Diary of a Season: St. Mary's Redemption

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Monday 15th May, 2023

I arrange a friendly at St. Mary’s for Saturday against a local non-league team; AFC Totton who are in the Southern Premier Division. I will be able to name a squad of 24 players and hopefully keep everybody fit and motivated for the big game the following week.

At the Premier League’s gala presentation dinner in Mayfair, Erik Gomez of Manchester United (and formerly of this parish) claims the Football of the Year award, with our very own Christoffer Jorgensen taking the Players’ Player of the Year. Both awards went to Southampton players last season. Jorgensen was also presented with the Premier League’s Golden Boot as top goalscorer.

Max Gauthier of Coventry City won the Players’ Young Player of the Year. I’m surprised that Kingsley Idris, Mark Ardean-Webb, and Jorginho didn’t even finish in the top-3, but perhaps they didn’t play enough games to warrant inclusion. They should all feature more next season.

David De Gea claims the Golden Glove, with Abdel Aziz Ibrahim coming 3rd behind Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny. Jose Mourinho deservedly wins Manager of the Year, with David Moyes in 2nd and Carlo Ancelotti 3rd as reward for taking Norwich City to 7th place this season.

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Diego Reyes and Christoffer Jorgensen make the Premier League Team of the Year (which triggers a 195,000-bonus for our Danish striker as per his contract) with Ibrahim among the named substitutes. Manchester United players dominate the selection but title winners Chelsea don’t have anyone in the 1st XI. I’m pleased for Ross Barkley to see him selected; proof that his years spent mostly on the bench at St. Mary’s didn’t totally ruin his career!

In an interview after the presentation, Christoffer Jorgensen dedicates his success this season to me, as his manager. Keen to bolster his flagging confidence ahead of the big Wembley showdown on Saturday-week, I congratulate him on his award and manage to raise his morale a little.
 
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Tuesday 16th May, 2023

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Mullers bounds into my office with a smile from ear-to-ear, clutching a bunch of tickets in his hand. I decide I should probably ask what’s making him so happy…

rb: “What’s making you so happy?”

RM: “I’ve got plane tickets and Cup Final tickets for you and me! We leave on Saturday night, after the Totton game.”

rb: “This isn’t really the time to be indulging your love of beach volleyball, Mullers. We’ve got important work to do ahead of the Porto game - like finding out how they play!”

RM: “Exactly! That’s why I have scalped us a couple of tickets to the Portuguese Cup Final, or the ‘Taca de Portugal’, if you prefer. They’re playing Benfica. It’s at their national stadium in Oeiras just outside Lisbon, and Carlos Queiroz says we can use his flat. He won’t be there, but his property agent will organise someone to meet us at the airport and drive us to the flat on Saturday night, and then come back and take us to the game on Sunday. It’s an evening game, so we’ll fly back on Monday.”

rb: “You know what, Mullers? I’ve changed my mind about you. I think I will keep you around next season, after all!”

RM: “But my contract runs until 2026!”

rb: “Oh, does it? I think that’s what they call ‘copacetic’, Mullers.”

RM: “Boss…?”
 
Wednesday 17th May, 2023

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French club Nancy have claimed their 3rd Europa League title in 4 years by thrashing Metalist Kharkiv of the Ukraine 4-1, with a hat-trick from their Cameroon striker Keynes Simo. Nancy play an adventurous 3-4-3 formation that helped them to create 19 shots-on-goal to Metalist’s 8, despite the Ukrainians having slightly more possession in the match.

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Saturday 20th May, 2023

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Diego Reyes has been called-up to represent Mexico at the North American Gold Cup in the USA from 11th June. The 30 year-old has 104 caps for his country to date, and has scored 3 goals. It was while browsing one of his international match reports two seasons ago and seeing that he plays in a back-3 for his country that gave me the idea for our own 3-5-2 formation.
 
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Saturday 20th May, 2023

Friendly
SOUTHAMPTON vs AFC TOTTON
St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton; Att: 17,392

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The team’s confidence took a blow after failing to catch Chelsea during the Premier League run-in and the 0-4 defeat to Manchester United. So I’m looking to this friendly to fix the damage and get us ready for next week; Jorgensen and Migliorini are two players in particular that I would like to come off the park with their self-belief restored. Injury is always a possibility in a match like this, but I don’t believe in wrapping players in cotton wool!

Brief Highlights
- 9mins: Migliorini races down the left wing and crosses to the back-post for STANGONI, who jumps high to head home from close range, having headed one against the crossbar a few minutes prior. 1-0.
- 18mins: Jorgensen has missed a few chances and Mullers suggests that he looks complacent.
- 20mins: KABASTANAKIS scores from a goalmouth scramble after a Ward-Prowse corner from the right-hand side. 2-0.
- 22mins: Kabastanakis gets to the byline on the right and stands it up for Stangoni to head at goal from 6-yards. Garrick makes a decent stop in the Totton goal, but STANGONI smashes in the rebound. 3-0.
- 28mins: Reyes heads away a Totton free-kick and Kabastanakis carries the ball out to the right wing before dribbling the length of the pitch and crossing high to the centre where Christoffer JORGENSEN heads home from 4-yards. 4-0.
- 36mins: Jorgensen’s effort from Ward-Prowse’s left-wing corner hits the post but Tin JEDVAJ hooks the ball into the roof of the net from the ensuing scramble. An untidy goal but we’ll take it! 5-0.
- 5-0 at HALF-TIME: It should be about 12-0!
- 47mins: Jorgensen and Ward-Prowse combine to play MIGLIORINI to the left-sided byline, inside the box, and from the tightest of angles he wraps his foot around the ball and smashes it into the roof of the net. 6-0.
- 55mins: From 25-yards outside the area, Stangoni plays the ball square to Shaw on the left touchline. He draws the full-back and passes to Migliorini on the left edge of the area and the Argentine’s ball into the corner of the 6-yard box is brought down by Giammarco STANGONI on his chest and thrashed past the keeper into the far corner, to complete his hat-trick. 7-0.
- 56mins: I make 7 substitutions for 7 goals.
- 71mins: Ward-Prowse plays Kabastanakis in down the outside-right of the penalty area and his near-post cross is headed in by Andrew POWELL from 7-yards out. 8-0.
- 76mins: Kabastanakis picks the ball up on halfway and attacks down the right wing, hitting an out-swinging cross that Andrew POWELL heads home from point blank range. 9-0.
- 77mins: Two more substitutions.
- 78mins: Final substitution sees Idris come on for the last 15mins; Kabastanakis gets a standing ovation - albeit from a sparse crowd.
- 84mins: Idris latches onto Powell’s pass on the left side of the area, skips around the goalkeeper but hits the side-netting from the tight angle. There is to be no 10th goal, today!

FULL-TIME

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Just what I was looking for; a decent run-out against easy opposition where our strikers would regain their goalscoring touch, the whole team’s morale is boosted and we come through without any injuries. AFC Totton were good sports and pulled their punches as far as the tackles were concerned; they will know, if we win the European Cup next Saturday, that they played a small part in helping us to achieve it. I’ve promised their chairman that if we are successful, we will come to Testwood Park during next pre-season to play another friendly and parade the trophy.

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I tell my lads well done. Then Mullers and I have a quick drink with the Totton lads in the players’ lounge before collecting our gear and jumping into our chauffeur-driven car for the short trip to Southampton Airport to catch our flight to Lisbon.
 
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Sunday 21st May, 2023

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We take our seats in the Estadio de Nacional for the Taca de Portugal Final between Porto and Benfica. The opening 10 minutes are quite bright and both teams come close to scoring, but then the game becomes a bit scrappy with neither side able to assert any kind of dominance in midfield.

Just past the half-hour mark, I say to Mullers: “Porto play the same shape as Man United but they don’t have any of the same intensity or sense of direct attacking purpose, even if they are edging this match.”

- 42mins - RM: “Porto are getting a grip of the game now. That tackle by Teunis on Lanzini had to be spot-on or it would have been a penalty. I think they’re going to score before the break.”
- 44mins: Tsiganenko threads the ball into the inside-left channel for Cosentini, who has broken clear of the full-back. The Argentine checks on the edge of the area, as defenders and attackers alike run beyond him, and puts the ball on a plate for Alberto CERRI to score from 8-yards in the centre of goal. I’m half-expecting an offside flag, but there is none. 1-0 to Porto. Mullers turns to me and grins his 'I told you so' grin.
- 46mins: It was 1-0 at the break and Porto get the second-half started.
- 50mins: With every outfield player congested in midfield, Di Martino takes control of a bouncing ball in the centre-circle and passes to Cerri in the Benfica half. He spots the run of Lanzini from the right-hand side and plays the ball into the space behind the Benfica left-back Teunis. Bardi, the Benfica keeper, parries Lanzini’s angled effort and his rebound shot, but the ball falls to Alberto CERRI who evidently does not pass-up open goals from 6-yards! 2-0 to Porto.
- 55mins - rb: “Porto are completely bossing the midfield now, but the tempo of their play is quite slow. I think our boys might get some joy with tackles and interceptions and I think we can hurt them on the counter.”
- 62mins - RM: “I can’t belief Benfica are still playing 4-4-2. They lost the midfield half-an-hour ago!”
- 65mins - rb: “I reckon our high tempo football will force Porto into a hard tackling tactic. They’ll sit back and try to hit us on the break, with Cerri and Tsiganenko looking to play Cosentini and Lanzini into the wide areas. We’re going to have to be strong at the back and have the full-backs keep their defensive discipline.”
- 66mins: Di Martino is given the freedom of the Iberian Peninsula to control Lanzini’s corner from the right, advance through a crowd of players to the 6-yard line and smack the ball past Bardi. 3-0.
- 74mins: Coutinho shoots narrowly wide for Benfica. RM: “Benfica have gone to 3-3-2-1-1; either that, or the players are just doing whatever they like!”
- Porto go in search of a 4th goal during the last 10 minutes but can’t quite manage it, despite Cosentini going close. The referee sounds the final whistle. Porto have won the Taca de Portugal.

Mullers and I stick around for the presentation of the trophy and then stroll out of the stadium and to our waiting car in silence. After a while, the driver asks if we would like him to recommend a restaurant close to the Lisbon flat that we are borrowing from Carlos Queiroz. We take him up on his offer and half-an-hour later, with our starters on the table in the restaurant’s outdoor balcony, and our drinks being replenished, I break the quiet:

rb: “We can take them, Mullers! I know we can! If we play like we’re able we can really hurt them; batter them even!”

RM: “They’ve got some good players - some very good players, actually, particularly in the front four. But Di Martino’s suspended on Saturday and that’s a big loss for them; he’s their key player in central midfield. The defence is strong and good in the air, but if we can get Marco [Stangoni] into the No.10 area to run at them from there, he can wreak havoc.”

rb: “Yeah, I think you’re right. And I’m thinking about putting Reyes in defensive midfield and having him mark their No.10, to try and stop those balls into the channels.”

RM: “That could work, but remember that Diego used to play for Porto; it’s going to be an emotional night for him, whatever happens, and we don’t need him losing his temper and letting the team down! Jorgie and Powell have both been hot-and-cold lately, too, so let’s think long and hard about who starts up-front and who is on the bench. It might not be quite the landslide you imagine - it could be won from the bench.”

rb: “We can win this, Mullers. We can ****** well win this! This time next week, we could be Champions of Europe.”

RM: “I think you’re right, boss. I think you’re right.”
 
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Monday 22nd August, 2023

Preparation vs PORTO (Wembley)

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SAINTS: 1/4 (fav); Porto: 9/1; Draw: 4/1.

Home advantage (this is our 8th visit to Wembley Stadium in two seasons) and our more prolific goalscoring run to the Final have us down as confirmed favourites for our first ever European Champions League Final. Porto were in Group B with Barcelona, Evian TG of France and Torino. Their campaign opened with a 1-3 defeat at Barcelona - who we eliminated in the semi-final - but was soon put back on track:

Group B
Matchday 1: Barcelona 3-1 PORTO (Siyanda Xulu, 7)
Matchday 2: PORTO 3-0 Evian TG (Rica, 29, 68; Alberto Cerri, 66)
Matchday 3: PORTO 3-0 Torino (Santiago Cosentini, 24; Zoran Stojanovic, 27; Alberto Cerri, 74)
Matchday 4: Torino 0-0 PORTO
Matchday 5: PORTO 2-1 Barcelona (Rica, 27; Alberto Cerri pen, 45+3)
Matchday 6: Evian TG 1-1 PORTO (Zoran Stojanovic, 82)

1st Knock-Out Round
1st Leg: PORTO 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk (Manuel Lanzini, 48)
2nd Leg: Shakhtar Donetsk 1-(aet)-0 PORTO
Aggregate: 1-1; Porto win 4-2 on penalties.

Quarter-Final
1st Leg: PORTO 3-0 Paris Saint-Germain (Eliaquim Mangala, 17; Alberto Cerri, 45, 74)
2nd Leg: Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 PORTO (Santiago Cosentini, 8; Alberto Cerri, 29)
Porto win 5-3 on aggregate.

Semi-Final
1st Leg: PORTO 4-1 Manchester United (Alberto Cerri, 7, 25, pen 85; Tomas Martinez, 49)
2nd Leg: Manchester United 2-0 PORTO
Porto win 4-3 on aggregate.

Their manager is Paulo Fonseca who spent his playing career in the lower leagues and never represented Portugal - although I’m sure another player with a very similar name did. He’s been in the job for 10 years and has been very successful domestically but guided the team to defeat in both the 2017 and 2020 Champions League Finals, suffering at the hands of Real Madrid on both occasions. The second of those defeats was in England, at Old Trafford when they lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

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Porto finished 2nd in Liga Zon Sagres this season, one point behind first-time winners Portimonense - who are now the fairy tale of European football, playing in-front of a maximum capacity crowd of 6,240, having never even placed in the top 3 since their foundation in 1914. They’ll be in the Champions League next season, though they might have to pre-qualify.

But back to Porto. They won the European Cup in 1987 against Bayern Munich, at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna; and again, under Jose Mourinho, in 1987 when they triumphed against Bayern again. Bayern’s 6 Champions Cup/League Final defeats is an unhappy record, although they have won it on the same number of occasions.

Porto - who are nicknamed Dragoes (or Dragons) - have also won the Europa League twice (2003 & 2011) and the now defunct European Cup-Winners’ Cup once (in 1984). They beat Ajax to lift the European Super Cup in 1987, but lost on the other three occasions. In 1987 and 2004, they took part in another now defunct competition - the Intercontinental Cup against the winners of the South American Libertadores Cup. They won both times: 2-1 after extra-time against Penarol of Uruguay in Tokyo; and on penalties against Once Caldas of Colombia after a 0-0 stalemate, in Yokohama.

We have played Porto four times in the past (or twice over two legs). Our Champions League Quarter-Final in 2019 was a 1-0 away success in the 1st Leg, with a goal from Jay Rodriguez. He notched two in the return, as did Christoffer Jorgensen, with the other an own goal in a 5-2 route, to go through 6-2 on aggregate. The following season, though, the away goal from the 1-1 draw in the 1st Leg of our Semi-Final encounter (James Ward-Prowse scored our goal) was enough to see them through, after an immensely frustrating goalless 2nd Leg at the Estadio do Dragao.

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Javi Rico attended the Taca de Portugal Final, although we didn’t meet up with him. His scouting report recommends that we work on Attacking Movement. He correctly identifies their preference for 4-2-3-1 and favour us in the head-to-head squad comparison. Like us, they like to score goals early on in matches, but they can be got at in the 15mins before half-time. They could be vulnerable down their left-hand side, but pack a punch further up that same flank if allowed attacking possession. Their Most Common Assist Type and Area are passes from deep - which we saw evidence of in that Cup Final yesterday. I am going to play the 4-5-1 Assymetric system against them, with Reyes marking their No.10 from defensive midfield and Stangoni tucked in behind their midfield - which will be weakened a little by Di Martino’s suspension.
 
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Friday 26th May, 2023

I’M LIVID! My Champions League plans have been thrown into turmoil by the news that Diego Reyes has to fly out to join Mexico’s Gold Cup squad on the day of the Final - even though the tournament does not being until 11th June!

I storm out of my office:

“Get Platini on the phone! NOW!!!”

My secretary jumps to attention and Mullers appears from around the corner with a “What’s up?!” look on his face.

“REYES! He’s got to join up with Mexico - TOMORROW! For the f**king Gold Cup? WTF is that, anyway?! Send him to the trophy room - there are plenty of cups in there; he can have one of those!”

RM: “How did you find this out?”

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rb: “****** journalist! From The European Football Review, or something; Jose Herrera.”

RM: “F**k! How could they do that? Surely they know when the Champions League Final is taking place. Can’t he just catch a later flight? What’s a single day if the tournament doesn’t begin for another two weeks?”

rb: “There are FIFA rules concerning training camps and the amount of time the international manager gets with them. But I’m going to tear Platini a new one! — Have you got him, yet?!”

The secretary doesn’t say anything; she’s clearly still waiting for someone to pick up at the other end.

rb: “Patch him through when you get him.”
 
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…half-an-hour later:

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rb: “…but Michel, it’s not even as though Mexico are playing warm-up matches. He’s going out there to join a training camp! He has to miss the Champions League Final so you can take part in a ****** training camp? Is that where FIFA and UEFA’s priorities lie, now?!”

MP: “Mais, rocheyb, mon ami, there iz noz-thing I can do, I say to you! My ‘ands are tie-d. If Monsieur Herrera wants Reyes now ‘e must ‘ave ‘im now. D’accord?”

Mullers shakes his head at the stupidity emanating from the speaker phone.

rb: “Michel, if you can’t sort this out by tonight, then don’t you dare show your face at the Final tomorrow! Cause I’ll knock your ****** block off!”

MP: “Blockov? ‘E played for USSR, non? In Mexico - 1986, I zink. Is ‘e going to be there tomorrow?”

rb - to Mullers: “What’s French for ‘chocolate, teapot’, Mullers?”

Mullers has his head in his hands, shaking his head from side-to-side.

As Platini warbles on about what a great player he used to be, I notice a Soccernet article update on my computer screen. Alberto Cerri has just signed a new 5 year contract worth 17-million. Clever move by Fonseca, to get his star player pumped and focused on the day before the big match.
 
Saturday 27th May, 2023

6:00am: I lay in the bath in my hotel room, contemplating my tactical options now that the loss of Diego Reyes from my Champions League Final squad is confirmed.

With Mario Pugliese suspended and Reyes due to be in international airspace when the match kicks-off, my plans to play the 4-5-1 Assymetric system are in tatters. Shane Westley and Mark Ardean-Webb can both play as a defensive midfielder, but it isn’t either player’s preferred position and I don’t want to throw such young players into positions that they are not entirely familiar with. Phillip Kaminski can also play there, but he doesn’t have the passing ability that I need of my central midfielders.

Javi Rico noted that Porto are vulnerable to 4-4-2. The 4-4-1-1 system usually works well against teams that don’t like 4-4-2. I think about Porto’s squad and try to guess what they will do to cover the loss of Di Martino in midfield. Lucas Evangelista? The Brazilian is more creative than combative and rumour has it that he’s lacking match fitness. Maybe they’ll change their shape altogether to accommodate him.

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With 4-4-1-1, I could put Ward-Prowse into the Ball-Winning role. He’s not a tough tackler but he knows the role. Stangoni can go to Deep-Lying Playmaker and Jose Pinho - a former Porto starlet - can go into the Shadow Striker role; all 6ft4in of him. The Porto centre-backs are tall but Pinho is taller; and the boy can jump! We play to the flanks and send crosses over. He can start to become the new Jay Rodriguez, as I have always intended for him. I don’t want to lose Stangoni’s running power in the final third, though - his ability to dribble at players and have them commit and leave gaps behind themselves.

****** North American Gold Cup! Sounds like a yachting contest!
 
Saturday 27th May, 2023

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Before we leave the hotel to board the coach for Wembley Stadium, I take Mark Ardean-Webb aside and break the bad news that he will not be included in the 18 for the European Champions League Final. As the 19 year-old tries to fight back the tears and maintain the impression to his manager that he understands my decision, I realise that this is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my entire career in football management.

I tell him that he has been nothing short of excellent all season, but in the absence of both Diego and Mario, and with James Ward-Prowse playing an unfamiliar battler’s role, I need some steel in reserve and Shane Westley has the edge when it comes to the rough stuff. My statistical analysis shows that Shane Westley has an 87% success rate for tackles made in Champions League and Premier League matches only, as opposed to Mark’s 80%.

I cut the conversation short when I can see that the player is about to lose control, and signal to my Director of Football Max Eberl - who I brought with me for this conversation, knowing that Mark has a good relationship with him - to look after the boy until the match begins. As I walk down the corridor to the sound of a young man realising that his dream has been shattered, feeling like an utterly heartless b*st*rd, I puff out my cheeks and go looking for Mullers. He’s bound to have some stupid problem, like an ingrown toenail on the reserve goalkeeper, that I can distract myself with.
 
Saturday 27th May, 2023

European Champions League - FINAL
PORTO vs SOUTHAMPTON
Wembley Stadium, London; Att: 90,000

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SAINTS Team News - 4-4-1-1: Abdel Aziz Ibrahim is in goal; Roel Rutten and Tin Jedvaj are the centre-back partnership; Luke Shaw and Buti Ndou are the full-backs; James Ward-Prowse is in the Ball-Winning Midfielder role, alongside Giammarco Stangoni who captains the team from a Deep-Lying Playmaker position; Elias Migliorini gets the nod over Tom Ince on the left of midfield, with Kostas Kabastanakis on the right; Jose Pinho is the Shadow Striker with Christoffer Jorgensen up-top as the Deep-Lying Forward; I don’t have a goalkeeper among my subs - Kaminski, Hrustic, Westley, Ince, Jorginho, Powell and Lucas make up the 18.

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Porto - 4-2-3-1: Helder Correia is a quality goalkeeper who has out-performed our strikers on at least one occasion in the past; I’m surprised by the selection of Brazilian veteran defender Maicon at centre-back - his lack of pace and poor jumping reach could offer us something, here; I had expected Eliaquim Mangala to be in the middle of defence, but he starts at left-back; 18 year-old Brazilian midfielder Sandro (not the ex-Spurs man) comes in for Di Martino in central midfield - Juventus are interested in this youngster; Sergi Roberto, formerly of Barcelona, is in the No.10 role; we know all about Cosentini, Lanzini and Alberto Cerri - but stopping them is going to be tough, nonetheless; Waleed Farhan, the man I scouted in Spain back in August, is among their substitutes, despite a lack of fitness; Igor Tsiganenko looked good in the Taca de Portugal Final last week, so I expect him to feature at some point.

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I instruct normal tackles and manage to encourage the players as they head for the Wembley tunnel. Ticker tape is plumed into the air as we take our positions for the national anthems. Mullers turns to me: “Nervous?”; I shake my head slowly: “Yes! Absolutely!”

1st Half Highlights
- 1sec: Porto kick-off the 2023 European Champions League Final here at Wembley stadium, attacking from right-to-left.
- 4mins: Kostas Kabastanakis runs at Mangala for the first time and gets the cross in, but Correia catches the ball unopposed.
- 5mins: Roel Rutten has to hack the ball clear as Roberto tries to keep alive a partially cleared Porto corner.
- 8mins: A promising move down the right involving Jorgensen and Ndou is scuppered by Kabastanakis ******** his shot well-wide of the far post.
- 10mins: Jose Pinho flicks-on Migliorini’s long pass, to Christoffer Jorgensen who controls and pushes it wide to the left flank to Migliorini. He lays it wider still to Luke Shaw, who is hugging the touchline and swings a high cross into the box. Maicon heads behind for a corner on the left-hand side. Kabastanakis sends the ball low to the near post and Jose PINHO arrives late to strike left-footed past Correia from the left side of the 6-yard box. Southampton have taken the lead in the European Champions League Final! 1-0.
- 13mins: Kabastanakis takes a throw-in to Pinho and then, from the return pass, attacks the right-wing corner flag before wriggling his way inside Roberto and Mangala at the byline and cutting the ball back to Giammarco Stangoni just inside the area. His ferocious left-foot whallop stings the palms of Correia as he pushes the ball over the bar for another Saints corner.
- 21mins: Lanzini steps-up to take a free-kick from just behind the D on the edge of Southampton’s area. His shot goes over the 5-man wall and is parried into the air by Ibrahim, hitting the front of the crossbar on its way down and deflecting into the grateful arms of the Egyptian goalkeeper.
- 22mins: Lanzini delivers a free-kick from the right-hand side, midway inside Southampton’s half. The ball drops among a ruck of players and Buti Ndou slides in to block Cosentini, before the Argentine can even get his shot away. The ball squirms past Kabastanakis to Stojanovic who knocks it forward to Roberto. As Kabastanakis tries to get in the way, the former Barcelona man lets fly, thudding the right-hand post with Ibrahim beaten-all-ends-up - but Ndou is able to hack the ball into the stand beyond the far touchline. A let-off for The Saints!
- 29mins: Another free-kick from deep for Porto leads to a bizarre equaliser. From 15-yards inside the Southampton half, just left of centre, Manuel LANZINI launches his right-footed free-kick into the air, aiming for the cluster of blue-and-white striped shirts in the penalty area. But the ball loops over everybody, bounces 3-yards from the goal-line and deceives Ibrahim for an equaliser hardly worthy of the occasion. 1-1.
- 32mins: Migliorini’s cross from the left is headed out by Mangala, but Stangoni collects just outside the Porto area and passes short to Ward-Prowse who picks out Kabastanakis on the right side of the penalty box. As Mangala comes to challenge, Kabastanakis steps infield onto his weaker, left foot and shoots for the far corner. But the shot goes wide.
- 41mins: Ward-Prowse back-heels the ball to Luke Shaw who twists away from Cosentini’s lunge to feed Migliorini on the left corner of the box. The Argentine turns 270-degrees and crosses to the centre; Jorgensen stretches but can’t reach it with his head, but does enough to distract Correia as the Portugal goalkeeper misses it completely - the ball hitting Mangala on the arm to predictable shouts of “penalty!” from at least 50,000 voices. The referee shakes his head as Maicon boots clear for Porto before Pinho can capitalise.
- 44mins: Yellow Card for Oliveira, the Porto right-back.

HALF-TIME: PORTO 1-1 SOUTHAMPTON

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Of all the matches to concede a goal to a flukey overhit free-kick! Oh well, we have to put that behind us and get on with it. We were the better team at the beginning and the end of the first-half, but Porto unsettled us with some high balls into our box even before Lanzini’s massive slice of outrageous fortune. The Match Stats are quite even, as is the scoreline, so it’s still anybody’s trophy at the moment. My attempt at a passionate rabble-rousing half-time speech was a bust, so I ended-up talking to each player in-turn and assuring them that I have faith in their ability to get the result here tonight.

2nd Half Highlights
- 46mins: The Saints get the second-half underway. Shaw takes a throw from the left and finds Migliorini inside the area, close to the byline. He cuts it back to Stangoni about 14-yards out and the Italian tries a right-foot-side-foot effort that hits Pinho on the 6-yard line and bounces to the right where Mangala has to tussle with Kabastanakis before he can knock it behind for a corner.
- 47mins: Maicon gets a strong header in to clear Kabastanakis’s cross from under the crossbar.
- 49mins: Luke Shaw shoots from a free-kick just left of the D but Correia saves it, diving to his right.
- 50mins: Oliveira catches Shaw in possession near halfway and attacks down Porto’s right wing. Cosentini makes the run infield and receives the ball from Oliveira’s dissection of Shaw and Rutten. Sergio Consentini jinks away from the retreating Stangoni but then rushes the shot from the edge of the area and drags it wide of the far post.
- 53mins: Elias Migliorini stops on the ball and just allows Cosentini to take if from him. He surges past Luke Shaw and crosses to the far post where Alberto Cerri goes down like he has been harpooned, with Tin Jedvaj looking non-plussed at the referee. From all of 40-yards away, Herr Brych awards the penalty to Porto. Jedvaj sprints to the official to remonstrate, but after all the yelling, the decision - of course - still stands. The ball is against an advertising hoarding on the left side of the pitch, and for what seems like an age, Alberto Cerri strolls over to collect it himself, no doubt playing in his mind where he is going to put the spot-kick…
- 54mins: …And when the waiting is over, Alberto CERRI strokes his 10th Champions League goal of the season into the bottom left corner, despite Ibrahim guessing the right way. 1-2.

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- 54mins: I decide to throw caution to the wind: Phillip Kaminski, Shane Westley and Andrew Powell all step off the bench together to replace Buti Ndou, Elias Migliorini and Christoffer Jorgensen as we switch to 3-5-2 and hard tackling. It’s DO OR DIE!!
- 56mins: Lanzini intercepts a poor goal-kick by Ibrahim and exchanges passes with Cerri to get into the left side of the area and attempt a delicate chip over Ibrahim, but The Saints goalkeeper is too streetwise to fall for that one. Then Luke Shaw coughs up possession cheaply and Rutten is booked for a foul on Cerri as he tries to get it back. Yellow Card for Roel Rutten.
- 57mins: Southampton cannot get the ball out of their own half. Oliveira sends a high angled pass from the left up to Cerri on the edge of the area, Rutten misjudging the flight of the ball and getting caught underneath its trajectory. Cerri lays it off to Lanzini who forces Ibrahim to parry at his near post.
- 59mins: Porto start to take control of the midfield and Lanzini feeds the ball into the inside-left channel for Gaal whose well-struck shot from the left corner of the area is acrobatically pushed over the bar by Ibrahim.
- 62mins: Consentini threatens to get in on the right-hand side for Porto but Jedvaj gets back and blocks his shot.
- 64mins: More acrobatics from Ibrahim to prevent Stojanovic’s far post corner dropping straight in.
- 65mins: From Lanzini’s left-wing corner, Xulu rises at the near post, just 2-yards out but heads over the top. Half the ground thought the match was over!
- 66mins: Porto pass the ball among themselves on halfway but a mistake by Roberto gifts the ball to Powell, who passes into the patch of Jose Pinho. But the Saints goalscrorer’s progress is curtailed by a trip by Xulu. There are other covering defenders, so Herr Brych opts for the lesser punishment. Yellow Card for Siyandu Xulu. The free-kick is worked wide to the right but Kabastanakis’s cross lacks pace and Pinho’s header floats harmlessly wide of the far post.
- 71mins: Yellow Card for James Ward-Prowse for a trip on Stojanovic.
- 73mins: Stangoni and Ward-Prowse lead by example by initiating a passing move through midfield, brining Westley into it to set Stangoni on a run at inside-right. He passes to Powell on the edge of the area who gets half-a-yard from Maicon and tries a lob to the far post. Correia has to back-peddle quickly to get under the flight of the ball, but grasps it on the goal-line.
- 76mins: Porto begin piling on pressure again and even when Southampton regain the ball, they can’t move it out of their own half of the pitch.

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- 79mins: I shift Stangoni into a more advanced No.10 role and tell Luke Shaw to attack more down the left-hand side.
- 82mins: Westley tussles for the ball in midfield, eventually winning to from Stojanovic and passing left to Shaw. His first-time ball puts Pinho in-behind Oliveira, but he hesitates over whether to cross or shoot, decides on the latter and rushes his effort into the side-netting as two Porto defenders close him down.
- 85mins: Tin Jedvaj storms forward from defence and passes to Pinho in the final third. He threads the ball through to Stangoni going through the centre of Porto’s defence, but Stojanovic makes an impeccable sliding tackle. Shaw collects the loose ball on the left of the area, beats Oliveira and crosses to the back post, but Mangala wins the aerial duel with Powell. Ward-Prowse heads it back to Shaw on the left, and he wins a corner off Roberto.
- 86mins: Ward-Prowse, Stangoni and Pinho thread passes together through the middle but Pinho rushes his shot from the edge of the D and it drifts away to the right of goal. Time is running out for The Saints.
- 88mins: Westley beats Roberto to a loose ball in midfield and passes to Ward-Prowse on the edge of the centre-circle. His forward pass finds Jose Pinho and he in turn plays Stangoni in on the left of the D, but with substitute Tsiganenko tracking his run and making a sliding tackle 12-yards from goal. Shaw is again the recipient of a loose ball which he centres but Mangala hooks it away before it can drop in-front of Andrew Powell on the 6-yard line…
- 89mins: …Consentini chests the ball down on the Porto right and aims it for Cerri, next to the centre-circle. Roel Rutten takes the ball away but then dithers, allowing Cerri to win it back and pass back to Gaal. A square pass to Roberto encourages Kabastanakis to make a tired lunge, as the Spaniard frees Manuel Lanzini down the left-hand side. Rutten and Kaminski both go across to confront Lanzini, but both are beaten by a sudden change of pace that leaves Kaminski on his backside. When the cross comes over to the middle of the goal, it’s a 2-against-1 in favour of the attacking team; Tin Jedvaj marks Cerri but can do nothing about Santiago CONSENTINI volleying into the net at close range - and putting Porto’s name on the trophy. 1-3.
- 90mins: Pinho pulls the ball back from the left to Jedvaj on the edge of the Porto area but his shot hits Stangoni and bounces down for Consentini to clear.
- 90mins+1: Stangoni gets in near the right sided byline and lays the ball out wide for Kabastanakis to cross. Powell flicks it over four Porto defenders but Pinho can only nod it wide from 6-yards with just the goalkeeper to beat.
- 90mins+2: The Porto fans sing “Ole!” as their triumphant players pass the ball around in midfield. Southampton win it back briefly but Lucas Evangelista receives a clearance and takes it out to the left wing, checks inside, glances to the referee - and then falls to his knees as Herr Blych confirms that Porto are the 2023 European Champions.

FULL-TIME

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
MANUEL LANZINI (PORTO) - 9.0
Left-Winger: 1 goal; 1 assist.

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VERDICT:
It all seemed to be going to plan in the early stages when Pinho opened the scoring for us. Porto got back into the game with an over-hit free-kick that fooled everybody in the penalty area and then a penalty that looked like a dive by Alberto Cerri. They took control of midfield during the second-half, though, and frustrated us out of possession. By the time we got to grips with them again and started to create a few chances, they had worked out how to exploit us on the break. But after that fluke equaliser, their other two goals both relied on us giving up the ball cheaply in midfield. I don’t know that we wouldn’t have done that had Diego Reyes been there, but I certainly feel that his loss was a massive blow to our chances of winning that game. At the same time, though, I know that we had the European Champions League trophy in our grasp when Jose Pinho scored… and then we lost it.
 
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Saturday 27th May, 2023

I send Mullers up the Wembley steps to collect my runners-up medal while I stand on the pitch, leading the applause for my players where I know the whole world can see me on the live global television broadcast. A female pitch-side reporter clutching a SkyTV branded microphone nervously approaches, unsure as to whether it might be too soon to make me face up to this failure before millions of viewers. So, as the final straggler among my players trudges across the presentation platform to receive a medal he doesn’t really want, I turn to the reporter.

rb: “Ready when you are.”

The young woman waits for her cue from her cameraman and his assistant; the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown begins and for a moment I consider trying that formation during pre-season - before I realise I’d have to name a starting team of 16 players to pull that off! I don’t think Mullers would approve. The reporter’s tone is every bit as hesitant as her approach a moment ago, but she manages to inject some sympathy into her question:

Sky: “Not the result you wanted against a very strong Porto side, but you must be proud of your players to have gotten this far?”

rb: “These lads will be hurting right now, but in the coming days and weeks they will come to realise just how close they claim to winning the whole lot this season. And they’re young - a good number of them are, anyway - just kids, some of them, and they’ve got their whole careers ahead of them. It was a frustrating and difficult match today but with the kind of performances these boys have produced this season - week-in, week-out - and with the quality of player that we are now in a position to attract to the football club, there is absolutely no reason why we can’t be back in another Champions League Final next year, the year after and the year after that. Some of these boys are going to become the most decorated players in the history of English club football. You mark my words: These boys are something special and this was only just the beginning…”

Sky: “The equalising goal was fortunate for Porto, to say the least, and the boys in the studio say that Tin Jedvaj barely touched Alberto Cerri for the penalty - so do you feel hard done by, today?”

rb: “My aim is always to build teams who can take that sort of bad luck in their stride and render it obsolete by sticking more goals in at the other end! We’re not quite at that stage yet, at least, not where the best in Europe are concerned. But we’ve laid down a marker tonight and every top club in Europe now knows exactly who we are and what we’re about, if they didn’t already. That will bring challenges in-and-of itself. But as sure as the ball is round, they’ve got more to fear from us than we do from them, because these lads have something special that only comes along once in a generation.”

Sky: “So what do you think… - “

rb: “ - …And I’ll tell you something else; we are going to win the Premier League next season and we’re going to have another go at this one, too. So tell all the top players and all the top managers that you speak to during the summer and at the start of next season, in the Premier League and all over Europe: they’d better run and hide, because The Saints Are Coming!”

And with that, I stride off in the direction of my players; a sorrowful, tear-stained rag-tag group of dejected athletes who can barely bring themselves to watch the Porto players and staff receive their medals, jigging about on the presentation platform in nervous anticipation of being handed the big-eared silver trophy by Zinedine Zidane. As I move from one player to the next, shaking each man’s hand and putting a consoling arm around the more emotionally distraught among them, I make a quiet resolution to myself that I will bring the European Champions League to St. Mary’s Stadium. These players deserve it; our fans deserve it; I ****** deserve it. And I will have it.
 
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SOUTHAMPTON FOOTBALL CLUB: ROLL OF HONOUR
- Updated

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(Seasons/years highlighted in bold type indicate trophies won under rocheyb's management)

European Champions League
Runners-up: 2023

Europa League
Winners: 2019

European Super Cup
Runners-up: 2019

Premier League
Champions: 2018/19, 2020/21
Runners-up: 1983/84, 2019/20, 2021/22
3rd place: 2014/15, 2022/23

FA Cup
Winners: 1974, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2023
Runners-up: 1900, 1902, 2003, 2022

Capital One Cup
Winners: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Runners-up: 1979, 2014, 2018

Community Shield
Winners: 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021
Runners-up: 1976, 2018

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Johnstone's Paints Trophy
Winners: 2010
 
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DIARY OF A SEASON: SUPPLEMENTAL

After that drastically disappointing night at Wembley in 2023 - two years ago now - when Porto came from behind in the European Champions League Final to put The Saints to the sword to the tune of 1-3, I vowed that my young team would be back to fight another day.

Despite the Premier League title still eluding us thanks to Chelsea amassing 94pts in each of the last two seasons, we did pick up this little trinket the other day...

 
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