The final month. Let's look at the fixtures.
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The tough games all come flooding in. Some good results, though.
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What a horrible, horrible result. This was a must win game, considering our final three league games following would be Real Madrid, Barcelona and Villarreal. Valencia steamrolled us, and this has pretty much confirmed our 3rd place finish barring some excellence against Barcelona/Real Madrid.
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This was, by far, the best game of FM I have played this year. It was exciting, pulsating and gut-wrenching. Chelsea opened the scoring early on as we kick-started the game in an attacking manner. We continued with this as it now meant we needed to score twice just to take it to extra-time. The game carried on as Chelsea hit the target again and again. Ruffier was the true hero here. With five minutes to go, substitute Susaeta set up Ibai Gomez for what I thought would be a consolation goal. With just one minute of the game left, Susaeta stepped up to take a free-kick... He beat Courtois, hands down, and sent me into absolute delirium. I went bonkers - it's one of those games where you realise that FM plays with the little strings of your heart. Deep into the 1st half of extra-time, substitute Aduriz placed a thumping header past Courtois. What a goal, and what a mental game! We switched to contain and looked to defend what would be my greatest win on FM this year. But, 4 minutes later, Pedro scored and added the all important away goal to the scoreline. It was painful, but I couldn't be angry at the side. We were amazing! We reached the semi-finals and were just 17 minutes way from the final. The Europa League was fun, but I hope we never play there again now that we have confirmed Champions League for next season.
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An inevitable loss to Barcelona, but we actually performed superbly. Ibai's double in the space of four minutes twice brought us back into the game. Unfortunately, Neymar was in inspired form and couldn't help but tear us apart.
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I was happy with this result, but unfortunately it meant nothing to the overall picture of the season. We had the lead for 11 minutes until Ronaldo, individually, tore us apart. Thankfully, Ibai's cross in the 87th minute was turned in by Varane. We deserved the draw, and it was great to finally have some luck on our side against the big clubs.
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Well, this was a fantastic way to end the season against our bogey side! Guillermo scored his final goal of the season - 35th - and Ibai continued to impress this month. Berardi's own-goal summed up Villarreal's poor afternoon. 3 points, 3rd place and a fantastic platform for our upcoming 3rd season.
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So, we finish two points off second. 84 points is an amazing points tally which would have won us the Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga this season. Regardless, let's take a look at some stats for the end of the season:
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Incredible shots on target ratio for a player who scored 21 league goals (Guillermo). Muniain comes 3rd in the assists chart - beating his tally for last season (in all competitions). Rico picks up a bucket load of yellows and Ruffier plays every single league game. In fact, he only missed two games - both legs vs At. Baleares.
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Incredible feat as three of our players make up the La Liga Young Player of the Year award! Unai Lopez wins it - rightly so - as Guillermo and Laporte beat players like Neymar/Isco/Volland to the award.
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Only Guillermo makes the La Liga Team of the Season first 11. San Jose makes the bench.
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Here are our top 5 assist-makers this season. Muniain tore **** up, as did Unai Lopez. Great to see all of our more advanced players getting some excellent numbers.
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Our top 5 goal scorers - the same names as the top 5 assist-makers. The gulf in goals is funny to look at Guillermo scored a whole 22 goals more than Susaeta. Let's look at our top 5 Players of the season, starting from #5:
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#5. Iraola had a superb season, and fully deserved his contract extension. We finally got a back-up for him, which meant he could perform at a higher level without facing any sort of fatigue. He picked up 9 assists, which is a healthy number for a full-back. It's a shame he's getting on, but that's why we signed Estrada!
View attachment 380093#4. Laporte was part of a defence which, up until February, conceded very little. He is amazing, and will be world class without a shadow of a doubt. He is a great blocker of the ball, but also tends to make heaps of interceptions and crucial tackles. Not to mention he is quite a threat, aerially, in both ends of the pitch. Six goals to his name this season.
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#3. Unai Lopez had an incredible season, assisting 15 times and scoring eight goals. That's 23 direct contributions in just 27 games. His vision is unbelievable, and his finishing is surprisingly great. I'll be getting rid of some deadwood midfielders in the summer to finally make Unai Lopez a mainstay in the starting 11. The league's Young Player of the Year - only enough to be my 3rd best player of the year, which speaks volumes of how well some others performed.
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#2. Mikel San Jose had an impressive season, registering the best average rating of any player in the squad who played more than 10 games. When I took over, he wasn't even 2nd choice and now he is arguably our best defender. He is the most consistent defender, and is crucial as our penalty taker - yet to miss one since I took over last season. He bagged six goals this season, but was also part of a defence which conceded very little. San Jose is a brick in defence - nobody can get past him. I'm so happy to have him and Laporte as our main two.
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#1. Guillermo was the best player to wear the shirt this season. This was his first season in the first-team, following an OK loan spell at Getafe where he scored just 8 goals. I opted against signing a new striker in the summer because I thought he would be a good 2nd choice to Sola. After a couple of games, it turned out that Sola would play second choice to this incredible striker. Guillermo is clinical, but doesn't just restrict his game to goals - he picked up ten assists this season. He made 45 direct contributions in 45 appearances. I can't wait for him to continue developing. I can see Guardiola calling him up to the national team soon. Why? Guillermo was the highest scoring Spaniard in World Football this season. The future is bright here in Bilbao!
So, the season comes to an end. This month was our final one of a very, very good season. We end with a points tally worthy of winning most leagues in other countries, but not good enough to trump the abnormal duopoly. We had an excellent time in the Europa League, too. Next season, I want to win one trophy and properly challenge for the title. The future really is bright, and we will be looking to integrate more youth in the side next season. We need to buy at least one centre-back as
will be leaving on a free. Gurpegi is retiring after spending 17 years at the club. He leaves as a legend. We will look to sign an experienced CB and maybe promote a youngster to have four CBs for the start of next season! This summer will definitely see one or two new signings.