v
AC Milan 0 Athletic Bilbao 1 (Gabilondo 11) Lineup - A.Iribarren, Perdomo (Elustondo), Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino, Martinez, Williams, J.Iribarren (J.Prieto), Gabilondo*, Iribar (Goni)
Gabilondo announces his arrival to the whole of Europe here with a truly breathtaking goal and a MoM performance. His goal came when Iribar crossed and he ran onto it and volleyed in from an angle 20 yards out.
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Spanish Super Cup Final 1st Leg v
Real Madrid 2 (Kane 58, Lemar 62) Athletic Bilbao 2 (J.Prieto 75, 88)
An even match. Both sides had a goal disallowed too but I am delighted with Prieto's impact as he clawed back a 2 goal deficit for us.
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Spanish Super Cup Final 2nd Leg
v
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Williams 18) Real Madrid 1 (Lemar 53) (Agg: 3-3 - Athletic Bilbao win on away goals) Lineup - A.Iribarren, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino (Zerhouni), Martinez (M.Alvarez de Lara), Williams*, J.Prieto, Muniain, Iribar (Munoz)
The Super Cup is won but as ever it was a tight affair between ourselves and Real. Iribar has carried on his form from the end of last season - *****!!! He was much better when he was unhappy!!!
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v
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Iribar 57) Barcelona 1 (Rojas 69) Lineup - A.Iribarren, Perdomo, Laporte, Galarza, Darko Garcia, Merino, Martinez (M.Alvarez de Lara), Williams (Goni), J.Iribarren (Muniain), Gabilondo*, Iribar
Disappointing but not a bad result to kick off our season.
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SUMMARY
I don't think you could get a tougher start to the season with our opening 4 fixtures of the season that we just had to play. 1 win and 3 draws is OK but we collected 2 trophies and that is the main thing I suppose.
I did make another signing in the transfer window as I brought in a young DM to bolster our U19s as I have loaned out a heap of players. The most notable loan is Aitor Sanz who top scored in La Liga 2 - he has joined Betis for a £1m loan fee. View attachment 58411
Finally in the Champions League we have been given a favourable group - Porto, Shakhtar and Schalke.
A good win here was overshadowed by Iribarren's injury and he is out for 2 months. Time for Juan Luis Prieto to step up - he has certainly started the season well.
This was an enthralling game which we just came out on top in. Iribar scored again while Munoz's winner was a back post header that went in off the bar.
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SUMMARY
6 games and 6 wins so no complaints there! Andoni Iribar scored in every game for us as he has started this season on fire. We have had a few injuries too so to win every game is a decent achievement.
I managed to get Jimenez and Elustondo to sign new contracts. Jimenez has a chance to be a decent player but he is 3rd in line. I transfer listed him in the summer but there were no takers - Man Utd and Arsenal were interested before.
v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Iribar 12, 37, 66) Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (de Vrij 57) Lineup - A.Iribarren, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino (Zerhouni), Martinez, Williams, J.Prieto, Gabilondo (Muniain), Iribar*
I might just play my backups for the remaining 4 group games as we have won our 1st two. Iribar just keeps on scoring!!!!
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v
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Williams 9) Atletico Madrid 0 Lineup - A.Iribarren, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino, Martinez (M.Alvarez de Lara), Williams*, J.Prieto, Muniain (Munoz), Iribar
Finally we get one over Atletico after they have beaten us the last few times. We took an early lead and managed to hold on. Iribar failed to score in the league for the first time this season.
7 wins in a row now in the league and Iribar has scored in 7 of the 8 league games as well as 3 out of the 4 international games.
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UEFA Champions League Group H
v
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Merino 42) FC Porto 1 (Rui Pedro 49) Lineup - A.Iribarren, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino*, Martinez (Zerhouni), Williams (Munoz), J.Prieto, Gabilondo, Iribar (Goni)
Meh. It would have been nice to have won so I could play my backups for the rest of the group but hey ho.
Espanyol came into this game rock bottom with only 1pt but we made hard work of it here. We were boosted however by the return of Kepa Arrizabalaga - Ander Iribarren did very well in his absence and here is a screenie of him......
View attachment 58231
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SUMMARY
Our strong start to the season continued here as we won all of our league matches and got a win and a draw in the Champions League. The highlight of the month was the hard fought 1-0 victory away to Atletico Madrid. Our form has been so good that after only 9 games we have managed to get a 6pt gap at the top of the table.
There was more good news as Arrizabalaga returned from injury and Williams and Iribar has signed new contracts with Iribar doubling his wages!!!!
Vinicius Junior has been in Spain for 5 years now and Brazil hadn't given him a cap so I quickly pounced to give him a cap. He is actually transfer listed at Real Madrid so hopefully he can get a move and develop.
Lealtad 1 (De la Fuente 90) Athletic Bilbao 6 (Muniain 31, 70, Zerhouni 33, 79, 90, Goni 51) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza, David Garcia, Garmendia, Zerhouni*, M.Alvarez de Lara (I.Prieto), Munoz (Izan), J.Prieto (Castillo), Muniain, Goni
We actually had an early goal disallowed through David Garcia but we didn't need it in the end as Zerhouni and Muniain ran the show.
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v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (J.Prieto 4, Gabilondo 62pen, 67pen) Levante 1 (Herrera 35) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino (Zerhouni), Martinez, Williams (Munoz), J.Prieto, Gabilondo*, Iribar (Goni)
This match certainly wasn't without incident. We took the lead thanks to Prieto's stunning strike but Ander Herrera levelled for them before being sent-off. We were then awarded a penalty and they had another man sent-off and then we got a 2nd penalty to seal it. Then right at the end we went down to 10 men when Gabilondo picked up an injury!!!
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UEFA Champions League Group H v
FC Porto 0 Athletic Bilbao 5 (Muniain 30, 86, Co og46, Zerhouni 47, J.Prieto 90)
Who needs Gabilondo? lol. Muniain was immense here and he scored a fantastic hat-trick while Iribarren returned from injury and scored a fine free-kick.
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UEFA Champions League Group H
v
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Muniain 24, 57, Jimenez 43, 49) Schalke 04 0
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza (I.Prieto), David Garcia, Darko Garcia, Zerhouni, M.Alvarez de Lara, Munoz (Castillo), J.Prieto (Jimenez), Muniain*, Goni
The key moment of this game was when Juan Luis Prieto went off injured in the 1st half. Jimenez came on and immediately scored and after that we were on easy street.
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SUMMARY
This month was the Iker Muniain month as my oldest player scored an incredible 9 goals from LW during the month - considering Gabilondo scored 2 as well it shows that my left hand side is tearing teams apart!!!!
I now have a selection problem for the start of next month as Gabilondo is back fit but Muniain is banging in the goals.........
We secure the group here in our last match. Austria have won all their games apart from against us so when they took the lead I was worried but we quickly levelled and then they had a man sent-off and after that we were on easy street.
Celta Vigo 0 Athletic Bilbao 1 (Iribar 7pen)
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino*, Martinez, Williams (Munoz), J.Iribarren (Goni), Muniain (Gabilondo), Iribar
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UEFA Champions League Group H v
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 (de Vrij 15) Athletic Bilbao 1 (A. Alvarez de Lara 90)
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza, David Garcia, Garmendia, Zerhouni, M.Alvarez de Lara (Armillas), Castillo (A.Alvarez de Lara), Calvo, Muniain, Goni (Jimenez)
Not a bad result considering I was missing a couple of my backups that would have probably featured like Munoz and J.Prieto so I will take a draw. We are actually unbeaten in our last 42 Champions League matches which is a record and was saved by our last minute equaliser here.
I would have wanted, nee expected a victory with a bigger winning margin but we are in the final and that's the main thing. Goni got injured and is out for almost 2 months.
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FIFA Club World Cup Final
v
Al-Duhail 0 Athletic Bilbao 8 (Gabilondo 16, 51pen, 59, Iribar 30, Williams 37, Jimenez 75, 88, 90pen) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino, Martinez (M.Alvarez de Lara), Williams (Munoz), J.Iribarren, Gabilondo*, Iribar (Jimenez)
Now that's the way to win a final!!!! We were superb and both Gabilondo and Jimenez helped themselves to hat-tricks!!
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v
Real Madrid 3 (Sicoli 21, Luan 31, 44) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Gabilondo 11)
Pathetic. 2 years ago we were given a nightmare away fixture upon our return from the Club World Cup which led to our only defeat of the season and we could suffer the same situation here as struggling Real Madrid thump us.
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SUMMARY
This month and year ended on a sour note as our excellent league form was brought to an abrupt halt by Real Madrid's victory over us. I will have to pick up my players and get them back onto it. We have a 4pt lead with 2 games in hand so we are in a good place.
We of course won the Club World Cup and in the Champions League we have a nightmare draw against Man City.
As for Spain, in the World Cup qualifiers we have been drawn against Russia, Austria, Northern Ireland and Andorra.
In other news - Spanish legend Xavi has been named as the new Sevilla manager.
We struggled here lol. Jimenez now has 9 goals for the season and as my 3rd choice striker that is quite good. My 2nd choice striker, Goni, has 2!!
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v Athletic Bilbao 2 (J.Iribarren 54, Muniain 87) Alaves 2 (Beltran 36, Lukebakio 90)
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez (Galarza), Darko Garcia, Merino, Martinez, Williams, J.Iribarren, Gabilondo (Muniain), Iribar (Jimenez)
Obviously I am ****** off that we conceded the last minute equaliser and the fact that we only drew despite having 30 attempts on goal however Alaves are somehow joint 2nd in the league and are doing incredibly well so it isn't so bad but I aint happy nonetheless.
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Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg v
Girona 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Echeverria 89, Castillo 90) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza, David Garcia, Garmendia, Zerhouni, M.Alvarez de Lara, Munoz, J.Prieto (Calvo), Muniain (Castillo), Jimenez (Echeverria*)
I have put faith in my backups to get us through this tie and it was 2 of my backup reserves that got our goals. Castillo will have a future with us but Echeverria I am not sure about - he has some great stats but needs a bit more development - not a bad debut though!!!
That's 3 league games in a row without a win and to boot a shocking performance. After our amazing start to the season its beginning to look like that the wheels are coming off and we have Barcelona away next!
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Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg
v Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 4, Jimenez 36, I.Prieto 86) Girona 2 (Carrascal 83, El Nesyri 88) (Agg: 5-2) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza, David Garcia, Garmendia, Zerhouni, M.Alvarez de Lara (I.Prieto*), Munoz, J.Prieto (Castillo), Muniain, Jimenez (Echeverria)
Lets hope my rested first teamers can take a leaf out of my backups as they win for the 3rd time this month. The baton is handed over........
I don't have a clue how we won this. Before the match Iribar got injured for a month and Williams picked up a knock too so we were depleted but somehow we won and with 10 men too!!! We got a lucky goal when Umtiti put into his own net but shortly after Laporte got sent-off and it was all hands on deck to hold on and we did!!!!
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Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
v Athletic Bilbao 1 (Martinez 64) Real Madrid 1 (Kane 60) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez*, Darko Garcia (Muniain), Zerhouni (M.Alvarez de Lara), Martinez, Munoz, J.Iribarren, Gabilondo, Jimenez (Echeverria)
I am happy with this result as we have a chance in the 2nd leg. Martinez finally got his 1st goal of the season - I don't know what has happened to him - at 16 he was scoring 11 goals in a season and at 17 and 18 he gets hardly any!!!
We kicked on from our win over Barcelona with a convincing win here although we got a bit of luck with the 2 own goals.
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Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 2nd Leg v
Real Madrid 1 (Revuelta 86) Athletic Bilbao 3 (J.Iribarren 1, Jimenez 34, Gabilondo 61) (Agg: 2-4)
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo (Elustondo), Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino, Martinez, Williams (Goni), J.Iribarren*, Gabilondo, Jimenez
Unbelievable!!! One of my best results (8-0 win over Porto is No1.) as we dominate Real away here. Iribarren scored in the 1st minute and when Jimenez scored it was all about being sensible. Gabilondo sealed it and we were through.
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SUMMARY
This month started superbly with a massive 9-0 win but then we had 2 miserable league results to add to the one at the end of the year. However we bounced back by defeating both Barcelona in the league and Real Madrid in the cup away from home.
At the current state of play our lead has been cut to 3pts but we have 3 games in hand and it is as ever crucial to open up a big gap as that enables us to rest players for the Champions League.
I brought in one player in the transfer window. A long time target but as we have moved on and his career has taken a downturn he is there to be a star for the B team and be a rare tutor for my youngsters. Mikel Oyarzabal was brought in from Real Sociedad for £925,000 and his value rocketed up to over £8m!!!! He is on £25k a week which doesn't even make him my Bteams highest paid player. View attachment 58019
Outgoing was a few players on loan plus B team stalwart Aitor Seguin left for £625,000 and their keeper left for £300,000.
In the Copa del Rey semis we have been drawn against Barcelona.
This is a hollow derby victory because Real Sociedad lie 2nd bottom in the league and a massive 13pts from safety. Still nice to win though!!
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Copa del Rey Semi-Final 2nd Leg
v
Barcelona 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Gabilondo 22, Goni 28) (Agg: 1-3)
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo (Elustondo), Laporte*, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino, Martinez, Williams, J.Iribarren (J.Prieto), Gabilondo, Goni (Jimenez)
We march into the final with a very convincing victory here over Barcelona. We scored 2 goals in 6min and were never in trouble afterwards. Atletico Madrid will be our opponents in the final.
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v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Williams 13, Zerhouni 80) Villarreal 0
This win puts us 10pts clear with a game in hand. We were always in control and were never really threatened.
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v
Getafe 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Castillo 46, I.Prieto 90) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza, David Garcia, Garmendia, Zerhouni*, M.Alvarez de Lara (I.Prieto), Munoz (Castillo), J.Prieto, Muniain, Goni (Jimenez)
With Getafe lying 2nd bottom I decided to rest my first picks for the Champions League game that is coming up and they did a fine job. Goni missed a penalty though.
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg v
Manchester City 1 (Brandt 2) Athletic Bilbao 1 (J.Prieto 67) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino (Zerhouni), Martinez, Williams, J.Iribarren (J.Prieto*), Gabilondo, Iribar (Goni)
A fantastic result but we were very lucky. They took a 2nd minute lead and could and should have been 5up by half-time. After the break however they had Varane sent-off 5min in and we took advantage of that and scored a fantastic equaliser.
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SUMMARY
This month was excellent. We won every league match and knocked Barcelona out of the cup and got a great result in the Champions League against Man City. What is astounding is the La Liga table - not by the size of our lead but in who is lying in 2nd and 3rd place - Alaves and Sporting Gijon!!!!!
Next month of course brings the youth intake. Don't think I will get one as good as Gabilondo this year.
I cant believe we threw this win away!!! We looked quite comfortable but an own goal pegged us back and then we foolishly conceded an injury time goal to lose. Gutted.
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v
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Gabilondo 7) Deportivo La Coruna 0
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino, Martinez, Williams, J.Iribarren*, Gabilondo, Iribar (Goni)
This match was awful. We scored early on and nothing else happened apart from Iribar having a goal disallowed. At least we won though.
We extend our lead at the top to 15pts here. They had a man sent-off in between the goals and Gabilondo got injured and is out for a few weeks.
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v
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Zerhouni 22) Espanyol 0
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza, David Garcia, Garmendia, Zerhouni*, M.Alvarez de Lara (I.Prieto), Munoz (Manuel Perez), J.Prieto, Castillo, Goni (Jimenez)
That's 4 wins in a row - 4 of the most dull and boring games under my management. Espanyol sacked their manager straight after this match.
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UEFA Champions League 2nd Round 2nd Leg
v
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Williams 38, J.Iribarren 44, Munoz 45, Iribar 88) Manchester City 2 (Belotti 59, Fabinho 83pen) (Agg: 5-3) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo (Elustondo), Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino, Martinez, Williams*, J.Iribarren, Muniain (Munoz), Iribar
This is a fantastic victory. 3 goals in 7 first half minutes put the tie to bed and although they clawed themselves back into it we scored a 4th to finally kill them off. Williams' goal was a beauty.
There was bad news though - Muniain got injured and is out for 4-5 months!!!!
Another low scoring win in the league as the last 5 games has seen us keep 5 clean sheets and score only 6 goals. Inaki Williams got injured and is out for a few weeks to add to the injuries of my other wingers - Muniain and Gabilondo.
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SUMMARY
As it seems to be every year now when we get to March - the league title is already in the bag unofficially and its all about the Champions League. In the league we are a humongous 18pts clear with a game in hand and that's with a defeat during the month.
In the Champions League we did brilliantly to defeat Man City and have been given just as hard a draw in the next round as we will face PSG!
In the youth intake I got one gem of a player. He is promoted to the first team squad immediately but he will not be pushed into the starting XI like Martinez and Gabilondo was. However getting a 15y/o CB worth over £5m is decent! View attachment 57906
v
Athletic Bilbao 4 (J.Prieto 16, Goni 21pen, Castillo 34, Munoz 87) Celta Vigo 0
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza, David Garcia (Lopez), Garmendia, Zerhouni, M.Alvarez de Lara (I.Prieto), Munoz, J.Prieto*, Castillo, Goni (Echeverria)
My backups did a fine job here and we got a deserved convincing victory. My latest regen Ivan Lopez made his debut here. This win also secures Champions League qualification and our transfer budget for next season is a needless £421m!!!!
While it isn't good to lose the match the fact that it was a narrow loss and we got the vital away goal is pretty good.
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v
Sporting Gijon 2 (Morilla 48, 81) Athletic Bilbao 0 Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza (Lopez), David Garcia, Darko Garcia, Zerhouni, M.Alvarez de Lara, Jimenez, J.Prieto (Calvo), Castillo, Goni (Echeverria)
2 defeats in a row!!!! If we won we would have secured the title but I am not too bothered as we needed to rest players for the Champions League game coming up plus it gives Gijon a boost for their Champions League hopes.
We better beat PSG now though!!!
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UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
v Athletic Bilbao 2 (Iribar 36, 50) Paris Saint-Germain 0 (Agg: 3-1) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino, Zerhouni (M.Alvarez de Lara), Williams (Castillo), J.Iribarren (J.Prieto), Gabilondo, Iribar*
The Gijon loss was worth it as we progress into the semis. The first goal was when Iribar pounced on a loose back pass and then we created a wonderful 2nd. Neymar got sent-off for them just after the hour mark.
Its crazy to think that here we are with only 5 games left in the season and we play Numancia for the 1st time this season! We will see them again soon enough.
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Copa del Rey Final v
Atletico Madrid 1 (Villegas 90) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Iribar 13, 30)
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo (Elustondo), Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia, Merino (M.Alvarez de Lara), Zerhouni, Williams, J.Iribarren*, Gabilondo (Castillo), Iribar
We win the cup for surprisingly only the 2nd time under my management and get revenge for the league defeat last month.
We just didn't perform here but considering we went down to 10 men just after we pulled a goal back I will take the result and hopefully we will turn it round in the return leg.
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SUMMARY
Difficult to assess this month as we won the cup, secured the title but we also lost 3 games which is unheard of and have a bit of work to do if we are to get into the Champions League final.
The top of the league does still look weird. We have a 20pt lead with a game in hand but Alaves and Gijon are still sitting in the Champions League places ahead of Real, Barcelona and Valencia!!! We still have to play Alaves, Real and Valencia so will have a key role in deciding things.
v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Goni 33, Castillo 62) Numancia 1 (Fernandez 81) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza (Lopez), David Garcia, Perdomo, Zerhouni*, M.Alvarez de Lara (I.Prieto), Munoz, J.Prieto (Calvo), Castillo, Goni
We win our back to back league games against Numancia and like last time it was Goni and Castillo who scored our goals. No hat-trick for Goni this time although he did hit the woodwork a few times.
Normally at this stage of the season with the title race over I would have played my backups but to try and deny Real Champions League football I had to put out a strong side so decided to rest some of my players by putting in my best backups. This draw dents their hopes of qualifying for European football full stop!
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UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg
v Athletic Bilbao 4 (Gabilondo 4, 14, Iribar 31, Martinez 90) Barcelona 0 (Agg: 5-2)
FANTASTIC!!!! We put Barca to the sword here and scored 2 quick goals from Gabilondo in the 1st 15min and killed the match off by half-time. Martinez scored an all to rare goal in the final minute to give it a more emphatic final scoreline.
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v
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Galarza 8, Goni 27, David Garcia 59) Rayo Vallecano 0
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza*, David Garcia, Garmendia, Zerhouni (I.Prieto), M.Alvarez de Lara, Munoz, J.Prieto, Gabilondo, Goni (Jimenez)
A comfortable win from my backups and Galarza and David Garcia got their first goals for the club.
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v
Alaves 0 Athletic Bilbao 1 (Goni 27)
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza, David Garcia, Garmendia, Zerhouni*, M.Alvarez de Lara (I.Prieto), Munoz, J.Prieto, Gabilondo, Goni (Jimenez)
Alaves are one of the sides battling it out for the 3 remaining Champions League places but they couldn't get anything against my backups here.
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v
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Murillo og51, Jimenez 57) Valencia 0
Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza (Lopez), David Garcia, Garmendia, I.Prieto, Zerhouni*, M.Alvarez de Lara, Munoz, Castillo, Jimenez
The end of a crazy domestic campaign is here and Valencia, like Alaves, couldn't get anything against my backups. No Champions League football for them next season.
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UEFA Champions League Final
v
Inter Milan 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Williams 65, Munoz 81) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez, Darko Garcia*, Merino (Zerhouni), Martinez, Williams (Munoz), J.Iribarren (J.Prieto), Gabilondo, Iribar
4 times in a row!!!
We took a while to get the goals but we dominated from start to finish. We played Inter last season in the Champions League and they finished bottom of the group then so I was expecting victory and that's what I got.
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SUMMARY
We had a great ending to the season as we won all of our league games apart from a draw against Real Madrid. We were heavily involved in the race for the Champions League and I will go into that in the end of season post. In the end our victory in the Champions League final effected things too.
The Champions League final win was a great achievement but possibly the greater achievement was to persuade Juan Luis Prieto to sign a new contract as he was unhappy and actually is my only player rated over 4 stars yet he is only backup! He is my 3rd highest paid player now and a member of my Spain squad.
END OF SEASON POST
Another season and another 6 trophies which seems to be a yearly occurrence!!! The league campaign was a weird one as we had our biggest winning margin - 27pts - but we scored possibly the least amount of goals that we have before and we have had a higher points total before too.
In the domestic cup we won it the hardest way possible as we defeated Atletico, Real and Barcelona to win our 2nd domestic cup. It seems weird that we have won twice as many Champions Leagues than we have Copa del Reys!!
In the Champions League we sailed through our group and despite having tricky 1st leg results by drawing away to Man City and then losing to PSG and Barcelona we overcame them all and then beat Inter Milan in the final.
All in all it was another good season in Bilbao. At the end of the season my players values have rocketed and here is my top 10 -
1. Iribar £74m
2. J.Prieto £74m!!!!
3. Williams £69m
4. Merino £66m
5. J.Iribarren £66m
6. Laporte £65m
7. Darko Garcia £60m
8. Nunez £57m
9. Arrizabalaga £57m
10. Munoz £53m!!!!
Add to that that my 3rd choice CB Ruben Galarza is valued at over £30m it seems to me that I have under rated my players and I have just discovered that my B team AMC - Calvo - is a wonderkid but he has Iribarren and Prieto in front of him.
Barca and Real have to thank us for them getting European football for next season! Barcelona finish a disgraceful 8th while the likes of Sevilla and Villarreal also struggled and my rivals Real Sociedad got relegated and will play against my B team next season. Who would have thought that Alaves and Gijon would be in the Champions League next season? Incredible!!!
The B team got a credible top 6 finish which is decent. My on loan striker from Chelsea, Jon Alonso, was immense while I have agreed to sign Mikel Perez on a free transfer from Spurs after he has been on loan for the past few years. The U19s won they won everything apart from the European trophy where they lost the final to Atletico Madrid on penalties.
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HOPES FOR PRE-SEASON
Win the Euros for Spain!!! Everything is going along fine with Athletic!
This was a backup side really. Abel Ruiz of Monaco and my own Jawad Zerhouni made their debuts here. The 23 man squad was announced a few days ago so they are in it for the Euros.
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Friendly
v
Spain 0 Holland 0 Lineup - De Gea, Bellerin, Vallejo, Inigo Martinez, Perdomo, Soler, Rodri, Isco*, Mayoral, Asensio, Abel Ruiz
Nothing was happening here. Not a single highlight. I made a triple substitution on 75min and that sparked us into life and we immediately scored 2 goals to get us off the mark.
Belgium drew with Austria so this win means we qualify for the next round.
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v
Belgium 0 Spain 5 (Mayoral 25, Abel Ruiz 33, 37, 89, Williams 73) Lineup - De Gea, Elustondo, Nunez, Rodri, Perdomo, Zerhouni, Soler, Williams, Prieto, Mayoral, Abel Ruiz*
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
I decided to rest my 1st choice players since we were through and my backups destroyed Belgium here. Abel Ruiz scored a great hat-trick to get his 1st goals for Spain while Inaki Williams scored 1 and assisted 3!!
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2nd Round
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Serbia 1 (Bocic 13) Spain 2 (Williams 45, Inigo Martinez 97) AET
Lineup - De Gea, Elustondo (Bellerin), Vallejo, Inigo Martinez, Garcia, Merino, Martinez, Williams, Iribarren (Isco), Asensio, Abel Ruiz (Iribar)
We made hard work of this. We fell behind and then battered them and got a deserved equaliser when Williams finished off a superb team move. In the 2nd half again we attacked but couldn't score so it went to extra-time where we finally scored. However Darko Garcia then got sent-off and we had to hold on - he has been banned for 3 matches so is out for the rest of the tournament.
Italy 1-3 Ukraine
Switzerland 0-2 Belgium
Czech Republic 0-2 Germany
Holland 5-0 Wales
England 3-0 Turkey
Portugal 5-2 Denmark
France 4-1 Romania
WOW!!! I didn't expect this as we get a great win over France. Williams was immense and his hat-trick sees us through. His 3rd goal was a beauty as he fired in from distance.
England 1-0 Ukraine
Belgium 1-2 Holland
Germany 1-0 Portugal
After a boring 1st half the 2nd half kicked into life when they took the lead but our man of the tournament Inaki Williams levelled. Just after Iribarren put us in front and then they had Lewis Cook sent-off which made things easier for us but Perdomo got sent-off for us in stoppage time which I am livid with as it means I don't have a LB for the final.
Holland 1-1 Germany
(Holland win on pens)
It shouldn't have went to extra-time as we dominated and Asensio missed TWO penalties which were both saved by their keeper who was MoM. We got the lead in added time when Mayoral pounced and we managed to hold on.
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Golden Boot Winner - Inaki Williams Best Young Player - Jawad Zerhouni
PRE-SEASON
Thought twice about doing a pre-season post as the square root of ****** all happened really!!! I was naturally busy with Spain in the Euros so my players were away with me plus the Olympics were on and pretty much every player who wasn't at the Euros was at the Olympics. Then there was the U19 tournament...........
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PLAYERS IN
Two in and one wasn't really a new signing! Mikel Perez, who has been on loan from Spurs for the last 3 seasons, was signed on a pre-contract agreement so he joins us permanently and goes straight into the B team while I signed a 16y/o on loan from Levante to give him Basque nationality. View attachment 57682View attachment 57681
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PLAYERS OUT
From the 1st team I promised my 3rd choice striker, Cristian Jimenez, a loan move so he has joined Sevilla. Otherwise I sold 3 B team players. Alex Berenguer joined Leganes for £2.8m, Oier Zarraga joined Alaves for £2m and Asier Villalibre joined Granada for £1.4m.
TOTAL INCOME - £6.2m
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FIRST TEAM SQUAD
Gorka Galan is promoted to the first team squad to be my new 3rd choice striker. He is 19y/o and 6ft 8" so he certainly brings an added dimension to the squad as I have been used to playing with speed merchants up front. Sergio Garmendia has also been promoted to be my backup LB.
We win the cup and as ever Martinez picks a big match to get a goal. I would prefer him to score 10 a season but if he gets 2 or 3 I would rather them be in the big games I suppose.
Brendan Rodgers is the Real Madrid manager I just noticed.
We win the Super Cup by thumping Atletico. Txomin Martinez set up our 2 goals before half time and then in the 2nd half they clawed there way back into it and at 2-1 we went down to ten men when Munoz got injured but we somehow scored 2 injury time goals to seal the victory.
The 1st half was a joy to behold as we surged into a 4 goal lead but annoyingly we couldn't add any more goals in the 2nd half. Martinez got another 2 assists here. Not a bad way to kick-off the league campaign!
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Athletic Bilbao 4 (Iribar 57, Gabilondo 65, Prieto 70, Goni 84) Osasuna 0
Back to back 4-0 wins to start our La Liga campaign!!!
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SUMMARY
We have had a fantastic start to the season as we defeated Real to win the European Super Cup and Atletico to win the Spanish Super Cup and then started our league campaign with 2 convincing 4-0 victories. All is good!!!
There was some more transfer news. Outgoing on loan was Inigo Prieto and Ander Iribarren who joined Cadiz and Espanyol respectively and hopefully will get regular game time to develop. Echeverria also went out on loan along with a heap of others.
I then brought back our former B team keeper, Alvaro Fernandez, from Lille for £800,000 and he will be our new backup keeper.
In the Champions League we have been drawn against AC Milan, Benfica and RB Salzburg.
Betis more than deserved their point here although we were a tad off the pace in truth.
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UEFA Champions League Group B v
FC RB Salzburg 0 Athletic Bilbao 3 (Goni 9, Alvarez de Lara 64, Galan 80) Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Elustondo, Galarza, David Garcia, Garmendia, Zerhouni*, Alvarez de Lara, Munoz, Prieto (Izan), Muniain (Castillo), Goni (Galan)
A nice victory as I played my backups against the groups weakest side. Our 2nd goal was a scorcher as Alvarez de Lara struck from distance. Galan scored his 1st goal for us here too.
Sporting Gijon have had their moment in the sun it seems as they were poor here. THey had a man sent-off and immediately pulled a goal back somehow.
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (Williams 39, 81) Barcelona 0 Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Perdomo, Laporte, Nunez (Galarza), Darko Garcia, Merino, Martinez, Williams*, Iribarren, Gabilondo (Muniain), Iribar (Goni)
Williams strikes again and again and again except his first strike was disallowed for some reason. His first goal was a wonderful move with Iribarren playing a delightful pass to set him up. He also assisted his 2nd too.
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SUMMARY
This month was all about Inaki Williams as he played 4 league games and scored in all of them including a double against Barcelona. A couple of years ago Muniain had a crazy goal scoring season when he neared 30 and maybe it is Williams' turn this term.
Despite having only played 3 league games we have opened up a 3pt lead already which is encouraging. Barcelona have started ok but Real Madrid have been atrocious.
Finally I signed a new contract at the club worth £90,000 a week - still £20,000 less than I get with Spain! - and Mikel Munoz has also signed a new long term contract.
Abel Ruiz has scored 6 goals for his country - 2 hat-tricks!!!. Suso missed a penalty to deny him his hat-trick while David Galarza made his international debut.
We were excellent here and my 2 wingers were superb. Gabilondo scored 1 and got 3 assists while Williams scored 2 and my 2 strikers that played scored a goal each. Perfect!
That should see us through lol. Munoz was brilliant here and deserved his hat-trick. I really like the look of Ivan Lopez but he has a few CBs in front of him at the minute.
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SUMMARY
Another perfect month!!! We won every game both home and abroad and as ever are looking very strong. We actually end the month having scored 11 goals in our last 2 games which is great as we have some tricky fixtures coming up next month.
Alberto Gabilondo really had a great month. He scored in 4 games, made his international debut and signed a new contract with the club and his attributes have improved as well and all this at the age of 17!!!!
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