Aitor Herrera and Athletic Bilbao - A Match Made in Heaven

[Klippybo]

JANUARY

Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Herrera 20pen, Sancet 73, Yuri 85)
Getafe 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri*, Dani Garcia (Sancet), Herrera, Hervias, Unai Lopez (Aketxe), Muniain, Williams (Villalibre)

A good result and one which gives me a chance to rest my players in the 2nd leg.

--

v
Rayo Vallecano 1 (Alvaro Garcia 10)
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Herrera 35, Williams 53)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe, Herrera*, Hervias, Morilla (Unai Garcia), Muniain (Cordoba), Williams

Never ever when I signed Ander Herrera on loan would I ever dream that he would have 13 goals by January but he does. This time it wasn't a penalty but a first time finish into the top corner.

--

Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg
v
Getafe 0
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Soria 45og, Nunez 51, Ganea 90pen)
(Agg: 0-6)

Lineup - Simon, Capa, Yeray (David Garcia), Nunez, Ganea, Sancet, Dani Garcia, Susaeta*, Unai Lopez (Juan Carlos), Cordoba, Villalibre (Zubillaga)

I am very pleased with this victory as my backups did just as well as my first team. This could be Susaeta's last game for us so for him to get the MoM award was fitting. Next up is Getafe at home with my first picks - the backups have set the standard.....

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 4 (San Jose 29, Herrera 60, Morilla 62, 88)
Getafe 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose*, Yuri, Iturraspe, Herrera, Hervias, Morilla, Muniain (Aketxe), Williams (Villalibre)

Not bad. Ander Herrera went into this match having scored in his last 4 league games but when he missed a penalty early on I thought the run was over but not so as he scored with a header in the 2nd half. Morilla scoring twice is very pleasing.

--

Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 1st Leg
​​v
​​Atletico Madrid 1 (Lemar 14)
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Hervias 45)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe (Dani Garcia), Herrera, Hervias, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain, Williams (Cordoba)

An excellent result. I must admit that when I signed Pablo Hervias I had intended to send him to the B team but he has become a key member to my first team squad this season and his goal here doubled up that.

--

v
Celta Vigo 0
Athletic Bilbao 1 (De Marcos 6)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos*, Yeray, San Jose (Nunez), Ganea, Iturraspe, Herrera, Hervias, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain, Williams (Cordoba)

A rare goal from Oscar De Marcos sealed us the points here. Unai Nunez made his first appearance in the league this season here. Barcelona dropped points against Huesca and we are now 4pts clear at the top.

--

Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 0
Atletico Madrid 0
(Agg: 1-1 - Athletic Bilbao win on away goals)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez*, San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe (Dani Garcia), Herrera, Hervias, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain, Willimas (Cordoba)

We were excellent here and should have won the game outright. Pelayo Morilla had an early goal disallowed for handball but we are through and that's the main thing.

--

v
Huesca 1 (Alegria 41)
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Williams 1, 45, 47)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos (Capa), Martinez, San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe, Herrera, Hervias, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain (Cordoba), Williams*

Inaki Williams was the star man here as he banged in a hat-trick although I don't know how he was given the 2nd one as it took a massive deflection.

--

Copa del Rey Semi-Final 1st Leg
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 2 (Sancet 41, San Jose 74)
Valencia 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos*, David Garcia, San Jose, Ganea, Sancet, Dani Garcia, Unai Lopez (Cordoba), Aketxe, Muniain (Joshua), Williams

I would have to say that in my season and a half here out of all the wins we have had this is right up there at number one. We had half a team out on the park but we totally outplayed Valencia and deserved the win. Sancet's goal was a screamer.

--

SUMMARY

I will forget this in seasons to come but this month could be key to the future of the club as somehow despite playing games every 3 days throughout the month and actually depleting my squad we were unbeaten and not only have one foot in the cup final but also we have opened up a 4pt lead at the top of the table.

In the league we had easy enough fixtures but in the cup we managed to knock out Atletico Madrid on away goals and defeat Valencia 2-0 in the first leg of the semis.

Regarding transfers I sold one important member of the squad - Markel Susaeta. I sold him to Celta Vigo for £5.5m as he wanted a new challenge and that has really only left me with Pablo Hervias for the RW slot. Susaeta immediately started helping us as he scored an injury time equaliser against Barcelona!!!

Unai Nunez was loaned out to Levante for just over £1m for 6 months which is good and I loaned out a few youngsters.

Incoming I strengthened my B team with a decent left back - the B team have been smashing their division so far and I brought in 2 regens. Joshua has signed on a 6 month loan from Barcelona for a whopping £2.5m but it gives him Basque nationality and I think he will be some player. I also paid £2.8m to bring Juan Carlos in from Villarreal permanently. He looks a player.
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Bad news happened when Peru Nolaskoain who is a serious talent in my B team has developed a blood clot and is out for 5 months.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
OSCAR DE MARCOS
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--

LIGA SANTANDER
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[Klippybo]

Had a lot of people requesting my tactics - here it is. Always try and play my players in their favourite roles and positions and I have to say I never normally have anyone not playing in their natural ones but needs must here.
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[Klippybo]

FEBRUARY

​​v
​​Atletico Madrid 5 (Martins 11, Correa 14, 20, Diego Costa 35, 84)
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Williams 51, 76, Morilla 73)

Lineup - Simon, Capa, Martinez (David Garcia), Yeray, Yuri (Ganea), Iturraspe, Herrera (Dani Garcia), Hervias, Morilla, Muniain, Williams

Just as well we had a 4pt lead as we totally shat the bed here. I could say it was due to Capa being sent-off and playing most of the game without a RB but I cant as we were already 3 goals down when that happened. In fact we actually played better when we went a man down!

Last season in the league we conceded 20 goals in total and that's 20 goals already this year.

--

Copa del Rey Semi-Final 2nd Leg
v
Valencia 1 (Rodrigo 76)
Athletic Bilbao 0
(Agg: 1-2)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri (Ganea), Dani Garcia, Herrera (Sancet), Williams, Aketxe, Cordoba, Zubillaga (Villalibre)

Successive defeats haven't happened often but I will accept this one as most of my team were unfit and in the end we have reached the final anyway. Barcelona will be our opponents again.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Unai Lopez 55)
Real Oviedo 0

Lineup - Simon, Yeray, David Garcia, San Jose, Ganea*, Iturraspe, Dani Garcia (Sancet), Hervias (Joshua), Unai Lopez, Muniain, Cordoba (Villalibre)

I could have played a stronger side but my players fitness levels weren't as high as I would have liked and decided to rest them for the Arsenal game. Just as well we were playing a very poor side and we dominated throughout and once we scored it was never in doubt.

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
v
​​Arsenal 2 (Pavon 8pen, Aubameyang 45)
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Cordoba 76)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez (Yeray), San Jose, Yuri, Dani Garcia, Herrera, Hervias, Morilla, Muniain (Cordoba), Williams (Villalibre)

I am pretty happy with this result as we were very poor and should have lost by more but Cordoba latched onto a short back pass to score for us a vital away goal.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 2 (Hervias 55, 88)
Sevilla 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri (Ganea), Iturraspe, Herrera, Hervias*, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain (Cordoba), Williams

We gain revenge on Sevilla here thanks to 2 Pablo Hervias goals. He has been the biggest surprise this season by far as he is a first pick but as I have said before when I signed him I was thinking of dumping him in the B team lol.

Last season in the league after 38 games we scored 49 and conceded 20 and with 15 games to play we have the exact same record just now.

--

v
Valencia 2 (Mayoral 20, Rodrigo 30)
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 55)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos (David Garcia), Yeray, San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe, Herrera, Hervias (Unai Lopez), Morilla, Muniain, Williams (Villalibre)

We didn't deserve to get anything but I am left to think that it was a point dropped as Ander Herrera missed a penalty with a few minutes to go.

--

v
Real Sociedad 2 (Solanke 20, 52)
Athletic Bilbao 4 (San Jose 42, Herrera 48pen, Williams 60, Unai Lopez 70)

Lineup - Simon, Capa, Martinez, San Jose, Ganea, Iturraspe, Herrera, Hervias, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain (Cordoba), Williams*

Its always important to bounce back from a defeat with a victory but to do so by scoring 4 goals away from home against your bitterest rivals is something special. Dominic Solanke had a penalty saved late on.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Williams 10)
Espanyol 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri*, Sancet, Dani Garcia, Hervias (Unai Lopez), Morilla, Muniain, Williams

--

SUMMARY

This was a mixed month as we got some excellent results however we also lost 4 matches during the month. We end the month still top of the table by 3pts and we are in with a shout of progressing past Arsenal in the Champions League so I am happy.

Our defeats in the league against Atletico Madrid and Valencia were really annoying but they were tough away fixtures so I can accept that. Our defeat in the Champions League against Arsenal was decent enough as we only lost 2-1 and got the away goal which could prove to be vital.

My B team are continuing to go from strength to strength as they are top of the league and have won their last 12 league games.

Next month is the youth intake!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
INAKI WILLIAMS
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LIGA SANTANDER
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[Klippybo]

https://files.laliga.es/201809/w_900x700_23201733bet-bil017.jpg


MARCH

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
https://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/teams/club=50125/profile/index.htmlv
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Morilla 3, Williams 37, De Marcos 76)
Arsenal 0
(Agg: 4-2)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos*, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe, Herrera, Unai Lopez, Morilla (Aketxe), Muniain (Cordoba), Williams

What a result this is!!! We took the lead when Williams squared the ball for Morilla who tapped into the empty goal and then Williams fired in from the edge of the area to put us 2 up. De Marcos headed in the 3rd to seal the deal.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 2 (Lovren 38og, Villalibre 68)
Real Betis 1 (Martinez 63og)

Lineup - Simon, Capa, Martinez, San Jose, Ganea, Iturraspe, Herrera (Dani Garcia), Unai Lopez*, Aketxe, Muniain (Sancet), Williams (Villalibre)

I really don't think Asier Villalibre is going to be good enough for the top level but his goal here could prove to be one of the most vital of the season as he finished calmly when latching onto a punt up the park.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 2 (Martinez 15, 59)
Villarreal 1 (Moreno 70)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez*, San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe, Herrera, Hervias, Unai Lopez (Aketxe), Cordoba, Williams (Villalibre)

We played very well here and should have won by a lot more but as it was we relied on two free-kicks scored by Inigo Martinez. If we keep on winning the others cant stop us lol.

--

v
Leganes 0
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Williams 31)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri*, Iturraspe (Sancet), Herrera, Hervias, Unai Lopez (Aketxe), Muniain (Cordoba), Williams

--

SUMMARY

Only 4 games this month but we won all 4 so it was a perfect month. The highlight was the 3-0 win over Arsenal that sent us through to the Champions League quarter-finals where we will play Atletico Madrid which is a half decent draw.

Barcelona also won all of their league games so we remain 3pts clear of them although Atletico Madrid slipped up a bit.

As for the youth intake - I have no complaints at all!!! We got a golden generation with 3 or 4 very good players, half a dozen players that should be decent enough for the B team and one standout player who may even be in the first team squad next season.

Alberto Saizar is the highlight. He is an AMC and although I have Morilla, Aketxe and Unai Lopez as well as a couple of prospects in the ranks already I really do think that Saizar could be a superstar (although not quite at the level of Aitor Herrera lol)
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My only complaint - which is a bit cheeky is that I really wanted a left back or a right back prospect or even a RW or a striker but getting a bunch of CBs and an AMC is fine lol.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
YURI
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LIGA SANTANDER
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[Klippybo]

APRIL

​​v
Deportivo La Coruna 0
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Iturraspe 6, Hervias 46)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe*, Herrera (Sancet), Hervias, Unai Lopez (Morilla), Cordoba, Williams (Aketxe)

A decent win as we were put on our way by Iturraspe's 1st goal of the season.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Morilla 30, David Garcia 70, Joshua 87)
Osasuna 1 (Capa 45og)

Lineup - Simon, Capa, Yeray, David Garcia, Ganea*, Sancet, Aketxe (Dani Garcia), Unai Lopez, Morilla (Joshua), Cordoba, Williams

I am over the moon with this victory as I decided to rest most of my first choice players for the Champions League fixture. In the end my backups did well in this derby match and with David Garcia and Joshua scoring it means we have had 22 different goalscorers this season (not including own goals)!

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg
v
Atletico Madrid 2 (Diego Costa 36, Correa 78)
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Herrera 38pen)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez (Yeray), San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe, Herrera, Hervias, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain, Williams (Cordoba)

Meh. The Herrera penalty gives us which hopefully will prove to be a crucial away goal.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Joshua 81)
Levante 0

Lineup - Simon, Capa, Yeray, Lopez, Ganea, Sancet, Aketxe (Joshua), Hervias, Morilla (Saizar), Cordoba, Williams (Martinez)

Once again I rested players for the Champions League match and once again my under strength side did me proud as Joshua came off the bench to score the winner and nearly repay all of his £2m loan fee. Saizar made his debut here.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 2 (Morilla 20, Williams 89)
Atletico Madrid 1 (Vitolo 82)
(Agg: 3-3 - AET Athletic Bilbao win 2-1 on penalties)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez (Ganea), San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe (Dani Garcia), Herrera, Hervias*, Morilla, Muniain (Cordoba), Williams

What a game this was!!! We took the lead early on through Morilla and were looking good for seeing it out but then in a 2min spell they had a goal disallowed before actually scoring a goal that would see us out. Thankfully Williams struck with a minute to go to take it to extra-time.

Nothing happened in extra-time and although we emerged victorious in the penalty shoot-out only 3 of the 10 penalties were scored!

--

v
Eibar 1 (Kike 38)
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Williams 11, 33, Dani Garcia 45)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Yeray, San Jose (Lopez), Ganea, Iturraspe (Saizar), Dani Garcia, Unai Lopez, Joshua, Muniain (Cordoba), Williams*

5 games to go and 5pts ahead - can we do it? The thing is it is now Atletico Madrid that is our biggest threat as Levante somehow thumped Barcelona 4-0!!!!! Barcelona and Real Madrid are up next though. Dani Garcia's goal was a long range effort.

--

v
Barcelona 2 (Fekir 2, Dembele 62)
Athletic Bilbao 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos (Yeray), Martinez, San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe, Herrera, Hervias, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain, Williams (Villalibre)

After 9 straight wins our run comes to an end as Barcelona deservedly beat us even though they played the last 30min with 10 men. It is also the first time we have failed to score in the league this season. We are still 5pts clear of Barcelona though.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Hervias 45, Yuri 55, Varane 62og)
Real Madrid 2 (Rodriguez 21, Varane 43)

Lineup - Simon, Capa, Yeray, San Jose, Ganea (Yuri), Sancet, Dani Garcia, Hervias, Morilla (Joshua), Muniain (Cordoba), Williams

NOW THIS IS A COMEBACK OF CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

2-0 down at home - Atletico Madrid and Barcelona have already won 4-0 and 5-0 respectively - and my players somehow summon the courage and the determination to fight back and win this match. Surely we cant let it slip now.

Btw - James Rodriguez scored an astonishing overhead kick. Literally said wow when it went in and didn't go ffs lol.

--

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Herrera 14)
Barcelona 1 (Vidal 86)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe, Herrera, Unai Lopez, Morilla (Dani Garcia), Muniain (Cordoba), Williams (Villalibre)

We were 4min away from getting a huge victory here but they equalised with a scrappy goal. We have a tough challenge ahead if we are to progress now.

--

SUMMARY

I had mixed emotions this month as it was a rollercoaster of a ride. In the league we are just 3 games away from winning the title despite losing to Barcelona 2-0. We won 5 games in all in the league with the highlight being the stunning comeback against Real Madrid when we came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2. At the start of the month I had to play my backups and youngsters and its quite ironic that my loan player from Barcelona, Joshua, scored 2 key goals and got an assist to help dent their title bid.

In the Champions League we just sneaked past Atletico Madrid on penalties but in the first leg of the semi-final we drew 1-1 at home to Barcelona to leave us in a precarious position.

All in all we have the chance to win all 3 major trophies next month - EEK!!!!!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PABLO HERVIAS
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LIGA SANTANDER
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[Klippybo]

MAY

​​v
Getafe 1 (Janssen 90)
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Hervias 3, Herrera 15, Williams 73)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri, Iturraspe, Herrera (Dani Garcia), Hervias*, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain, Williams

We just need to win our final 2 league games at home to win the title. Ander Herrera's 18th goal of the season was a rasping 1st time effort from 25 yards.

--

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg
v
Barcelona 0
Athletic Bilbao 0
(Agg: 1-1 - Barcelona win on away goals)

Lineup - Simon*, Capa (David Garcia), Martinez, Yeray, Yuri (Dani Garcia), Iturraspe (Sancet), Herrera, Hervias, Morilla, Muniain, Williams

This was always going to be a tough ask - especially when you take into account that Martinez, Yuri, Iturraspe and Herrera were struggling for fitness. In the end we gave a good account of ourselves but just couldn't find the goal that would take us to the final.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 4 (Dani Garcia 11, 87, Zubillaga 65, 67)
Rayo Vallecano 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Yeray, San Jose, Yuri, Sancet (Joshua), Dani Garcia*, Unai Lopez, Morilla (Saizar), Cordoba, Villalibre (Zubillaga)

CHAMPIONS!!!!!

Going into this game we knew a win would secure the title after Atletico Madrid drew with Deportivo and we got the win that was needed as a largely backup side took us over the line with a thumping victory.

Borja Zubillaga came off the bench for his 1st league appearance of the season and scored a double with his 2nd being a first time volley from the edge of the area.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Zubillaga 25, Yuri 53, Cordoba 74)
Celta Vigo 3 (Diaz 87, 90, Sisto 90)

Lineup - Simon, Capa, Yeray, David Garcia, Yuri, Sancet, Dani Garcia, Unai Lopez, Joshua (Aketxe), Cordoba, Zubillaga

**** knows what happened at the end here - 3-0 up with 3min to go and we draw? This is only our 2nd draw in the league all season.

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Copa del Rey Final
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 30, Williams 104)
Barcelona 1 (Suarez 14)
AET

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, San Jose, Yuri*, Iturraspe (Villalibre), Dani Garcia, Hervias, Saizar (Unai Lopez), Muniain (Cordoba), Williams

We retain the Copa del Rey with the helping hand of the referee as he sent-off 2 Barcelona players which enabled us to press home our numerical advantage. I gave young midfielder Saizar a surprise start and he did OK.

--

SUMMARY

We had an excellent end to the season the season here as we secured the title and the Copa del Rey although the ultimate dream of winning the Champions League proved to be beyond us as Barcelona beat us on away goals.

In the league we won two matches to secure the title with my backups playing a large part and then on the final day of the season we threw away a 3 goal lead with 3min to go to only draw. As for the Copa del Rey we managed to beat 9 man Barcelona although they had the last laugh by beating us in the Champions League semi-finals on away goals.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
YURI
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[FM_TNSSO]

Boom!!! Congrats on the double my friend!!

 

[Klippybo]

END OF SEASON POST

What a season this was!!! We win the title at the 2nd time of asking despite arguably having a weaker squad than last season and not only that we got our hands on the Supercopa and the Copa del Rey. Even in the Champions League we had a superb campaign although we just fell short in the end.

In the league we won it with a game to spare and although we lost more than Barcelona and Atletico Madrid we only drew 2 matches which meant we won 30 games all told so to get 90+pts was always likely to win us the title. We scored much more goals this season - 82 - and conceded over 30 compared to 49 and 20 respectively last season so if I balance it out we were much better off conceding a bit more.

The highlight of the league campaign was the miraculous comeback against Real Madrid where we came back from 2 down to win 3-2 and also the last day of the season when we were 3-0 up with 3min to go and still only drew.

In the Copa del Rey we were fortunate as we just scraped our way into the final before beating Barcelona in the final but largely due to the fact that they had 2 men sent-off.

In the Champions League we reached the semi-finals which was some achievement. We somehow topped the group that included Man City and eventual winners Bayern Munich and then went on to knock-out Arsenal and Atletico Madrid before we succumbed to Barcelona on away goals.

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LIGA SANTANDER
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FIRST TEAM SQUAD
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There was a marked improvement in individual performances this season. In goal Unai Simon once again played in every match while in defence they all excelled while Yeray and Ganea especially impressed when called upon.

In midfield Ander Herrera was outstanding as he scored 18 goals although most were penalties while on the wings Muniain disappointed in the goals scored tally but Hervias on the right was a huge surprise as he scored 9 goals, got plenty of assists and generally played very well. In AMC young Pelayo Morilla had an OK season but he is still young and learning but currently he is being an **** and doesn't want to sign a new contract as he wants to go on loan despite playing regularly for me!!!!!

Up front Inaki Williams scored 29 goals which was a great effort considering he is a natural RW and although there is hardly any backup behind him we didn't seem to suffer greatly.

My Player of the Year - Ander Herrera
My Young Player of the Year - Pelayo Morilla
Donkey of the Year - Nobody!!!!

--

B TEAM

Toni Velamazan worked wonders this season as our B team won promotion to the 2nd tier of Spanish football. Not only did they win the league they also sailed through the play-offs and beat Mallorca 5-0 on aggregate in the final. The highlight of their season was their 18 game win streak which included a run of 12 clean sheets in a row.

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PLANS FOR THE SUMMER

I have earmarked one potential signing but tbh but even he isn't the one that I really want and that is Odriozola but Real Madrid are asking silly money. Hopefully Man Utd wont want to keep Ander Herrera so I wouldn't mind getting him on loan again as otherwise we are short in CM but otherwise it should be as you were.

I will naturally scout about for some 16y/o players.
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[Klippybo]

SPAIN APPOINT AITOR HERRERA AS THEIR NEW MANAGER

After a disastrous European Championships where Spain lost all 3 group games to Poland, Switzerland and France, Spain decided to sack their manager and after I applied for it they offered me the job which I readily accepted.

At £110,000 a week they have tripled my weekly salary at Bilbao and I hope to bring some success to the nation.

Obviously this helps me in my recruitment drive for Bilbao as every 16y/o Spaniard will appear in my player search screen.
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[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON POST

So aside from getting the Spain job I had quite a quiet summer in truth. I did however smash the clubs record transfer fee on one player and pretty much blew my whole transfer budget on him! One key first team member also left the club - well 2 if you count Ander Herrera.

I did sign a couple of players to help the B team but it really was just the case of 1 in for the first team and a few prospects for the future.

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PLAYERS OUT

Mikel San Jose has gone. I sold him to Manchester United for £41.5m which is a great fee for a 31y/o centre-half. He played 85 matches for me and scored 8 goals and I wish him well as I wont be bringing him back as I have a load of good young players in his position.

The only other notable departure was a loan deal for Ager Aketxe who joined Real Zaragoza for a £800,000 loan fee.

My B team keeper has been sold to Atletico Madrid for £3.2m. I didn't realise he had such a low release fee so he got poached but I am not too bothered as Unai Simon is not going to be replaced anytime soon and I have a decent keeper in the U19 squad who can step up.

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PLAYERS IN

I managed to blow £60m on one player - Aymeric Laporte. With the departure of San Jose I didn't really need to replace him but Laporte at 26y/o has yet to reach his prime and he is a world class centre half and should have a great partnership with Inigo Martinez.
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All my other signings were prospects for the youth team with Melgarejo being the most expensive at £800,000 and the left back is a player I think could be in the first team squad. Miguel Angel Oyono also looks decent.
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SQUAD

Obviously Laporte replaces San Jose and elsewhere it is in CM where there are changes. With Ander Herrera being back at Man Utd I will give Oihan Sancet a run in the side and he had better take his chance. Peru Nolaskoain has been called up from the B team to give us more depth in that area.

Alberto Saizar has been promoted to the first team squad to replace Aketxe and challenge for the AMC role.

Worryingly Pelayo Morilla still wants to go out on loan despite playing every week and he wont sign a new contract which is just ridiculous but his contract expires at the end of the season so I need that situation to be sorted out.


​

 

[Klippybo]

AUGUST

Supercopa
v
Barcelona 1 (Silva 55)
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Williams 48, 77, Laporte 90)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri, Dani Garcia, Sancet (Iturraspe), Hervias (Unai Lopez), Saizar (Morilla), Muniain, Williams*

Not a bad start to the season!!! Barcelona now have Jurgen Klopp as their manager and even signed Pablo Dybala for over £100m to join the likes of Messi and Pogba but although they dominated we were ruthless in attack and somehow came out on top. Laporte scored on his first game back which is nice.

--

v
Deportivo La Coruna 1 (Vazquez 39)
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Sancet 33, 86)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri, Dani Garcia (Iturraspe), Sancet*, Hervias, Saizar (Morilla), Muniain, Williams (Cordoba)

We get a win on the opening day of the season thanks to two Oihan Sancet headers. Hopefully he can be a regular goalscorer from midfield like Ander Herrera was! Dani Garcia got injured here and is out for 5 months which is a big blow to us.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Williams 36)
Rayo Vallecano 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos*, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri, Iturraspe (Nolaskoain), Sancet, Hervias (Unai Lopez), Morilla (Saizar), Muniain, Williams

We got away with that as we just sneaked a win. We scored when Williams latched onto a short pass back and afterwards we struggled to get any fluidity to our play. Simon even had to save a late penalty to keep us ahead.

--

SUMMARY

With 3 wins out of 3 I should be delighted but with the manner of our victories I just hope that we are starting a bit slowly but we shall see. Winning the Supercopa was good and its always nice to beat Barcelona but we were pretty fortunate in truth.

As for the transfer window I signed 2 more players - both on loan. Emerson is a 16y/o DMC from Villarreal and will play with the U19 squad while Adria has come in from Barcelona on a loan deal worth £2.5m. He is a 16y/o wonderkid and hopefully I can sign him permanently and train him up to play as a winger instead of a left midfielder.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
OSCAR DE MARCOS
View attachment 30332

​

 

[Klippybo]

SEPTEMBER


​​v
Espanyol 0
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Hervias 57)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos (Capa), Martinez, Laporte, Yuri, Iturraspe, Nolaskoain, Hervias*, Saizar, Muniain (Adria), Villalibre (Cordoba)

Once again we just scrape by and no more. Hervias got othe goal in the 2nd half and Aymeric Laporte missed a penalty. With the departures of San Jose, Herrera and Aketxe I don't have a decent penalty taker.

--

UEFA Champions League Group H
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 0
FC Porto 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri, Iturraspe, Sancet (Ganea), Hervias, Morilla (Saizar), Muniain, Williams (Cordoba)

Once again we flatter to deceive as another lacklustre performance was put on show. Hervias got sent-off in the last minute so I cant blame that on the poor showing.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Martinez 83)
Valencia 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez*, Laporte, Yuri, Iturraspe, Nolaskoain, Hervias (Unai Lopez), Morilla, Muniain (Adria), Williams (Cordoba)

We aren't going to get away with it forever. This was a tight match which was decided by a stunning free-kick from Inigo Martinez.

--

v
Sevilla 0
Athletic Bilbao 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri*, Iturraspe, Sancet, Hervias, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain (Adria), Cordoba (Villalibre)

5 clean sheets in a row in all competitions although this is our first dropped points of the season.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Unai Lopez 71)
Malaga 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Ganea, Iturraspe, Sancet, Hervias (Unai Lopez), Morilla (Saizar), Muniain*, Williams (Cordoba)

And so it goes on. This is both worrying and funny.

--

UEFA Champions League Group H
​​v
Hertha Berlin 2 (Dilrosun 44, Poulsen 73)
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Laporte 8pen, Zieler 42og, Williams 82)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez (Yeray), Laporte, Yuri, Iturraspe (Ganea), Nolaskoain, Unai Lopez, Morilla (Saizar), Muniain, Williams

For once my defence has an off day and fortunately for once this season my forwards had an on day although we had to rely on a penalty and an own goal.

--

SUMMARY

6 games played, 5 wins and a draw and 5 clean sheets. It seems that we are really missing Ander Herrera as he is the only change really from last season yet our performances are back to being like the first season where we rely on keeping clean sheets and just nicking games.

Ourselves and Barcelona are at the top of the table with 16pts however they have scored 18 and conceded 2 while we have a pitiful 6 goals and conceded 1.

My B team has started well in the second tier as they have a record of 4-2-1 so that is encouraging.

Finally my board have agreed to expand the stadium by 5,000 seats and also improve the data analysis facilities.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
UNAI SIMON
​​View attachment 30180

--

LIGA SANTANDER
​​View attachment 30179

--

SPAIN

Friendly

v

​​Spain 1 (Grimaldo 90)
Portugal 2 (Silva 81, Ronaldo 87)

Lineup - De Gea (Simon), Bellerin, Martinez, Ramos, Mere, Gaya (Grimaldo), Busquets, Rodri, Luis Alberto, Williams, Rodrigo

Meh - this was in no way my first choice team nor formation (5 at the back and 2 DMs) but most of my players were unfit so I picked who was fittest. Simon and Grimaldo made their international debuts here.

--

UEFA Nations League Division A Group 1
​​

v

​​Switzerland 0
Spain 2 (Koke 13, 70)

Lineup - De Gea, Bellerin, Martinez, Ramos, Grimaldo, Koke*, Thiago (Busquets), Williams, Asensio, Muniain (Deulofeu), Alcacer (Rodrigo)

That's more like it!!!


​

 

[Klippybo]

OCTOBER


​​v
Getafe 0
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Laporte 45pen)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte*, Yuri, Iturraspe, Sancet (Nolaskoain), Hervias, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain, Williams (Cordoba)

I actually feel sorry for my players here as they put in a terrific performance and had 2 first half goals disallowed yet the final score will go down in the history books as another narrow 1-0 win.

--

v
Real Betis 2 (Carvalho 14, Balasa 33)
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 16, Cordoba 90)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Nunez, Yeray, Yuri, Iturraspe, Sancet (Nolaskoain), Hervias (Unai Lopez), Morilla, Muniain*, Williams (Cordoba)

Typical - after struggling to score goals in the league we finally score 2 in a game since the opening day of the season and after 6 clean sheets in a row we concede 2 ourselves!!! Thankfully Cordoba levelled in the last minute for us.

--

UEFA Champions League Group H
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Sancet 16, Cordoba 18pen, Nunez 29)
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 21)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Nunez, Yuri (Ganea), Iturraspe, Sancet, Hervias*, Saizar (Unai Lopez), Cordoba, Williams (Adria)

Where did this performance come from? To beat Man Utd so convincingly when we have hardly put a performance in all season so far is superb. We are in control of the group now.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Williams 36)
Leganes 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez (Nunez), Yeray, Yuri, Iturraspe (Nolaskoain), Sancet, Hervias, Morilla, Muniain (Cordoba), Williams

This was a frustrating victory. They had a man sent-off early on and we absolutely battered them and had 30 attempts at goal but for all our attacking play we only managed to win 1-0.

--

Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg
​​v
​​Llagostera 0
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Cordoba 90)

Lineup - Simon, Capa, Yeray, Nunez, Ganea, Iturraspe, Nolaskoain, Unai Lopez, Saizar, Cordoba*, Villalibre (Zubillaga)

This is a pretty embarrassing result as once again we dominate proceedings but only scrape the win and this time due to Cordoba's 2nd last minute goal of the month.

--

SUMMARY

This was a strange month as results wise we did well on the whole as we won all of our games apart from the draw against Real Betis and that included a fantastic 3-1 win over Manchester United. All of that good stuff is one thing but our lack of goals is definitely concerning. We are dominating teams and creating loads of chances but we just aren't converting them - unless we are playing Man Utd that is.

We are however top of the league as Barcelona slipped up so I should be delighted!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
INIGO CORDOBA
View attachment 30153

--

LIGA SANTANDER
​​View attachment 30154

--

SPAIN

UEFA Nations League Division A Group 1
​​

v

​​Spain 2 (Alcacer 54, Ramos 78)
Belgium 1 (Hazard 74)

Lineup - De Gea, Carvajal (Roberto), Martinez, Ramos, Grimaldo (Gaya), Busquets, Thiago, Williams*, Asensio (Luis Alberto), Muniain, Alcacer

Inaki Williams was the star of the show here as he got both assists. Belgium lost to Switzerland in their first game so we are in prime position now to qualify.

--

Friendly

v

​​Spain 7 (Lee 7og, Alcacer 15, 27, 30, Asensio 16, Thiago 57, Suso 76)
New Zealand 1 (Barbarouses 9)

Lineup - De Gea, Carvajal (Nacho), Martinez, Ramos (San Jose), Grimaldo (Gaya), Koke, Thiago (Busquets), Williams (Suso), Asensio, Isco (Muniain), Alcacer*

A nice easy victory here. Paco Alcacer is my 2nd choice striker behind Morata in reality but his 4 goals in 2 games may change my mind on that.

​

 

[eblakk]

Congratulations

First off all, congratulations for the double!

But I was asking myself how did you get PELAYO MORILLA?

I also started a long save with Bilbao and tried to get Morilla but it said I am not able to buy a player who is not of basque origin.

Best regards

Enno

 

[Klippybo]

First off all, congratulations for the double!

But I was asking myself how did you get PELAYO MORILLA?

I also started a long save with Bilbao and tried to get Morilla but it said I am not able to buy a player who is not of basque origin.

Best regards

Enno

He starts the game as a 16y/o but he turns 17 quite quickly. You have to sign him before he turns 17. He is doing ok with me but tbh he has disappointed me a little in truth.

 

[Klippybo]

Don't know who these two people are but they were at the Athletic v Villarreal game this season. Pretty obvious who my favourite is lol.

NOVEMBER

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Martinez 47, 90, Laporte 60pen)
Villarreal 2 (Moreno 19, Soriano 44)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez*, Laporte, Yuri, Nolaskoain, Sancet, Hervias, Morilla (Saizar), Muniain (Adria), Williams (Cordoba)

A fantastic comeback as my centre-halves show us the way to goal. I have to be honest I was so ****** off at half-time I didn't even do a half time team talk as I had given up the ghost but my players must have looked inside themselves and turned it around in the 2nd half.

--

UEFA Champions League Group H
​​v
​​Manchester United 3 (Lukaku 8, Gomes 78, Matic 85)
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Laporte 74, Ganea 83pen)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri (Ganea), Iturraspe, Sancet, Hervias, Morilla (Saizar), Muniain, Williams (Cordoba)

I am fuming with this performance. Overall we were shocking and how we scored 2 goals I don't know as we didn't lay a glove on Man Utd. Having somehow clawed the game back twice I am equally just as ****** off that we managed to throw the game away.

--

v
Real Sociedad 1 (Vargas 83)
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Hernandez 29og, Cordoba 86)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Ganea, Iturraspe (Nolaskoain), Sancet, Hervias, Morilla (Saizar), Muniain (Cordoba), Williams

Derby day joy for us as we beat our bitter rivals. We took the lead when Morilla forced Hernandez into scoring an own goal and after that we dominated but we couldn't take our chances. I was fuming when they levelled late on but fortunately Inigo Cordoba headed in the winner minutes later.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Laporte 54)
Real Madrid 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte*, Ganea, Iturraspe, Sancet (Nolaskoain), Hervias, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain, Williams (Cordoba)

What a win this could turn out to be. We went into this match knowing that Barcelona had drawn against Las Palmas and we took full advantage of that here as Aymeric LaPorte's 2nd half header won us the game. He is actually our top scorer this season so far with 6 goals.

--

UEFA Champions League Group H
​​v
FC Porto 0
Athletic Bilbao 0

Lineup - Simon, Yeray, Nunez, Lopez (Zabalza), Ganea, Iturraspe, Nolaskoain, Unai Lopez, Saizar, Cordoba (Adria), Villalibre (Zubillaga)

I am proud of my backups here as I decided to rest my first team for the Barcelona match. Porto battered us but created nothing and the only other thing of note was Zabalza getting sent-off on his debut in stoppage time. This point secures qualification for the next stage.

--

v
Barcelona 2 (Vidal 9, Suarez 56)
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Sancet 81)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri (Ganea), Iturraspe, Sancet*, Hervias, Morilla, Muniain (Saizar), Williams (Cordoba)

We didn't deserve to lose this match at all as we played so well but once again we just weren't ruthless enough. Cordoba missed a sitter in stoppage time which was infuriating.

--

SUMMARY

We had some horrendous fixtures this month but overall I have to be happy how we got on. In the league we defeated Villarreal, Real Sociedad in the derby and Real Madrid before narrowly losing out to Barcelona. We are currently level on top with Barcelona except they have scored double the amount that we have and have the advantage in the head to head record.

In the Champions League we have qualified as runners up in the group after losing out to Man Utd and drawing with FC Porto. I will play my backups in the final group match against Hertha Berlin.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
AYMERIC LAPORTE
View attachment 29897

--

LIGA SANTANDER
View attachment 29896

--

​​
SPAIN

UEFA Nations League Division A Group 1
​​

v

​​Belgium 1 (Hazard 80)
Spain 1 (Alcacer 86)

Lineup - De Gea, Carvajal, Martinez, Ramos, Gaya, Koke (Saul), Thiago, Williams (Suso), Luis Alberto, Isco, Morata (Alcacer*)

How Belgium managed to get a draw here I don't know as we played them off the park having said that I suppose I should be happy that we didn't lose after conceding late on. We just need to avoid defeat against Switzerland to qualify.

--

UEFA Nations League Division A Group 2
​​

v

​​Spain 1 (Saul 90)
Switzerland 0

Lineup - De Gea, Bellerin, Mere, Rodri, Grimaldo*, Saul, Roberto, Williams (Suso) (Busquets), Luis Alberto, Asensio, Alcacer (Morata)

We did what was needed of us here as we only needed a draw. Williams picked up a knock so I took him off at half-time and his replacement, Suso, was taken off injured himself within 3min!!


​

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Great job winning the league last season mate, nice to see another La Liga story being so successful! Hoping to win the league with my Betis side myself, should be a great achievement. Best of luck for the rest of the season and in the CL!

 

[Klippybo]

DECEMBER


​​v
​​Athletic Bilbao 4 (Iturraspe 12, Williams 17, Martinez 50, Morilla 71)
Levante 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez*, Laporte, Yuri, Iturraspe, Sancet (Nolaskoain), Hervias, Morilla, Muniain (Cordoba), Williams

Finally a convincing victory in the league and finally Pelayo Morilla bagged his 1st goal of the season. They had a man sent-off at 2-0 which helped us.

--

UEFA Champions League Group H
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Zubillaga 8)
Hertha Berlin 1 (Lowen 16)

Lineup - Simon, Yeray, Nunez, Lopez (Pereda), Ganea, Nolaskoain, Sancet, Unai Lopez, Saizar, Cordoba (Adria), Zubillaga

Meh. We were already through and couldn't win the group so it was just about giving my backups some match time. Zubillaga is close to getting promoted to the first team so it was nice to see him score.

--

v
Alaves 2 (Vesga 18, Kryeziu 67)
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Laporte 28, Muniain 46, 48, 57pen)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri, Iturraspe, Nolaskoain, Hervias, Morilla (Unai Lopez), Muniain*, Williams

Another 4 goal haul!!!! This is certainly unusual.

--

Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Yeray 13, Ganea 45, Unai Lopez 72)
Llagostera 0
(Agg: 4-0)

Lineup - Simon, Yeray, Nunez, Lopez, Ganea*, Nolaskoain, Sancet (Juan Carlos), Unai Lopez, Saizar, Cordoba (Adria), Zubillaga

Through we go but our 2 year hold of the tournament may be endangered as we have Barcelona in the next round.

--

Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg
v
Barcelona 3 (Luis 39, Suarez 58, 85)
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Sancet 8, Cordoba 26)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri (Ganea), Iturraspe, Sancet (Nolaskoain), Unai Lopez*, Morilla (Juan Carlos), Muniain, Cordoba

Normally a 3-2 defeat away from home in the first leg against Barcelona would be a good result but having been 2-0 up I am disappointed. That said it is a good result lol.

--

SUMMARY

On the whole December was a very good month as we finally found our goalscoring touch. We scored 4 goals in both of our league games which provided a boost in confidence and gave us a little fillip. In the cup we easily disposed of Llagostera and then we lost 3-2 away in the first leg against Barcelona so it is all up in the air tbh.

In the Champions League my backups got a draw against Hertha Berlin and in the knockout stage we will play the holders - Liverpool.

Finally I appointed club legend Joseba Etxeberria as a youth team coach.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
UNAI LOPEZ
View attachment 29751
​​
--

LIGA SANTANDER
View attachment 29750
​​
​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Don't know who these two people are but they were at the Athletic v Villarreal game this season. Pretty obvious who my favourite is lol.
​

Your favorite. Hmm is it the Spanish version of Grampa in my pocket isnt it?

 

[Klippybo]

JANUARY


​​v
​​Athletic Bilbao 0
Atletico Madrid 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri, Iturraspe, Sancet (Nolaskoain), Hervias (Saizar), Unai Lopez, Muniain, Cordoba (Villalibre)

Not a bad result in which was a boring game. Barcelona drew so dropping points here wasnt too bad a thing in the end.

--

Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Martinez 37, Hervias 46, Morilla 50)
Barcelona 1 (Pogba 21)
(Agg: 5-4)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri (Ganea), Nolaskoain, Sancet, Hervias* (Unai Lopez), Morilla, Muniain, Cordoba (Villalibre)

WOW!!!!

We overturned the first leg deficit and a goal on top of this to knock Barcelona out of the cup. We fell behind when Pogba struck home but then we levelled before half-time thanks to Inigo Martinez's free-kick. Hervias put us ahead in the game early in the 2nd half and then Morilla scored a stunning 3rd to put us through.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 16, Nolaskoain 64, Villalibre 74)
Las Palmas 0

Lineup - Simon, Capa, Nunez, Yeray, Yuri (Ganea), Iturraspe (Dani Garcia), Nolaskoain, Hervias*, Morilla, Muniain, Cordoba (Villalibre)

A very good win - especially since we were without 5 first team picks. Dani Garcia finally made his return from injury after being out since the opening day of the season.

--

Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 1st Leg
v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Adria 31, Martinez 53, Yuri 56)
Villarreal 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri*, Iturraspe (Dani Garcia), Sancet (Nolaskoain), Hervias, Saizar, Adria, Cordoba (Villalibre)

Very impressive although we were helped when they had a man sent-off early on. Adria scored his first goal for us, Martinez added a free-kick and Yuri scored a beauty from the edge of the area.

--

v
Celta Vigo 1 (Ben Yedder 90)
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Sancet 21, Ganea 84)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Ganea*, Iturraspe, Sancet, Unai Lopez (Cordoba), Morilla (Saizar), Muniain, Williams

Every goal just now seems to be a screamer. Sancet powered in from the edge of the area and then Ganea scored with a free-kick.

--

Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
v
​​Villarreal 1 (Layun 40pen)
Athletic Bilbao 0
(Agg: 1-3)

Lineup - Simon, Capa, Yeray, Lopez (Oyono), Ganea, Dani Garcia, Nolaskoain, Streuli, Saizar (Juan Carlos), Adria, Cordoba (Zubillaga)

Meh. I was confident that my backups could see us through with a 3 goal lead and so it proved. Oyono and Streuli made their debuts here.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 2 (Williams 48, 57)
Deportivo La Coruna 0

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri, Iturraspe (Dani Garcia), Sancet (Nolaskoain), Hervias, Morilla, Muniain (Cordoba), Williams*

Nice and easy. Inaki Williams now moves ahead of Aymeric Laporte as our top scorer for the season.

--

Copa del Rey Semi-Final 1st Leg
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Cordoba 34pen, Yuri 54, Hervias 75)
Atletico Madrid 1 (Saul 90)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez, Laporte, Yuri* (Ganea), Iturraspe, Sancet, Hervias, Morilla, Muniain (Adria), Cordoba (Villalibre)

A great win but that last minute goal that we conceded is a bitter pill to swallow as all of a sudden we are under threat in the 2nd leg. Yuri scored the screamer here.

--

v
​​Rayo Vallecano 1 (Boateng 90)
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Hervias 4, Martinez 64, Dani Garcia 86)

Lineup - Simon, De Marcos, Martinez*, Laporte, Yuri, Iturraspe, Sancet (Dani Garcia), Hervias, Morilla, Cordoba (Adria), Williams (Villalibre)

A good win to end a good month. Cordoba missed a penalty early on while Martinez scored a free-kick and Dani Garcia fired in a volley from 20 yards to continue our 1 club goal of the season competition.

--

SUMMARY

January as ever was an action packed month and overall we did very well. In the league we were unbeaten and only dropped points in a 0-0 draw with Atletico Madrid and we won the rest of the games. We are currently 2nd in the table - level on points with Barcelona - but with a game in hand.

It was in the Copa del Rey where our greatest exploits happened as we beat Barcelona 3-1 to knock them out, defeated Villarreal and we have a 3-1 lead going into the 2nd leg of the semi-final against Atletico Madrid.

Regarding the transfer window I signed 1 player and just missed out in another. The one we missed out on is Ander Herrera as he rejected another loan move to us in order to join Valencia the ***** that he is. Having said that Oihan Sancet is a wonderkid so I am quite happy to stick with him.

The one signing I did make was the £2.6m Raul Segura who I brought in from Real Betis and he could be our next right back after De Marcos providing he develops well.
View attachment 29603

Leaving the club is Unai Nunez who has went out on loan again for a £1m fee.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PABLO HERVIAS
View attachment 29605
​​
--

LIGA SANTANDER
View attachment 29604
​​
​