Breaking the Guttmann Curse - A Benfica Story

[HugoCaldeira1234]

**** i guess Rafa was so bad in fm
you could sold him at least 12M

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

I have had a hectic summer as I have sold no less than 25 players so far and raked in £121m in transfer fees. I have spent £62m on 9 players and there is still a month of the transfer window to go! I have promoted a few youngsters up into the first team and maybe let some players leave that you will be surprised at.

So without further ado here are my dealings so far.....

--

PLAYERS OUT

Firstly I should say that the first Pedrinho on the list and Mokoena were signed on free transfers and immediately sold for a quick profit so that was a nice boost to the coffers.

Anyway the main player that is on the list is James Rodriguez who left to join Man Utd for £45m which was a £2m loss. He is a world class player and I rate him but the fact he only scored once from open play really rankled with me and with his big wages I thought I should sell him on.

Pedrinho joined Augsburg for £7.25m which was a little cheap but with Rafa and Zivkovic ahead of him and a few prospects in the system I let him go after nobody was interested in Zivkovic. I loaned out Almendra, Hurtado and Svilar to get much needed 1st team football and all the other departures were from my B or U23 squads or players who returned from loan spells that I didnt want.

I also cancelled the loan spell of Dyego Sousa so he is back in China.

--

PLAYERS IN

Again - ignore the signings of Pedrinho and Mokoena.

My most expensive signing was that of Rafael Leao from AC Milan for £30m. I had to get a better striker to challenge Carlos Vinicius and Leao ticked all the right boxes as he is technically good, quick and at 21y/o can improve a lot. To bring him back to Portuguese football so soon is a decent piece of business.

Also coming back to Portuguese football and indeed to Benfica is Renato Sances who joined from Lille for £21m. He is a fans favourite at the club and although I didn't really need him the chance too bring him back to Benfica was too good an opportunity to turn down tbh.

Thiago Almada joined from Velez Sarsfield for £5.25m which is a great piece of business. Now whether or not he will replace Rodriguez as my AMC is in doubt as I also have Camara and Chiquinho but the Argentinian wonderkid should prove to be a star in Portuguese football and will be given his chance for sure.

My only other signing for the first team squad was that of Claudio Ramos who will be my new backup keeper with Svilar being out on loan. I got him on a free transfer so there wasnt much finances invested in the deal.

All the rest were either regens or prospects for my other squads.

--

SQUAD

I have so far called up 3 players to be part of my first team squad this season as I feel it is imperative to promote a couple each season. Morato comes in as my 4th choice CB with Alvaro out on loan while Tiago Dantas is in as a backup CM. Finally Umaro Embalo will be my backup LW so he will probably be given more of an opportunity to impress. I may also call up a young striker to be my 3rd choice but we shall see.

The only real changes to my first XI will be that Sanches edges out Gabriel in midfield and I need to pick who will be my new AMC. Other than that it is as you were but the onus is on the likes of Rafa and Everton to do much better this term!!!

The board actually want us to reach the Champions League quarter-finals which is a bit of a jump considering we failed in the group stage last season.
​

 

[Klippybo]

Francisco Ferreira
1938-52
398 apps, 34 goals
Midfielder

"Xico" won 4 league titles and 6 Portuguese cups while at Benfica and also earned 25 caps for Portugal. A piece of football history is because of Ferreira as it was on returning from his testimonial that the great Torino side was killed in the Superga disaster in 1949.

--

AUGUST

Supertaca

Lineup - Ramos, Semedo*, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Rafa (Zivkovic), Camara, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

We gain revenge here for our cup defeat and 4-0 league defeat last season to win the Supertaca. Before the match Vlachodimos picked up an injury so my new backup keeper, Claudio Ramos, will get a little run in the side.

We thought we took the lead in the 2nd half when Everton scored but it was disallowed and shortly after they hit us on the counter attack to take the lead. I then put on my subs and it was my new striker, Rafael Leao, who brought us level with a penalty. Into extra-time we went and we cut Porto open to find Grimaldo in space and after failing to score last season he netted the winner and then later on a brilliant cross from Semedo found Leao for him to grab his 2nd and to seal the game and crown a perfect debut!

--

Lineup - Ramos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa (Zivkovic), Camara (Chiquinho), Everton*, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

A dine way to kick off our defense of the title. The goal of the game was from Everton who took the ball from inside our half, dribbled past several players and coolly finished into the bottom corner.

--

UEFA European Super Cup

Lineup - Ramos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Sanches, Rafa (Zivkovic), Almada (Chiquinho), Everton, Carlos Vinicius

I have no idea how we lost this. We had more than double the efforts of Man City and were the best team throughout but we just couldn't find the all important goal and then Bernardo Silva popped up to score for them and give them the trophy.

--

Lineup - Ramos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias, N.Tavares, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches*, Rafa, Camara (Chiquinho), Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

A standard win and performance. Ruben Dias had a goal disallowed in the 1st half while it seems Chiquinho is like a specialist hockey player who takes penalty shots or corners or whatever they are called in hockey lol.

--

Lineup - Ramos, Semedo (T.Tavares), Ajer, Dias, S.Cruz, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Chiquinho, Everton, Carlos Vinicius*

Chiquinho is my AMC!!!!!

To start my game review with that line says something considering we scored 9 goals and Carlos Vinicius helped himself to 4 goals but Chiquinho was amazing and assisted 5 goals!!!! Sure I am disappointed that we conceded 2 goals but this was a great win and performance.

Not a bad game for 19y/o Sandro Cruz to make his debut - my 5th choice left back lol.

--

Lineup - Ramos, T.Tavares, Ajer, Dias (Morato), Grimaldo, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Rafa, Chiquinho*, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

Rafael Leao scored twice from coming off the bench for the 2nd time already this season as we dispose of Moreirense. Chiquinho impressed yet again but only 1 assist this time lol.

We had 45 attempts at goal in this match to their 1.

Funny quirk - my scorers read Rafa, Leao which is kinda like the name of Rafael Leao lol.

--

Lineup - Ramos, Semedo (N.Tavares), Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Gabriel, Sanches, Rafa (Zivkovic), Chiquinho*, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

A decent point considering we didn't play particularly well. I am just disappointed that we conceded so soon after taking the lead.

--

SUMMARY

We have had a decent start to the season it is fair to say. In the league we trounced Victoria Guimaraes, beat Rio Ave before smashing 9 goals past newly promoted Leixoes. We then cruised past Moreirense before drawing away to FC Porto and we are leading the way in the league as a result of those matches.

We also beat FC Porto 3-1 to claim the Supertaca but in the European Super Cup we lost 1-0 to Man City despite being by far the better side - lessons neeed to be learned there.

Transfer wise I brought in a new 3rd choice striker having let a couple of players go out on loan so for the first time I have a player from Iraq in the shape of Mohanad Ali. He looks a decent player and will be decent as a backup.

​

In other news our stadium renovations are completed and I signed a new contract - everything is dandy. In the Champions League we are in a group with Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
CHIQUINHO

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

**** why you give rafa another chance
you could have sold him this season instead of james rodriguez

 

[Klippybo]

**** why you give rafa another chance
you could have sold him this season instead of james rodriguez

It was borderline tbh. Plus the fact I had nobody lined up to replace him. 2 goals in a month is a vast improvement so we shall see but he needs to keep that ratio up.

Also Rodriguez wages were huge compared to other players and I had to offer 75% of my squad new deals as most had low minimum fee release clauses for instance dias at £52m. Had to get rid of the clauses tbh and I think it cost me up to £20m in a transfer budget but it will be worth it.

 

[Klippybo]

Nuno Gomes
1997-2000 & 2002-11
398 apps, 166 goals
Forward

A former FM wonderkid Nuno Gomes was a personal favourite of mine. He was far more prolific in his first spell at the club but overall he won 2 league titles, 1 Portuguese cup and 3 Portuguese league cups while at the club. He also played 79 times for Portugal and scored 29 times.

--

SEPTEMBER

Lineup - Ramos, T.Tavares, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Chiquinho*, Everton, Carlos Vinicius

A great result and performance, top notch. Carlos Vinicius got a hat-trick but it was Chiquinho who stole the show once again with 2 goals and 3 assists. Famalicao fielded 7 players who I let go in the summer plus they have Harry Wilson, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Cameron Carter-Vickers on loan.

--

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Ramos, T.Tavares, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo*, Luis (Camara), Sanches, Rafa (Zivkovic), Chiquinho, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

We are on fire at the moment!!! We crushed Inter Milan here and even had a goal disallowed through Rafa. This gives us a great chance of progressing out of the group as Inter would more than likely be right up there alongside Dortmund.

--

Lineup - Ramos, Cruz, Ajer, Dias, N.Tavares, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Rafa (Zivkovic), Almada*, Embalo, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

We weren't at our best here but I had to make several changes so maybe that's why. Thiago Almada scored his first goal for us on his league debut.

--

Allianz Cup 3rd Phase Group A

Lineup - Ramos, T.Tavares, Ferro, Morato*, N.Tavares, Gabriel (Dantas), Camara, Zivkovic, Almada (Nascimento), Pereira, Leao (Ali)

I have decided to play my backups for the group stage of the Allianz Cup to give my youngsters more opportunites. Morato scored his first goal for us while Henrique Pereira scored on his debut.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo*, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa (Zivkovic), Chiquinho (Almada), Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

Grimaldo didn't score at all last season but now has 3 this term as he fired in a free-kick. Vlachodimos finally returned from injury here.

--

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ajer*, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches (Camara), Rafa, Chiquinho, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

We are taking charge of this group right from the beginning. An excellent away performance in which Ajer got his 1st goal of the season.

--

SUMMARY

Another excellent month - we have really stepped up a gear this season and seem to have gone up a level. We had a few highlights this month including a 6-0 win over Familicao however the 4-0 victory over Inter Milan was our best performance. We have suffered a few injuries but that doesnt seem to affect us in all honesty as the young players that have come into the side have done excellently.

My youngsters are attracting interest too. I rejected bids of up to £20m for Tomas Tavares, £6m for Penetra, £11m for Almeida and £13m for Bernardo not to mention a £56m bid for Luis and £45m bid for Ajer during the summer. Almeida, Bernardo and Penetra havent even featured for me yet!

I signed a new long term contract this month.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ALEX GRIMALDO

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

Toni
1968-81 (player)
1987-89, 1992-94, 2000-02 (manager)
392 apps, 23 goals
Midfielder

Toni won 22 trophies all told while playing and managing Benfica. As a player he won 8 league titles and 5 cups and as manager he won the league twice and the cup once and also managed the club to the European Cup final in 1987-88. For Portugal he won 32 caps.

--

OCTOBER

Allianz Cup 3rd Phase Group A

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ferro, Morato, N.Tavares, Gabriel (Dantas), Camara, Zivkovic, Almada, Embalo (Pereira), Leao (Ali)

We get the win but it wasn't pretty. We scored thanks to Ali latching onto a short backpass and he rounded the keeper to score.

--

Taca de Portugal 3rd Round

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ferro, Morato, N.Tavares, Gabriel, Camara*, Zivkovic, Almada, Embalo, Leao

Moura are a non league side so were never really going to put up much of a challenge. My side was so young as my oldest outfield player was Zivkovic who is 24y/o - the futurure looks good! To have 7 different scorers (8 if you include the own goal) is not something I can remember happening many times before. I must admit though - I am a bit disappointed that my £30m striker, Leao, couldnt hit the back of the net.

--

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Sanches, Rafa (Zivkovic), Chiquinho, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

A crazy, crazy match. At half-time and 1-0 down I would never have imagined that there would be 8 goals scored in the 2nd half and most in the final 15min. We just edged this 9 goal thriller with my subs Leao, Zivkovic and Camara all scoring.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares (Semedo), Ajer (Ferro), Dias, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Sanches, Rafa, Chiquinho*, Everton, Leao

WOW!!!

Our last league game was exactly a month ago and we came back here in fine style with a tremendous victory. Everton got us underway with a stunning strike from the outside of the box, Leao came into the starting lineup and grabbed 2 goals as did Renato Sanches while Chiquinho was inspirational yet again apart from when he missed a first half penalty - but a goal and 4 assists will do lol.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo*, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Chiquinho (Camara), Everton (Zivkovic), Leao (Carlos Vinicius)

Always an important match this and despite a dodgy 1st half we come out on top. Chiquinho needs to work on his penalties though - he missed another one here when the scoreline was at 0-0.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Rafa, Chiquinho*, Everton, Leao (Carlos Vinicius)

Chiquinho practised his penalties obviously lol. Another fine win - we are steamrolling our opponents at the moment.

--

SUMMARY

You would think I would be delighted with how this month has gone as we won every match, scored 28 goals in 6 matches and not only opened up a 9pt lead at the top of the table but also have a 100% record in our Champions League group with a great chance of qualifying for the knockout rounds.

BUT IN FACT I AM ******* RAGING!!!!!!!!!!

Why? Well I have a new president after the recent elections and part of his plans was to buy Martin Odegaard off Real Madrid and Gaetano Castrovilli from Fiorentina and he has only gone and done it. He has spent £27m on Odegaard and £17.5m on Catrovilli who is a CM and I couldn't cancel the deals. Now both are quality players but I dont want them or need them and further more I have no intention of playing them when they appear in January.

I will promptly loan them out and sell them in the summer and my president can go **** himself - what a waste of money!!!!!!

I have never had this happen to me before.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
TOMAS TAVARES

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Jedd95]

Very annoying about the Chairman signing new players that you didn't want. Odegaard could turn out to be a good signing though so bare that in mind!

 

[Klippybo]

Bastos Lopes
1972-87
391 apps, 4 goals
Defender

Lopes spent his entire career with Benfica and played as a centre half. He won 7 league titles with Benfica and also won 10 caps for Portugal.

--

NOVEMBER

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Rafa, Chiquinho (Camara), Everton, Leao*

We qualify for the knockout stages with this win. Rafael Leao struck twice yet again against Dortmund and Rafa picked up a goal also. We are 3pts clear of Inter Milan while Dortmund and Shakhtar are 11pts behind us with 1pt and there are 2 games left to play.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Rafa, Chiquinho*, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

A nice 4-0 win. Leao, despite scoring 2 in the last match, had failed to score in our last 2 league games so he dropped out and Carlos Vinicius came in but he was poor so Leao came off the bench and promptly scored! Chiquinho was immense again and got 2 fine assists.

--

Taca de Portugal 4th Round

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ferro, Morato, N.Tavares, Gabriel (Dantas), Camara (Bernardo), Zivkovic, Almada*, Embalo, Leao (Ali)

Phew! We weren't good enough here but fortunately Embalo's 1st goal for the club won it for us in extra-time. Almada was excellent though and was the shining light in our side - he has impressed every time he has played so far. Bernardo made his debut here.

--

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Camara), Rafa, Chiquinho, Everton (Embalo), Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

A weird match. We didn't play well but were the better side by far yet we lost 1-0. One of those days really.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo* (Ferro), Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo (Camara), Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Rafa, Chiquinho, Everton, Leao

Semedo and Grimaldo both went off injured in the 2nd half here so I experimented with a 3-1-2-3-1 formation - nothing happened thereafter lol.

--

SUMMARY

Just the one blot on our copybook this month as undeservingly we lost 1-0 to Inter Milan in the Champions League group. We are through to the knockout stages though and a draw against Shakhtar Donetsk will ensure that we win the group. Our lead in the league is now 7pts while in the 2nd tier my B team are leading the way by 4pts as they look to defend their title.

Finally in error I said Odegaard will be forced upon me in January - that is not correct - he is on loan until the end of the season with Real Sociedad and will join us at the end of the season.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
RAFAEL LEAO

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

Very annoying about the Chairman signing new players that you didn't want. Odegaard could turn out to be a good signing though so bare that in mind!

Yeah but I have Chiquinho pulling up trees, Camara will be a world beater and also Nascimento plus a prospect from the youth intake for AMC. If I can get a 2-3 million loan fee with all the wages covered and get my money back when I sell I will be happy.

 

[Klippybo]

Jose Aguas
1950-63
383 apps, 379 goals
Forward

Aguas was a phenomenon and was the top scorer in Portugal 5 times. In 12 of the 13 seasons he was at Benfica he scored at least 18 goals and trophy wise he won 5 league titles, 7 Portuguese Cups and both of the European Cups that Benfica have won. He earned 25 Portugal caps, scoring 11 times and his son also went on to represent Benfica and Portugal.

--

DECEMBER

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ajer, Dias, N.Tavares*, Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Rafa (Zivkovic), Chiquinho (Camara), Everton, Leao

Chiquinho was back missing penalties here as he squandered one in the first half. We laboured to victory really although Nuno Tavares scored aa decent goal.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo*, Ajer, Dias, S.Cruz, Gabriel (Camara), Sanches, Rafa, Chiquinho (Almada), Embalo, Leao (Carlos Vinicius)

We fail to score for the 1st time this season as we struggle to a draw against 2nd placed Maritimo. We were without a few players so that is my excuse.

--

UEFA Champions League Group E

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ferro, Morato, S.Cruz, Gabriel (Dantas), Camara, Zivkovic*, Almada, Embalo (Araujo), Carlos Vinicius (Ali)

We only needed a draw to win the group but despite us falling behind we came back to win comfortably. Zivkovic was excellent and got a double while I gave Tiago Araujo his debut. To win so easily with my backups is especially pleasing.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias*, S.Cruz, Luis, Sanches, Rafa (Zivkovic), Chiquinho, Everton, Leao

Ruben Dias scored a double here which is a rarity and he had his hat-trick goal disallowed for offside.

--

Taca de Portugal 5th Round

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ferro, Dias, S.Cruz, Gabriel, Camara*, Rafa (Zivkovic), Almada, Everton (Embalo), Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

I played a mix of backups and first team players here and we got the job done but it wasn't a vintage performance by any means.

--

Allianz Cup 3rd Phase Group A

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ferro, Morato, N.Tavares, Gabriel*, Camara, Zivkovic, Almada (Ramos), Embalo (Araujo), Carlos Vinicius (Ali)

Pathetic. We had already qualified but for this side to draw 0-0 against a Setubal side that my B team thrashed 4-1 a few days earlier is just simply embarrassing.

--

SUMMARY

We struggled to hit form this month and were generally poor tbh with the only time it felt as though we turned up was when my backups beat Shakhtar Donetsk 4-1. Our defence was on top though and we only conceded 1 goal in the 6 matches so that's just as well since my attacking players lost a bit of form.

In the Champions League we have drawn against Real Madrid so it will be very tough to get to the quarter-finals which is an objective of the board.

Next month brings the transfer window and an Italian midfielder being forced onto me!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ODYSSEAS VLACHODIMOS

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

Jose Augusto
1959-70
369 apps, 175 goals
Forward

Signed from his local team, Barreirense, Augusto was a winger who won many trophies while at the club. 8 league titles, 3 Portuguese cups and 2 European Cups were won with Augusto in the side and when he retired at 32y/o he was appointed as a caretaker manager and guided the side to another Portuguese Cup!!! He won 45 caps for Portugal and scored 9 goals.

--

JANUARY

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ferro, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis (Castrovilli), Sanches, Rafa (Hlozek), Chiquinho, Everton*, Leao (Carlos Vinicius)

We return after our winter break with a win. Everton scored 2 fine goals while Chiquinho missed another penalty. Hlozek and Castrovilli made his debuts here. The reason Castrovilli is suddenly playing? Transfer news awaits lol............

--

Taca de Portugal Quarter-Final

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ferro, Dias, Grimaldo, Castrovilli, Sanches (Camara), Rafa (Hlozek), Chiquinho, Everton*, Leao (Carlos Vinicius)

Everton has started 2021 well - celebrating his 1 year anniversary since signing maybe lol.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares*, Morato, Dias, N.Tavares, Castrovilli (Camara), Sanches, Rafa (Hlozek), Chiquinho (Almada), Everton, Leao

We thumped Leixoes 9-2 earlier this season and added a 6-0 humping to the aggregate score here lol. Everton netted again (as did Leao) while I had to play 3 of my backup defenders here.

--

Allianz Cup Semi-Final

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Morato (Ferro), Dias, Grimaldo, Castrovilli*, Sanches, Rafa (Hlozek), Chiquinho (Almeida), Everton, Carlos Vinicius

The chairman can pick a player lol. Castrovilli was excellent here and grabbed 2 goals (he missed a penalty for his hat-trick) as we saunter into the final.

--

Allianz Cup Final

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo (T.Tavares), Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo*, Luis, Sanches (Camara), Rafa, Chiquinho, Everton, Leao (Carlos Vinicius)

WE RETAIN THE ALLIANZ CUP!!!!

Sporting beat FC Porto 5-2 in the other semi but we dealt with them here. Chiquinho tucked away a penalty and Rafa slotted in the 2nd and we cruised it from then on in.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer (Ferro), Dias, Grimaldo, Camara (Dantas), Sanches, Rafa*, Chiquinho, Everton, Leao (Carlos Vinicius)

After 7 consecutive clean sheets in the league we conceded here but we put 4 past Guimaraes to cruise to victory. Everton continues his great scoring run with another goal here while Rafa scored a stunning volley.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Castrovilli), Rafa (Hlozek), Chiquinho*, Embalo, Leao (Carlos Vinicius)

Just the 2 goals and 2 assists for Chiquinho here but I was more delighted with the fact that Embalo scored a double on a rare league start.

--

SUMMARY

A perfect month on the field and a so so month off the field lol as some transfers have left me slightly disappointed. On the pitch we won every match and all convincingly too and we also picked up the Allianz Cup again after we beat Sporting Lisbon 2-0 in the final. Everton and Chiquinho were superb while all the others chipped in too although Renato Sanches has gone off the boil a bit.

Now for transfers - I better reveal Gaetano Castrovilli since you knew already that he was being forced upon me. I pride myself of having a knowledge of European players 2nd to none but tbh I have failed myself here - never heard of him!

I tried to loan him out but teams baulked at the wages etc and after lowering my demands there were still no takers but then all of a sudden I got a bid too good to turn down for one of my players that meant Castrovilli was staying - a true sliding doors moment.

I got offered £35m from Shanghai SIPG for Gabriel. I negotiated it and ended up receiving an initial £44.5m and it could go up to £53m. Now Gabriel is a decent player but with me not being able to loan out Castrovilli I thought a £50m deal for a 3rd choice CM was too good to turn down.

I signed 2 other players. Adam Hlozek came in from Sparta Prague for £9.25m and Matias Arezo joined from River Plate (Uruguay version) for £1m. I had actually forgotten that I had agreed to sign Arezo tbh and I have since loaned him back to Penarol of Uruguay just so he can get 1st team football but I have high hopes.

Hlozek was highly recommended by my scouts and he looks the part. He is a wonderkid and with the right amount of playing time could be a world beater. He has nudged in front of Zivkovic in the RW ranks in my squad.

​

Now for the poor transfer deals. 3 of my youngsters are leaving/have left. Firstly I loaned out Jeremy Sarmiento to Leixoes but after starting 8 games and scoring 8 goals he attracted interest from Chelsea and Spurs and he has agreed to join Spurs at the end of the season on a free transfer - he was nowhere near my 1st team but I am disappointed to lose him for nothing and I know he will be worth a ton despite being valued at under £100k at the start of the season for me.

A similar story is about Gabriel Araujo who isn't even in my B team yet he will join Man Utd on a free.

Finally I was kinda forced to sell Martim Neto to Liverpool for an initial £5.25m rising to £12.5m including a sell on clause. Neto looked a decent player but was not on my radar for the 1st team tbh but he was unhappy and I couldn't afford to miss out on such a big transfer fee.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
EVERTON

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Jedd95]

Steam rolling mate. Catrovilli seems to be doing bits for you - interested to see what happened with the transfers.

 

[Klippybo]

Alberto Costa Pereira
1954-67
359 apps
Goalkeeper

Pereira was the keeper during the glory years of the 1960s. He won 8 league titles, 5 Portuguese Cups but more importantly 2 European Cups while at Benfica. He played 22 times for Portugal.

--

FEBRUARY

Taca de Portugal Semi-Final 1st Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo (T.Tavares), Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo*, Luis (Castrovilli), Sanches, Rafa, Chiquinho, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

This should be enough to see us reach the final. Rafa got a double but it was Alex Grimaldo who got the MOM award thanks to his 2 assists. I will give my backups a go in the 2nd leg.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer (Morato), Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis (Castrovilli), Sanches, Rafa, Chiquinho*, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Leao)

Very nice. We move 17pts clear of FC Porto who are 4th and we also have a game in hand. We are still unbeaten in the league and that is my main focus for the season - an unbeaten campaign.

--

Taca de Portugal Semi-Final 2nd Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Morato, Ferro*, N.Tavares, Castrovilli, Camara (Dantas), Hlozek, Almada (Nascimento), Embalo, Carlos Vinicius (Ali)

My backups see out the job. Ferro scored for the 2nd game in a row while Hlozek got his 1st goal and Castrovilli also had one disallowed.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias (Ferro), Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Camara), Rafa, Chiquinho*, Everton, Leao

What is this?? A goal conceded in the league!!! Our 6th conceded goal in the league this season but it was in vain as we were already 4-0 up lol.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Sanches*, Rafa (Hlozek), Chiquinho, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Ali)

Renato Sanches hadn't scored in the league for a while so duly grabbed 2 here. I put Ronaldo Camara on and he went off injured within 2min and will be out for a few weeks. We have now scored more goals this season in the league already than we did last term.

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer (Morato), Dias, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches*, Rafa (Hlozek), Chiquinho, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Ali)

I am delighted with this result and performance. We matched Real Madrid all the way and fully deserved a draw although they did hit the woodwork twice in the last couple of minutes. Delighted with the away goal naturally.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis (Castrovilli), Sanches, Rafa, Chiquinho*, Everton (Hlozek), Leao

A very convincing victory. We got 2 penalties here and converted them both and that takes our tally of successful penalties this season up to 17 and I know Chiquinho has missed 4 - don't know about the other players. I long for a keeper with 20 for penalty taking lol.

--

SUMMARY

Another excellent month as we won every match apart from the game against Real Madrid but considering we drew 1-1 away even that is a morale victory! Domestically we have been banging in goals for fun as we scored at least 3 in every match as we wipe the floor with everyone in Portugal.

Strange to say however is the fact that our best result was the game that we didn't win as we drew with Real Madrid in the first leg of our Champions League tie and with the away goal we head into the 2nd leg full of confidence but last season Real Madrid beat us 2-0 in our ground so we have to be wary.

Youth intake next month - in December they said I had a decent Scottish striker coming through.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
RENATO SANCHES

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

Fernando Cruz
1959-70
344 apps, 1 goal
Defender

Fernando Cruz won 8 league titles and 4 Portuguese cups as well as playing in all 5 European Cup finals in the 60s (winning 2). He left the club to play for Paris Saint-Germain as they were newly formed in 1971. He won 11 caps for Portugal.

--

MARCH

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo (T.Tavares), Ferro, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Castrovilli), Rafa, Chiquinho, Everton (Hlozek), Leao*

Rafael Leao scored his first hat-trick for us here as once again we win easily. In our last 8 games in the league we have scored 6, 4, 4, 3, 4, 4, 5 and 4!!!!

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis (Castrovilli), Sanches, Rafa*, Chiquinho, Everton (Hlozek), Leao

We blew away Sporting here in the first half. Rafa scored twice in the first 4min, Sanches and Leao added 2 more and there was still time in the 1st half for Rafa to miss a penalty for his hat-trick which was a shame.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Sanches, Rafa (Hlozek), Chiquinho*, Everton, Leao (Carlos Vinicius)

This result secures our qualification for next seasons Champions League and I have been given an initial transfer budget of £70m for next season.

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ferro, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Castrovilli), Rafa (Hlozek), Chiquinho (Camara), Everton, Leao*

We knock out Real Madrid!!!

Into the quarter-finals we go as Rafael Leao struck to give us a narrow but well deserved win. I am so proud of my young side.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares (F.Cruz), Ajer, Dias, N.Tavares, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Almada*, Everton, Leao (Carlos Vinicius)

How we didn't win this I dont know. We battered them but they scored with their only 2 shots on goal and escaped with a point. Renato aSnches had a last minute goal disallowed too as this draw ends our 12 game winning run in the league.

--

SUMMARY

This month was near perfect with just the draw against Belenenses in our last match being the disappointment. I didnt see that result coming especially considering we conceded 2 goals which takes us up to 8 for the campaign and Belenenses has 3 of them!!! We are pretty much 1 win away from saecuring the title.

Our highlight of the month however was our 1-0 win over Real Madrid which took us through to the Champions League quarter-finals where we will play Juventus. We have achieved my boards objective but it will be tough to go past Juventus but having knocked out Real we go into the tie confident.

The youth intake was pretty poor with an average Scottish striker being the best player.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
RAFAEL LEAO

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

Francisco Albino
1932-45
343 apps, 21 goals
Midfielder

Albino spent his entire career with Benfica and won 6 league titles and 3 Portuguese cups as well as 11 Portugal caps while with the club.

--

APRIL

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ferro, Dias (Morato), Grimaldo, Luis (Castrovilli), Camara, Hlozek*, Chiquinho, Embalo, Leao (Carlos Vinicius)

A superb hat-trick from Adam Hlozek means we are 1pt from regaining the title. I rested a few players for the upcoming Juventus game.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ajer, Dias, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Chiquinho, Everton, Leao

--

Lineup -

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg

Lineup -

--

Lineup -

--

THE SAVE HAS CRASHED!!!!!!!

I was just about to play Juventus when all of a sudden I got kicked out of the game and out of FM totally. I loaded it back up but it wouldnt let me load my save back unless i went about a month or so back. Now as I play I take a note of matches, results, scorers and chart appearances etc so I dont want to rewrite the whole season as it would take forever.

Absolutely raging. I had built a young team that was going to take Europe by storm in 2-3 years and the FM gods do this to me.
​

 

[Jedd95]

Oh mate, that's gutting. So sorry to hear this.

I assume you do a rolling save? I make mine save every 2 weeks as I can handle 3-4 matches but anymore puts me off to.

Looking forward to your next challenge.

 

[Klippybo]

Oh mate, that's gutting. So sorry to hear this.

I assume you do a rolling save? I make mine save every 2 weeks as I can handle 3-4 matches but anymore puts me off to.

Looking forward to your next challenge.

I do. Usually I have it set to save every week but was getting frustrated at the length of time it took so I changed it to monthly. I can go back to last month but that means changing a post and rewriting everything etc

Going to load up fm this morning and have a look see. Still to manage aberdeen I suppose but I will look around. Ac milan or atalanta maybe? Dunno lol

Thanks for following!!!

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

**** that sucks
did you have a save game download at benfica right

 

[Klippybo]

**** that sucks
did you have a save game download at benfica right

I would have had to go back about a month and redo a post plus re-write so much stuff on my pads and graphs etc. Too much lol. Shame - I was loving this save.