Athletic Bilbao 3 (Ruiz de Galarreta 68, Inigo Martinez 82, Ibai Gomez 87) Espanyol 1 (Clerc 73)
One down one to go! How it took nearly 70min for us to score I dont know but we got the win that our play deserved.
A thrilling match this but it wasnt enough for us to win the title on the day.
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Malaga 2 (Keita 25, 85) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Guillermo 90)
Results beforehand meant that we were confirmed as champions before kick-off so I put out an under strength side. We were awful and Malaga fully deserved the points.
CHAMPIONS THOUGH!!!
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Athletic Bilbao 1 (De Marcos 4)
Valencia 1 (Vazquez 23)
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Athletic Bilbao 5 (Herrera 19, Garrido 51, Susaeta 68, Sola 81, Pascual 84) Cordoba 2 (Silva 73, Caballero 86)
A nice way to end the league campaign which also confirms Cordoba's relegation.
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UEFA Champions League Final
Juventus 1 (Vidal 41pen) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 18, Laporte 63, Ibai Gomez 65)
WE RETAIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!!!!
We were very fortunate as Juventus had 18 attempts to our 7 but we were clinical in front of goal and scored 3 times to win the cup.
We end the season on a high this month. The title was won but it was a bit of a damp squib as it was won without us playing and we lost our celebratory game. That said it allowed me to play my youngsters and they aquitted themselves very well and I was especially pleased to see our recent regen Fermin Garrido get his first goal.
We won the Champions League by beating Juventus 3-1 at the Milennium Stadium despite being 2nd best for most of the match. We will be hoping to make it a hat-trick of cups next season.
A fine season but not a perfect one by any means. Our performances at the start of the season werent great but we picked up at the turn of the year and then stumbled across the line at the end.
In the league we won it for the first time under my management with a couple of games to go but in truth we pretty much had it won in January. We only lost 3 games out of 38 and although we werent banging in the goals as much as previous years we were always pretty comfortable.
We are still to win the Copa del Rey as Barcelona beat us in the semis on away goals but we got revenge in the Champions League as we retained the cup by beating Juventus in the final having also knocked out Barcelona, Dortmund and Spurs en route to the final.
We won the FIFA World Club Cup but didnt do ourselves justice in the European Super Cup and was easily beaten by Chelsea.
Individually some players improved and impressed such as Laporte, Inigo Martinez, Azpilicueta, Ruiz de Galarreta and Herrera but Iker Muniain didnt have the best of seasons and at one point went 21 hours without scoring!!!
Our B team did brilliantly and finished 5th which would have been good enough for a play-off spot but they cant play in the same division as ourselves so that was denied them but it goes to show that my youngsters are good enough at a decent level.
Spanish Young Player of the Year - A.Laporte Liga BBVA Manager of the Year
Liga BBVA Team of the Year - C.Azpilicueta, A.Laporte, A.Herrera (Ibai Gomez) UEFA Champions League Dream Team - C.Azpilicueta
Holland beat France 3-2 in the final and Spain got to the semis which seemed decent enough but I declared an interest in the job and Spain duly sacked Ernesto Valverde and Spain were flattered with my interest. So who do they appoint??
ATLETICO MADRID'S U19 MANAGER ROBERTO FRESNEDOSO!!!!! View attachment 390496
So an unproven manager gets the nod over a former Spanish international footballer who has won two Champions League titles.
******* disgrace.
In the end I took the England job for the first time ever thanks to their offer of ?99,000 a week. I also rejected offers from Russia, Ukraine, Croatia and Denmark.
Quite a quiet one (apart from me taking the England job) to be fair. I brought in one player for the first team squad, 2 left and that was it really. I have enough young players in the system just waiting for a chance in the first team so not much tinkering was needed.
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PLAYERS IN
The main one was Antoine Griezmann who was brought in from Spurs for a fee of ?26.5m. He wasnt really needed but he is a step up from Ibai Gomez and will start out life for us on the LW. View attachment 390428
Kike Sola has left for Real Zaragoza for half a million and Iago Herrerin was released on a free transfer. Young forward Julio Pascual has joined Gimnastic on loan.
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SUMMARY
As I said there was little to be changed. My first XI will be as follows.......
I will be looking to give Guillermo, Nieto and Iker many opportunities to impress while there are others also that I would like to play but it will be the B team who benefits.
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Susaeta 28, Iturraspe 47, Inigo Martinez 61) Atletico Madrid 2 (Leo 36, 70)
An exciting start to the season. They had a late goal disallowed fortunately for us.
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Spanish Super Cup Final 1st Leg Atletico Madrid 3 (Diego Costa 57pen, 60, 87) Athletic Bilbao 4 (Susaeta 18, Benat 27, 56pen, Muniain 59)
An exciting first leg to this final. We were running away with it but got sloppy.
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UEFA European Super Cup Athletic Bilbao 5 (Herrera 8, Benat 19pen, 54, Inigo Martinez 35, Muniain 41)
Newcastle United 3 (Remy 17, Roux 69, Pazzini 78)
I never realised who we were playing and when I saw it was my beloved NUFC I immediately checked how they have been doing lol. Win or lose this game I was happy.
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Griezmann 22, 31, Guillermo 28) Real Valladolid 1 (Guerra 82)
Griezmann has been pretty awful so far so to see him score twice was pleasing.
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Spanish Super Cup Final 2nd Leg Athletic Bilbao 2 (Balenziaga 33, Muniain 84) Atletico Madrid 1 (Sanabria 44) (Athletic Bilbao win 6-4 on aggregate)
A very good start to the season as we won both league games and won both of the Super Cups. We were banging in the goals too although our defence was a bit leaky.
We didnt do anything else in the transfer market so all remains the same and we should be in a good position to retain our title. Real Madrid have started on fire, scoring 13 in their first 2 games and helped by their new ?50m signing, Luis Suarez.
In the Champions League we will come up against PAOK, Man Utd and Zenit.
Athletic Bilbao 8 (Muniain 1, 59, 61, 90, Ibai Gomez 64, Lazaro og81, Benat 86, Balenziaga 88) Alaves 0
An amazing victory where we scored 7 goals in the 2nd half. Muniain also got 2 assists and an average rating of 10.0.
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UEFA Champions League Group H Athletic Bilbao 3 (Benat 3pen, 68, 84pen) Manchester United 1 (Rooney 17)
Benat must be on something as he scored 22 goals in the last 3 seasons and has 8 already this season.
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Sevilla 1 (Doumbia 25) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Griezmann 14, De Marcos 52, Muniain 64) A very impressive away performance this. Very pleased.
Another excellent away day for us. So chuffed that Guillermo scored twice.
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Athletic Bilbao 1 (De Marcos 83) Espanyol 0
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UEFA Champions League Group H
PAOK Salonika 3 (Lucas 5, Sio 74, Holla 80) Athletic Bilbao 4 (Muniain 7, Yoel og22, Ekiza 52, 82)
PAOK were much tougher to beat than I thought they would be but we scraped the win in the end.
An excellent month as we won every game with some fantastic results such as the 8-0 win against Alaves and the 3-1 victory over Man Utd. The opposite of last season seems to be happening as our performances have been brilliant whereas last season we were getting results but not playing well.
A decent start to my reign. No regens are in my squad but Danny Welbeck is available on a free transfer.
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FIFA World Cup Quals Group 5 San Marino 0 England 2 (Walker 84, Welbeck 90)
Lineup - Hart, Walker*, Jones, Caulker, Shaw, Hughes, Wilshere, Sturridge (Sterling), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Welbeck), Barkley (Ward-Prowse), Rooney
Sure the win was obtained and my side had nearly 40 attempts at goal but to only win 2-0 is pretty dismal.
OCTOBER
Celta Vigo 2 (Rodri 42, 51) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 27, Azpilicueta 63)
Our first dropped points of the season but Celta played well so I will happily accept a point.
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Sporting Gijon 1 (Serrano 31) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Susaeta 19, Herrera 37, Iker 77)
Our away form has been magnificent thus far. I am expecting big things from Iker, he is developing very nicely.
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UEFA Champions League Group H Zenit St. Petersburg 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Susaeta 45, Iker 90)
We got off to a quick start and added a few goals to go along with our dominance of the game.
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Herrera 10, Gaztanaga og33, Muniain 58) Real Sociedad 0
Derby day joy for ourselves. We could have won by a lot more truth be told but hey ho.
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Herrera 13, Muniain 50, Azpilicueta 86)
Valencia 2 (Vazquez 23, Michel Herrero 60)
As usual when we play Valencia it was an entertaining game with plenty of goals. We created a load of chances but had to rely on Azpilicueta's late strike to win it.
Almost another perfect month but I am not complaining about the draw that we had! We are playing very well at the moment, scoring plenty of goals and sharing the goals throughout the team also which is pleasing.
ENGLAND
FIFA World Cup Quals Group 5 England 4 (Rooney 5, 57, Barkley 6, Oxlade-Chamberlain 44)
Finland 0
Lineup - Hart, Walker, Jones, Caulker, Bertrand (Shaw), Hughes, Henderson (Chalobah), Walcott (Ince), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Barkley, Rooney*
A good win. I gave Tom Ince and Nathaniel Chalobah their international debults here.
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FIFA World Cup Quals Group 5 Montenegro 1 (Djordjevic 38) England 4 (Rooney 10, Jones 53, Sturridge 58, Barkley 64)
Lineup - Hart, Walker, Jones*, Caulker, Shaw, Hughes (Chalobah), Wilshere (Henderson), Walcott, Sturridge, Barkley (Welbeck), Rooney
England are doing really well under me. Surely as a Scotsman I cant win them any trophies?? Having said that, Aitor is Spanish so might not care lol
NOVEMBER
UEFA Champions League Group H Athletic Bilbao 5 (Benat 40pen, Ibai Gomez 50, Muniain 54, Ansaldi og76, Iker 77) Zenit St. Petersburg 1 (Rondon 71)
This win secures qualification and bar a thumping by Man Utd we should top the group.
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Osasuna 3 (Vico 20, Cabral 52, Torres 79) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Herrera 67)
Our first defeat of the season and although we played well individual mistakes from San Jose and Aurtenetxe cost us. Not happy.
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Malaga 4 (Recio 11, Borja Baston 67, Rescaldani 73, Juan Dominguez 86) Athletic Bilbao 5 (Ibai Gomez 31, 84, Muniain 53, Inigo Martinez 75, Iker 88)
What a game this was. Both sides had a man sent-off but the last 25min was just crazy.
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UEFA Champions League Group H Manchester United 2 (Van Persie 23, Shaqiri 66) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Susaeta 32)
We deservedly lost but not enough for us to drop down to second.
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Granada 0 Athletic Bilbao 1 (Ekiza 66)
A very tough match but we did enough to get the points.
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UEFA Champions League Group H Athletic Bilbao 3 (Ibai Gomez 6, Nieto 22, De Marcos 64) PAOK Salonika 1 (N'Djeng 33)
We slipped up a a couple of times this month but overall we did ok and are still looking good both at home and abroad. Next month will see me play my youngsters and backups as we will be playing some weaker opposition in the Copa del Rey and FIFA Club World Cup.
A very good win. Both sides had a goal disallowed.
-- Friendly England 4 (Ward-Prowse 13, 18, 70pen, Rooney 46) Serbia 0
Lineup - Hart (Butland), Walker (Clyne), Jones (Bennett), Caulker, Shaw, Hughes, Wilshere (Henderson), Walcott (Sterling), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Welbeck), Ward-Prowse*, Rooney
This win puts England 2nd in the FIFA world rankings which is their highest position. Better start losing!!
DECEMBER
Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg Xerez 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Griezmann 34, 38)
Griezmann was about the only first pick that I played and he was the one who scored the goals.
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Real Betis 1 (Chuli 73) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Herrera 13, Balenziaga 30)
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FIFA Club World Cup SF Monterrey 1 (Quiroz 48) Athletic Bilbao 3 (De Marcos 23, Inigo Martinez 52, Garrido 87)
Into the final we go. Griezmann got 3 assists.
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FIFA Club World Cup Final
Atletico Mineiro 1 (Jadson 3pen) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 82, Balenziaga 86, Griezmann 90)
We win the cup. They had 2 shots throughout the game and nearly won it. In the end we scored 3 late goals to take the trophy. Balenziaga went on up front and scored - I thought I had put on Iker lol
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Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg Athletic Bilbao 3 (Iker 36, Garrido 85, Ibai Gomez 90) Xerez 1 (Orbegozo 55) (Athletic Bilbao win 5-1 on aggregate)
Methinks that every December the season after a Champions League win should be known as the backup month as I seem to only use my backups in these matches!!!
We won the FIFA World Club Cup easily enough and progressed in the Copa del Rey and also we found out our opponents in the Champions League - Feyenoord.
Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg Athletic Bilbao 4 (Herrera 23, Ruiz de Galarreta 62, 89, Muniain 90) Espanyol 1 (Galvez 74)
This should be enough to see us through to the quarters. Nice to see RDG get two goals.
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Athletic Bilbao 6 (Herrera 3, Muniain 27, Ibai Gomez 52, 70, 77, Nieto 73) Real Murcia 0
In the first half alone we had 24 attempts but only 4 on target.
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Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg Espanyol 0 Athletic Bilbao 0 (Athletic Bilbao win 4-1 on aggregate)
I fielded a backup side and they played out a rare no score draw.
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Real Madrid 2 (Sakho 8, Benzema 10) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Herrera 23)
Our pathetic start ended up being costly as we gifted Real a 2 goal lead which we couldnt claw back. They move within 2pts of us but we have 2 games in hand.
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Copa del Rey QF 1st Leg Athletic Bilbao 4 (Laporte 19, Herrera 29, Griezmann 37, 82)
Sevilla 2 (Fernandez 45, Willian Jose 84)
I would like to think that their 2 away goals wont be a problem.
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Athletic Bilbao 5 (Herrera 2, Griezmann 3, 62, Muniain 44, Ibai Gomez 64) Real Betis 1 (Uche 49)
A fantastic victory. It seems as though the weaker sides in this division have no answer to our attacking play.
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Copa del Rey QF 2nd Leg Sevilla 2 (Willian Jose 1, Gameiro 24) Athletic Bilbao 4 (Susaeta 23, San Jose 39pen, De Marcos 60, Guillermo 87) (Athletic Bilbao win 8-4 on aggregate)
My backups surprised me here and got the same result away from home as my first picks did at home!
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Atletico Madrid 2 (Leo 25, 90) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Benat 47) I thought we might just escape with a point but it wasnt to be. We were poor here.
We lost a couple of games this month but overall I am pretty pleased. We lie 2nd in the league but we do have 2 games in hand albeit one is an away game against Barcelona so we are definately not going to run away with the title like last season.
I had ?60m burning a hole in my pocket so I went out and brought in 2 16y/o players, both from Real Madrid who will join my first team squad.........
View attachment 389937 Victor Lucas was signed for ?5.75m and he will be a backup to the first team initially. He will battle it out with Nieto and Iturraspe for game time when I play my backups.
View attachment 389935 Roberto Rubio came in for ?5.25m and was a player I had to sign. He will be my backup left back and if he doesnt replace Balenziaga in a few years time then something has gone seriously wrong.
I rejected offers of over ?5m for youngster Velasco who has been impressing for my B team and I also had offers for Ramalho and Etxeberria. My B side is currently top of the Liga Adelante.
Copa del Rey SF 1st Leg Celta Vigo 2 (Nolito 15, 20) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Benat 9pen, Muniain 14, 17)
We take a 1 goal advantage into the 2nd leg at home plus the bonus of 3 away goals.
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Real Valladolid 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Benat 70, Susaeta 90)
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Copa del Rey SF 2nd Leg Athletic Bilbao 4 (Guillermo 26, Ekiza 36, Iraola 59, Susaeta 80) Celta Vigo 4 (Fernandez 43, 61, Johannsson 57, Nolito 87) (Athletic Bilbao win 7-6 on aggregate)
A thrilling match this and at one point I was worried but my backups did enough to take us into our first Copa del Rey final.
-- Athletic Bilbao 3 (Guillermo 2, 11, Ruiz de Galarreta 33) Sevilla 1 (Doumbia 45)
We got off to a good start which made the rest of the game easy.
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg Feyenoord 2 (Zozulya 49, Weimann 51) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Laporte 40, Guillermo 57, Griezmann 86)
Feyenoord fought back well but they had a man sent-off and Griezmann scored from the resultant free kick to give us an advantage heading into the 2nd leg.
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Alaves 1 (Herrera 76) Athletic Bilbao 5 (Susaeta 16, Benat 18pen, 33, Muniain 31, Azpilicueta 79)
Our 2 games against Alaves this season has brought an aggregate scoreline of 13-1 in our favour!
A very good away victory. RDG got sent-off inbetween Muniain's goals.
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Balenziaga 42, Laporte 82, Muniain 88) Getafe 2 (Pedro Leon 47, Konate 54)
We dominated this match and should have won by 4 or 5 but once again we scored a couple late on to grab another victory.
This month was fantastic as we almost won all our games, progressed to the Copa del Rey final and reclaimed top spot in the league. We are scoring plenty of goals at the minute but admittedly our defence hasnt been too great.
My B team are on a 9 game winning streak and are threatening to run away with the Liga Adelante title - quite incredible really.