An Andorran Adventure

[zacram]

Another successful campaign continues to see us climb up the rankings in Spain, as we are now sat as the 5th most reputable Club - We are definitely closing on the 2nd spot I feel.

I was also approached by Spain over the Summer following a very disappointing Home World Cup where by they were knocked out in the first knockout stage to Norway - Amazing to think I've rejected Spain in the hope of securing the Andorran job (which is never available!)

I also noticed that the USA won the 2026 World Cup miraculously!

It was then time to get stuck into my transfers and it has been a very frustrating window of trying to secure world class players that are actually anywhere within our budget - Not an easy task!

However, I did decide to throw some cash at Yusuf Demir. He is a little older than the players I normally go for but at 27 still has plenty left in him. An AMC was a position we really needed to strengthen and he was the best option I could find that wanted to join on an affordable contract and wasn't coming in over £50M transfer fee.

It has been a very much 1-in-1-out type of window as I decided to sell on Rodfjell. He was probably my 5th choice CB and having signed him for £7.75M 5 seasons ago have made a slight profit.

We then had a couple of League games to play as I scrambled around in the background trying to do some more business - Fortunately those were 2 wins from 2 though.

Then on deadline day I went completely rogue and decided changed up my goalkeeper, which wasn't really an area I as looking at addressing.

Audero was on £90k p/w and out of contract in the summer. I looked at renewing his contract but he wanted a payrise and another 2 years so instead thought I'd offer him out and amazingly we had an offer of £10.25 Million for him - We only bought him for £4.9 Million!

So simultaneously I was scrambling through scout reports and Timothy Laurent seemed like the best affordable option. I needed the money from the Audero deal to go through before we could finalise, but we got the deal over the line with a few hours to spare!

He is a club record transfer but is on half the salary that Audero was and looks just as good on paper, whilst only being 23 years old with plenty of potential to improve. I'm just hoping it pays off!

So it's essentially been 2 big transfers in and 2 fairly big sales out, whilst I did have to dip into the old instalment payments to get the deals done - I did also bring in a few more free transfers to bulk up the squad.

Our wage expenditure has definitely risen since last season as we now sit 9th on the list - The spending of Real Madrid is just absurd in comparison to everyone else

We did then also get our Champions League draw and it's not ideal....

We were seeded 3rd and will have to play both Bayern and Man Utd, so it may well be another shot at that elusive Europa League trophy for us.

We actually have just shy of £90 Million in the bank and I keep getting a transfer budget of £10 - £15Million which is all rather annoying. It has meant that I've had to load up the transfer debt a bit again, which I would ideally have avoided but felt it was necessary to actually keep improving the squad.

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[zacram]

Following the conclusion of the transfer window two very comprehensive victories over Valladolid and Getafe.

We then hosted Man Utd in the Champions League and were very unlucky not to come away with the 3 points. We created way more chances than them but just couldn't find the back of the net. However, I probably would have taken a point prior to kick off.

It was also a new Gate Receipts Record...

We then had to navigate through 3 extremely difficult League fixtures against 3 sides that are still considered to be better than us, so to come away with 5 points from 9 is pretty pleasing. Particularly as 2 of them were away from home.

It was then back to the Champions League where we recorded a comfortable victory over Ludogorets before a couple more in the League.

I fully rested the starting XI in the previous game and the fresh legs certainly paid off as we recorded our biggest European result, thrashing Bayern Munich in front of a raucous home crowd. I really was not expecting this to happen and we may now have a shot at reaching the knockout stages.

So we actually sit top of the table at the half way stage and the only unbeaten side. We should get 3 points at home to Ludogorets but will 10 points be enough to progress? As i'm not confident we will get anything in Munich or Manchester.

The wins just keep on coming as we maintain our unbeaten record in all competitions so far this season!

That leaves us top of the table with a 2 point gap over Sociedad, with Real Madrid going completely off the rails, losing 4 of their last 5 games in the League.

Surely the Real Madrid reign will end this year - But can we be the ones to finally dethrone them?

The board have also improved the Academy Coaching once again as we continue to put the work in behind the scenes.

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[zacram]

Our trip to Munich ended as many anticipated. They fully deserved to win the game but i'm entitled to feel a bit hard done by considering they had to do it from the penalty spot.

We managed to get the job done over Ludogorets in the Champions League whilst maintaining our perfect record in La Liga that included a very pleasing victory away to Sevilla who are still a threat.

So that means that we head into our final Group game in poll position. Bayern are essentially guaranteed 3 points so if we can beat Utd we will finish Top, a draw and we'd be second and a loss and it'll be back to the Europa League.

Surprise, surprise it's back to the Europa League for us!

To be fair we've actually done very well in this group considering it had both Bayern and Utd - both of which we only narrowly lost to away from home and really should have beaten United in our home game.

So after finishing runners-up for the past 2 seasons can we finally crack the Europa League at the third time of asking?

Fortunately we managed to get quickly overcome our European disappointment and get the 3 points against Madrid in our final fixture before the winter break.

That actually means that we open up an incredible 17 point gap over Madrid as we near the halfway stage! Unfortunately Real Sociedad are looking a formidable force this season and keeping pace with us but Real Madrid's reign is finally going to end one way or another.

Youth intake looks better than last season but still not set to be the calibre I dream of.

The Andorran National side have had another patchy month but maintain their Division C status.

Still cant even declare interest in the job though...

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[Hampus Silverholt]

A major trophy (Domestic or European) is surely very close! How many players in the Andorran squad were trained at the club? And is there any player of real quality in the squad? Must be a decent side to draw with Serbia and thrash Montenegro

 

[zacram]

A major trophy (Domestic or European) is surely very close! How many players in the Andorran squad were trained at the club? And is there any player of real quality in the squad? Must be a decent side to draw with Serbia and thrash Montenegro

Yeah, the majority of the players in the squad came through the club system. Unfortunately only really 2 players have really been able to make the first XI and the best of which is Uxio Ramirez below. He is definitely a squad player for us now, wouldn't make my starting XI but is always at least on the bench when fit.

 

[zacram]

The New Year started in pretty good fashion, beating Cadiz in the League before getting ourselves into he Super Cup Final.

I was expecting to face our usual opponents in Real Madrid but it was actually Sociedad that we'd be facing.

And the result was pretty comprehensive as we cruised to a 4-1 victory to add another piece of silverware to the cabinet. In truth this seems to be like the community shield but I'll still take it at this point.

Our dominance then continued across both the Copa del Rey and La Liga, dropping just 2 points against Almeria. The win over Levante also meant that we are now in the Semi-Final of the Copa del Rey as we look to defend our title.

That then led to another encounter against Sociedad and this time it was a top of the table clash. We go into the game with a 6 point lead and really just cant afford to lose it. A win would be amazing but a draw would do.

And we had to settle for the draw in the end. That still keeps our 6 point advantage in check at the top of the table and in a really strong position to claim our first La Liga title.

It's still hard to comprehend how Real Madrid have had such a bad season after nearly a decade of dominance. We are now 16 points clear of them and surely out of sight. We just need to see off Sociedad and the title will be ours!

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[zacram]

Our impressive run of results continued across three competitions throughout February. We managed to secure ourselves a first leg victory over Villareal in the Copa del Rey Semi-Final, a couple of draws against both Barca and A. Madrid in La Liga, before dispatching Hajduk Spit in our Europa League Playoff

We therefore go into the last 16 and face Dynamo Kiev

We managed to easily get past Dynamo Kiev thanks to a big home victory in our first leg which did mean I rested the whole starting XI for the reverse leg in which we did narrowly lose.

So the Quarter-Final will be up against Nice, a side that are currently struggling in the French League, sitting in 14th place. Hopefully another routine tie for us.

After hammering Leganes we played out a bore draw with Villareal that edges us into the Copa del Rey Final, as we look to defend our trophy.

We will have to get past our bitter rivals, Real Madrid if we are to do it. They are having a torrid season but they are Real Madrid and so am expecting a very difficult game.

As for La Liga, we are now 9 points clear with just 9 games left to play. Surely this is our year to finally clinch the La Liga Title - we are also on course for an unbeaten season as well!

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[zacram]

Our youth intake wasn't the greatest yet again, but we did manage to get at least one decent prospect out of it, Tiago Lisboa.

We then managed to keep our unbeaten League run going before our trip to France.

A trip that really didn't turn out to be very good at all unfortunately, as we struggled to get going and now have a big job to do in the return leg.

Before our second leg we managed to secure our place in the Champions League for next season with a dominant victory over Zaragoza, revealing a transfer budget of £25 Million.

It was then another dire performance against Nice and we bow out of the Europa League at the Quarter-Final stage. After 2 consecutive finals I am rather disappointed, especially to lose 5-2 on aggregate against an average side.

Just a few days later and we went up against Madrid in the Copa del Rey final as we look to retain the trophy.

Unfortunately it was more disappointment as we miss out on another bit of silverware in the space of a few days. It was actually a pretty good performance but they took their chances and our shot at the domestic treble ends.

Fortunately we managed to get our season back on track in the League and following a 7-0 hammering over Eiber...

We were confirmed as La Liga Champions!

So after 10 seasons at the help of F.C Andorra I finally managed to conquer Spain and end Real Madrid'd run of 9 straight titles!

Real Madrid then ruined our unbeaten season in the League but ultimately we ended up coasting to the League title by 12 points

Now to try conquer Europe!



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