This has to be easily the best and also most thorough story on this entire site. Great Work.
 
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OCTOBER

Bilbao drop 1st points of the season against Real Madrid
Torres and Toni suffer injuries
Bilbao "B" make unbeaten start to the season
Spain win two tough matches against Portugal and Austria


A good month although we didnt bang in the goals like last month! Would forgive my players if they suffered from homesickness as we had 5 away games and only 1 home game! The big match was against Real Madrid and although we led twice and were the better team we had to settle for a point only. The Real Madrid and Sevilla managers are both close to getting the sack and we play Sevilla next...

Deportivo La Coruna 0-1 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo

Sporting Gijon 0-3 Athletic Bilbao
Garmendia, Guevara (og), Alfredo

UEFA Champions League Group B

FK Austria Wien 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Busto,Toni

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Real Murcia
Alfredo, Izurza, Torres

Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg
Lugo 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Busto, Gutierrez 2

Real Madrid 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza, Garmendia

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
GONTZAL RUIZ

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SPAIN

World Cup Quals Group 4

Spain 2-1 Portugal
Alfredo, Gutierrez (pen)

Austria 0-1 Athletic Bilbao
Perez Villarroya
 
Brilliant story KLIPPYBO, contains everything you want from a story. May the great success continue.
 
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NOVEMBER

Injury upon injury upon injory upon injury.......
Injury hit Bilbao lose first game of the league season to Valencia
Bilbao beat Sevilla who then sack their manager Jeffren
Spain win both friendlies


Never had a month like it injury wise. Torres, Herrera, Toni, Garmendia, Damia, Alfredo and Abel all got injuries for MONTHS not weeks - it is so bad that for the Club World Cup in a month I couldnt register 6 players due to injury.

Anyways apart from the injuries and the defeat against Valencia the most notable piece of news is that Jaume Gutierrez has been amazing as he scored 12 goals in the month for club and country!


UEFA Champions League Group B

Athletic Bilbao 5-1 FK Austria Wien
Gutierrez 3, Ayechu, Toni

Athletic Bilbao 4-1 Sevilla
Perez (og), Perez Villarroya, Alfredo, Ciocoiu (og)

Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg

Athletic Bilbao 7-0 Lugo
Gutierrez 4, Sesma, Ayechu 2

Valencia 3-2 Athletic Bilbao
Gutierrez 2

UEFA Champions League Group B

Olympiakos 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Gutierrez

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Real Zaragoza
Vinas (pen)

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JAUME GUTIERREZ

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SPAIN

Friendlies


Spain 2-0 Romania
Alfredo 2

Saudi Arabia 1-2 Spain
Gutierrez 2
 
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DECEMBER

Bilbao claim another FIFA Club World Cup
Roma are to be our opposition again in the Champions League
Spain to play Brazil, Mexico and New Zealand in the Confederations Cup


A tricky month - if only due to the amount of injuries we have had. We still won every game but I cant help thinking what the results would be if I had even half my missing players back. One positive is that my backup players are getting plenty of game time!

UEFA Champions League Group B

Athletic Bilbao 5-0 Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Urrutia, Diaz, Alcalde, Jacinto 2

Real Sociedad 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Ayechu, Hondo N'Dongo

Real Betis 0-3 Athletic Bilbao
Gutierrez, Ayechu, Izurza

Atletico Madrid 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Alcalde, Ayechu

FIFA Club World Cup SF

Ismaily 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Ayechu, Busto

FIFA Club World Cup Final
Boca Juniors 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Gutierrez 2, Sesma

Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg
Salamanca 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Busto, Damia

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
SERGIO AYECHU
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Ouch on the players all out of action! FM normally has a hissy fit from time to time and hands these out. Still looking good everywhere. The Club World Cup should just be handed to you at the start of the thing. Seems too easy? Hows the 'B' team doing? Still carrying on with their unbeaten start?
 
Ouch on the players all out of action! FM normally has a hissy fit from time to time and hands these out. Still looking good everywhere. The Club World Cup should just be handed to you at the start of the thing. Seems too easy? Hows the 'B' team doing? Still carrying on with their unbeaten start?

They have lost once but they are still doing well - they usually finish in the promotion slots anyway
 
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JANUARY

Jose Luis Izurza wins the FIFA World Golden Ball
Bilbao knock out Real Madrid of the Copa del Rey and Barca are ot too
Barcelona beaten in a tight match
Herrera signs new contract with a £20k per week pay cut

As usual January is a hectic month and this time we had tough fixtures throughout. After narrowly defeating Barca in the league we lost away to Real Madrid in the cup after we gave away two penalties. After the match I must have insulted the referee, his mother and his pet goldfish and I received a touchline ban. In the end we demolished Real Madrdi 5-0 in the second leg to progress.

The game against Villarreal was farcical as we were 2 up after 6min but by the hour mark we were 3-2 down (we gave away another pen and scored an own goal) and had 2 men sent off! We somehow went 4-3 up but conceded a very late equaliser.

In the World Player of the Year awards Izurza won the Golden Ball while Jaume Gutierrez surprisingly finished in the top 3 for both awards. Not bad considering he is backup for both club and country!

Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Salamanca
Ayechu 2, Alcalde, Damia

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Barcelona
Perez Villarroya

Copa del Rey QF 1st Leg

Real Madrid 2-1 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza

Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Malaga
Gutierrez, Ayechu

Copa del Rey QF 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 5-0 Real Madrid
Torres, Gutierrez, Hondo N'Dongo, Ayechu 2

Villarreal 4-4 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza 2, Ayechu, Rogelio

Copa del Rey SF 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Valencia
Toni, Izurza, Ayechu

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOSE LUIS IZURZA
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(The league table pic wont show for some reason but we are 3pts behind Valencia with 2 games in hand)​
 
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FEBRUARY

Players come back from injuries!!!!!
Hondo N'Dongo will go at the end of the season for a new challenge
Bilbao will play Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey final
Spain win their friendly


A nice and easy month all told. Wasnt bothered too much about the defeat to Valencia as we still went through to the final. We did get a good result away to Roma in the Champions League though and will surely go through to the quarter-finals.

I have also agreed to sign a 16 y/o right back from Real Betis for £3.5m. Dont know why considering Ruiz and Martin are set in that position in my squad but hey ho. Aitor came back from injury and played in the last game of the month and got his customary assist.

Copa del Rey SF 2nd Leg

Valencia 2-1 Athletic Bilbao
Toni

Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Real Betis
Perez Villarroya, Izurza, Alfredo

Levante 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Gutierrez, Torres

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg

Roma 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo, Rogelio

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Real Valladolid
Alfredo, Toni, Alcalde

Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Xerez
Alfredo 2, Mihalj (og), Garmendia

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Granada
Ricardo (og), Izurza, Leo (og)

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ROGELIO

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SPAIN

Friendly


Spain 2-0 Czech. Republic
Garmendia, Edu
 
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MARCH

First there was Aitor, then Izurza and now there is Aranbarri
Bilbao to play Benfica in the Champions League
u19s win the league again
10 man Spain easily beat the Faroe Islands


Winning games etc, about to win the league blah blah blah just look at who appeared in the youth intake - move over Alfredo!!!!!!!

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ALFONSO ARANBARRI

(actually got 2 other decent players but not ready for 1st team footy)

Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Deportivo La Coruna
Torres 2, Damia

Elche 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo, Ayechu

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Roma
Ayechu

Xerez 0-1 Athletic Bilbao
Garmendia

Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Alaves
Gutierrez, Vinas (pen)

Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Sporting Gijon
Perez Villarroya 2, Ayechu, Toni

Real Murcia 0-4 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo 3, Vinas

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Real Madrid
Izurza

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DAVID

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SPAIN


World Cup Quals Group 4

Faroes Islands 0-5 Spain
Alfredo, Cidoncha, Hondo N'Dongo, Antonio 2

 
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Alfonso Aranbarri seems like he will be a star. First team right away or a season or two in the 'B' team? Also with Hondo moving on are you still playing him? Notice he is still in a Spain squad.
 
Alfonso Aranbarri seems like he will be a star. First team right away or a season or two in the 'B' team? Also with Hondo moving on are you still playing him? Notice he is still in a Spain squad.

Straight into the 1st team the moment the title is confirmed. Oceano will play in every cup game only as I will play my youngsters in all the other games when the league is won
 
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APRIL

Bilbao secure the league title with derby win
Unai Ros becomes our youngest ever player
Real Madrid appoint Frank de Boer as new manager
B team top of the Liga Adelante


A hectic if ultimately successful month. We charged through our games in Europe where we should get to the final. Have to mention that Valencia lost their QF 1st leg 5-0 but won the return 6-0 against Inter Milan. We wrapped up the title with the win over our arch rivals Real Sociedad also.

New youngster Alfonso Aranbarri has been brilliant so far!

Sevilla 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo, Perez Villarroya

UEFA Champions League QF 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Benfica
Torres, Vinas (pen), Toni

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Valencia
Kortadi (og)

UEFA Champions League QF 2nd Leg

Benfica 3-4 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza, Damia, Herrera, Aranbarri

Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Real Sociedad
Izurza, Perez Villarroya, Aranbarri

Real Zaragoza 1-4 Athletic Bilbao
Damia, Alcalde 2, Torre

Barcelona 5-2 Athletic Bilbao
Aranbarri, Alcalde

UEFA Champions League SF 1st Leg
Valencia 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Torres, Alfredo 2

Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Atletico Madrid
Damia, Aranbarri

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ALFONSO ARANBARRI

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the unusual stadium for the Champions League final - Murrayfield

MAY - END OF SEASON

Delight and despair for Aitor in the Champions League final
10 man Atletico Madrid make life tough in the Copa del Rey
Champions League team of the year full of my backup players
B team win Liga Adelante for the 3rd time

A fine end to the season. We/Toni banged in loads of goals at the start of the month and we relegated Villarreal on the last day of the league season. In the Copa del Rey final we were 2 up against 10 men but threw the lead away until we got a late penalty in extra time to win it.

In the Champions League final Aitor was at it again as he put us ahead in the 24th minute but a few minutes later he broke his foot and is out for 4 months! We still managed to get another for a comfortable victory though. In the Champions League team of the year were several of my backup players - Martin, Busto, Rogelio, Gutierrez, Toni and Alcalde!

UEFA Champions League SF 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 5-1 Valencia
Toni 3, Izurza, Hondo N'Dongo

Malaga 1-6 Athletic Bilbao
Toni 4, Torres, Alcalde

Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Villarreal
Damia, Ayechu

Copa del Rey Final

Athletic Bilbao 3-2 Atletico Madrid (aet)
Torres, Vinas 2(2pens)

UEFA Champions League Final

Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Barcelona
Herrera, Izurza

PLAYER OF THE SEASON
JOSE LUIS IZURZA

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AWARDS
Liga BBVA Player of the Year/Best Player in Europe: Jose Luis Izurza
Liga BBVA Top Goalkeeper: David
Champions League Best Player/Goal of the Tournament: Toni

AITOR HERRERA WATCH

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He is 37 now!!!! Injury troubled season and he only scored twice but still got 20 assists so wasnt putting us at a disadvantage at all!
 
His stats, for a 37 year old, are still pretty decent!!
 
244 caps for Aitor is insane what a servant he has been, and still continues to be by the looks of things... Best story I have ever read, must read it nearly everyday... I have currently started the 2nd season of my Atletico Madrid save, am tempted to start a story, but doubt it would ever live up to this.
 
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SPAIN

World Cup Quals Group 4

Russia 0-3 Spain
Aranbarri 2, Izurza

Decided to call up Aranbarri for experience and shoved him off the bench with 30min left to devastating effect!! He has now become both Spain's and the World Cup Quals youngest ever scorer.

FIFA Confederations Cup Group B


Spain 1-0 Mexico
Gutierrez

Brazil 0-2 Spain
Izurza, Garmendia

New Zealand 0-6 Spain
Gutierrez, Antonio, Aranbarri 3, Damia

3 wins out of 3! The Brazil result/performance was fantastic and we set a new record for unbeaten matches - 60. Aranbarri played against Mexico but I dropped him for the match against the Brazilians.

Semi Final

Spain 1-1 England (aet)
Toni
(Spain won 4-2 on penalties)

Final

Spain 2-0 Mexico
Izurza, Busto

Victory!!!! Quite comfortable really.



 
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PRE-SEASON / AUGUST


Hondo N'Dongo decides to stay
Ayechu the most notable departure
The board invest £300m somewhere else to gain more money for some reason!!!!!!
Spain beat Germany in a friendly


AIMS
Unbeaten season
To develop Aranbarri to the limit!!!!

PLAYERS IN
Just 3 came in but one who I think will feature in the first team at some point hopefully.
View attachment 257999
TOTAL SPENT: £5m

PLAYERS OUT
Sergio Ayechu was loaned to Juventus for £5m while Criville and Barrenetxea were also loaned out. Leaving permanently was Gauna, Bakero and Exposito.
TOTAL INCOME: £11.5m

SUMMARY
The only newcomer to the first team squad is young DMC Orlando Emilio Meza. Aranbirra will be the first choice striker and it is a toss up between Toni and Aitor for the AMC position. Hondo N'Dongo rejected all moves available to him which was a ****** as I have a 17 y/o centre half called Salinas who is valued at £4.5m but he also rejected all loan moves!!!! Got so many good CB's ad DMC's its unreal!

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Spanish Super Cup Final 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Atletico Madrid
Toni, Aranbirra

Athletic Bilbao 7-0 Alaves
Perez Villarroya 2, Garmendia 2, Vinas (pen), Aranbarri, Izurza

UEFA European Super Cup Final

Lyon 2-2 Athletic Bilbao (aet)
Izurza, Torres
(aet Athletic Bilbao won 4-1 on penalties)

Spanish Super Cup Final 2nd Leg
Atletico Madrid 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza, Aranbarri, Alcalde

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SPAIN

Friendly


Spain 1-0 Germany
Perez Villarroya
 
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