Our first big domestic clash ended in a surprising 3-0 victory over Sporting. I have struggled to beat them since taking over at Nacional, having won only 2 out of 13 meetings prior to this. So to secure a victory with such an emphatic scoreline is a massive step for us (even if it was rather flattering).
We then kicked off our Champions League campaign with a narrow 1-0 victory over PSV. This is our first ever win in the group stages and gets us off to a really good start as we look to at least finish Top 3 in our group.
We then picked up a couple of wins in the League, as well as a loss in our League Cup group. I fielded a second string starting XI, but we really should have done better in the game.
We then hosted Italian Giants, Inter Milan, who finished 2nd in Serie A last season. They still have the firepower of Lukaku up front so to secure a clean sheet is a really good achievement for us and a really good point.
A couple of domestic cup competition wins for us, which again featured a mostly reserve/youth side as I rested some of the senior players.
We then had the long trip to Ukraine, where we once again showed our defensive prowess, and secured another valuable point. We did dominate the game so maybe we should have gone for the win, but I was happy with the result and leaves us well set at the halfway stage.
So we are currently unbeaten and sit 2 points behind Inter Milan. Our next game will be at home to Shaktar and a victory in that game will guarantee us 3rd place and knockout football. However, I think we have a really good chance still of finishing in the Top 2 and progression in the CL, which will bring in some massive revenue for us.
A couple more routine victories in the League followed...
Before we suffered our first defeat of the season in the League, to reigning champions Porto. We were away from home so was always going to be tricky but they made it look very comfortable even with 10 men for the remaining 30 minutes.
Despite losing to Porto we are ahead of them by 2 points. We cannot afford to slip up against the smaller Portuguese sides this season and hopefully we can take that next step and win the title this season.
We then kicked off our Champions League campaign with a narrow 1-0 victory over PSV. This is our first ever win in the group stages and gets us off to a really good start as we look to at least finish Top 3 in our group.
We then picked up a couple of wins in the League, as well as a loss in our League Cup group. I fielded a second string starting XI, but we really should have done better in the game.
We then hosted Italian Giants, Inter Milan, who finished 2nd in Serie A last season. They still have the firepower of Lukaku up front so to secure a clean sheet is a really good achievement for us and a really good point.
A couple of domestic cup competition wins for us, which again featured a mostly reserve/youth side as I rested some of the senior players.
We then had the long trip to Ukraine, where we once again showed our defensive prowess, and secured another valuable point. We did dominate the game so maybe we should have gone for the win, but I was happy with the result and leaves us well set at the halfway stage.
So we are currently unbeaten and sit 2 points behind Inter Milan. Our next game will be at home to Shaktar and a victory in that game will guarantee us 3rd place and knockout football. However, I think we have a really good chance still of finishing in the Top 2 and progression in the CL, which will bring in some massive revenue for us.
A couple more routine victories in the League followed...
Before we suffered our first defeat of the season in the League, to reigning champions Porto. We were away from home so was always going to be tricky but they made it look very comfortable even with 10 men for the remaining 30 minutes.
Despite losing to Porto we are ahead of them by 2 points. We cannot afford to slip up against the smaller Portuguese sides this season and hopefully we can take that next step and win the title this season.