This is going to be my first FM story after a while chilling here on FM base. With FM20 being free on Epic (I'd been playing 19 for two years now) I decided to take it and write a little something. Hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do!
I must also give credit to @Klippybo and @Hampus Silverholt from this forum for inspiring me to write. Thanks, guys.
The Dortmund board have said goodbye to Lucien Favre as he departs after just two or so years at the club in which he has done nothing particularly remarkable except bottle the Bundesliga. Today we set about correcting this and turn Oliver Kahn's smile into a frown by beating the record champions in Germany and challenge for top European honours; something we haven't done since 1997. The last time we've reached the final was 2013, where we had lost, predictably, to Bayern Munich.
His replacement is yours truly. As always, the media are sceptical and say I 'lack the reputation of a title specialist'. I'll make them eat their words.
As I take in the front of the main entrance of the majestic SIGNAL IDUNA PARK on my first day, I run into the departing Favre. Curiously, he's wearing a Zurich cap.
He looks like he wants to say something and I wait expectantly. This was the man who brought the best out of (the perennially-injured) Marco Reus, gave Marc-Andre ter Stegen his top-flight debut and most importantly, managed to more-or-less tame the enigma that is Mario Balotelli at Nice.
Lucien Favre approaches me, carrying a small box. Presumably it contained his old belongings.
"Whatever you do." He started in a noticeable German accent. I was listening intently at this point.
"Keep Jadon Sancho."
EDIT: Er... I've screwed up massively here (yeah, already, I know). I had an older test save file that I wanted to delete and in my infinite idiocy I deleted my current save file lmao. I'll try get it recovered but if not I need to rewrite loads of things (I write ahead so I can post more often). This is what you get if you don't backup your things. So frustrating but I suppose this is part of the parcel of being an FM player haha.
Update: I'll have to replay the games. Ah well. My last backup save is just after pre season ended so I've only lost one and a half month's worth of gametime, which isn't all too bad. We were doing so well too in that universe!
Not to let some minor technical issues ruin the gameplay, we march on.
It seems that Dortmund have more vision than Paul Pogba, judging by how many philosophies they have listed in their club culture.
The board's wishes in real life are mostly in line with what they expect from us in FM. They'd like us to play attractive, attacking football and sign young players to develop them at the club and presumably sell them for a neat profit a few years down the line.
The board also expect us to qualify for the Champions League this season and reach the Pokal final. In three years, we are expected to win the Bundesliga. We can do that. We are also encouraged to upgrade the youth facilities which I'll be doing soon.
Now onto the exciting stuff. The finance graphs.
I'm just kidding, here are the squad highlights:
GK - Burki, Hitz
We have two okay Swiss goalkeepers with just ten caps between them. Favre himself had 24! We'll analyse their performances this season but I'm hoping to buy someone better next year.
RB - Piszczek, Meunier, Passlack
Unfortunately we've lost Achraf Hakimi to Inter Milan, but these three will do. They are very similar attribute-wise but they're all at very different points at their careers. They are 34, 27 and 21 respectively.
New signing Thomas Meunier looks rather happy to join Dortmund.
CB - Hummels, Akanji, Zagadou
Hummels is the standout player in this position, while both Akanji and Zagadou have high potential. I might look to buy one more CB but I'm perfectly happy playing with three, much unlike Liverpool fans this season.
LB - Guerreiro, Schmelzer, Schulz I'll probably look to sell Schmelzer, but Guerreiro and Schulz are good players. Guerreiro especially is great at going forwards.
CM - Witsel, Can, Dahoud, Delaney, Reyna, Bellingham Alex Witsel is joined by Juventus outcast Emre Can who should add some bite to a pretty stacked Dortmund midfield. Both Gio Reyna and Jude Bellingham (number 22 retired at Birmingham - what a joke!) will develop well and both can play AM too which is nice.
Emre Can, with a slightly forced smile.
RW - Sancho, Wolf
Ah, here we go. The man who is in the title of this story. For some reason we have four players (Sancho, Brandt, Hazard and Reus) who are all naturals on the left midfield as an inverted winger, but nevermind. Sancho will look to make this position his own while forgotten man (honestly didn't know this guy played for BVB) Marius Wolf will provide backup. My front three (minus Haaland) are pretty fluid positionally so they'll all fill in here and there at some point or another.
AMC - Reus, Reinier
Marco Reus will fight a losing battle against injury (I will be coddling this man like my own child) but is still an exceptional player. Reinier, on loan from Real Madrid, will hopefully find his feet sooner rather than later and challenge for a first team place. Again, both Bellingham and Reyna can play here, as can a whole host of other players.
LW - Brandt, Thorgan Hazard The left wing is probably the most settled with the baby-faced Julian Brandt and the better Hazard brother lining up in this position.
ST - Haaland and, er... Moukoko? Dortmund have only one recognisable striker and that is Norwegian wonderkid Erling Haaland. Yousef Moukoko is only fourteen at the start of the game and so I'll have to look for a backup.
Jadon Sancho, doing an Ayoze Perez. No English club will get a hold of him when I'm in charge.
I've filled out the backroom staff which included Phillip Laux (I loved him in FM19 but it seems like he's nerfed in this year's game, or hasn't reached his full potential yet) and a shiny new medical staff so at least Reus will have some company once he's inevitably injured. Yes, I'm not optimistic.
Oh, and Roy Keane is my assistant manager. I've managed to wrestle him away from punditry and the week-in, week-out criticism of David de Gea and Harry Maguire. I've asked him to pick our code of conduct as well, which means anybody missing training can wave goodbye to their competition bonus. However, the punishment for sending offs are suspiciously light. I wonder why.
Roy Keane and I on the touchline. With him prowling around, we're already as good as 1 - 0 up.
Dortmund have a great squad already, but there's always room for improvement. Even though we have a bank balance of over €100M, I've only been given a budget of €20M so I'll look for some deals in line with the club philosophies. Onto transfers and pre-season we go.
The transfer window is almost done. Marcel Schmelzer heads out to Eintracht Frankfurt for €6M. Marco Reus didn't particularly like this and confronts me about it but I tell him to relax and remind him of his responsibilities as captain and team leader. He duly agrees.
Incoming is Danish forward Viktor Fischer for €5.5M who will be fine backup to Haaland. He's 25 and can still improve and can also play on the left wing, not that we needed anymore players to do so.
Former Ajax man Viktof Fischer, joining from FC Copenhagen. Judging from his player traits, he can be a bit of shithouse which is exactly what everyone wants.
My second incoming player is Noah Katterbach. He has five star potential and is two footed. Going with the board's philosophies of signing young German players from divisional rivals, he is my biggest signing of the summer of €8M upfront and €6M in instalments (I overpayed but only because PSG were sniffing around). He will be loaned back out to Koln, though. Big future.
Young German left-back Noah Katterbach. If he doesn't get game time at Koln, I'll recall him in the January transfer window and go from there.
Pre season was pretty good I would say. We're playing well, scoring goals and most importantly Marco Reus will not start the season injured. One thing to note is that Jude Bellingham won't be able to play 'till next year or so due to being too young.
For some reason, the media have no faith in Haaland challenging for top goalscorer. I'd put at least ten bucks on it personally.
Jadon Sancho apparently 1000-1 to win top goalscorer. Nice one, German media.
Before we start the league, we just have the small matter of the DFL Supercup against you-know-who. Going into it, neither club have any real selection issues. The board don't particularly care if we win or lose this but it would be nice to show them what we can do.
I'm playing a slightly weakened size due to fitness (Jadon picked up a three week injury earlier in pre-season) but the squad should have enough in them to do a job at home. I will take nothing for granted, though. This is still Bayern Munchen we're playing.
Here we go. We start the match. And we start rather well.
Marius Wolf's goal is justifying his selection ahead of the unfit Sancho. He converts an excellent cross from Guerreiro. Neuer had no chance.
The equaliser, however, felt rather inevitable.
Jerome Boateng heads in from a Bayern corner. Unfortunately the game doesn't register his ridiculous hair colour change.
Bayern's second felt rather much the same way, with Leroy Sane netting on his debut.
And that's how the scoreline stayed, unfortunately.
Ho-hum, Bayern win another trophy. My first competitive match as BVB manager ends in a defeat. But we more than matched them (we created 1 clear-cut chance to their zero) which gives me cause for optimism for the future.
Bibiana Steinhaus, who you may know as the first ever female Bundesliga referee, played better than anybody on either side, which says a lot.
My first league game as BVB manager is against Union Berlin. We're expected to win this easily. The previous game we beat 3rd division side VFB Lubeck comfortably in the Pokal 1st round and I expect things to go the same way today.
Superb win. We looked excellent in the final third and Burki did well to keep a clean sheet. Bayern also drop points with a 1 - 1 draw at home to Wolfsburg which is even better.
The game has given me a neat infographic which tells us that BVB have produced 24 players currently playing in the top five leagues. In case you were wondering, Mario Gotze has gone to Milan, the lucky boy.
Oh, and this happened too.
My head physio says it was disappointing that Marco sustained an injury. Mate, Reus injuries should not surprise you at this point. A good analogy would be if you had a cat that liked to jump on your dinner table - annoying, repetetive, ultimately manageable, and, er... cute? Anyways It'll keep him out of one or two games so Reyna and Reinier will step in.
I really hope we can have a great season as Borussia Dortmund manager.
Bayern have drawn again so it would be nice to put some daylight between us and them. We square off against FC Augsburg who beat Dortmund 2 - 0 in real life (9th September 2020). Let's correct that scoreline, shall we?
We do just that by reversing it precisely. Haaland was lively and Roman Burki was flexing during the game by dinking the ball a few times over the head of the opposition striker into Axel Witsel, so it's nice to see the lad's confidence. Reyna also became the Bundesliga's youngest ever player, a record which Bellingham and Moukoko should break sooner or later.
Positives aside, however, I can now see why some people dislike FM20's match engine.
Sancho had an hour to nestle the ball into the back of the net but chooses to hit the keeper instead.
Substitute Wolf also missed this simple header after wriggling free from his marker. The goalkeeper was a light-year away too.
We missed some absolute sitting ducks that would've made sterling proud even the club's mascot would have buried.
4 clear cut chances and 3 half chances and we only net two. I won't complain about this too much but it is what it is - compared to last year, I actually really enjoy the smoothness of this year's version!
Before our next game against Koln, we have the small matter of the Champions League group stage draw. The board expect us to reach the quarter finals so I'm hoping for nice things.
"We've been handed a lovely group to be honest," said nobody in the city. This group truly is the group of death and what makes it worse is that in the save I lost it was drawn against extremely favourable opposition. Trips away to Marseille and Barca will be particularly tough, though we have a good chance of going through... Maybe.
Roy takes the press conference and he bullishly says that we'll make it out of the group stage. We'll see if his comments come back to haunt us.
The other German clubs in the UCL are Gladbach, Leipzig and Bayern, who of course are reigning champions. The only German clubs representing the Champions League B-Tec are Hoffenheim and Leverkusen.
Back to domestic action, Koln is next, and we get the news that Bayern have drawn for the third consecutive time. Hansi Flick, are you okay?
An excellent win after they had a man sent off. Koln didn't even have a shot on target and Haaland bagged a hat trick but he could've gotten five as he hit the post twice.
Off the field, I've discovered that Dortmund have a "mutually beneficial relationship" with Real Madrid. The vague description isn't helping anyone, though I would guess that we have priority on some of Madrid's talented youngsters - Reinier and Hakimi spring into mind. If Vinicius Jr becomes available then I'd jump on that deal. Other than that, maybe we can switch Hazard brothers every once in a while?
A strange partnership, but if it works, it works..?
We'll be back after a league game to face Marseille in our first Champions League fixture of the season at the Stade Orange Vélodrome. Here is the league table - I just have to mention that Haaland has scored six goals in three league games!
Bayern are 11th and Leverkusen are desperately missing Havertz. Leipzig look like they've broken up with Werner quite well.
Our second September match before going away to France is against Mainz.
It was an even game as we come back from behind to pick up the three points. Haaland had a goal chalked off for offside but later scored a penalty and Reus sealed things in the 80th minute. Mainz's goal came after Mateta knicked the ball off Zagadou and finished smartly past Burki.
Gearing up for the Marseille game, my chief scout Marcus Pilawa gives me their squad list.
Quite mysteriously, Marseille winger Florian Thauvin is suffering from an "undisclosed injury" that will keep him out until February 2020.
Florian Thauvin suffering from mysterious injury.
Perhaps it's because he's crazy enough to think Marseille can win Ligue 1 this year.
Mate, the only way Marseille will win Ligue 1 is if PSG move to the prem.
Full time passes very slowly. It's a terrible game for both sides. Nobody does anything remarkable before or after Marseille right-back Hiroki Sakai's wonder goal and I let the lads know my feelings perfectly clearly after the game.
Andre-Villas Boas, you win this round, but when you come to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK I will bite your head off. More professionally speaking, the loss weakens our chances of making the knockouts although we smashed Lazio by four goals in pre-season so I'm not too worried. Elsewhere, Bayern, Leipzig and Gladbach all lose their UCL matches to round off a torrid day for the Germans.
We return to Bundesliga action against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Borussen Derby. Roy Keane and I make sure the lads are up for it.
You know, after a tough European away day I personally like to see a nice, calm, convincing win back home. Football is football, however, and again we were disgustingly average and have dropped points for the first time this season. Reus decided to turn up after being nowhere all game in the 67th minute and scored a superb goal. Burki let in the softest goal of his life as they equalised in the 91st minute. Ffs.
I can take solace in the fact that at least Bayern have continue being terrible and have drawn to Frankfurt 2 - 2.
We round off the month with a league game against Wolfsburg. I'd like to win this one please.
Haaland ends a 2 game goal-scoring "drought" (I use the term very loosely here!) with an excellent finish but the star of the show is Marco Reus. He opened the scoring and assisted two on his way to collecting the MOTM award. They had a man sent off just before half time but we were dominating the match anyways.
In the next post we'll fly through October, with games against Barca and Lazio in the Champions League. The Barcelona match is, coincidentally, on my birthday (Oct 2nd) and I expect the press to make a big fuss over nothing.
I forgot to take a screenshot (expect this to happen a few more times this save!) of the league table so just pretend that we're top.
October 2019
Right, here we go. Barcelona at home. They sit second in La Liga, behind Madrid... Atletico Madrid, that is. Real Madrid are sitting 12th with 4 league defeats already, some 8 points behind the league leaders. Yikes.
Going into the match, I notice that a certain Lionel Messi is far from fit. The poor lad has clearly been overused by the new manager.
The Argentinean starts anyway, while they line up in what is inexplicably, the formation of a fish. Is this the Ronald Koeman revolution?
Marco Reus would beg to differ.
A sumptuous finish. We have scored early before and then have gone on to lose, so I'm still wary. The boys pick up on this and tell me to relax.
Because we have scored again.
A superb, flowing move to make Pep jealous and an equally superb finish. The Londoner has scored against Barcelona!
Halftime comes and goes. I tell the players they're doing well, but to take nothing for granted. They are determined to respond.
[I missed the screenshot here so pretend Barcelona scored lol]
However, Antoine Griezmann pulls one back after 69 minutes and the alarm bells start ringing in my head.
But once again, the boys tell me to calm down when Reus (who has twisted his ankle a bit) hangs the ball in from a free kick and Haaland converts for 3 - 1.
Haaland then makes me a very happy man to kill the game off. We have just beat Barcelona 4 - 1! I know it's in the group stage, but any day we win over Barcelona is a good day in my books., especially with 61% possession.
The media say I celebrate my birthday in style. **** right I have. The result means that everyone in the group is level on three points after two games. This is going to be a close one.
Werder Bremen is our next challenger. I hand Akanji, Piszczek, Dahoud and Hitz rare starts. Burki is out through injury and Reus also drops to the bench after picking up the injury in the previous game (Reus injury count: 2).
Marwin Hitz has a terrible game as he lets in two very soft goals in our first league defeat. We more than outperformed them in the first half and should have scored more than one, but they regrouped well in the second half, so credit to them.
Nah, screw that. I'm feeling slightly bloodthirsty after this defeat and let Roy Keane do the talking. He completely agrees with me and nearly takes Hitz's head off. He misses, thankfully.
At least Bayern have drawn again away to Hertha Berlin. This is becoming too funny, although they are still undefeated. Newly promoted Arminia Bielefeld are next and the boys need to respond.
Excellent. We bounce back with a convincing victory. Haaland now has 10 league goals in 8 games, with 14 in all competitions. His nearest Bundesliga rival sits on six goals.
I poke around and find his contract in a dusty file somewhere. Worryingly, I find that he has a release clause of €75M which will one day get activated, because Premier League clubs and PSG are pretty crazy like that.
And so I've removed it.
It came with a wage premium but if he keeps up his performances, it will all be worth it. Complaceny is an evil thing though, so I will be watching closely.
Lazio next. They have been the surprise packages of Serie A this season, sitting top with three points over Juve. We'll see if we're up to snuff against this lot.
The commentator will put it better than I ever can, "he's been an assassin in front of goal!" Immobile scored against his old club before Haaland smashed two in. Lazio then missed three great chances in the final ten minutes (Burki was a flying maniac) while Haaland only needed one chance after chasing a Jadon Sancho clearance to complete his hat trick in the 94th minute. Marseille win against Barcelona too, placing them top of the group.
Eintracht Frankfurt's turn now.
Both my CBs scored after well-worked corner routines. Zagadou responded well to me dropping him for a couple of games by netting a goal and an assist. Reus was forced off with a knee injury to bring his tally to three for the campaign and he'll be out for three weeks.
"However, if making a comback from injury is an art, Reus is the Picasso of it. "
Side note: Bellingham apparently has 3 and half star CA despite not being registered for the campaign! He is playing with the U19s but is banging in solid 10s in training. Hopefully I'll be able to register him in January.
We are top by five points. Usual suspects Bayern and Leipzig are struggling at the moment.
We'll finish the month with a nice, easy Pokal game against bottom of the league Stuttgart. Remember, the board want us to reach the final.
And of course, we lose. I prefer not to speak.
Actually, I will say something. Bayern have lost 2 - 0 to Wolfsburg in their cup tie!!
We play Freiburg on matchday 10 who are somehow sitting in 2nd. If we lose, the gap could be cut down to just 2 points. Not the end of the world, but not the best feeling either if that happens. Reus sits this one out because of his injury.
Great win. After being quietly solid for a few months now, Jadon explodes onto the scene with a brace. Brandt also makes sure we don't miss Marco Reus too much and Viktor Fischer finally does something useful by heading the ball down for our fourth. This victory takes us six points clear at the top.
Next up is a Champions League rematch against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico. The group standings are as follows:
Group D standings after 3 games. Anyone can win or finish bottom.
Lazio have a few injury issues but nothing too major. They still sit top of Serie A by six points over Juventus so clearly are on a great run.
Extremely disappointing. They had a man sent off very early on but that didn't seem to affect anything as we struggled to control the game. Emre Can came off the bench and scored a screamer but they pulled one back with their only shot on target. A tough European away game ends in a draw. Neither team created very much; a stark contrast from the game at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK.
Somehow, that result still puts us top of the group on seven points as Barca beat Marseille 2 - 0.
Back to the Bundesliga as we face Hertha. I name a goalkeeper on the bench today because I'm crazy like that.
Superb Sancho! I wasn't expecting much after Hertha equlised, but Jadon came to the rescue and finished things off with a confident penalty. He's earned that hat trick.
Later, he dedicates his Player of the Week award to me and I can barely hold in the tears. However, Haaland hasn't scored in five games so I'll get his head checked. Perhaps he's become complacent after the fat new contract I've handed him.
Meanwhile, Hazard picked up an injury but he'll shake it off before the next game as we have the international break. I've had a look at the fixture list and our last two games of the season are against Leipzig and Bayern. Please please please, can we have the title race wrapped up before then?
Yikes.
In other news, Roy Keane can now speak fluent German!
Fourteen days later, we come back for the Leverkusen game. Ahead of the match, Bayern have clawed their way back to second place, still unbeaten. They are seven points behind, but sniffing around.
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. My team are full of donkeys.
We utterly dominated them in both halves but couldn't find the winner. When Aranguiz smashed in a great free kick it was over. The gap between us and Bayern is suddenly four points. Not happy.
The result couldn't come at a worse time as we prepare for a hugely important home game against Marseille. A win could see us qualify if other results go our way.
It doesnt start very well but Haaland restores balance after bundling the ball home following a corner and Sancho makes it two soon after. Erling then seals it with a penalty and Sakai, the hero of the first game, gets himself sent off late on. A perfect result and I stick my tongue out at Andre Villas-Boas.
With this result we qualify for the knockouts and as part of his contract, Thomas Meunier is gifted an expensively lovely watch.
The Revier Derby is around the corner as we prepare for a trip to Schalke. I'm quietly confident.
AAAAAAAAAA!
The alarm bells are blaring and shouting and the wheels have well and truly come off! We missed sitter after sitter after sitter in a hugely frustrating game and their goal came from nowhere in the 93rd minute after Zagadou couldn't hold up the striker in a footrace. Haaland had a stinker today and Viktor Fischer has not scored for us yet.
It's our third league loss and our second in a row that we've lost in the last few minutes.
All my players are coming in to training tomorrow and running until their pants fall off. Roy wholeheartedly agrees.
Here is the league table. We go from being comfortably top with a nice buffer to second place but now it's down to just one point, with Bayern remembering how to play football again. They are still undefeated.
December 2019
The board have tried to lift my spirits after a dreadful end to November by upping the transfer budget to €70M. It works. Me, Sancho, Haaland and Reyna go out for drinks and don't return until two o'clock in the morning.
The next day, Roy won't talk to me and is giving me dirty looks. I can only look sheepish and pretend nothing had happened as I try to lead the training sessions.
Back to more professional things, the boys are given a chance at redemption against Stuttgart, who if you remember, knocked us out of the Pokal 2nd round.
Better. Erling took another match ball home, sealing things with a delightful chip. We conceded late (again) though we took our chances so I'm happy.
Now, we roll up to Spain with an away trip to the Camp Nou. They have won their last three league games with three clean sheets although have lost to Lazio pretty recently. Barcelona need to win this if they want to guarantee a place in the knockouts. I won't make it easy for them.
A day before the game I get the news that Roman Burki picked up a knock in training. He'll be fine, though. I think.
Once again Messi is unfit, but he starts the game on 80% physical condition. Yikes.
We lose by three but the scoreline flattered them. It was an even game and I wasn't particularly impressed by Burki's performance but it is what it is. Viktor Fischer continues to be as dangerous in front of goal as a salmon trying to flounder up a river.
We top the group (???) with 10 points as Barca come in second while Marseille beat Lazio to qualify for the Europa League. I've probably helped Koeman secure his job. Imagine the scenes if Barca finished bottom, which is what would have happened had we beat them.
We qualify with 3 wins, a draw and 2 defeats in a very close group.
Looking at the other groups, there are no real surprises as all four German clubs in the competition qualify for the next round. Haaland is the top goalscorer with seven, but Kylian Mbappe is keeping him company with six.
No time to dally however, as we've got a domestic match against Hoffenheim.
We win but once again we concede late. I dunno.
Big game against Leipzig next. They sit sixth in the table after some lacklustre performances but they're still a threat. This will be the last game before the winter break.
But before that, we have a Champions League draw to attend to.
If I'd come second in the group I would have faced Chelsea. Not sure which one is better.
We are given a tie against Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus. Yipee!
We come back from behind, Haaland grabbing another couple of goals. We don't concede late which is an improvement.
The end of the year is made even sweeter because Bayern have just lost their first game of the season to Koln!
The title fight is well and truly in full swing.
Another small gap has opened up. Let's keep it that way.
And now it's time for the winter break. I plan to head off to Switzerland for a ski holiday and relaxing evenings watching the prem. As the lads finish their last training session I bolt out of the training ground to the confused looks from players and staff alike.
I have a plane to catch.
See you guys next year!
Also, I can't seem to register Bellingham yet. Is he not old enough?
The New Year kicks off and Haaland has been busy in and out of award ceremonies. He's been named:
FIFA Best U21 Men's Player
In the FIFA FIFPro Team of the Year
European Golden Boy
It's a good thing I've removed his €75M release clause a few months ago, because he's already valued at €85M!
Meanwhile, I've been busy sitting down with Michael Zorc analysing scouting reports. There are a couple of talents who have become available this window who would really improve the squad. But more on this a bit later.
After coming back from the break, we participate in two friendlies, one against Ajax for a bit of spare cash (and a secret scouting mission; Onana looked really assured in goal) and then against Arminia Bielefeld for a bit of a morale boost.
Despite conceding two, Ajax's Andre Onana has impressed with his performance in front of me.
We have a massive game against Bayern Munich on our winter break return. But before that, here's what we got up to during the transfer window.
Outgoings
Marius Wolf to Tianjin Teda €25M
Wolf didn't really get a chance because I never really trusted him on the right wing, despite being the only senior natural player in that position. Sancho, despite favouring the left wing, was just better than Wolf on the right. So he wasn't in my plans and was free to leave.
Marius rejected an initial €25M bid from Jiangsu which was a bit annoying and I feared he wouldn't leave. But he accepted the second one that came through from China which was nice of him I would say.
His BVB Dortmund career included scoring the first goal of my tenure in the Super Cup and... well that's it really.
Goodbye, Wolf!
Manuel Akanji to Bayern Munich €45M
Yes, yes, I know. Selling a player to your fiercest rival doesn't look like very good business. But Bayern and Dortmund have dealt a lot with each other in the past, with... varying degrees of controversy (Lewandowski, Gotze and Hummels come to mind). And anyways, we finessed them out of a player in return. I'll give you a few lines to think of who it could be.
Akanji's Dortmund career included developing for a few years at the club and making 11 appearances in all competitions this year. He couldn't dislodge Hummels or Zagadou from the starting XI and so I cashed in.
Goodbye, Akanji!
Reus didn't particularly like this so I had a small chat with him and he felt much better. I offered to take him out for a drink at a bar of his choosing to cheer him up some more but he declined and said he had plans.
"Maybe next Oktoberfest, boss." He said, "Or the summer break. But I've promised someone else."
"Who?" I asked.
"Oh, just Thomas Zetsmann."
By spectacular coincidence, Thomas Zetsmann is the Dortmund head physio.
Bayern have tried to buy my young striker Youssoufa Moukoko which was thankfully turned away by my staff... before they accepted a slightly higher offer. I had to manually reject it myself, which is a bit ridiculous. Whoever agreed to the transfer will be getting an earful after this.
Incomings
I wasn't particularly expecting much from the transfer window (usually players in the winter are overpriced or as stale as month old goat cheese) but when the board gives you €70M to spend, what else do you do with it?
Jules Kounde from Sevilla €44M
Kounde up against Muller. He'll be doing that in black and yellow next time around.
We break Dortmund's (pretty low) transfer record to bring in French CB Jules Kounde from the Sevilla. When I saw that he was transfer listed I jumped to sign him. He was out of favour at Sevilla and the Spanish club have made a quick buck by buying him for €20M and selling him for double that. I might have overpayed but I think it's worth it for a man of his talent, especially for the price of the outgoing Akanji.
He has higher potential than the Swissman and I'm hopeful that he'll be the long term successor to Hummels. We now have two great French CBs at the club (Umtiti and Lenglet got nothing on these two), so my full backs need to brush up on their French vocab.
I also watched him look exceptionally tidy against Bayern in the Super Cup in real life. Any player who looks exceptionally tidy against the Bavarian giants are welcome to join Dortmund and that's how it's going to stay.
Welcome, Jules Kounde!
Alphonso Davies from Bayern Munich €12.25M
Wrong kit mate.
Yes, I've brought Phonzy from Bayern. For whatever reason Bayern have decided to bin a player they bought for €10M and have sold him for just €2.5M profit. When my scout told me he'd be available for a quarter of Joe Linton I thought he'd gone mad but he was convinced.
"Just don't give away your excitement," he warned me.
And so I've robbed Bayern of an exceptional talent.
Davies' purchase means that we'll have two top left backs to develop when Noah Katterbach, one year Davies' junior, comes back. Speaking of Noah, he's been getting a lot of games at Koln and is developing well so there is no need to recall him.
Welcome, Alphonso Davies!
Hey, we've still got a ton of money to spend. Who shall I bring in next?
Leon Bailey from Bayer 04 Leverkusen €42M
Cheer up, Leon. You'll be celebrating with the lads in the background this year.
Poor Leverkusen. They've flogged Havertz to Chelsea and now they've lost their other bright young talent. They have underperformed this year (midtable in the BuLi) and perhaps Leon was looking to jump ship. Good choice.
Bailey will add explosive pace to the right flank while Sancho can now play on his more favoured left. He has been struggling this season so far at Leverkusen but I'm hoping we can extract his talent we know he has.
Welcome, Leon Bailey!
None of the transfers coming in have release clauses, so I decide how much clubs pay for my players. I have to say though; the player's agents were patient and dare I say it, rather pleasant to deal with, which was different to what I'm normally used to.
Clubs across the globe have well and truly gone and splashed the cash. Compared to the quiet summer window (this usually happens when you load in a database with updated transfers), January was rife with activity.
Just look at the transfer fees. Mental.
Liverpool have absolutely smashed their transfer record on Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic Savic, bringing him in for €123M. He always turned out excellent in my previous saves in FM19 so I'd expect the same from this year too.
Elsewhere in England, Manchester United have decided they need a new back line (I don't blame them). They've bought Skriniar, Guerreiro (who leaves a bit later, spoiler alert), Ricardo Pereira and David Alaba for a combined fee of €316M. And that doesn't include the fee for the other players they've bought in, such as Emi Buendia and Arturo Vidal.
As for us, I'm really happy with the business we conducted this window. Both Brandt and Hazard haven't fully convinced in the wide areas so Leon will add another dimension to the attack. Alphonso Davies is an upgrade to Guerreiro even though he's 7 years younger and Jules Kounde is just better than Akanji. I was tempted to bring in a goalkeeper but I feel there'd be more options in the summer.
Oh, and we've also kept Jadon Sancho. Therefore, we've won.
January 2020
With the transfer window done and dusted we have perhaps the most important game of the domestic season - Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
We'll be following this match live, given its importance. Here we go.
MATCH PREVIEW
Bayern were untouchable in November, winning all 4 domestic and European matches, scoring fourteen goals and conceding just two. Their form in December before the break was patchier, however, with two wins and two defeats - one to Inter in the UCL and the other a shock defeat to Koln, their first of the domestic campaign.
Dortmund meanwhile sit top of the Bundesliga with a gap of four points to their rivals. Should they win, this gap would be extended to seven and if they lose, it'll go down to just one. The Dortmund manager will be relieved to know that they'll be top no matter the result.
The black and yellows have had a better December than Bayern, having won all three domestic games including an important tie against Leipzig. There are some doubts to whether they can come away with a victory, given they failed to keep a clean sheet for a while now and recently suffered bitter defeat against Barcelona in their Champions League group.
Bayern's Lucas Hernandez is sidelined for a month with a broken ankle, while Dortmund have no selection issues (except that I still can't register Bellingham lol).
Lineups
Summer signing Julian Draxler starts on the bench and Coman is preferred to Serge Gnabry, who is struggling to find some form. Former Dortmund man Akanji is on the bench.
None of the new faces start at Dortmund with all three of Kounde, Davies and Bailey on the bench. Julian Brandt is preferred to Hazard while Haaland will hope to continue his superb goalscoring form. He has more than double (25) the goals of Robert Lewandowski (9) in fewer appearances (25 to 26).
I tell the boys to get revenge and give them their belief. The occasion more than speaks for itself and everyone is fired up.
We kick off.
The first twenty minutes goes without consequence, until Leroy Sane gets in behind the Dortmund defence and tries to look for the bottom right corner. It bounces clear off the woodwork.
Bayern are all over us at the moment and are looking more likely to score.
GOAL! 1 - 0! Kingsley Coman waltzes through the Dortmund defence and fires past Burki at his near post. Pavard drew two defenders towards him with his mazy run and Coman just had to beat Guerreiro and find the net. Bayern make their breakthrough!
HALF TIME: BAYERN MUNICH 1 - 0 BORUSSIA DORTMUND
I slam the team's performance at half time. We barely threatened their goal and we need to respond quickly. I introduce Leon Bailey for Julian Brandt, who picked up a knock.
Oh dear. A corner is swung in and Burki jumps off his line. He misses the ball completely and Robert Lewandowski gratefully accepts the invitation.
Oh dear.
The hapless Guerriero is replaced by Davies, making his debut. Rapha's mind is probably at the Theatre of Dreams already. Thomas Delaney also replaces Emre Can, who is struggling to make an impact in the centre of the park.
HELLO! Dortmund have scored! It may have come three minutes before the full time whistle but Dortmund are back in it - Reus swings in a free kick and Zagadou towers over everyone to head the ball home.
At this point I'm willing the lads to grab another one. We have four minutes of added time.
Kimmich makes a mistake and Sancho pounces. He dribbles down the left wing and manages to beat his man. Jadon sends in a great cross and finds Marco Reus!
Who misses.
Kimmich then wastes time over a throw in and the whistle blows. ****.
FULL TIME: BAYERN MUNICH 2 - 1 BORUSSIA DORTMUND
The gap is down to one point and I drown my sorrows by going for a nap.
Deadline Day
Raphaël Guerreiro to Manchester United €50M
We knew that Guerreiro was on United's radar for some time now and he made it clear that wanted to leave. He was great for us honestly and bagged 2 goals and 7 assists in 22 appearances for us this year, although his last appearance for us in der klassiker was terrible. He leaves after four years at the club.
January 2020
Poor Guerreiro. I've had a look at the Manchester United squad and three of their new signings (Rapha, €92M man Buendia and Vidal) are unhappy because they've been left out of Man Utd's Champion's League squad. Talk about reckless spending.
Augsburg is our next opponent and we need to win to maintain our place at the top. After losing the six-pointer against Bayern, it's imperative that we don't slip up. Kounde, Davies and Bailey all start today.
We missed two early sitters (perhaps trauma from the Bayern game, I'm not sure) but Leon Bailey was excellent as he set up Sancho's goal and scored himself. Unfortunately, we concede late. Embarrassingly, it's been 11 games since we've last kept a clean sheet, which is not good enough.
The win sees us keep first place by a single, miniscule, but ultimately hopeful point.
A CLEAN SHEET! We secure victory as Witsel scores a belter of a goal. Davies also gets his first for the club which looked a lot like his assist to Kimmich against Barca irl except that he put it into the back of the net himself. Get in, boys.
Koln played really, really well and there were times where I wasn't sure if we were going to get a result. Marco Reus had other ideas though and bagged an excellent hat trick. Encouragingly, the on-loan Noah Katterbach had a great game in front of his future teammates and caused a lot of problems down the left flank. He promptly got the highest rating from the Koln team.
Leon Bailey continues his excellent form but who cares about that. Viktor Fischer has scored his first competitive goal for the club! I am so proud of him lol. He came on as a sub after Haaland didn't feel like putting the ball in the back of the net and heads in from a good Bailey cross (against his former club!). His goal comes after 15 appearances for the club (mostly subs to be fair, but 15 apps are still 15 apps).
Next we have the Borussen derby before a match against Pirlo and CR7. How lucky are we, we get to face off against both Messi and Cristiano this year!
Real Madrid can go screw themselves. For some reason they've decided to send Vinicius Jr to Gladbach, our fierce rivals, instead of ringing us up. I should have checked myself but a simple text would've been appreciated. Anyways, Haaland scored a penalty after missing 3 1v1s in the first half and Fischer scores two in two!
The lads have responded brilliantly by continuing to blow everyone not named Bayern Munich out the water. Five convincing victories means we are still top of the table.
Tomorrow we'll finish off February against Juventus in the Allianz Stadium. Should be fun.
The Champions League beckons as we face Juventus at Turin. Juve sit second in Serie A, two points behind Lazio. Danger men Ronaldo has 22G/2A in 27 while Dybala has 11G/7A in 33, so we'll need to be at out best to keep them out.
It's a decent draw. Ronaldo scored two preventable goals against us but we were able to match them, which gives me confidence for the second leg. Two away goals are nice to have, too. Emre Can scored a screamer against his old club for the equaliser.
Back to the Bundesliga we go.
Unacceptable.
Fischer had a goal disallowed at 1 - 0 (Haaland has been terrible so I've dropped him) but that doesn't excuse the scoreline. Dahoud, standing in for the suspended Witsel had 9 key passes (9!!!) but we still couldn't find a way to win. Their opposition goalkeeper played a 7.0 which is illegal. Thankfully Bayern slipped up and drew but this means that we are level on 52 points after 23 games.
I'm also starting to develop an unhealthy hatred for this line of commentary over here.
Come on, Roman.
The last game of the month is against Werder Bremen. They beat us 2 - 1 last time 'round so we'll be looking for revenge.
We didn't have a fit DLP so Brandt filled in and did quite well. It was a good response after the tepid defeat so I'm happy. Shout out to Leon Bailey, because what a player. He's scored six goals in 8 appearances for us this season. That's more than either Brandt or Hazard and they've been here for six more months!
Too close. Way too close.
In the next post we'll have our youth intake. Fingers crossed that Lars Ricken is competent at his job.
Before we welcome Juve to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK for the second leg, we have a game against Bielefeld.
Both my CBs scored here, which was a great moment for Kounde as he picked up his first.
UCL time. Welcome, Juventus, to your end.
Before the match, I take a look at the Serie A standings. Juventus overtook Lazio at the top and are ahead by two points. What a tough European campaign this is turning out to be, eh? We're playing two different Italian leaders this year!
Both Bonucci and Chiellini are injured so young'ins de Ligt and Demiral fill in for them. That could be important in deciding who goes through.
We kick off. BVB DORTMUND 2 - 2 JUVENTUS (agg.)
Not the best start. Emre Can's pass is sloppy and we gift possession to Juventus. Ronaldo rounds the keeper and slots it home. He's scored three goals in two games against us now.
BVB DORTMUND 2 - 3 JUVENTUS (agg.)
What a response, though! Sancho puts it in the net after a clever pass from Davies. The Londoner has now scored against both Ronaldo and Messi, which I would say is a good year considering he doesn't play in the same country as either of them.
BVB DORTMUND 3 - 3 JUVENTUS (agg.)
Uh oh. This could be crucial.
We hit the post in the final few minutes. I can't watch.
WE ARE THROUGH.
Holy **** the second half was tense. Ironically, the two young Juventus centre backs conceded less goals than their senior Italian counterparts. The boys fully deserved to go through after their battling performance and unfortunately Mr Champions League will have to wait another year.
Man, I need a lie down.
Elsewhere, Bayern scrape through their tie after beating RB Salzburg in extra time and Leipzig beat Atletico too. Gladbach unfortunately has been knocked out by Shakhtar.
As part of his contract, Thomas Meunier is gifted an expensively lovely pair of sunglasses (worth about 150,000 euros).
Before walking into the office to start the day, Lars Ricken, my Head of Youth Development, asks if I'm free for a meeting.
"What have you got for me?" I don't remember doing anything particularly silly in the past few days.
"Youth intake day," he says, unable to conceal the excitement in his eyes.
Music to my ears.
Oh, yes. Look at those stars. I'm not even going to question how two Australian lads have come up but as long as one of them are good I'll take it. Tobias Beugert and goalie Reece White will have great futures.
I've finally realised why I can't use Bellingham this year. Players under 17 on Jan 1st 2020 are not allowed to play - Jude turns 17 in June later this year. Despite not playing any games for the senior squad, he is dveloping rather well.
We played just the one league game but things are still close. Bayern are even closing in on our goal difference.
March 2020
Here's a closer look at the future stars from the youth intake.
His key stats are FT, technique, and determination.
At 18 he's a bit older, but I'm still hoping he can develop well. Key stats are aerial reach and kicking.
It's almost the end of the season now but there is no room for complacency because the gap between us and Bayern is virtually non-existent.
13th placed Frankfurt comes to SIGNAL IDUNA PARK.
Four set pieces, four goals. Fischer is finally, finally putting pressure on Haaland by scoring on a league start. I'm really happy with the work we are putting in our set plays, especially if we're misfiring in open play.
Before our game against 7th placed Freiburg, we have the Champions League draw. The board wanted us to reach the quarter finals, which we have done, so anything more would be a nice bonus.
We get a tasty draw against Chelsea, while Bayern get Shakhtar and Leipzig square off against Liverpool. Unfortunately, the second leg is away from home so we won't play the last game in front of our own fans.
Ahead of the Freiburg game, we get the news that Bayern drew against Stuttgart. If we win, we go top by two points. Haaland is restored to the starting lineup.
He duly repays my faith.
We are top by two points!
We go into April with a league game against Hertha and then a Champions League double header against Chelsea. Unfortunately Mats Hummels is injured for the next month (even after I rested him for two games).
After Haaland scored the third goal for us with a well placed penalty the commentator screams that we are playing with the mentality of champions. I shall find him and kidnap his rabbit if he ends up cursing us. Oh, and we've kept 5 domestic clean sheets in a row, so credit to Burki for trying to fight for his place.
Manchester City's Ederson is currently unhappy and there are other targets that we could go for. We'll look at the situation more closely at the start of the transfer window.
Thank you everyone for 1K views! It really means a lot that people are following along, enjoying the save with me. Cheers!
It's Quarter Final day. Frank Lampard's Blues against my Black and Yellows. The first leg is at SIGNAL IDUNA PARK and then we make the trip to Stamford Bridge a week later. In the prem, Chelsea sit fifth, out of the 4-way title race some 13 points behind the league leaders. Burnley's Chris Wood (I'm not joking) is the Premier League top goalscorer so far.
Look at this for a title race. I predict Man City for the title.
SeanDyche-ball.
A full team minus Hummels will play today. It's also worth mentioning that they have a league game (a London derby against Tottenham, no less) and we don't in-between the two legs. Clearly, the German FA are doing all they can for German clubs in European competitions, so thank you.
FISCHER! What a performance! I was expecting the worst when both Haaland and Bailey picked up knocks in the first half but the game exploded into life in the 86th minute with a Viktor Fischer masterclass. We got a goal after Rudiger gifted us possession and another one where we counter attacked from a corner.
I also have to mention that Hazard has scored against Chelsea! Really happy for him especially since he's been out of the team with Bailey coming along. Unfortunately, both Leon and Erling are now doubts for the second leg. Good domestic news though, as Bayern have drawn with Leipzig.
A week later, Chelsea welcome us to Stamford Bridge. As with all the other second legs, we'll follow it live. Here we go.
KICK OFF: CHELSEA 0 - 2 BVB DORTMUND (agg.)
Sing it with me: The Londoner scores against the Blues of London...
CHELSEA 0 - 3 BVB DORTMUND (agg.)
And the Uruguayan pulls one back... Okay, that's not how the song is supposed to go, although I'm not too worried. On the outside, at least.
CHELSEA 1 - 3 BVB DORTMUND (agg.)
[
I introduce Bailey and immediately it pays off. We are cruising.
CHELSEA 1 - 4 BVB DORTMUND (agg.)
Wait a sec. This isn't part of the script, isn't it? Maybe Pulisic is allowed to score a consolation but certainly not Tammy Abraham to get Chelsea going again.
CHELSEA 2 - 4 BVB DORTMUND (agg.)
They are within two. They couldn't, could they? Four minutes added on.
CHELSEA 3 - 4 BVB DORTMUND (agg.)
Phew. We hang on after substitute Tammy Abraham scores two in the dying minutes. We won't dwell on the result, however. We're through to the semi-finals!
What I will dwell on, is Roman Burki's poor performance.
I think he played a 6.3 in that match.
This is why I'm buying a new keeper in the summer.
As part of his contract, Thomas Meunier is gifted an expensively lovely pair of shoes. This is getting ridiculous. Who put these things in his contract?
Now, for the semi-finals. Guess who we're going to be facing.
At least we'll have the second leg at home.
I had hoped to avoid Bayern in the UCL but I suppose it was inevitable given that we've gone this far and especially since I haven't beaten them at all this year. First time for everything, I hope.
Back to domestic action and my PR assistant forwards me this message. We have a game in hand (against rivals Schalke) while both of our runs to the end are fairly straightforward. We may have a title showdown on the last day of the season and while exciting for everyone else in the world, is something I don't really want to deal with.
We'll cruise through the month but I'll be giving updates on how Bayern are faring in their games as well. Remember the gap is currently one point but we have a chance to go four points clear.
YES. We finally grab a win in the Rivier derby after falling behind. Leverkusen are next. Let's get some revenge, shall we?
A bit of a frustrating game as we dominated but struggled to find a breakthrough. Leverkusen scored with their only shot on target while we had 10, but we managed to get it over the line in the end. We are top by four points after winning our game in hand, while Lewandowski fired Bayern to a win over Mainz.
Before some hot European der klassiker, we have Stuttgart away from home to attend to. I will rotate, but I'm quite aware of what happened previously when I rotated players for a Stuttgart away day.
Yes. Much better. We may have looked a little flat but we were clinical when it mattered. Fischer scored off the bench to cap off a good day and Haaland reclaims the title of league topscorer from ol' Robert. Elsewhere in Germany, Bayern beat Augsburg to keep us honest.
I want to go through a bit about my tactics before we get into the semi-final.
Here is the basic team shape and instructions:
We play a 4231 vertical tiki-taka that went through a couple of tweaks this season.
For example, we used to play with an AM instead of the Shadow Striker - Reus struggled to make an impact in formations with a DM (he was usually man marked) and so I allowed him license to roam and get forwards more, making him a problem for the defenders too.
We also played without working the ball into the box. Working the ball into the box meant that we were more patient and we made better decisions. We got a lot of touches in the box and at least a couple were guaranteed to lead to a shot on goal. It was also nice to see Davies attacking the opposition area and drawing players towards him, allowing my frontmen to get into positions to be able to tap the ball home - the fullback on the opposite side provides balance but still puts in crosses from time to time.
We play a double pivot where the DLP is involved in the build up and defending, I think more so than in FM19. Next to him is a dynamic runner who I want to progress the ball and stop opposition attacks with good tackles.
I want to play short and patient, because we are quite good on the ball and we fit the 'pass and move' philosophy quite well. I'm not the best at FM tactics by any stretch but it's working so far.
Perhaps the only problem is that Halaand is struggling to find his early season form. I just don't really know why.
Well, I'll be looking to him for this match against Bayern. In our two outings against them, we lost 2 - 1 twice, with Haaland scoring in none of them. It's his chance to shine today at the Allianz Arena.
I was pretty surprised when I looked at Bayern's teamsheet and Akanji was starting. Davies got injured in the 24th minute after colliding with Goretzka (he'll be out for four weeks, I think that's the end of the season for the young Canadian), while Haaland didn't shine and missed two one on ones instead. Manuel Neuer got man of the match which really says one or two things about everyone's performance.
It was a pretty bland Champions League week as Liverpool drew 0 - 0 with PSG in the other semi-final. Let's hope that the fans make the difference in the second leg.
A bit of domestic action as we face Hoffenheim at home. Gio Reyna scored his first for the club with a great close-range free kick, as we score five before half time. Bailey was denied a hat trick with a superb save from the opposition goalie, so they saved some face there. Elsewhere, Bayern secured a straightforward victory against Union Berlin.
Congrats to my Under 19s team who win their division - Jude Bellingham and Youssoufa Moukoko were the top performers in that squad.
Thanks, Pia.
With the win, we also break the Dortmund record for most wins in a season (was previously 25).
Moving onto the Bayern game, I'm a bit nervous. We haven't won a game against them for whatever reason and I'm not sure if we can pull off a result in this match.
We'll be following the game against the defending champions live, as per usual with second legs.
BVB DORTMUND 0 - 0 BAYERN MUNICH a (agg.)
One Bayern shot on goal, one Bayern goal conceded after a period of Dortmund domination. Hooray.
BVB DORTMUND 0 - 1 BAYERN MUNICH (agg.)
We're back in it!. I switch the game plan up and try to go a bit more direct. It seems to work.
BVB DORTMUND 1 - 1 BAYERN MUNICH a (agg.)
And now we're behind again with a Sane wonder goal, who dribbles from the halfway line and into the net. Hernandez bags the easiest assist of his life. We now need two goals to win it.
I switch to a 442 to try and do, well, something.
BVB DORTMUND 1 - 2 BAYERN MUNICH (agg.)
It works, kind of. This game is just hilarious like that.
Come on! We're still in this, you know! Lukas Piszczek throws a long ball into the box (he Rory Delap'd it) and 17 year old Reyna manages to control it for Haaland to poke the ball in. Come on boys!
Into the final few minutes.
BVB DORTMUND 2 - 2 BAYERN MUNICH a (agg.)
I'm a bit desperate now.
I tell Burki to go forward.
Nothing comes of it, though.
We are out of the Champions League to our eternal rivals. I am not bitter at all.
Bayern will have a rematch against PSG in the final, who beat Liverpool 3 - 1 at Anfield. So much for YNWA.
On an unrelated note, I have transfer listed my goalkeeper.
...Before realising that we have two really important league games - so I quietly pretend nothing happened. Seriously though, Roman played a hapless 6.3 while over in the other net, Neuer picked up two 7.0s and higher over the course of both legs.
A replacement can't come soon enough, although bar a massive screw up I will stop complaining about him.
We have two games left.
If we win, we simply nab the title.
If we draw and Bayern win, they can still win it.
If Bayern lose, we just win the title.
They are up against 3rd placed Koln.
Come on Noah Katterbach, win the title for Dortmund at Koln!
We shall follow the match live. This is it. The chance to end a German dynasty in our first season. This one's for the Bundesliga.
RB LEIPZIG 0 - 0 BVB DORTMUND
HAALAND! We are ahead!
RB LEIPZIG 0 - 1 BVB DORTMUND
We go into half time with a goal lead, while the other game remains goalless. I encourage the lads to keep going. Like always, Leipzig's defence is very stubborn but they don't seem to offer much going forwards, especially after losing talisman Timo Werner.
The second half commences.
In the other game, Koln have a man sent off in the 59th minute. They are still hanging on.
We are in the 90th minute and nothing is happening in either game - 5 minutes are added on. Can we continue to do nothing?
---
CHAMPIONS!
WE'VE DONE IIIT!!!
I don't know what to say. With Bayern goalless against Koln (Noah Katterbach, you've done your job mate), we have won the Bundesliga on the first time of asking!
Drown your sorrows in that beer, Oliver Kahn.
With our 10th win in a row, we secure the league title. It is fitting then, that Haaland scored the decisive goal to win us the game and the title. He's undeniably been our best player, despite his mid-season drop off in form.
Tomorrow, the squad will feel the pure joy of the Yellow wall in full force as we welcome Bayern to a euphoric Dortmund.
Nothing can ruin the moment despite the best efforts of some others - Gareth Southgate can honestly go eat a pencil. Despite Sancho playing well throughout the year, he's selected Ollie Watkins over him to go to the Euros!
It's the last game against Bayern now. Thank goodness it's not the high stakes affair I feared at the start of the season, although I suppose it would have made for a better story.
Anyway.
Potential transfer targets Nubel, Arp and Cuisance start for Bayern today.
Finally. A win against this lot.
We had two disallowed goals which was a bit silly, but it was a fun match, just full of vibes. Everyone in Dortmund enjoyed it, except for Jadon who was still upset he wasn't going to the Euros. 6 foot 4 striker Steffen Tigges made his debut in the last 20 minutes and it was fun seeing the Bayern defenders struggle to deal with two mammoth center forwards (Haaland himself is 6' 3).
The win wraps up our season well and on a high. Bayern themselves have one more game, however; the small matter of the Champions League final against PSG.
I'll be watching it from home. I don't really know who to support to be honest.
Poor Bayern.
My U19s are more successful than me lmao. Eduard Graf has led them to the treble!
And with that, we finish the season. We'll reflect on everything in due time.
Great first season - some great victories and love the Davies signing but as a Newcastle fan I am insulted that you reminded me that we spent £40m on that useless ****** Joelinton
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