Manchester Disaster

[misterioBean]

1st February 2030
Oh No! Anyway...

Transfers Out

One player left our club permanently in January.
Our keeper Verbuggen was taking a backup role instead of an important player and handed in the transfer request.
He joined the Saudi League for 20m, which is 13m more than we paid for him.

Transfers In
​

Niklas Hedl - 35m

We found his replacement at Sheffield United. The Austrian 28 year old is an improvement over Verbuggen in most aspects and will most likely be our main guy for some seasons unless the one keeper I'm keen to sign becomes available.

Lorran - 16.25m

I then looked at our team and identified the RW as the position with less quality. I found this Brazilian with a cheap release clause and compared him to our best player in the position.

Lorran is the overall best player, oly losing to Alberdi on the physical aspects of his game except for his speed. Looking at this graph, I knew I had to buy him since PSG was already sniffing around and believe me, PSG took away a lot of players from us this season (4 to be exact).

Premier League
Gameday 18

We start the month with a very lucky win against Brighton after Sangaré scored in the 93rd minute to give us the 3 points.

FA Cup
Third Round

Good win in the cup against Swindon as our 2nd team puts in a good performance.

EFL Cup
Semi Final 1st Leg

They also beat Wolves at the Etihad to give us the lead in the Carabao Semi Finals.

Premier League
Gameday 19

With our 1st team we failed to make our chances worth and conceded a late goal to draw against Nottingham Forest. Not a very good result.

EFL Cup
Semi Final 2nd Leg

The draw in our last game looks better if we compare it to our 2-0 loss in the Carabao which put us away from the competition.
Losing to an own goal is frustrating though.

Premier League
Gameday 20

We bounced straight back against Norwich with a 5-2 win. Good performance from our team in this game.

UEFA Europa League
League Phase

Gameday 7

With all the cup games being played by our 2nd team, it gave us the chance to play our 1st team for the Europa League and we were ableto beat the Danish team Kobenhavn 4-1. Despite being one of Denmark's biggest clubs, they only manage to acheive a 3rd spot in the league last season. The league is not loaded so I have no idea how well they are doing this year.

FA Cup
Fourth Round

This month was a very good opportunity to give our 2nd team a lot of gametime and they won yet another game for the FA Cup against Preston.

UEFA Europa League
League Phase

Gameday 8

I ended up using them once again for the Europa League and they were able to beat Dynamo Kyiv 4-0 with a little help from some of our starters.

League Table

Against all odds we are still leaders of the Premier League and to be honest the performances we had against some of the biggest teams in the country makes me believe we can achieve Champions League football next season. I don't think we have a good squad to win it yet though, but it's good to know we can at least challenge for a UCL spot already.

With our last 2 wins in the Europa League we were able to get a top 8 finish after all and are going straight to the next round of the competition.

February

It will be another tough month in February but I'm hoping we can keep our good form going.

Youth Intake

Forgot to show this last month but let's be honest it doesn't look great anyway.

Finances

Our finances took a big hit this year and with the new board I have no idea if they plan to inject money into the club at the end of every season. They say that next year's transfer budget will be 111m minimum but we already have 108m so that doesn't look too optimistic.

Maybe getting a good place in the league and Champions League football qualification will give us more money so we need to at least try our best to qualify for the UCL.​

 

[misterioBean]

1st March 2030
Closer and Closer

Premier League
Gameday 21

We started the month of February with a loss against West Ham who basically defended ever since they scored the penalty.
What a shame.

Premier League
Gameday 22

We finally played Tottenham for the league after it being postponned 2 or 3 times. It was a very balanced game and none of the teams came out on top of it.

Premier League
Gameday 23

It was a late goal by super sub Nelson Weiper that gave us the win against Aston Villa after James Hemming scored on the 2nd minute of the game.

Good to see both strikers scoring goals.

Premier League
Gameday 24

James Hemming scored yet another goal to beat Bournemouth with our newest signing Lorran also getting his first goal for the club.

Premier League
Gameday 25

Our 2nd team were able to beat Wolves this time around with a very good performance.

Premier League
Gameday 26

We finish off February with the 4th won in a row and 3rd playing out of the Etihad this month against Southampton.
Very good 1st half but our performance dropped a bit in the last 45 minutes.

League Table

We are still top of the Premier League and are currently 9 points clear of the 2nd place Man. United.

This has really been a season to remember so far and with only 3 months left in the season becoming Premier League champions once again is starting to look stronger and stronger with every game played.

March

This month could be decisive in 3 different competitions.
Obviously if we want to go through to the next FA Cup and Europa League rounds we need to win those games, but the 3 next games for the league can also help us getting a bigger lead or lose the one we had if we drop points.

We will also get the youth intake this month but let's be honest it probably won't be anything good anyways.​

 

[Rohde]

Nice work.
What did you chance the reputation to?

What staff did you bring in at the start?

 

[misterioBean]

Nice work.
What did you chance the reputation to?

What staff did you bring in at the start?

Excellent questions.

To answer your first question, I changed the club's reputation to Local, I think I set it to 5 out of 20 using the pre-game editor but the original file did not change it at all which I found was not very realistic because that would mean I could get the best staff around the world to a Vanarama team.

In terms of staff initially I only brought in English people, some of them are still in the club as well.

1st season

Assistant Manager - Terry McPhillips (still in the club)
HoYD - Aidan Callan (retired)
Coaches - Ashvir Johal (now at Luton) and Jody Morris (now at Northampton)
Fitness Coaches - Chris Neville (now unemplyed) and Andy Kalinins (retired)
Goalkeeping Coaches - Richard Wright (the only original Man. City coach who agreed to come back) and Darryl Flahavan (both of them are still in the club)

From that point on it was a matter of improving the staff team with the best ones we could but I only started signing foreigners when we got to the Championship. Also I didn't sign any recruitment team until the end of the season 2026/27 since the transfer embargo would be lifted in July 2027.

 

[misterioBean]

1st April 2030
Almost a Perfect Month

FA Cup
Fifth Round

We started the month with a banger.
Liverpool played with a lot of reserves but we dominated the entire game and won 2-0 in the cup.

UEFA Europa League
Round of 16 1st Leg

We started our best 11 for this match away in France and we got out of it with a 4-1 win over Marseille.

UEFA Europa League
Round of 16 2nd Leg

One week after the 1st leg it was time to receive Marseille at the Etihad and with our 2nd team we got a 3-0 win over the French once again.

FA Cup
Quarter Final

Another huge win in the FA Cup.
This time we beat Chelsea 4-1 and now we are taking the competition more seriously. We started our best 11 once again and completely dominated them at the Etihad.

Premier League
Gameday 27

Just 3 days after the cup game we faced Newcastle and I decided to use the same team who played against Chelsea to ensure a better result and we achieved it with a 4-0 win over the Magpies.

Premier League
Gameday 28

The fatigue got to us however and we were unable to be at our peak form against Tottenham, losing points for them for the 2nd time in 2 months.

League Table

That loss may have taken 3 points out of our team but we still have a 5 point gap to Man. United and 2 games still to be played.
I may have underestimated our quality once again but the media also predicted a 7th place finish for us this season so I'm more inclined to think we are overachieving.

April

It's yet another full month ahead of us but at least the league fixtures seem to be easier.
We also have the Europa League Quarter Finals and the FA Cup Semi Final to play this month and I really want to win those competitions.
I mean since we made it this far it's only right we really push for them now right?​

 

[misterioBean]

1st May 2030
Out of One, On The Run For Two

Premier League
Gameday 29

Good response to lastg game's result against Stoke with a 3-0 win

Premier League
Gameday 30

Not so good of a result against Everton though as we lose some valuable points in the league.

UEFA Europa League
Quarter Finals 1st Leg

We were able to beat Aston Villa for the Europa League and are in a good shape to go through.

Premier League
Gameday 31

Nelson Weiper missed a penalty in the 32nd minute of the game after Brentford put one past us with only 4 minutes on the clock.
Fortunately for us Hatate scored at the start of the 2nd half to at least get 1 point.

UEFA Europa League
Quarter Finals 2nd Leg

Amazing performance on the 2nd leg at the Europa League to ensure we have a spot in the Semi Finals.

FA Cup
Semi Final

The treble dream was flushed down the toilet after losing on penalties at the FA Cup Semi Final and now we only have two competitions to focus on.

Premier League
Gameday 32

Fresneda redeemed himself for missing the decisive penalty on the cup game and scored the winner against Crystal Palace.

Premier League
Gameday 33

I wasn't prepared to see our team losing the game against Fulham.
After they scored in the 6th minute they basically parked the bus and we couldn't score any of our shots.

League Table

With our slips in the league Tottenham closed the gap between us to only 5 points.

May

Our job won't be easy to handle this month as we now have the Europa League Semi Finals between important league games including 4 very difficult fixtures against 3rd, 4th and 6th places. Chelsea's bad form is giving me slightly better hopes but keeping our 1st place won't be easy.​

 

[samt93]

Hey how do i relegate city to the national league north? is there any files needed

 

[misterioBean]

Hey how do i relegate city to the national league north? is there any files needed

Yes you need to download it but I'm not sure if it will work with the new update or not

 

[misterioBean]

2nd June 2030
Frenetic End of Season

UEFA Europa League
Semi Final 1st Leg

It wasn't a very good start to the last month of the season. We only managed to get a draw against Fiorentina playing at the Etihad which made it much more difficult to reach the Europa League Final.

Premier League
Gameday 34

It was a decent result at Old Trafford as we get yet another goaless draw.

UEFA Europa League
Semi Final 2nd Leg

It was a very balanced game in Italy but in the end we came out on top which means we will get our first shot at an European competition!

We'll face yet another Italian team in the Final and I really like our chances.

Premier League
Gameday 35

Very good performance against Arsenal and we finally beat them with a late goal from our sub Marcel Ruiz.

Premier League
Gameday 36

This was a very boring game to watch. There were only 11 shots all game, 6 for us and 5 for Chelsea.
We did win the game but it was not a pleasant one to watch.

Premier League
Gameday 37

Liverpool got back on us after we eliminated them from the FA Cup and dominated the game at Anfield.
Gakpo's winner at the 82nd minute came from a very well done counter-attack.

Premier League
Gameday 38

Very good win on the last game of the season against Brighton and now it's just a matter of how well did our opponents do.
Did we do a good enough job to be crowned champions?

YES!

We actually won the league right after the Liverpool fixture as Tottenham lost their game against Arsenal and was not mathematically possible for them to get to us.

There's still another competition to win this season though so we can't get complacent.

UEFA Europa League
Final

WE DID IT!

It wasn't really a close game as Bologna only had one shot the whole game and didn't even shot on target.
It's not the Champions League, but it's still an European competition so we have to be happy.

With that win we have done the double in our 2nd season in the Premier League.

Random Stuff

Even though we were crowned champions of the Premier League and won the Europa League, the board only gave us an extra 3m€ to spend this summer.

On top of that, the board announced they won't be investing as much as they did previously.
This is very concerning since this new board's whole investment was those same 3m...

If that wasn't enough, they also reduced our staff members limit. I immidiatelly got back to them saying this was not acceptable.

After a bit of persuasion, they ended up giving us even more staff slots.
This board's operating ways are very weird.

On a more positive note, we were recognized as one of Portugal's best managers of all time, which is just amazing.

Final Thoughts

Okay okay, this was a very good season.
I really got surprised about how well it went as I didn't think our team was good enough to get to where we are but the signing of Assan Ouédraogo was the main reason as he was our team's best scorer this season.
In fact, our midfield composed by Ouédraogo, Tyler Morton and Merlin Rohl had a total of 79 goal contributions in all competitions.

Can we retain the title next season and, with a bit of luck on our side, win the Champions League 8 seasons after our relegation to the Vanarama?​

 

[misterioBean]

5th August 2030
End of Preseason

Transfers Out

After a very successful season I started looking at our team and asking myself what could we do to improve upon last season's success.
Well, selling Ethan Laird and Rayan Ait-Nouri for a total of 70m certainly helped a bit. Let me explain.

Both of them were 29 years old and were not regular starters. Making 70m out of 2 players we bouth for 40m total is still a 30m profit.
We had 2 youngsters coming back from their loan spells and I decided to give them a chance this season.

We also sold 3 backup players in James McAtee, Reo Hatate and Yanis Issoufou making close to 60m on their sales.
A few more players left the club for smaller fees but there are two I would like to highlight:

Moritz Schaffer came in as a free transfer 3 seasons ago and got loaned out in the last 2. As a striker, he scored 14 goals in 58 appearances. With his contract ending at the end of this season, I decided to sell him because despite looking very good, he just don't perform.

Lawrence Mumuni is one of the players who came from our 1st youth intake at the club along with James Hemming and Jorge Everall, two players who are in our 1st team, most notibly Hemming was has been a very important player for us.

However, despite showing a lot of potential in his first few years, Mumuni's development was not good. He has very good physicals but that's pretty much it. Selling him for around 6m€ was a very good deal and honestly he wouldn't be worth even 2m if he wasn't English.

Transfers In
​

Hakan Peeters - 70m

Our midfield last season was amazing. Rohl was arguibly our best player last year but when I saw the Belgium 22 year old available for 70m (release clause) I really couldn't ignore it. He looks amazing and the only bad thing about him is his consistency but I think I can overlook that.

Daniel Mougin - 52m

When I was looking at our club I noticed we didn't have many players trained in England which could be a problem when registering our team in the UCL. Issoufou left so that's one less non-homegrown player but I wanted to replace him with someone who would help us out.
Mougin looks even better than Issoufou and is English so that should help us out.

Lucas Bergvall - 20m

Another opportunistic signing as the 24 year old midfielder was transfer listed. He comes as a backup for Ouédraogo and is also based in England so will count as a homegrown player.

Preseason

It was a decent preseason with wins against some Premier League clubs and we didn't have some players who were out playing international football.

European/South American Club Challenge

Since we won the Europa League, we faced last's seasons Copa Sudamericana winners.
We were able to win the game and lift the first trophy of the season.

FA Community Shield

Before the start of the season we also played for the Community Shield and ended up getting lucky in the penalty shootout and beating Everton to lift the 2nd trophy of the year before the season even started.

August

The first month of the season looks fairly easy for the Premier League but we will also face Real Madrid for the UEFA Super Cup, a trophy we already won back in our 1st season in charge while playing on the Vanarama National League North. We were able to beat Sevilla back then but now the challenge is way bigger.

Finances

We still have 100m in the transfer budget but when you see we will only be granted 55m next season it really doesn't look very good.
If it stays like this I'll have to spend the money.​

 

[misterioBean]

3rd September 2030
Here We Go!

Transfer Out

There was only one playing leaving and he was center-back Marvin Akahomen who joins Everton on loan for this season.
He didn't develop much since joining us and despite having incredible physicals his mentals let him a bit down.

Transfer In
​

Mike Blom - 91m

Akahomen's replacement came from AZ Alkmaar and I had him on my shorlist for a couple years already but when I looked back at him I finally decided to pay his release clause. He's a tremendous defender, lacks a but oh the physical presence but everything else looks absolutely incredible.

Premier League
Gameday 1

We start our league campaign with a win over Leeds but unfortunately our new signing Daniel Mougin got injured 20m after he joined the game. Not ideal.

UEFA Super Cup

Not too bad of a performance defensively but our attack did nothing this game.
Erling Haaland got the best of us with the only goal of the match.

Premier League
Gameday 2

Close game against Birmingham with 2 goals scored right before half time and another scored in the beginning of the 2nd half.
Thankfully we came out with a win.

Premier League
Gameday 3

What a game this was. 3 games in 6 minutes is something you don't see very often.

Premier League
Gameday 4

We ended September with a comeback against Everton and our backup striker João Pereira is showing he wants to be our main guy up front having scored in the last 2 games.

UEFA Champions League Fixtures

Mixed fixture list for the Champions League. We have 2 tough matches against Real Madrid and AC Milan but I think the other should be winnable.

September

We'll have the first UCL matches between two difficult league fixtures. Bournemouth has been playing really well since they came up to the Premier League with us and Arsenal has been challenging for the tiltle ever since we started.

We also have the first game of the Carabao Cup but that doesn't really concern us. I'm thinking of prioritizing the Champions League since our main goal for this save is ultimately win it for the Citizens once again.

Let's see how it goes I guess. I feel confident our team is good enough to challenge for it but with teams like Real Madrid and PSG around it won't be easy.​

 

[misterioBean]

1st September 2030
Not a Surprise

EFL Cup
Third Round

We used our 2nd team here and they demolished QPR.
Not really a surprise here though.

Premier League
Gameday 5

A bit of a surprise against Arsenal. We dominated the entire game but could not score for our lives.
Thankfully, righ-back Fresneda scored twice in 3 minutes really out of nowhere to give us the 3 points.

UEFA Champions League
League Phase

Gameday 1

Real Madrid proved once again they are still way above us in terms of quality and completely dominated the game.

Premier League
Gameday 6

That loss may have had some impact in our team because we couldn't get more than a draw against Bournemouth.

UEFA Champions League
League Phase

Gameday 2

Completely different story against Club Brugge as we win 5-1 in Belgium.

Premier League
Gameday 7

We then went on to win against Brentford for the Premier League and kept our good form.

League Table

Forgot to show this before but we are top pf the Premier League after 7 games with just 1 more point than Arsenal who only lost points against us for now.

UEFA Champions League
League Table

We are currently 9th in the UCL League Phase after two games but there's still 6 more games to be played.

October

Very chill month in October due to the international break but once again we'll have 4 games in two weeks so fitness may become a problem.​

 

[misterioBean]

1st November 2030
Out of the Carabao

Premier League
Gameday 8

Good win for the Premier League for our 2nd team as well which is nice to see.

UEFA Champions League
League Phase

Gameday 3

Another good result, this time for the UCL which means we are now 2/3 in the UCL. Not a bad start.

Premier League
Gameday 9

Another good result for our 2nd team as we score another 5 goals past Sheffield.

EFL Cup
Fourth Round

Almost a perfect month but Chelsea battered us 4-0 for the Carabao.
Not that it matters though.

League Table

Still 1st in the league with Arsenal right at our tail.
Weird to see Tottenham and Man. United getting such a bad start after giving us a good challenge last season.

UEFA Champions League
League Table

Got up 2 places with our win against Lille and hopefully we'll stay around the first 8 places.

November

Not an easy month as we face Atlético, Newcastle and Chelsea but I'm hoping we are good enough to do it fairly decently.​

 

[misterioBean]

1st December 2030
Chelsea Do It Again

Premier League
Gameday 10

After our loss in the Carabao we bounced back in the Premier League and beat Crystal Palace.

UEFA Champions League
League Phase

Gameday 4

We easily beat Atlético for the UCL which is a very nice indication we are indeed a strong team.

Premier League
Gameday 11

That feeling was strenghten after another easy win against 4th place Newcastle.
After their early game they did nothing in the game.

Premier League
Gameday 12

And of course Chelsea scores a 94th minute winner to end our good run in the league.
What a joke...

UEFA Champions League
League Phase

Gameday 5

And then we draw against Besiktas for the UCL whilst losing one of our main players to a 4 week injury...

Premier League
Gameday 13

Finally got back to winning ways against Wolverhampton for the Premier League in another game dominated by our team.
We even used our 2nd team for this game.

League Table

Pretty much the same in the league.
Arsenal are still 1 point behind us and Chelsea climbed into UCL places.
Very interesting to see Birmingham's start to the season as they are currently 5th after getting promoted last season.

UEFA Champions League
League Table

We keep our 7th place despite our draw against Besiktas and with only 3 games left against RB Salzburg, AC Milan and Celtic I think we have good chanced of finishing in the top 8.

December

The months of December and January are always complete chaos in England and this year is no different.
We'll face Man. United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham in 12 days and we also have another UCL fixture between league matches. I just hope we don't slip too much. Last year's schedule was similar and we did well so let's hope we are ableto come out of it with a decent run.​

 

[misterioBean]

31st December 2030
How to Avoid Defeat: Defensive Masterclass

Premier League
Gameday 14

We needed a good result in our first two matches of December and we started really well with a 4-1 win over Brighton.

Premier League
Gameday 15

We followed it with yet another 4-1 win over Aston Villa and things were looking good for us.

UEFA Champions League
League Phase

Gameday 6

It looked even better after our 2nd team defeated RB Salzburg for the Champions League giving us 3 more points in the League Phase.

Premier League
Gameday 16 to 19

I dont't even know how to describe this run.
4 draws in a row in just 12 days and we played the exact same team in every game...
It could have been way worse and let me tell you we dominated Liverpool and Tottenham and were very unlucky not to get out of those games with the win.

Premier League
Gameday 20

Our 2nd team gave us the 3 points in the last game of the year with a very good performance at the Etihad.

League Table

Things are looking juicy.
Arsenal dropped points to Liverpool and Man. United after they drew against us so now we have a 6 point lead which could be only a 3 point lead if they win their game in hand but it's still better than a 1 point difference.

UEFA Champions League
League Table

4th place in the Champions League for us with 2 more games to be played against AC Milan and Celtic so we should be able to secure a good place in the end.

January

January's looking slightly better than December but at least the UCL matches don't have any other fixture inbetween so our 1st team should be rested for both.

Youth Intake Preview

I'm very glad we are able to sign players now because we have not been lucky with our youth intakes.​

 

[misterioBean]

2nd February 2031
Some Slips On the Way

Transfers Out

I forgot to say this but right after the end of the European transfer window Sangaré left the club to join Al-Ahli who paid 30m for the 32 year old. I just couldn't say no.

In January, we sold Jorge Everall who was never going to be a good option for the club and still made 13.25m (thanks to English players overvaluation).

We also loaned out Jonathan Rowe and last season's hero James Hemming who lost space in the squad with the arrival of João Pereira. His loan spell has a buy out clause after 5 games played of 20m.

Transfer In

I tried to sign an English player for our DM position but they are just way too expensive so I ended up paying 40m straight for Porto's Alan Varela, which will rise up to 64m.

Premier League
Gameday 21

Difficult fixture against Birmingham who are having a terrific season but we got away with the win.

FA Cup
Third Round

Not much to say about this.
Good game for our 2nd team.

Premier League
Gameday 22

We followed our good run with another win against Leeds with our 2nd team once again.

Premier League
Gameday 23

And then we almost lost to West Ham but thanks to Merlin Rohl's late goal we rescued 1 point in London.

Premier League
Gameday 24

And followed it with a 3-2 loss to Everton at the Etihad which was not ideal.

UEFA Champions League
League Phase

Gameday 7

And after saying we could be challenging for the UCL this year Milan sent us back to reality and beat us 3-0.

FA Cup
Fourth Round

Another good win in the cup for our 2nd team.

UEFA Champions League
League Phase

Gameday 8

Convincing win against Celtic in our last League Phase fixture for the UCL.

Premier League
Gameday 25

I ended up playing the first game of February as well and forgot to update first but it was a win against Bournemouth at the Etihad.

League Table

After our latest slips we are now 1st with a 4 point lead but Arsenal still have a game in hand.
Won't be easy to retain the title this year but we'll do our best.

UEFA Champions League
League Table

We also finished 11th in the UCL and will have to go through the playoffs to be able to stay at the competition.

February

At least it seems like a chill month in February and the UCL fixture shouldn't be too hard.​

 

[misterioBean]

28th February 2031
Wolves Yet Again

Premier League
Gameday 26

We couldn't get more than a draw against Brentford.
very boring 2nd half, they defended very well and we attacekd very badly.

UEFA Champions League
Knockout Playoff Round 1st Leg

It was a very good game against Valencia and we basically secured a spot in the Round of 16.

Premier League
Gameday 27

Yet another 2-2 draw for the league but we just got unlucky in this one.
João missed a penalty and our backup goalkeeper got injured but we also hit the woodwork 4 times.

UEFA Champions League
Knockout Playoff Round 2nd Leg

We then beat Valencia once again to ensure our presence in the knockout round of the UCL.

Premier League
Gameday 28

Close one against Sheffield but thankfully we got the win in the end.

FA Cup
Fifth Round

Once again we are out of the FA Cup eliminated by Wolverhampton.
I know I always use the 2nd team but they had some very good performances in the past, I guess Wolves are better than I though though.

League Table

Or maybe they just give everything they have in the cup competitions because they currently sit 15th in the league.
We are still leading but Arsenal and Liverpool are right behind us and don't forget we will have a very difficult end to the season once again this year.

March

Should be a manageable month.
We got FC Porto in the UCL which is good. I think we are good enough to beat them confortably but I don't want to be saying this and then being destroyed.​

 

[misterioBean]

1st June 2031
Miracles Needed

So I may have gotten a bit excited towards the end of the season and decided to just end it.
This will be the last of update of the season because I played the last 3 months during my night shift at work.
Let's get started

March

Premier League
Gameday 29

It was a good game against Crystal Palace at the Etihad.
Just crazy we keep missing penalties this season and I do train them once every month or so, maybe I should train them more.

UEFA Champions League
Round of 16 1st Leg

It wasn't an easy game despite the 4-0 result.
Porto defended really well in the 1st half but in the last 30 minutes of the game they just crashed.

UEFA Champions League
Round of 16 2nd Leg

In Portugal we had an easier time scoring but they also scored one past us right after we scored the 1st goal.
8-1 on aggregate and Manchester City procede to the Champions League Quarter Finals.

Premier League
Gameday 30

We then beat Chelsea at the Etihad but when they went down to 10 man since the 18th minute it made our jobs easier.
Even then we didn't play very well and our 2nd half was awful.

Premier League
Gameday 31

We dominated our next game against Newcastle but could only score one past their defense.
A win is a win and we can't complain.

League Table

With only 7 games to go we lead the league with a 7 pont gap between us and Arsenal and it's starting to seem possible to retain our Premier League title.

April's Fixtures

We got drawn against Bayern in the UCL Quarter Finals and to be completely honest it could have been way worse.
We had teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid and PSG still in the competition. It could also be better though since the other teams around were SL Benfica, Arsenal and Bournemouth. Yes, Bournemouth made it to the Quarter Finals of the UCL.

April

Premier League
Gameday 32

It was not a very good start but at least our 2nd team didn't lose against Wolves again.

UEFA Champions League
Quarter Final 1st Leg

Bayern got slightly FM'd here but I don't care.
We won in Munich and have a one goal lead in the Quarter Final!

Premier League
Gameday 33

Obviously, after you win a game you don't desearved to, you also get a warning from the FM gods that FM'ing happens to you as well.
We lost our Premier League fixture against Brighton who had a total of 2 shots in the game. Harsh.

UEFA Champions League
Quarter Final 2nd Leg

I was speechless. After the end of the game I literally stared at the screen just seeing what happened. Bayern had 2 shots, 1 on target, which they scored. We had 14 shots and hit the target 8 times.
Huge win for the Citizens and we are headed to the UCL Semi Finals 8 years after everything we went through...

We will face Barcelona in the Semi Final and I was really sad. I wanted to face Arsenal and see Barcelona facing Real Madrid but I guess everyone wanted an El Classico Final.

Premier League
Gameday 34

Thigs weren't looking good in the league after we got beaten yet again, this time against Aston Villa.

Premier League
Gameday 35

Not the best result but a draw in the Manchester Derby is not the worse as well.

UEFA Champions League
Semi Final 1st Leg

Barcelona's side proved to be over our capabilities in the Camp Nou as Vitor Roque's brace puts Barcelona ahead.
We atleast scored a goal in Spain so a comeback was still possible but we needed a miracle.

League Table

After a very bad run Liverpool catched us in the league and Arsenal are right behind as well.

May's Fixtures

May will be decisive.
We face Liverpool which may very well be the most important game of the season so far.
Right after that game comes the other fixture challenging for that spot as we face Barcelona at the Etihad.

May

Premier League
Gameday 36

We bottled it...
Liverpool outclassed us in Anfield and took the 3 points and possibly our Premier League dreams for this season.
Once again, we need a miracle...

UEFA Champions League
Semi Final 2nd Leg


I was getting scared for this one and decided to change the tactic:

Yes, we finally diverged from our trustworthy 4-3-3 and went to the Barcelona's game with a 4-2-4.
The main idea? We will score more than you...

WHAT? WHAT?

This was my legit reaction when I was watching the game.
I was already thinking of how we could do things better next season when Daniel Mougin scored the tie equalizer on the 92nd minute of the game and relived our UCL dreams.

After barely any chances for both sides in the extra time I was already planning the penalty shootout and then we get a corner in the 120th minute... We sent it to the near post and our backup center back Álvaro Fornals who only got into the game in 97th minute scores the winning goal to send Manchester City to the UCL Final.

After miraculously beating Barcelona, we may need yet another miracle because we got Real Madrid in the Final.
A team who already beat us twice this season and overpormed us in both games. A team that is very well known to be the Champions League most dangerous side. They scored 9 goals against Arsenal but I also noticed something strange...

Arsenal were able to score 6 goals in London against them.
We have already beaten Arsenal multiple times and if they could do it we could too.

Our dreams were very much alive!

Premier League
Gameday 37

A late win against Tottenham keeps us in the title race.

And Liverpool's draw against Everton enhanced our chances even more as we are now 1 point behind them in the league.
Our last game against Nottingham Forest is, in theory, an easy win for our team so now we just need a miracle to happen: Arsenal needs to beat Liverpool in their last game.

Premier League
Gameday 38

A penalty in the 16th minute gave us the 3 points but we had the game in our hands the entire time.
We did our job. Now we need Arsenal to help us out...

And they did!

Manchester City are still Premier League champions!
I gotta be honest here. This has been a very fun save so far. I really don't like Manchester City as a team and I'm sure I wouldn't have fun playing with them in their current state but starting in teh Vanarama divisions and get all the way up is very rewarding, even if we always had the financial power on our side but even with 200m in the budget we couldn't spend a penny until 2027.

In my eyes, this was one of my most successful saves ever in FM.
But there's still one game left to be played.

UEFA Champions League
Final

With the success our 4-2-4 had against Barcelona, we went to the UCL Final with it once again.

We had our best team at our disposal (João Pereira was not injured but I forgot to screenshot the team before the game ) and we now go into the game knowing very well it would never be easy to get through Real Madrid.

Guys... We did it...

I don't even know how to describe this game. It was simply the most intense game I've seen in a while.
A game with 37 shots in total, 20 for Real and 17 for us, 48% / 52% possession. Our main striker got injured and we had to play our winger Mougin in the striker role and he ended up scoring the last goal of the match for us.

With this win we got the same achievement Man. City had last season: the treble.
Yes ours was not that impressive because we didn't win the FA Cup but I mean it's still a treble.

If you count our win the Euro/SAM Club Challenge we can even consider it as a quadruple...

We were also named as a club legend by the biggest legend himself Pep Guardiola and cimented our place as one of the best Portuguese managers and, arguably, one of the best managers in the world.​

 

[Nightman]

Congrats! Are you planning to keep playing or retire at the top?

 

[misterioBean]

Time for Reflecion

It has been a very stimulating save and definitely the right choice to get back the spark for FM.
However, we completed our main goal: Getting Man. City to the top of European football.

With that in mind, it's time for our manager to retire from the Man. City's manager role.
Let's take journey back in time and see our biggest achievements...

In the 8 seasons we've been in Manchester we were able to secure 16 trophies for the clubs tally:

- 1 Vanarama National League North
- 1 Vanarama National League
- 1 SkyBet League Two
- 1 Skybet League One
- 1 SkyBet Championship
- 2 Premier League

- 2 Isuzu FA Trophy
- 2 EFL trophy
- 1 FA Community Shield

- 1 UEFA Super Cup
- 1 UEFA Europa League
- 1 UEFA European/South American Club Challenge
- 1 UEFA Champions League

Stat wise we have a win percentage of 75%, but that is highly inflated by the games we played in the lower leagues where we way ahead of our competition in terms of squad quality.

We scored 1314 goals in 8 years and conceded 407 with the majority of those having taken place in our Premier League seasons.

In 8 years, we got the club's reputation back to it's original "Worldwide" level and are now considered a club legend.

Speaking of club legends, it's time we acknowledge some of the players that got us to where we are.

Micah Hamilton

A player that stayed with us from the 1st season all the way up until the Premier League.
Was one of the most important backup players we had in our team for 5 seasons having scored 63 goals and provided an extra 44. 99 goal contributions in 5 seasons as a backup midfielder is enough to earn a spot in the supporter's hearts.

Will Dickson

Another important backup player who scored 74 goals and provided 15 assists for our club in 5 seasons.

Alex Robertson

Started as a backup in our midfield but quickly became an important player for us, also leaving after 5 seasons.
In their spell at the club, he scored 58 goals and assisted 39 from the playmaker role.

Oscar Bobb

One of the best players we had until we reached the Premier League.
98 goal contributions in 5 seasons makes him one of the club's heroes in the last decade.

James McAtee

James McAtee stayed in the club for 7 years after being sold this season having scored 63 goals and assisted 69, getting an impressive 132 goal contributions in 7 seasons. One of the most influencial players we had in our carreer.

James Hemming

The best player that came out of our academy in the last 8 seasons, James Hemming played an important role for our club since 2025, playing 172 games and scoring 81 goals from the striker position. He's now leaving the club to get more regular playing time, be I doubt any City fan will forget about him in the near future.

Callum Doyle

A true definition of legend.
Callum Doyle is the only original Man. City player still at the club playing regularly.
In fact, he has been our most trustworthy centre back since day 1. He played 279 games for us, being our most used player.

Assan Ouédraogo

Despite being a fairly decent signing, I just have to put him on this list. I mean hwo couldn´t I when he scored 43 goals and made another 16 assists in 2 seasons since he joined?

Hakan Peeters

I was debating about this one, but on second thought he's probably the main reason why we won the UCL in the first place, alongside Ouédraogo of course.
Peeters only joined us this season but bagged 12 goals and 11 assists with an average rating of 7.08 in the league and a pass completion rate of 85% in all competitions.

João Pereira

Another one I was debating about was the Portuguese striker since he only played for us this season afterspending another 2 loaned out of the club, but he scored 23 goals this season and gave us some important wins over the season. He may not be a club legendyet, but I don't think it will take much time for it to happen. I mean he's still 21 years old, maybe not a club legend, but definitely a season hero.

There are a few more players I could have included, but I think this were the most influential ones we had over the seasons.

The Arab money era for the Citizens seem to be over. The new board does not invest as much money as the old owners and it may be something the club will struggle with in the next seasons.

What Now?

After finishing the challenge at 5am, I didn't really have the energy to think about my next save. However, when I woke up I started thinking and now have some in mind. I could do with a little help deciding though.

The Vitor Oliveira Challenge

For those who don't know him, Vítor Oliveira was a Portuguese manager known as the "promotion king". Why? Simple, during his career he promoted 11 teams to the Portuguese top flight. Sadly, he left us in 2020.

The goal of this challenge is to replicate and go beyong his achievements:
​

- Get promotion to the first division with more than 11 teams from the same country while being champion at least 50% of them;
- For our 1st season, we have to start with a team who just go relegated from the 1st division and can only change clubs after getting promoted.

Glory Hunter

One of the challenges I already posted about but sadly lost due to corrupted files but that seems to be over now so I was thinking about starting it over again.

The goal is easier said than done:
​

- Win the league and cup of the top 5 leagues (could also include Portugal and the Netherlands) + the UCL, UEL and UECL in 20 seasons or less.

Well, that's basically it.

Youth2Gold

My favourite challenge to do in FM is undoubtedly the Youth2Gold. I already attempted to do it this year but the file also got corrupted (RIP Saint-Etienne)

This challenge consists of taking a team, preferably not a top team, and win the Champions League whilst only signing players under the age of 19.

If I start this one again, I think I'm thinking of starting with the team I support, Vitória SC again.
There have been some interesting factor taking place this season and I think it may be more difficult this year.

The Journeyman

Another challenge I already attempted but never really got to the end of it.

The premiss is simple:
​

- Start unemployed with minimal badges and experience and travel the world aiming to win trophies.

Simple enough right?

The Pentagon Challenge

Well if the Journeyman seems underwhelming, the Pentagon makes it way more interesting.

On paper, the goal is still simple:
​

- Travel the world and win all Continental Champions League: CONCACAF, AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL Libertadores and UEFA Champions League.

I said simple on paper, achieving it is a whole different story.

Thanks to everyone who followed my journey in England and also thanks in advance to everyone who helps me deciding my next challenge.

I'll be back soon!​