great win over Real Madrid as once again we beat them comfortably. Iturrino was the star of the show as he scored 2 free-kicks.
--
UEFA Champions League Group F v Fenerbahce 0
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Montes 6, 24, B.Zubillaga 48, Adria 79) Lineup - Simon, Segura, Oyono, Zabalza, Jimenez, Nunez (U.Zubillaga), Montes*, X.Lopez, Saizar (Castano), Muniain (Adria), B.Zubillaga
My backups did a great job here as we thump Fenerbahce. Manolo Montes scored 2 great goals while Borja Zubillaga keeps his run of goals going. Zabalza is developing into a fantastic CB while Unai Zubillaga - who just signed a new deal - is developing nicely too.
--
v
Huesca 0 Athletic Bilbao 3 (Pena 14og, Williams 27, Sancet 61) Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain (Montes), Sancet, Williams*, Morilla, Muniain (Adria), Gonzalez (B.Zubillaga)
Not bad. Williams missed a last minute penalty which was the only down side to the match.
--
SUMMARY
This month went very well as we won all of our matches including big games against AC Milan, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. In the league we are 5pts clear at the top of the table as we threaten to run away with the title once again. In the Champions League we have won our group with a game to play which is a boost.
I did something stupid though as the day after my B team manager - Ruben Baraja - signed a new deal I thought I would reward him with the role of Spain B team manager which he duly accepted but I didn't realise he would leave my Athletic B side!!!! Now we are looking for a new manager for the B team.
Gainza spent his entire career with Athletic and went on to manage the club for a short spell in the 1960s. He played 33 times for Spain and scored 10 times for them.
We were poor here and fell behind to a shock 1st minute goal but we battled back to get the win although the performance was well below the expected standard.
--
UEFA Champions League Group F v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 38, Borrega 62, Sanchez 67) Spartak Moscow 0
Lineup - Simon, Segura, Borrega*, Zabalza, Jimenez, Nunez, Montes, X.Lopez, Saizar (Castano), Muniain (Adria), Goni (Sanchez)
We finish the group with a comfortable win. Muniain got his 3rd of the season (all in this competition) while Kike Sanchez scored on his debut - if I had all of my strikers fit and at the club he would be 9th choice probably so that goes to show how strong we are in that department.
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Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Nunez 65, Goni 78pen) Mallorca 0 (Agg: 4-1) Lineup - Simon, Segura, Iturrino, Zabalza*, Jimenez, Nunez, Montes, X.Lopez, Saizar (Castano), Muniain (Adria), B.Zubillaga (Goni)
We go through to play the minnows - Coruxo - who knocked out Atletico Madrid somehow.
--
FIFA Club World Cup Semi-Final
v
Al-Ahly 1 (Aly 89) Athletic Bilbao 6 (Aly 11og, Muniain 22, Sha'ban 33og, B.Zubillaga 51, 75, 81) Lineup - Simon, Segura, Iturrino, Zabalza, Jimenez, Nunez (Adria), Montes (Goni), X.Lopez, Saizar, Muniain, B.Zubillaga*
Very easy. Montes and Nunez were a bit unfit but I wanted them to get another start under their belts. Zubillaga's hat-trick means he has only scored 2 less than Gonzalez this season!!
--
FIFA Club World Cup Final v
Tigres 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Williams 54, Sancet 85)
We win the cup but our performance was below average as we were against 10 men for most of the match.
--
SUMMARY
December saw me play my backups for most of the month as we had a kind fixture list. We only had one league game and even though our rivals have played games we are still 2pts clear with 2 games in hand so I am delighted with that.
In the Copa del Rey we edged past Mallorca and have a very kind draw in the next round while we easily won the FIFA Club World Cup. In the Champions League however we have been drawn against Juventus.
Our B teams new manager is Eduardo Berizzo - who I took over from as manager of the senior team!!
Susaeta is still at the club and I had him in this save early doors. He has played for Spain once and actually scored in that game and was part of the side that reached the Europa League final.
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JANUARY
Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg v
Coruxo 0 Athletic Bilbao 3 (Montes 55, 73, Castano 86)
I don't know how this lot managed to beat Atletico Madrid as they were pretty poor here. Manolo Montes continues to impress as he scored a double here.
I decided to put my faith in the backups here and they won us the game although the late goal conceded is pretty annoying and I hope it wont come back to haunt us.
No goal or penalty for Gonzalez in this match as we put in a near perfect performance. Nolaskoain surely scored goal of the season as he floated a shot over the keeper from over 30 yards.
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Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
v Levante 3 (Dwamena 51, 84, Kameni 82) Athletic Bilbao 2 (X.Lopez 37, Adria 87) (Agg: 4-4 - Athletic Bilbao win on away goals)
Lineup - Simon, Segura, Borrega, Zabalza, Jimenez, Nunez, Montes (U.Zubillaga), X.Lopez, Saizar (Castano), Muniain (Adria), B.Zubillaga
Well who would have thought that lowly Levante would inflict our first defeat of the season!!! Naturally I am pretty annoyed that we lost but we were moments away from going out of the competition so I am pleased that we make it through.
--
v Athletic Bilbao 4 (Iturrino 2, 16, X.Lopez 38, Saizar 76) Real Zaragoza 0 Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino*, Laporte, Jimenez, Nolaskoain, Sancet, X.Lopez, Morilla (Saizar), Bengoetxea (Muniain), Gonzalez (B.Zubillaga)
A 2nd successive 4-0 win in the league. Iturrino crashed in 2 great free-kicks from 25 yards that were near identical while Xabi Lopez also scored a great goal.
I trusted my backups here and they did enough to ensure that they get a run out in the 2nd leg. Alfonso Lopez finally made his return from injury but I fear that Zabalza (who was suspended here) has jumped ahead of him in the queue.
-- SUMMARY
I enjoyed January as the cup fixtures were kind so I got to play both my first teamers and my backups game at a time. That being said our first defeat of the season by Levante in the cup - though not costly (just) - really annoyed me.
In the league we are amazingly 7pts clear with 2 games in hand which is some achievement this early in the season and I can see my backups getting some game time towards the end of the season.
As for the transfer window there was a signing and an attempted one - Ignacio Martin. He is interested in coming back but PSG didn't even negotiate when I offered £150m so I ended my interest there. As for the signing I paid £2.4m for a decent looking prospect at LB. View attachment 21196
As for players out I sold my B teams left back Abasolo to Real Betis for an initial £3.6m which could rise up by another £1m so that was a decent deal for someone who would never get a look in at first team level.
Espanyol manager - Mauricio Pochettino - had a pop at me in the press before this match and for an hour or so they looked as though they were going to do a number on us but an excellent Morilla strike put us in front and then Montes set up Sancet for the other 2 goals.
--
v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Williams 52, Bengoetxea 74)
Sevilla 2 (Caielli 50, Pjaca 83)
Going into this game we had won our last 11 league games and kept 6 clean sheets in a row but those runs both came to an end here. One run that didn't was the run that Imanol Gonzalez is in - 5 league games without a goal.
Amazing!!! To win 5-1 away to Juventus is an incredible achievement and tbh it came from nowhere. We went 2-0 up and then they had a goal disallowed before they gifted us a 3rd goal. They pulled one back and then we struck twice in the final few moments to all but book our place in the quarter-finals.
--
v
Athletic Bilbao 5 (Gonzalez 4, 6, 26, Odriozola 75, Castano 79) Deportivo La Coruna 0
An emphatic victory against the bottom side. Gonzalez was gifted two tap ins early on and completed his hat-trick before the half hour mark and it was game over form there.
Back to back hat-tricks for Imanol Gonzalez as we stroll past Tenerife. Amazingly David Nunez made his 1st league appearance of the season here - he has played 16 times in the cup competitions!!
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SUMMARY
We started this month just plodding along but after our draw with Sevilla we hit top form as we put 5 goals past Juventus and Deportivo before scoring 4 against Tenerife. Imanol Gonzalez has finally found a bit of form as he has scored 8 goals in his last 3 games!
Apart from seeing out the league campaign and obviously the Copa del Rey final the main focus for us is to try and win a 3rd Champions League trophy in succession plus to make it 2 league campaigns unbeaten too.
My B team is still doing nicely and are sitting 2nd in Liga 1,2,3 as their new manager is settling in.
Youth intake next month - don't think there is a position I need so having 3 or 4 decent ones rather than just one standout would be handy although I am always hoping to get the next Aitor Herrera!!!
Larrazabal spent his whole career with Athletic and was part of the side that finished 2nd in the league in the late 90s. His son was also in the books of Athletic.
15 in 6 for Gonzalez now but forget that - this was a brilliant performance where every single player got a rating of above 8.00 apart from the keeper who was over 7.00. Muniain got his 1st league goal of the season which was nice.
--
UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
v
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 61)
Juventus 2 (Pjanic 12, Reinaldo Silva 75) (Agg: 6-3)
I decided to rest my first team and risk breaking up the fine momentum that they had going by giving my backups a run out here. Sure we lost our 2nd game of the season but it will be good for my young players to learn from this experience.
17 in 7 - Gonzalez is blowing teams away just now!!
--
SUMMARY
March was pretty much the Imanol Gonzalez show as he continued his fine run of form and has an incredible 17 goals in his last 7 matches. I did rest him in our defeat against Juventus but hey ho. The 7-0 victory over Alaves was one of the best team performances that I have seen in my time in charge here.
In the Champions League we will face Arsenal and we have our transfer budget for next season - an initial £535m!!! I wonder how much Ignacio Martin will cost.
Spain 6 (Gonzalez 11, 32, Martin 23, 27, 66, Joshua 90) Moldova 0 Lineup - De Gea, Odriozola, Iturrino, Mere, Aaron Martin, Nolaskoain (Joshua), Montes, Williams, Asensio (Saizar), Gonzalez, Martin*
I had an astonishing 6 CMs injured going into this game (Saul, Koke, Sancet, Isco, Rodri and Sergio Gomez) so I called up Nolaskoain for a rare cap while 17y/o Manolo Montes played for Spain for the first time. Joshua and my very own Alberto Saizar also made their international debuts here.
Not good enough. Arsenal more than matched us here and managed to keep Gonzalez quiet to end his scoring run (although he has 17 in his last 7 league games lol) and we didn't get an away goal which could be troublesome.
--
v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Gonzalez 26, 42, Morilla 38) Celta Vigo 0 Lineup - Simon, Odriozola, Iturrino (Etxaniz), A.Lopez, Zabalza, Nolaskoain (Nunez), Montes, X.Lopez, Morilla, Muniain (Adria), Gonzalez*
19 goals in his last 8 league games for Gonzalez now and probably 8 MOM awards in a row too. Latest youth recruit Etxaniz made his debut here.
--
UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Gonzalez 8pen, 34) Arsenal 1 (Cuevas 82) (Agg: 2-1) Lineup - Simon, Odriozola (Segura), Iturrino, Laporte, Jimenez, Nolaskoain, Sancet, Williams, Morilla, Bengoetxea, Gonzalez*
We make it through with a dominant performance (27 shots to 3) although the scoreline doesn't reflect it. Odriozola got injured and will be out for a few weeks.
--
v
Real Madrid 4 (Korotkov 64, Cengiz Under 74, Hernandez 80, Isco 90pen) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 27, Nolaskoain 28, Gonzalez 55pen)
Lineup - Simon, Segura, Iturrino, Laporte, Jimenez (Melgarejo), Nolaskoain, Sancet, Williams, Morilla (Adria), Muniain, Gonzalez
WHAT THE **** JUST HAPPENED HERE!!!!
We were 3-0 up and cruising with about 25min to go and we just collapsed and somehow lose 4-3 which ruins our unbeaten league campaign and means our unbeaten run in the league ends at 68 matches.
--
Most of my players were unfit after the last match so many didn't get a chance to redeem themselves. We were poor again here and just sneaked the win. Gonzalez's scoring run in the league is over after scoring in the last 9 league games and getting 20 goals in the process.
Unai Zubillaga finally made his 1st league appearance here.
--
v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Laporte 6, Sancet 8, 11) Huesca 0 Lineup - Simon, Segura, Iturrino, Laporte, Melgarejo, Nolaskoain, Sancet*, Williams, Saizar (Castano), Muniain (Adria), Gonzalez (B.Zubillaga)
We win the title here thanks to 3 early goals. Now I have to decide whether or not to play my backups for the rest of the league campaign.
--
UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg
v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Nolaskoain 30, Bengoetxea 55) Chelsea 1 (Bruma 14)
Lineup - Simon, Segura, Iturrino, Laporte, Jimenez, Nolaskoain*, Sancet, Williams (B.Zubillaga), Morilla, Bengoetxea, Gonzalez
A decent result although the away goal is a worry but overall I am pleased that we came back to win.
--
SUMMARY
We could have won every other game 10-0 but the result against Real Madrid where we threw away a 3-0 lead with less than half an hour to go to lose our long unbeaten record in the league casts a shadow over the rest of the month.
As we are champions with 6 games to go I will probably put in a few of my youngsters into the side to see out the season but I don't want to put my first team players without a game for 3-4 weeks at the same time as if I was to rest my first team players they would only have 3 more games to play.
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