Athletic Bilbao - Journey To The Top

[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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August 2019

Inaki Williams Injured right before the season starts

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Despite winning the league last season the media predict us to finish 3rd behind Real Madrid and Barcelona

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Starting 11 for the new Season

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Inaki Williams is out injured though and Ander Herrera is suspended

Spanish Super Cup Final 1st Leg
Real Madrid 2 - Athletic 2

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Young winger Exposito put us ahead early on before Ronaldo turned the game on its head with 2 quick second half goals. It was the role of super sub Lekue to come off the bench to net a very late equalizer

Sangalli Makes his Athletic debut

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Spanish Super Cup Final 2nd Leg
Athletic 3 - Real Madrid 2

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A very even game which shows how far we have come in itself, Exposito netted the first goal again this time just a minute into the match, Raul Garcia made it 2-0 from the spot around half an hour in before Kroos got one back just before half time.
Merino put the game out of reach for them with a goal just before the hour mark and Ronaldo could only score a late consolation goal

I win my 2nd Spanish Super Cup

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Sevilla 1 - Athletic 4

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A hugely impressive second half display as we come from behind to smash Sevilla 4-1 with Expostio scoring the opener yet again.

Athletic Season Tickets Sold Out but still no stadium expansion allowed by the board

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The only change in the Holland squad is midfielder Bazoer getting dropped after playing just 2 times in almost a year with Real Madrid.

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I know a lot of these players are for the youth teams but it shows how far we have come and the potential we have with 11 players getting called up to Internationals it used to be just Herrera.

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As last seasons Champions we get the top seed for our Champions League campaign and get a much more favourable group which i hope to top.

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I bring back another old face with AMC Sergio Marin rejoining a year after joining Man City, he was my biggest regret in terms of players leaving

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Sergio Marin - AMC

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At Madrid continue to spend their Money but the best 3 deals in the Summer Transfer window were all free transfers

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At Madrid could be a serious force in the next few seasons, since their big takeover they have spent £200Million

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[BarcaBoy26]

Glad to see you get those two youngsters back shows the grass isn't always greener. That they both went from refusing new deals to rejoining you within 2 years

 

[dporter8999]

Another good pre season, bringing back decent talent who should have gained experience elsewhere.

And congrats on another super cup win, hopefully a sign of the season to come

 

[coolmcool]

Glad to see you get those two youngsters back shows the grass isn't always greener. That they both went from refusing new deals to rejoining you within 2 years

Yeah i was glad to get them back in the end, if i had left it they would have cost me a fortune in a few years time

Another good pre season, bringing back decent talent who should have gained experience elsewhere.

And congrats on another super cup win, hopefully a sign of the season to come

Yes the games against Real Madrid were really impressive, i feel like they were the first time we could say we were as good as Real Madrid, we usually manage to at most grind out a lucky draw against them but this time they were lucky it was as close as it was

 

[dporter8999]

Yeah i was glad to get them back in the end, if i had left it they would have cost me a fortune in a few years time

Yes the games against Real Madrid were really impressive, i feel like they were the first time we could say we were as good as Real Madrid, we usually manage to at most grind out a lucky draw against them but this time they were lucky it was as close as it was

Brilliant that you beat them so convincingly, this is by far my fave save on the site so far

 

[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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September 2019

Luuk De Jong is out injured so Ola John comes into the Holland squad

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Centre back Van Dijk is out injured too and will be replaced by Kongolo

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Athletic 5 - Getafe 0

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A brilliant goalscoring display with my recent signings Marin and Sanz on the scoresheet

Van Ginkel is player number 3 out injured for the Holland squad

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Euro Qualifiers Group E
Lithuania 0 - Holland 3

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Ghazi nets a brace along with Ola John getting the other goal

Euro Qualifiers Group E
Holland 5 - Bulgaria 0

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This was a huge result considering Bulgaria were our biggest rivals in this group and we go out and beat them like this.

We top our group after 4 wins from 4

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Granada 1 - Athletic 2

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We really should have won this match a **** of a lot easier than we did! Exposito put us ahead before they equalized with just 10 minutes of normal time left, we managed to score just minutes later though to seal all 3 points.

Champions League Groups
Athletic 2 - Leverkusen 1

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Herrera missed a penalty just 2 minutes into the game but it only took another 14 minutes before we did take the lead through Muniain, they equalized around an hour in from their own penalty before CM Sangalli came off the bench to net a very late winner

After such a good start to the season im gutted Exposito is out injured for the next month

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Athletic 2 - Elche 0

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Andoni Ruiz has really made that central defender spot his own in recent months and at just 19 has years of playing for us ahead of him whilst Sanz netted again.

Athletic 3 - Levante 2

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Just after i mention Ruiz he has a mare of a match and scores an own goal! Muniain did net a brace though with Williams getting the winner

Celta 0 - Athletic 1

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Griezmann nets the only goal of the game to seal all 3 points, i was glad to see him score with this just his 2nd goal of the season.

League Table

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Top of the table with 6 wins from 6 whilst Real Madrid have already dropped points.


​

 

[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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October 2019

Champions League Groups
AZ 2 - Athletic 2

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We are determined to make hard work of this group as we fall to a terrible draw to bottom seeds AZ

Real Madrid 0 - Athletic 1

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We cant stop beating Real Madrid now! It may only be early on in the season but that win in the league could be huge!

21 Games Unbeaten in all competitions since March

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It wouldnt be International duty without players leaving injured. Number 1 Keeper Krul ruled out

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Winger Promes adds to the injury list

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Euro Qualifiers Group E
Holland 4 - Turkey 1

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A comfortable win against Turkey with all of my attacking front 4 getting on the scoresheet

We Qualify for Euro 2020 with 3 games to spare

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5 wins from 5 games with an average of 3 goals a game and just the 1 goal conceded

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Ola John is my 3rd player from my original squad out injured

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Klassen is Number 4

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Euro Qualifiers Group E
Wales 0 - Holland 1

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Luuk De Jong gets the only goal of the game with a beautiful poachers goal making the most of a rare start

Deportivo 0 - Athletic 2

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Champions League Groups
Fenerbache 1 - Athletic 2

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We get back on track in Europe with a good win against our main rivals for the top spot in the group with Muniain putting in a decent shift but Griezmann is still looking a bit iffy.

Exposito is injured again

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Athletic 3 - Barcelona 1

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What a result as we truly show that we can mix it with the big boys! After struggling for years to get results against the big two we have now beaten both Real Madrid and Barcelona in the league in the same month!

Athletic 2 - Real Betis 0

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Is Griezmann back? He netted in the Barcelona win and then came off the bench to net a brace to win this match single handedly, maybe he didnt like being on the bench and thought he better do something about it.

Real Madrid have had a torrid time since losing to us winning just 2 points from a possible 12 in their last 4 matches

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League Table

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10 wins from our opening 10 league games of the season and currently 9 points clear of second placed Barcelona with Real Madrid further down in 5th, in the last 2 seasons Real Madrid have only lost 2 times each season yet after just 10 games they have already lost 2 times.


​

 

[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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November 2019 - Part 1

Athletic 3 - Cordoba 1

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When we face some of the lower teams in the league i will be trying to give the youngsters as much game time as possible, they have all developed a lot in recent seasons and we comfortably won today with 3 players only 19 in the starting lineup with 2 of them scoring.

Champions League Groups
Athletic 2 - Fenerbache 0

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We qualify for the Knockout stages of the Champions League with a game to spare

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Real Sociedad 2 - Athletic 2

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We all thought Griezmann had scored a very late winner against his former club with his 90th minute strike but they managed to get one even later.

Euro Qualifiers Group E
Holland 2 - Lithuania 2

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Even though we are already qualified this was a terrible result

At least Rekik got his first goal for Holland

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Nice to see a fellow Englishmen join the Spanish League with Michael Carrick taking charge at Real Betis

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​

 

[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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November 2019 - Part 2

Euro Qualifiers Group E
Bulgaria 1 - Holland 3

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We get back on track comfortably beating second placed side Bulgaria after the draw against Lithuania this was the result we needed, Depay could have got a Hattrick if he hadnt of missed a penalty

We clinch top spot undefeated with 7 wins from 8 games with double the amount of points than second place Bulgaria.

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Villareal 0 - Athletic 5

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Captain Fantastic Raul Garcia smashes in a beautiful Hattrick

Champions League Groups
Leverkusen 0 - Athletic 0

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Another draw in the Champions League but thanks to the 3 wins earlier on in the groups we are through to the knockout stages and guaranteed top spot with a game to spare

Athletic 3 - Malaga 1

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League Table

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Undefeated in our opening 14 league games of the season including 13 wins with Real Madrid a massive 10 points behind us already,


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[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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December 2019

So we have been given an extra £10Million to add to the transfer budget which now stands at £41Million, there is nobody really available worth buying though at the moment, the best two players around Azpicuelta and Javi Martinez are both 30 at least now and would still cost £50Million plus each whilst i have been looking in to adding some depth to the youth team, my problem has always been i find one decent young striker and then see how he gets on whilst now i may sign 4 or 5 of the best striker prospects and watch them develop now we have the money to reach all their release clauses and wages

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Spanish Cup 4th rnd 1st Leg
Marbella 2 - Athletic 4

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Not a bad result considering Williams was the only player to keep his place from the previous match, i was a little disappointed our defence conceded twice though.

Athletic 2 - Valencia 2

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We come from behind twice to equalize in a match that we looked to have dominated but only just about snuck away with the 1 point, this really looked like our first defeat of the season for a while

Merino out for 3 weeks, he has become a real key player in recent weeks

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Champions League Groups
Athletic 0 - AZ 0

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With top spot confirmed in our group we play a few youth players again and were the better of the two teams, we were lucky to get the draw though with AZ missing a penalty in a very close overall game.

Top spot in the Champions League Group E with Leverkusen in second

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Athletic 1 - Espanyol 0

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Young striker Christian Sanz gets the only goal of the game around half an hour in to seal all 3 points, we really have the mark of true Champions now grinding out all of these results even when we dont play our best

We get a favourable draw in the Champions League as we will face French side Lyon

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Spanish Cup 4th rnd 2nd Leg
Athletic 2 - Marbella 0

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The second string get another run out in this tie and perform much better as we not only secure the 6-2 on aggregate win but keep a clean sheet.

Rayo 1 - Athletic 3

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Another league match and another win!

League Table

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So at the turn of the year we are a massive 11 points clear of second placed Barcelona with Real Madrid a further 3 points behind but they do have 2 games in hand on both of us.


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[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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January 2020

Defenders Rekik and Janmaat join the Holland best eleven ever

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Best Eleven This Season

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The standout players this year were Depay and Ghazi who got 7 and 6 goals respectively in just 9 games,

Almeria 0 - Athletic 2

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DMC Merino has got an eye for goal this season whilst Muniain scored a late second to seal all 3 points

Spanish Cup 5th rnd 1st Leg
Athletic 2 - Real Sociedad 0

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Youngsters Exposito and Sangalli put us into a strong position for this tie with second half goals.

Complete my Continental B Licence

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And we immediately go for the Continental A Licence

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I also sign a 3 year contract extension

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Athletic 0 - At Madrid 1

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Oh ******! We finally suffer our first loss of the season with moneybags At Madrid too much for us with Vietto getting the only goal of the game whilst Herrera added insult to injury buying getting sent off with seconds to go.

Youth Facilities and Training Facilities to be upgraded once i decide their is no one on the transfer market we like the look of.

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Spanish Cup 5th rnd 2nd leg
Real Sociedad 0 - 2 Athletic

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Griezmann nets against his former club whilst Merino nets in the return leg too and it was all over inside 12 minutes.

A tough draw for all the big clubs as we get Barcelona in the Quarter Finals whilst their is also a Madrid derby

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Getafe 1 - Athletic 3

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We get back on track in the league with a good win after the At Madrid loss whilst DMC Merino cant stop scoring!

Spanish Cup Quarter Final 1st Leg
Barcelona 3 - Athletic 1

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I dont know what it is but Barcelona can be rubbish against practically everyone but MSN can always turn on the style against us!

Athletic 1 - Sevilla 0

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Spanish Cup Quarter Final 2nd Leg
Athletic 4 - Barcelona 2

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We gave it our best shot with Griezmann netting a superb Hattrick against the mighty Barcelona but it wasnt quite enough and we get knocked out thanks to the away goals rule

Athletic Defeat in the Spanish Cup

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Real Madrid are the big winter spenders with Morata finally returning from Juventus and then they spent £40Million on some midfielder from Fiorentina

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League Table

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Despite our first loss of the season we are still 11 points clear at the top of the table but Real Madrid do have 2 games in hand and could easily close the gap to just 5 points.

​

 

[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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February 2020

Elche 0 - Athletic 3

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As Sanz is still a teenager he can be a bit all or nothing, one game hes rubbish the next game he nets a brace and shows all of that potential

Athletic 0 - Celta 0

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Point proven, some of the youngsters get another run out and didnt quite have the same affect as the previous game with Sanz having a shocker as he missed chance after chance.

Champions League 1st Knockout rnd 1st Leg
Lyon 3 - Athletic 2

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We went ahead twice in this match but some how managed to end up losing it after a shock collapse late on, Raul Garcia netted both of our goals which away from home could be key for the 2nd leg.

Athletic 3 - Real Madrid 1

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A huge result as we come from behind to beat our main Title rivals Real Madrid, Morata netted for them in the first half before Iturraspe equalized early in the 2nd half before Griezmann netted a quick brace 70 minutes in.

Sangalli out for 5 weeks

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Levante 1 - Athletic 2

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Griezmann nets early on before they equalize just before the break, Muniain manages to net a very late winner though to seal all 3 points.

League Table

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Barcelona cant stop scoring goals but they are now 12 points behind us with 12 games to go! Real Madrid are a massive 17 points behind us with their 2 games in hand still

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[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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March 2020

Barcelona 3 - Athletic 0

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It appears that although we are dominating the league and have the beating of Real Madrid in recent matches we just simply do not perform against Barcelona as they comfortable dish out our second loss of the season in the league.

Athletic 4 - Deportivo 1

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We get back on track in the league easy enough with my youngsters shining, Merino, Sanz and Exposito all got on the scoresheet and are all future stars

Herrera set to miss the rest of the season

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Champions League 1st Knockout rnd 2nd leg
Athletic 3 - Lyon 1

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Merino puts us ahead before Spaniard Alcacer equalized just before half time, we pushed on in the 2nd half though with Muniain putting us back in the lead before his replacement Exposito grabbed the 3rd goal which saw us go through 5-4 on aggregate

New gate receipt set

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Cordoba 0 - Athletic 1

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Exposito has become a key player for us and at such a young age! He got the only goal of the game just before the hour mark, the likes of Exposito, Sanz and Ruiz have become key for the side this season despite all being under 21

Only the one half decent youth intake player but rest assured i signed a shed load of players from other clubs to bolster our thinning ranks.

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We draw Chelsea in the Champions League Quarter Finals, whilst i didnt realise we are the only Spanish side still in the competition with both Real Madrid and Barcelona knocked out.

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Real Betis 2 - Athletic 4

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Another dominant win

League Table

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9 points ahead of Barcelona after they beat us this month but Real Madrid squandered there 2 games in hand and lie 15 points off us, They have lost more games this season (5) than they had in the previous 2 and half seasons combined (4)


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[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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April 2020

Athletic 1 - Real Sociedad 1

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Griezmann loves scoring against his former club and gets another just a few minutes into the game but old man Mario Gomez equalized for them just before half time.

Champions League Quarter Final 1st Leg
Athletic 0 - Chelsea 0

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Not a terrible result, we really should have won this match but making sure they didnt get an away goal could be key to us going through.

Euro 2020 Groups have been drawn and our main rivals for the top spot will be Portugal

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Athletic 2 - Villareal 0

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Since the turn of the year Griezmann cant stop scoring now!

Champions League Quarter Final 2nd Leg
Chelsea 3 - Athletic 3

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Icardi smashed in a Hattrick for them but Raul Garcia netted two second half penalties to see us make the Semi Finals thanks to the away goals rule

300 Games in Management at Athletic Bilbao, Spain Under 19's and Holland

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We draw Bayern Munich in the Champions League Semi Finals whilst the team who came second in our group Leverkusen are also in the Semi Finals with Man Utd

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Malaga 1 - Athletic 2

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Muniain nets either side of a Malaga goal to seal the win and it was all over inside half an hour

Valencia 1 - Athletic 5

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A dominant win against Valencia! They gave us our first loss of the season in January and we gave them the perfect pay back!

Athletic 2 - Rayo 1

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We seem to be in perfect Title winning form at the moment winning game after game.

Barcelona played the day after our win and only drew so we win the league with 3 games to go!

League Table

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So we win the League 11 points clear at the top of the table whilst who would have thought Real Madrid would have only won 22 out of 35 league games this season!

Athletic do the double after Title Win

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Tonkin Enters Spanish Hall of Fame

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I arrive in 7th place in the Spanish Hall of fame after 5 Trophies with Atheltic

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[BarcaBoy26]

Brilliant performance in the league and in Europe! The save is getting even better now the youngsters are coming through

 

[randommonkey]

Well done! Can you post a screenshot of Exposito?

 

[coolmcool]

Well done! Can you post a screenshot of Exposito?

im a few months ahead and dont want to give too much away with whats happening with the save but just took a screenshot and will post it once i have caught up with the updates im only in August so wont be long

 

[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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May 2020

Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg
Bayern 1 - Athletic 1

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We held our own and it was a lot more even than i thought really showing how far we have come in recent seasons as we play out a 1-1 draw.

Horrible news as Bilbao get relegated which is the main reason why i will be bringing in a lot more youth players with big potential than i have done in previous years and letting them play at Bilbao.

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Athletic 0 - Almeria 1

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Shock 1-0 loss to Almeria but i did practically change the whole starting 11 bar Iker Muniain as i looked to rest the first team for Europe.

Champions League Semi Finals 2nd Leg
Athletic 1 - Bayern 0

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Griezmann has found his form at exactly the right time! He nets the only goal of the game and we make it through to our first ever Champions League Finals

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We will face Manchester United in the Finals but they are well over 3 weeks away!

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[coolmcool]

Athletic Bilbao

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May 2020 - Part 2

Nice to see my Under19's take their league Title back

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A bit of a worry that Ghazi our main striker for Euro 2020 didnt score for 24 matches!

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Espanyol 1 - Athletic 3

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A comfortable win in the league, with the Champions League Final over 3 weeks away i could afford to play the first team again.

Hardly a star but Rekik is set to miss Euro 2020

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Oh dear Muniain is set to miss the Champions League Final and has lost any hope of making the Spain squad with this 2 month injury layoff.

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20 Year Old Winger Marti Exposito wins the Young Player of the Year Award

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At Madrid 1 - Athletic 1

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A bore draw to end the season but what i really cared about was Exposito going off injured!

Exposito is out injured for 6 weeks and will miss the Champions League Final

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So in the end we won the league by 9 points, with Real Madrid down in 3rd place, Deportivo, Real Betis and Espanyol are all relegated

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I Win Manager of the Year

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5 Athletic Players make the Team of the Season

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I now have 4 Holland players in my squad with little injuries

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Devastating news as Andoni Ruiz will miss the Champions League Final and thats my two best youth players out of the side and 3 of my starting 11 out .

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It hasnt been Real Madrids season as Valencia beat them in the Final of the Spanish Cup

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23 Man Squad Selected for the Euro's

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4 Athletic Players going to the Euro's

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Van Der Wiel adds to my defensive injury woes and Rekik will be going to the Euro's

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Historic First Champions League Final for Athletic

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Elustondo is in the starting 11 thanks to Ruiz injury whilst Griezmann has to play on the wing with Sanz upfront as Muniain and Exposito are both out

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Champions League Final
Athletic 1 - Man Utd 0

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What a Final! We had the better of the game but it took a late winner from former Man Utd player Ander Herrera to seal our first ever Champions League Title!

Treble Complete

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I break into the English Hall of Fame

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7 Trophies sees me come into the English Hall of fame in 8th place

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Our Best Ever Season!

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[naterr]

What a season! well done on the treble!