Cadiz 1 (Jona 37) Athletic Bilbao 4 (Guillermo 35, 45, Aketxe 55, 80)
As expected the youngsters and backups came out to play and once again they did the job with Guillermo impressing yet again in front of goal.
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UEFA Champions League Group G
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Susaeta 34, Muniain 50, Benat 64)
Juventus 3 (Pereyra 39, Llorente 40, Matri 65)
This was an enthralling match as we shared 6 goals. Etxeita got sent-off late on but we managed to hold on to finish top of our group.
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Real Sociedad 2 (Castro 11, Agirretxe 34) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Ibai Gomez 3, Susaeta 7)
This was my first match against our fiercest rivals and while I am happy to get a point I am ****** off that we threw away a 2 goal lead after we started so well. Both sides had a goal disallowed in the 2nd half.
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Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Rico 21, Viguera 37, Toquero 80) Cadiz 1 (Jona 51) (Athletic Bilbao win 7-2 on aggregate)
I would have liked to have won by a bigger margin here but hey ho.
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Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 13) Atletico Madrid 0
A nice win. We probably deserved it however we were helped when Iraizoz saved a first half penalty from Gabi to keep us ahead.
2014 is over and we ended it with a successful month. We had 2 big league games as we drew against Sociedad in the Vasco derby before defeating the champions, Atletico Madrid, at the San Mames. We are sitting pretty in 4th place but Real Madrid are behind us with games in hand so we have a lot of work to do if we are to finish in a Champions League spot.
Progress in the Copa del Rey was always going to happen while in the Champions League we battled to a draw against Juventus to top the group and we were rewarded with a tie against Liverpool.
Going into January I feel I need to strengthen my side. I definately need another central midfielder and possibly a centre half. I have about $10m in the transfer kitty so we shall see what happens.
Deportivo La Coruna 1 (Cavaleiro 23) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Susaeta 2, 54)
We kick off the new year with a victory. I was pleased to welcome back Iturraspe and Laporte from injury as we are much stronger with them on the pitch.
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Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg
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Athletic Bilbao 4 (Susaeta 3, Sola 7, Navarro og45, Rico 60) Sevilla 2 (Bacca 43, 82)
Their 2 away goals is a worry but I would have taken a 4-2 scoreline before kick-off. Susaeta is unhappy at the moment but he is performing well thankfully.
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Athletic Bilbao 5 (De Marcos 5, Sola 6, 25, 76pen, Aurtenetxe 68) Elche 1 (Albacar 90)
This is a fantastic result and performance. I was missing a few players in defence but that didnt seem to matter as Kike Sola was on fire.
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Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg
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Sevilla 3 (Reyes 40, Bacca 55, Iraizoz og82) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Susaeta 9, 35, Rico 65) (Athletic Bilbao win 7-5 on aggregate)
Another entertaining game between the 2 sides here. Muniain was superb and assisted all 3 goals.
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Villarreal 0 Athletic Bilbao 0
A very rare no score draw. They had a goal disallowed in the first half thankfully and we got a draw. Not a great performance however.
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Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 1st Leg
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Elche 3 (Herrera 12, 45, Mendes Rodrigues 90) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Unai Lopez 43, Ibai Gomez 84, Villalibre 88)
I am content with this result. I am especially pleased that my young striker, Villalibre, came off the bench to score his 2nd goal of the season.
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (De Marcos 49, Unai Lopez 86) Malaga 1 (Luis Aberto 40)
I tried Muniain up front here and played Unai Lopez just behind him and it worked as the youngster scored the late winner. That said Malaga had a goal disallowed when they were 1-0 up.
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Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (Unai Lopez 41, De Marcos 53) Elche 0 (Athletic Bilbao win 5-3 on aggregate)
We packed in 8 fixtures during this month and we came out of that lot unbeaten as we won 5 and drew 3. In the league we are still battling away for a Champions League spot and have opened up a 5pt gap over Ross County.
In the cup we knocked out both Sevilla and Elche which sets up a semi-final tie against our bitter rivals Real Sociedad. Real Madrid will face Granada in the other semi.
Regarding transfers I did bring in one player. Jorge Espericueta was brought in from Mexican side Tigres on a free transfer. He was on loan at Villarreal and the 20 year old will be on the fringes of the first team for the remainder of the season. View attachment 300733
I failed to bring Natxo Monreal to the club as he joined Everton instead for $4.2m but I am in the middle of trying to do a couple of other bits and pieces..........
Levante 0 Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 48, Sola 90)
We were very lucky here it has to be said. We were 2nd best throughout and scored against the run of play and then they had a man sent-off. Even then though we were poor and finally sealed the win in stoppage time.
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Copa del Rey Semi-Final 1st Leg
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Real Sociedad 2 (Agirretxe 20, 47) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 52)
This is not good and the opposite of our previous game as we were the better side but lost out. Viguera missed a few chances at the end for us and Balenziaga had a nightmare.
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Athletic Bilbao 1 (De Marcos 38) Barcelona 2 (Messi 49, Adriano 85)
Two defeats in a row - not good. We did ok here but Barcelona peppered our goal and we just couldnt hold on in the end.
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Copa del Rey Semi-Final 2nd Leg
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (Sola 65, Iraola 82) Real Sociedad 1 (Castro 9) (Agg 3-3, Real Sociedad win 7-6 on penalties)
This is heartbreaking. We miss out on the final thanks to our bitter rivals. I was missing a few players but we still managed to play well and should have won it before it went to penalties. Aurtenetxe was the guilty party in the shoot out as he was the only one who missed.
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Granada 1 (Cala 26) Athletic Bilbao 0
This run of form has got to end. We had 21 efforts on goal but only hit the target 4 times. I am seriously ****** off now.
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
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Liverpool 3 (Gerrard 17, Balotelli 47, Coutinho 71) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 7)
And so the run continues. Maybe the away goal will prove to be crucial but I very much doubt it.
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 11, Ibai Gomez 37, Viguera 79) Rayo Vallecano 2 (Leo 65, Kakuta 86)
Finally we get back to winning ways. We should have scored a lot more but the most important thing was the 3pts.
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (Unai Lopez 6, Villalibre 75) Cordoba 1 (Abel 69)
This performance was similar to the previous match as we ended up winning but we should have won by a helluva lot more. As ever I was delighted with Villalibre's impact.
It is safe to say that this month had its ups and downs. We packed in an incredible 9 games during the month which was just crazy. Unfortunately we had a blip at the start of the month as we lost in the league to Barcelona and Granada, got knocked out of the cup by Sociedad and lost to Liverpool in Europe.
We did bounce back at the end of the month however as we won our last 3 games which was vital for our season and kept me sane!!!
On transfer deadline day I managed to bring in Stephane Ruffier from Saint-Etienne for $7.5m. The Frenchman should be my keeper until a youngster comes through the ranks and I figure I have 5 years to find one!!! View attachment 300511
I was interested in Asier Illarramendi but did not want to pay the $14m asking price while I got nowhere in my attempts to bring in Raul Garcia and Fernando Amorebieta.
Gorka Iraizoz rejected a move to Espanyol for some reason so he is still on my wage bill but he will play in Europe as I have not registered Ruffier.
LA LIGA View attachment 300521
Espanyol sack Sergio Gonzalez and appoint Joaquin Caparros
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B TEAM WATCH
Bilbao Athletic 2-0 Real Sociedad B
Getafe B 3-3 Bilbao Athletic Bilbao Athletic 1-1 Trival Valderas Bilbao Athletic 1-0 Socuellamos Federation Cup
Teruel 3-1 Bilbao Athletic Bilbao Athletic 2-2 Teruel
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 11) Real Madrid 1 (Etxeita og72)
A decent point. We should have won the game in the first half as we were superb but in the 2nd half it was all Madrid. Susaeta got injured and will be out for 5-6 weeks.
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 36, Ibai Gomez 56) Liverpool 2 (Henderson 9, Coutinho 17) (Liverpool win 5-3 on aggregate)
It was always going to be tough and we never had a chance when we went 2 down but my players fought back to salvage a draw. Aurtenetxe got sent-off late on.
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Celta Vigo 2 (Hernandez 31, Larrivey 55pen) Athletic Bilbao 2 (De Marcos 79, Ibai Gomez 90)
We got a point here thanks to a late comeback where we scored twice in the last 10 minutes including an injury time leveller from Ibai Gomez.
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Athletic Bilbao 5 (Benat 10, Muniain 19, Viguera 44, 54, Ibai Gomez 45) Almeria 1 (Thievy 87)
We were superb here and thrashed a poor Almeria side. They had a man sent-off in the 2nd half and we annoyingly then took our foot off the pedal. Iraola got injured and is out for 3 months.
A strange month this as we drew 3 and won 1 of our 4 games. Any draw against Real Madrid is a decent result and we fought back from 2 goals down in our next 2 games before thumping Almeria.
It seems that we have nothing of real note to play for. We should easily finish in the top 4 but are nowhere near Barcelona at the top and we are not in any of the cup competitions.
I did however get one standout player in the youth intake - Jon Pena is an attacking midfielder and hopefully will develop into a star. I have already started him off by getting some tutoring from Ander Iturraspe. View attachment 300425
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LA LIGA View attachment 300424
Real Madrid beat Barcelona 3-0 to ruin their unbeaten season
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B TEAM WATCH
Tudelano 0-4 Bilbao Athletic
Bilbao Athletic 2-2 Conquense Bilbao Athletic 2-1 Castilla
Toledo 0-0 Bilbao Athletic
Rayo Vallecano B 3-2 Bilbao Athletic
Sevilla 2 (Gameiro 7pen, Krychowiak 32) Athletic Bilbao 1 (De Marcos 47)
We probably deserved a draw here but Aymeric Laporte's horror show cost us here. Hopefully it is just a one off from him!!!
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Athletic Bilbao 1 (Muniain 53)
Valencia 0
The two sides were level on points going into this match but we gained revenge from our defeat earlier in the season here to go 3pts clear of them.
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Espanyol 3 (Sergio Garcia 1, Caicedo 41, Lucas 55) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Ibai Gomez 68)
Our good work from our previous match was thrown away here as we lost out here. We suffered a nightmare start and despite coming back into it in the 2nd half we gave ourselves far too much to do.
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Athletic Bilbao 5 (Ibai Gomez 14, 35, Unai Lopez 21, De Marcos 23, Muniain 84) Getafe 1 (Lacen 34)
I expected a response from our previous match and I got it here as my forward players were unstoppable here. Susaeta came off the bench to return from injury.
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Cordoba 1 (Rossi 85) Athletic Bilbao 4 (Ibai Gomez 42, Unai Lopez 73, Guillermo 87, 90)
Another big win here as we scored 4 to go on top of the 5 we put past Getafe in our previous match. Guillermo came off the bench to score twice and get the man of the match award.
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (San Jose 3pen, Muniain 15, 68) Real Sociedad 1 (Estrada 89)
This match gave us a chance to gain revenge over our cup exit a few months back and we managed it here. San Jose converted an early penalty while Muniain struck twice to give us the points.
Our penultimate month of the season was a decent one. It didnt start off to well however as our victory over Valencia was sandwiched between defeats against Sevilla and Espanyol however we then kicked into gear and won the next 3 games comfortably including a derby victory over Real Sociedad.
It seems as though we are going to finish the season in 3rd place which is a decent effort. We have 89 goals scored so I would like us to get to the 100 mark but have 4 games to get there!!!
Bilbao Athletic 2-1 Barakaldo
Guadalajara 4-1 Bilbao Athletic Bilbao Athletic 3-3 Leioa
Las Palmas Atletico 1-2 Bilbao Athletic
Huesca 2-2 Bilbao Athletic
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As it says above I am on holiday for a week so I will probably pump out the updates!!!!
Atletico Madrid 2 (Torres 57, 65) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Unai Lopez 38, Ibai Gomez 61, Guillermo 85)
A fine result this. We went into the break one up and then in the 2nd half we got pegged back twice as Fernando Torres caused us problems but my supersub Guillermo struck the winner late on.
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Ibai Gomez 28, Muniain 55, Lux og85) Deportivo La Coruna 3 (Balenziaga og16, Cuenca 35, Borges 90)
We werent at the races here and despite conceding a late equaliser we probably got what we deserved. That said, I had Susaeta and Ibai Gomez taken off injured which didnt help matters.
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Elche 0 Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 45, 68, Susaeta 73)
Elche are in the middle of a relegation battle and we added to their misery here by winning easily. Muniain was superb and scored twice.
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (Villalibre 45, 48) Villarreal 2 (Uche 6, 28)
While I am disappointed not to end the season with a goal I am delighted that Villalibre managed to get 2 goals. Uche had a winner disallowed for them while Jon Pena made his debut for us.
A satisfactory end to the season as we won 2 and drew 2 of our 4 games which means we ended the season on a 7 game unbeaten run.
The only other notable thing to say that wont be covered in the end of season review is that Jon Pena became our youngest ever player and Asier Villalibre netted twice on his first start for the club.
So season number 1 is over and it has been fairly successful. In the league we managed to finish in 3rd place, 7pts clear of our rivals Real Sociedad but 10pts behind Real Madrid and a whopping 21pts behind Barcelona. The highlight of our league campaign was the 7-0 thrashing of Espanyol and one of the lows was when they gained revenge by beating us 3-1.
The main low point of the season was our defeat in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey to our bitter rivals Real Sociedad. We knocked out Cadiz, Sevilla and Elche before we lost out on penalties. Sociedad went on to lose the final to Real Madrid.
In the UEFA Champions League we started off brilliantly as we knocked out Napoli before topping our group ahead of Juventus, Schalke 04 and Dinamo. We then were put out of the competition by Liverpool.
Player wise we changed things about halfway through the season as I signed Ruffier to be my new keeper and I also moved Muniain up front to give Unai Lopez a run in the side. My attacking players were on the whole superb as Ibai Gomez, Muniain, Susaeta, Benat and Sola all got double figures in goals while De Marcos, Viguera, Unai Lopez and Guillermo also made a decent contribution.
The main disappointment was Aritz Aduriz as the veteran forward just couldnt get going but on the flip side some of my youngsters excelled as Unai Lopez, Guillermo and Villalibre impressed while Xiker, Aketxe and Pena made cameo appearances.
This was a strange pre-season. On the good side my board invested in under soil heating and also the youth and training facilities (more of which later) and they gave me a decent budget of $13m to strengthen the side.
Unfortunately, so far, the money has not been spent much as I have struggled to bring in the quality required to strengthen the first team significantly. Another big issue has been the amount of injuries suffered during the pre-season. Here is a list....
Laporte - double hernia - 6 weeks
Benat - torn hamstring - 5 weeks
Unai Lopez - strained ankle ligaments - 4 weeks
Balenziaga - strained knee ligaments - 4 weeks
Aurtenetxe - pulled hamstring - 3 weeks
Ruiz de Galarreta - back strain - 3 weeks
Ibai Gomez - twisted knee - 2 weeks
Rico - groin strain - 2 weeks
Amazingly all of those injuries occurred during a 2 week spell!!!!
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PLAYERS IN
My only signing for the first team was to bring back Borja Ekiza to the club. He cost me $1m and will provide cover for Laporte and San Jose. View attachment 299743
I welcomed back a few players who were away on loan last season. Kepa Arrizabalaga is my new backup keeper and I will play him occasionally as he looks as though he could be a great keeper!!! View attachment 299736
Erik Moran and Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta are going to be in and around the first team picture and will add depth to my ranks in central midfield. View attachment 299735View attachment 299734
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PLAYERS OUT
I did sell quite a few I have to admit. I received $2.1m from Getafe for Kike Sola while Mallorca paid $1.2m for Iago Herrerin. I also got rid of 3 veteran players as Gorka Toquero went to Osasuna for $300,000, Gorka Iraizoz went to Deportivo for $275,000 and I released Aritz Aduriz.
Unai Bustinza joined Cordoba for $235,000 and I released dozens of useless youngsters too.
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FIRST TEAM SUMMARY
I am fairly content with how my squad is at the moment and unless someone who is affordable and adds extra quality to the group becomes available then I wouldnt think there is going to be much more changes before the window shuts.
My first XI will be the same as last season but my main aim is to get some of my youngsters more game time. I have kept Pena, Xiker and Villalibre in the U19s and will play them as much as I can while with Aduriz and Sola gone Guillermo will be my backup striker.
I was toying with the idea to send Espericueta down to the B side to help them out but when I got all those injuries during the summer I decided not too.
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B TEAM WATCH
My B team has been strengthened too as Jonas Ramalho, Iker Guarrotxena and Enric Saborit have returned to the club from their loan spells. I also signed Raul Fernandez and Txomin Barcina on free transfers to help them out.
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THE FUTURE
The Board has given the green light to the so-called 'Lezama Master Plan', which was founded with the purpose of modernizing the structures of both the youth teams and first team. The 'Plan' is the result of a rigorous study of the basic needs for the future of the Athletic Club. The work will take place over the course of two to three years and its budget is around 12 million euros. The Club is committed to consolidate its Cantera structure, which is the basis for the future of the Club and in this regard Lezama will be expanded to classrooms for youth work in the lower categories and create an audiovisual department.
Insane amount of injuries! Hopefully you will get a good start to the season anyway.
Since you sold of Iraiola, who do you plan on playing as the right defender?
Love youre story so far!
Atletico Madrid 4 (Motta 16, Raul Garcia 36, 39, Mandzukic 50) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Ekiza 4, Moran 89, Villalibre 90)
Going into this game I was denied the services of my 2 centre backs, my left back, 2 centre mids and my central attacking midfielder so it is no surprise that we failed to win here.
Somehow from 4-1 down and a man down (Xiker got sent-off) with 3min to go we managed to make it look respectable.
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Susaeta 62, Ekiza 87, Villalibre 90) Almeria 1 (Zongo 30)
Another late show won us the game here. Once again Villalibre came off the bench to score as he continues to impress.
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Villarreal 0 Athletic Bilbao 1 (Ibai Gomez 35)
We did not deserve to win this at all as Villarreal gave as good as they got but for once my defence held firm.
A satisfactory start to the season - especially if you consider the amount of injuries that we have. There is no shame in losing to Atletico and after that we picked up 2 decent wins.
I did further strengthen my ranks by bringing in another youngster to the club. Juan Carlos Palacios came in from Rayo Vallecano for $300,000. View attachment 299506
In the Champions League we were once again seeded 3rd and have been put in a tricky group alongside Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Legia Warsaw.
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Susaeta 5, 24, 45pen) Osasuna 2 (Walter 80, Torres 84)
Osasuna's promotion means that we have another 2 Basque derbies during the season and we took the spoils here thanks to Susaeta's first half hat-trick.
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UEFA Champions League Group D
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (Ibai Gomez 16, Unai Lopez 90) Legia Warsaw 0
I expected a wider winning margin here from my backups but I suppose that I should just be pleased that they didnt slip up.
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Cordoba 2 (Luis Fernandez 27, Abel 29) Athletic Bilbao 6 (Iraola 9pen, Muniain 55, 63, 69, 70, Unai Lopez 83)
Magic Muniain!!! He stole the show in the 2nd half and got his first goals of the season to blow Cordoba away.
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Athletic Bilbao 4 (Unai Lopez 4, Ibai Gomez 9, San Jose 24pen, Susaeta 33) Getafe 0
Our first half performance was a joy to behold here as we picked up where we left off against Cordoba. I was forced to play Mikel Rico at right back and he was superb.
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Celta Vigo 2 (Hernandez 31, Sergio Alvarz 56) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 1, Jonny og90)
This was a shocking performance. Apart from the first minute and the last it was all Celta Vigo and we were even helped when they had Barragan sent-off with 15min to go. Very lucky.
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UEFA Champions League Group D
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Arsenal 4 (Welbeck 29, Giroud 39, Arteta 72pen, Walcott 90) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Guillermo 73)
A bad day at the office. We were poor in the first half and that was what killed us as we were decent enough in the 2nd half. It is not all bad though as Dortmund could only draw with Legia and Benat returned from injury.
On the whole this month was pretty good as we won the derby match against Osasuna and racked up convincing wins against Cordoba and Getafe. However there is a tinge of disappointment with how the month ended as we were on the receiving end of a thrashing to Arsenal.
All in all though I am happy with how things have went so far this season, especially if you take into account our bad luck with injuries. Hopefully we can kick on and progress both as a unit and individually regarding the players.
Atletico Madrid B 0-2 Bilbao Athletic
Sestao River 0-1 Bilbao Athletic
Real Union 1-1 Bilbao Athletic Bilbao Athletic 4-0 Barakaldo Bilbao Athletic 2-2 Castilla
Rafael Moreno - nicknamed "Pichichi" which means Little Duck was a striker who played for Athletic during the 1910's and 20's and the current trophy for being the top scorer in La Liga is named the Pichichi after him.
SEPTEMBER
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Rico 4, Muniain 42, 43) Real Betis 0
I was once again forced to play Mikel Rico at right back and despite lasting only 10min he made a major impact by scoring the opener.
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Espanyol 1 (Caicedo 81) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Ibai Gomez 24, Guillermo 68)
Our good run of form domestically continues as we get a decent away win. Tough fixtures are upcoming though!!!
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UEFA Champions League Group D
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Borussia Dortmund 0 Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 11, Guillermo 72, De Marcos 75)
This is an incredible result and one of the biggest smash and grab victories I have had. We took an early lead and then it was all Dortmund. They had a goal disallowed and missed a penalty before half-time and then in the 2nd half my 2 subs scored on the break. They had nearly 20 shots while we had 4, 3 on target!!!!
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Athletic Bilbao 5 (Susaeta 3, Ibai Gomez 8, 11, 22, Guillermo 81)
Valencia 2 (Alcacer 38, Vidal 90)
Our first half performance here was amazing as we went in at the break 4-1 up but we had 18 efforts on goal and 15 were on target. Guillermo came off the bench to score for the 3rd game in a row.
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Real Madrid 4 (Varane 15, Benzema 28, Modric 67, De Marcos og90) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 19, Susaeta 68)
Meh. This was an entertaining game. Real had over 30 attempts at goal so we did well to limit them to 4 goals but we were quite attacking as well and I thought we were going to equalise until De Marcos scored his late own goal.
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Athletic Bilbao 1 (Unai Lopez 4) Real Sociedad 0
Derby day joy as Unai Lopez scored the only goal of the game early on. We should have scored a couple more but the main thing was that we got a win and we did.
Fixture wise this month was extremely tough but at the end I can look back on it and say that we were superb. In Europe we somehow beat Dortmund 3-0 to make us have 1 foot in the next round while domestically we won all our games apart from a defeat against Real Madrid.
We thumped a decent Valencia side and as always the key result was the victory in the derby against Real Sociedad. We end the month in 2nd place, 6pts behind Barcelona but 4pts ahead of Real Madrid.
In the Copa del Rey we have been drawn against Jaen.
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Guillermo 26, 60, De Marcos 55, Susaeta 56) Borussia Dortmund 2 (Reus 28pen, Aubameyang 35)
This win secures our spot in the next round. We were unlucky to be behind at half-time but in the 2nd half we were superb and scored 3 in a crazy 5min spell.
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (Iturraspe 18, Susaeta 73) Sevilla 1 (Iborra 23)
Ander Iturraspe doesnt score many so I was delighted when he opened the scoring here. We hit the woodwork a few times before Susaeta scored the winner.
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Deportivo La Coruna 2 (Dominguez 73, Cuenca 88) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Susaeta 27, Guillermo 78)
We did enough to win this match I felt but Cuenca's screamer meant that we had to make do with a point.
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UEFA Champions League Group D
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Legia Warsaw (Astiz 29) Athletic Bilbao (Viguera 25pen, Guillermo 52, De Marcos 62)
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Malaga 0 Athletic Bilbao 0
An extremely rare 0-0 draw this. Our scoring boots werent on as we continually failed to hit the target. Never mind.
As ever, any month in which you go unbeaten is a good month and this one is no different. In the league we defeated Sevilla before getting 2 draws and in Europe we put 4 past Dortmund to qualify for the knockout stage before beating Legia Warsaw.
The board boosted my trnasfer budget during the month (without being asked) up to $25m so I got Villalibre, Ibai Gomez, Laporte and Muniain to sign new deals. The board also agreed to invest in the youth facilities once again.
LA LIGA View attachment 298964
Michel takes over at Espanyol *Real Sociedad sack David Moyes!!!*
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B TEAM WATCH
Bilbao Athletic 3-2 Izarra
Pena Sport 2-4 Bilbao Athletic Bilbao Athletic 2-0 Conquense
Real Sociedad B 2-5 Bilbao Athletic Bilbao Athletic 6-1 Tudelano
Jaen 1 (Sutil 42) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Guillermo 32, 52, Espericueta 43)
Easy enough for my backups. I rewarded 4 of my B team players with an appearance here as they have been ripping apart their division recently.
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UEFA Champions League Group D
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Iraola 21pen, Unai Lopez 38, 82) Arsenal 0
This was a complete performance. We looked dangerous going forward and were solid at the back and young Arrizabalaga kept a clean sheet against top notch opposition. This win means that we win the group. View attachment 298934
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Athletic Bilbao 4 (Unai Lopez 3, 55, Muniain 45, 50) Mallorca 1 (Enes Unal 70)
This game was all about 2's. Unai Lopez and Muniain got 2 goals each while Susaeta and Ibai Gomez got 2 assists.
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Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Viguera 3, 55pen, Guillermo 8) Jaen 0 (Athletic Bilbao win 6-1 on aggregate)
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Athletic Bilbao 1 (Ibai Gomez 90) Granada 1 (Allan 23)
This, simply put, was not good enough. We dominated posession and despite falling behind just couldnt score. With 10min left we still hadnt had a shot on target and they had a man sent-off. Luckily Ibai Gomez struck in stoppage time to salvage a point.
This month was near perfect. Only 2 things spoiled it - the draw against Granada and that Asier Villalibre got injured and will be out for 3 months.
We cruised through in the Copa del Rey but our exploits against Arsenal were fantastic. We ended up topping our group and I admit that when the group was first drawn out I thought that we would struggle to finish 2nd.
Our reward for winning our group is a tie against Besiktas - chuffed about that!!!!
Barcelona 5 (Iniesta 12, Messi 16, 32, 48, Neymar 50) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Ibai Gomez 35, Unai Lopez 44)
This was Barcelona putting us back in our place and showed us how far we still have to go to compete at their level. Guillermo had a goal disallowed for us in the 2nd half.
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Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (Unai Lopez 8, Griezmann 61pen) Getafe 0
As far as debuts go, this one was pretty special for Antoine Griezmann as he scored one, assisted the other and claimed the man of the match award.
Goals certainly arent hard to come by at the moment!!!
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Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg
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Getafe 2 (Vazquez 2, Granero 3) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Unai Lopez 7, Muniain 18, Susaeta 52) (Athletic Bilbao win 5-2 on aggregate)
I was a bit worried after 3min but we fought back brilliantly to get the win. Not that it was needed mind lol
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (Susaeta 43, Unai Lopez 88) Atletico Madrid 0
We gained revenge from our opening day defeat here with a comfortable win.
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Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 1st Leg
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 30, Laporte 41, Griezmann 43) Levante 1 (Martins 23)
Levante are a decent side with some quick and talented players so I am happy with this result.
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Athletic Bilbao 1 (Unai Lopez 49) Villarreal 1 (Pina 27)
We created enough chances to win this game but we just couldnt convert them. As it was it took a wonder strike from Unai Lopez to get us a point.
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Copa del Rey Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
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Levante 3 (Xumetra 12, Victor Perez 19pen, Camarasa 90) Athletic Bilbao 5 (Benat 28, Muniain 45, Pena 63, Guillermo 79, 86) (Athletic Bilbao win 8-4 on aggregate)
This was a crazy game. Levante surged into a 2 goal lead, then Benat missed a penalty but scored the rebound, we then took control before half-time. In the 2nd half they had a goal disallowed before Pena became our youngest ever scorer and there was a late show with Guillermo netting twice.
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Almeria 1 (Molina 60) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Iturraspe 5, Unai Lopez 75)
Almeria are the surprise package of the season so far and they gave us a tough match here. Unai Lopez has now scored in 7 of his last 8 games!!!
This month had it all. Plenty of games, plenty of goals, tactical tweaks, record breakers and a record signing lol
The board once again decided to give me more money out of the blue and I had a $25.5m bid accepted for Antoine Griezmann and an $18m bid accepted for Ander Herrera. I could only take one but who?
I needed Herrera more and he was considerably cheaper but in the end I plumped for Griezmann as he is younger, will score more and is generally a better player!!!! View attachment 298711
His arrival was tough on Ibai Gomez who has to make way for Griezmann despite being our best player so far this term. I then changed Unai Lopez's role from a trequirista to a shadow striker and as you can see from above it has certainly worked!!!!
Two players did leave however. Mikel Rico joined Sevilla for $825,000 and Erik Moran joined Granada for an initial $1.6m. I then promoted 16y/o Jon Pena to the first team squad and he duly scored on his first start for the club.
Anywho - in the league we are battling away for the runners-up spot. We are 15pts behind the unbeaten Barcelona and while we are keeping up with them in terms of goals scored it seems that in the defensive department we fall short.
S.D. Logrones 1-1 Bilbao Athletic Bilbao Athletic 5-0 Sestao River Bilbao Athletic 3-1 Atletico Madrid B
Barakaldo 2-1 Bilbao Athletic Bilbao Athletic 3-1 Real Union
How we came back to win this I dont know. 3-0 down after 15min, 4-1 down after 24min yet we managed to get a lead to take with us to the Nou Camp.
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Osasuna 1 (Flano 74) Athletic Bilbao 4 (Benat 48, Muniain 58, Susaeta 76, Ibai Gomez 86)
We were poor in the first half and they had a goal disallowed in that period but in the 2nd half we came back to life and thumped our fellow Basques.
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Copa del Rey Semi-Final 2nd Leg
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Barcelona 2 (Roberto 40, Iraola og45) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Susaeta 18, Unai Lopez 54) (Athletic Bilbao win 7-6 on aggregate)
INTO THE FINAL WE GO!!!! We got absolutely battered and in the end they had 26 attempts to our meagre total of 4 but we took our chances when they were created and held on - just!
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Getafe 3 (Herrero 17, Jose Rodriguez 34, Alexis 37) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 44, Unai Lopez 46)
Just one of those days as our first half display was terrible and cost us in the end. We kept peppering their goal but just couldnt get the leveller.
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
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Besiktas 2 (Tolgay Arslan 37, Oguzhan Ozyakup 80) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Griezmann 21pen, Unai Lopez 48, Muniain 65)
I am happy with this result as we should be able to see them off at the San Mames. The 3 away goals could be handy too!!
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Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 20, 29) Cordoba 1 (Ekeng 61)
We were missing a few players going into this game and then a couple of players picked up a knock so this was a win in tricky circumstances.
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 22, 23, Griezmann 44) Celta Vigo 0
Muniain is on fire at the moment and he scored another 2 here to make it 9 for the month. --
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What a month this was as we crammed 7 games into it and scored 21 goals in the process. Iker Muniain scored 9 goals which outshone Unai Lopez and Griezmann who also delivered on the goal front.
The highlight of the month of course was the cup semi-final victory over Barcelona. We beat them 5-4 at home and somehow held on to a 2-2 draw away to set up a final against Villarreal.
We are looking good in the Champions League too and I expect a quarter-final spot.
Real Betis 2 (N'Diaye 50pen, Cedrick 82) Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 3, Susaeta 5, Nacho og64)
We made a great start here but then we took our foot off the pedal but thankfully it didnt cost us in the end.
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Athletic Bilbao 4 (Susaeta 1, 23, 79, Muniain 12) Espanyol 2 (Caicedo 35, Kenedy 77)
We were always in control here and even when they got within 1 goal Susaeta promptly completed his hat-trick. Espericueta was excellent here too and is really coming on as a player.
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
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Athletic Bilbao 3 (Griezmann 10, 28, Muniain 26) Besiktas 1 (Oguzhan Ozyakup 40) (Athletic Bilbao win 6-3 on aggregate)
Besiktas never really troubled us here as we had the tie killed off early on. Muniain keeps on scoring and Griezmann is beginning to hit top form too which is a good sign.
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Valencia 2 (Andre Gomes 81, Parejo 90) Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 24, Griezmann 45pen)
This is just not on! I am so ****** off as not only did we throw away a 2 goal lead we did it against a side who had a man sent-off in the first half.
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Athletic Bilbao 7 (Susaeta 10, Iturraspe 28, Griezmann 50pen, Muniain 52, 57, 82, Benat 71) Real Madrid 3 (Cristiano Ronaldo 24, 34, Gervinho 54)
JESUS JONES JEFF AND JEFFREY ARCHER!!!!!!!
An absolutely immense performance this as we tore Real Madrid to shreds. Muniain picked up a hat-trick, Griezmann and Susaeta were superb also. Funnily enough Unai Lopez had a poor game lol.
Well its safe to say that this month couldnt have gone much better - if you take away the last 10min of the match against Valencia that is!!!
It seems that we have stepped up a gear since the arrival of Griezmann as we are scoring far more goals. Muniain is unstoppable at the moment and is even beginning to catch up on Lionel Messi in the scoring charts!!!
Obviously the highlight of the month was our incredible 7-3 victory over Real Madrid at the end of the month which puts us back within 2pts of them in the race for 2nd place. In the Champions League we will play against Barcelona in the quarter-final.
