Nacional da Madeira - Portuguese Power

[zacram]

We hit our first mini dip of the season, failing to convert chances in 2 very winnable games against Moreirense and Farense, before losing the return fixture against Slavia Prague in the Europa Conference League. A comfortable cup win against lower league opposition gladly got us back on track though.

Our academy prospect, Francisco Pereira became the the club's youngest ever goalscorer. I am giving him game time in the cup competitions as have high hopes for him in the future, as Sporting are already sniffing around to secure a transfer deal for him.

We then managed to secure our place in the Europa League Conference knockout rounds with a game in hand, thanks to a home win against Red Star Belgrade. If Red Star beat Slavia Prague in the final game they would be level with us, but our head to head record is better so mathematically cannot over take us.

We celebrated our qualification by hammering Molde in the final group game. I played a semi-rotated side but following an early red card we went into the break 6-0 up! Understandably we eased off in the second half, but it was quite the performance for our 32 travelling fans.

So we finish runners up to Slavia Prague, who cruised through the group on maximum points.

We will now face Rangers in the First Knockout Round. Celtic beat them to the title by 4 points last season but they are currently leading the race this season, albeit having played more games.

Whilst we will be underdogs we have proved to be no pushovers so far in our European debut season.

We are back firing in the League, beating Sporting at home. They had the better chances but we capitalised on a mistake at the back and managed to convert as we continue pushing at the top of the table.

Just a few days later and we manage to pull off a smash and grab comeback against Braga. Despite controlling possession we really didn't do much with the ball, but managed to convert 3 half chances in the final 20 minutes to complete a very unlikely comeback.

A couple more wins in the league and we sit second with 2 games in hand on Porto! We are currently unbeaten this season having dropped just 6 points. It may not be the prettiest football, but it is certainly effective.

We have conceded just 4 goals and scored only 16 goals in 12 games so far in the League.

Despite our successes this season, I am not really buying into the club culture, which could prove costly at some point if our on field results start to go wayward. But for now we are floating on cloud 9.

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

We hit our first mini dip of the season, failing to convert chances in 2 very winnable games against Moreirense and Farense, before losing the return fixture against Slavia Prague in the Europa Conference League. A comfortable cup win against lower league opposition gladly got us back on track though.

View attachment 553449



Our academy prospect, Francisco Pereira became the the club's youngest ever goalscorer. I am giving him game time in the cup competitions as have high hopes for him in the future, as Sporting are already sniffing around to secure a transfer deal for him.


View attachment 553450
View attachment 553451



We then managed to secure our place in the Europa League Conference knockout rounds with a game in hand, thanks to a home win against Red Star Belgrade. If Red Star beat Slavia Prague in the final game they would be level with us, but our head to head record is better so mathematically cannot over take us.

View attachment 553452View attachment 553453
View attachment 553454



We celebrated our qualification by hammering Molde in the final group game. I played a semi-rotated side but following an early red card we went into the break 6-0 up! Understandably we eased off in the second half, but it was quite the performance for our 32 travelling fans.

So we finish runners up to Slavia Prague, who cruised through the group on maximum points.


View attachment 553455View attachment 553456
View attachment 553458


We will now face Rangers in the First Knockout Round. Celtic beat them to the title by 4 points last season but they are currently leading the race this season, albeit having played more games.

Whilst we will be underdogs we have proved to be no pushovers so far in our European debut season.


View attachment 553460
View attachment 553461



We are back firing in the League, beating Sporting at home. They had the better chances but we capitalised on a mistake at the back and managed to convert as we continue pushing at the top of the table.


View attachment 553462View attachment 553463




Just a few days later and we manage to pull off a smash and grab comeback against Braga. Despite controlling possession we really didn't do much with the ball, but managed to convert 3 half chances in the final 20 minutes to complete a very unlikely comeback.

View attachment 553464View attachment 553465



A couple more wins in the league and we sit second with 2 games in hand on Porto! We are currently unbeaten this season having dropped just 6 points. It may not be the prettiest football, but it is certainly effective.

We have conceded just 4 goals and scored only 16 goals in 12 games so far in the League.

View attachment 553466
View attachment 553467



Despite our successes this season, I am not really buying into the club culture, which could prove costly at some point if our on field results start to go wayward. But for now we are floating on cloud 9.

View attachment 553468​

holy **** Nacional beat Molde 6-1 and now they are in second place in Liga NOS,will they qualify champions league or europa league

 

[zacram]

Despite going a goal down we managed to dominate Porto in a fiery encounter in the PT Cup 5th Round. We fully deserved our late winner, following the sending off of Mateus Uribe as we made the extra man count.

Another massive win for us in an incredible season to date!

11 days after beating Porto in the PT Cup, we gave the Nacional da Madeira fans a Christmas to celebrate, beating them yet again, this time in the League. This was a much less convincing performance, and Porto will feel extremely hard done by not to get anything out of the game as they missed numerous chances. On the other-hand despite us missing a penalty we scored with our 2 shots on target to claim an extremely valuable 3 points in the title race.

Having gone unbeaten domestically all season thus far, spanning an incredible 24 games, we finally lose to newly promoted side, Chaves of all teams! We dominated the game and I went attacking at the end as we pushed for the winner, but were caught on the counter attack and our unbeaten run season is finally foiled.

3 days after losing to Chaves in the League, we are knocked out of the PT Cup by Sporting. We can have no complaints about the result, but having now suffered back-to-back defeats is our season are we starting to run out of steam?

Despite the couple of losses we are still defying expectations and sit top of the table with 2 games in hand on Porto. We have just passed the half way stage so still have a lot of football to play this season and we are going to have to be near perfect if we can pull off the most unlikely of title wins.

Realistically I'll be hoping we can hold off for a Top 4 finish and get into either the Champions League or Europa League for next season, but honestly any European football would still be a successful season.

With the transfer window now open, we do have money to work with. However, I am relatively happy with the squad and wont be spending money for the sake of it as I look to manage our financial security. As always I'll be working on free transfer deals on expiring contracts.

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

and Now Nacional are in first place holy banna

Despite going a goal down we managed to dominate Porto in a fiery encounter in the PT Cup 5th Round. We fully deserved our late winner, following the sending off of Mateus Uribe as we made the extra man count.

Another massive win for us in an incredible season to date!

View attachment 553739View attachment 553740




11 days after beating Porto in the PT Cup, we gave the Nacional da Madeira fans a Christmas to celebrate, beating them yet again, this time in the League. This was a much less convincing performance, and Porto will feel extremely hard done by not to get anything out of the game as they missed numerous chances. On the other-hand despite us missing a penalty we scored with our 2 shots on target to claim an extremely valuable 3 points in the title race.


View attachment 553741View attachment 553742




Having gone unbeaten domestically all season thus far, spanning an incredible 24 games, we finally lose to newly promoted side, Chaves of all teams! We dominated the game and I went attacking at the end as we pushed for the winner, but were caught on the counter attack and our unbeaten run season is finally foiled.


View attachment 553743View attachment 553744




3 days after losing to Chaves in the League, we are knocked out of the PT Cup by Sporting. We can have no complaints about the result, but having now suffered back-to-back defeats is our season are we starting to run out of steam?


View attachment 553745View attachment 553746



Despite the couple of losses we are still defying expectations and sit top of the table with 2 games in hand on Porto. We have just passed the half way stage so still have a lot of football to play this season and we are going to have to be near perfect if we can pull off the most unlikely of title wins.

Realistically I'll be hoping we can hold off for a Top 4 finish and get into either the Champions League or Europa League for next season, but honestly any European football would still be a successful season.

View attachment 553748
View attachment 553747



With the transfer window now open, we do have money to work with. However, I am relatively happy with the squad and wont be spending money for the sake of it as I look to manage our financial security. As always I'll be working on free transfer deals on expiring contracts.

View attachment 553749
View attachment 553750​

And Now nacional are in First place man this full game is really really easy

 

[zacram]

We managed to coast past our lower league counterparts in the League Cup Semi-Final, as we look to retain the least desirable piece of silverware in Portugal. The game was never really in doubt and now we do have a chance to add to our trophy cabinet regardless of the stature of the competition.

The final was to be played just 3 days later and our opposition were Sporting, a side that had just knocked us out of the PT Cup.

As it was the final it looks as though we both fielded our strongest available sides.

It wont be consecutive League Cups for us, as Sporting comprehensively dismantled us.We just struggled to cope with their attacking power and looked all over the place in defence, whilst our strikers failed to really make anything happen at the other end.

Disappointing, but we have bigger fish to fry this season in both the Title race and Europa Conference League.

We managed to return to winning ways in the league, but did fall to our second defeat of the season away to Boavista. We do still have a game in hand on Porto should could go 1 point clear, although Sporting will draw level if they win theirs.

The big teams are starting to hit form finally and a shock title victory is slowly slipping through our fingers. We will keep fighting to the end and if we can hang on to a top 4 finish, which looks very likely it will have been a massively successful season.

The Training Ground has been improved and our facilities are starting to look very impressive, particularly for a club of our stature.

Next up we have our Europa Conference League Knockout game against Rangers. The 2 games are played within the space of 48 hours which seems rather strange, but at least we will both equally be impacted.

Rangers are dominating the Scottish Premiership and are currently on a 14 game unbeaten run..... It does not look good for us.

The only bit of good news is that 2 of their best players will be suspended for the first leg...

​

 

[zacram]

and Now Nacional are in first place holy banna

And Now nacional are in First place man this full game is really really easy

It has been a bit easier than anticipated, but Sporting and Porto are starting to look very dominant again.

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

It has been a bit easier than anticipated, but Sporting and Porto are starting to look very dominant again.

but better watch out for V Guimaraes they are gonna in Champions league,so how V Guimares is doing in Champions league did they doing pretty well or worse

 

[zacram]

but better watch out for V Guimaraes they are gonna in Champions league,so how V Guimares is doing in Champions league did they doing pretty well or worse

They came 3rd in their CL Group and are currently in the second round of the Europa Knockout stages against Atalanta. Will do an update on all the Portuguese European endeavours at the end of the season

 

[zacram]

We quickly found ourselves 2-0 down at the halftime whistle in the first leg and any hopes of progressing starting to slip through our fingers. However, 2 goals in the space of 2 minutes secured us an incredible fightback and leaves us in a very strong position going into the second leg. Rangers were missing a couple of key players but we fully deserved the result, having controlled much of the game.

So with just 48 hours rest, we lined up for the second leg!


Ryan Kent was available for the second leg and looked fresh legged against our fatigued defence, scoring a brace inside 15 minutes. At that point it really did feel as though we were going to be dead and buried, but we managed to hit a couple back before halftime to level the scoreline.

Extra time was the last thing anyone wanted and players were flagging all over the pitch on both sides, but our main man Gonçalo Ramos came up trumps, scoring his 23rd goal of the campaign as we held on for a historic victory against a very strong Rangers side!

We did suffer one casualty, as Vincent Thill is set to be sidelines for the remainder of the season having broken his ankle. He has been a really good impact sub for us this season and will be a big loss as we enter the season run in.

So we will now line up against Slavia Prague in the second knockout stage.

We have already lost to them twice this season in the Group Stage and am not entirely sure how we have therefore ended up on the same side of the draw as them? Either way both games were quite close so hopefully it's our turn to get some revenge.

Unfortunately our League form has started to suffer as I'm having to heavily rotate the side to combat fatigue. Our squad really isn't the strongest and it is starting to show. I made the decision to rest key players for the game against Farense, to preserve them for the game against Slavia Pargu, in which we went on to suffer our first home league defeat of the season and most likely our title shot alongside it.

I still think we can hang on to a Top 3 finish but can't see us getting past Porto at this stage.

Benfica have sacked Sarri as his tenure doesn't even last a full season. It hasn't been a great season for them and am intrigued to see who they bring in next.

The board have agreed to bolster our Youth Recruitment yet again!

Next up we have the double header with Slavia Prague, with another League game in between which I may have to sacrifice fin favour of the Europa Conference League, depending how the first leg goes.

 

[zacram]

Once again we found ourselves 2-0 down in our European fixture, and once again we managed to claw our way back into it. However, Sima managed to complete his first half hattrick to win the first leg for Slavia Prague.

We were the better team and can feel a bit aggrieved in all honesty, but that's football at the end of the day and we have another game to try win the tie.

A very dramatic end to the game leaves our 61 travelling fans in heartbreak!

After scoring a penalty in the 93rd minute to put us 4-3 up on aggregate, some fans were already starting to book flights for the quarter-finals, only for us to concede with the final kick of the game! After scoring I went ultra defensive and tried to just shut up shop, but a lapse in concentration and our European campaign ultimately ends....

No Portuguese sides made it out of the Groups in the CL and both Vit. Guimaraes and Porto go out in the second knockout round of the Europa League, whilst Benfica have made it through to the Quarters after beating Everton.

Sporting completely collapsed in the Euorpa Conference second round against Feyenoord, losing 5-1 at home in the second leg! Whilst Braga are still representing Portugal in the Quarters

Despite our European exit, we have recorded a further 3 wins in the League to leave us just 4 points behind Porto in the title race and needing just 2 points to guarantee us a place in at least the CL qualifying rounds next season!

It's an exciting title race

Unfortunately we have an incredibly tough run in... Playing the 3 other sides in the Top 4 as well as Vilafranquense. The chances of us wining the title are next to none, but regardless we have far exceeded this seasons expectations

Benfica have poached Vit. Guimarães manager as they look to improve on 2 very mediocre seasons in the league by their standards.

The new youth prospects have come through the academy and unfortunately despite investment in our youth recruitment, it doesn't look like we'll have any superstars coming through.

 

[zacram]

Our outside chance of winning the League was quickly ended with our loss to Sporting. It did feel as though we were running out of steam at the back end of the season having played close to 60 games in all competitions, but have made the CL nonetheless.

As we held Porto to a draw on the final day, had Sporting won their game they would have been Champions, but instead Porto retain their crown for a third consecutive season.

This was the highest ever finish for Nacional da Madeira in the League, so still an incredibly successful season in which we qualify for the CL preliminaries.

Our debut in the Europa Conference generated some extra income this season and should be even higher next season even if we end up in the Europa League.

Here is the best XI of the season, which contains only 3 non Portuguese players.

Ramos scored a massive 28 goals for us up front and has proved to be a massive signing, if only on a loan deal basis.

After a successful season the board have pumped money into the club to try establish ourselves as one of the big Portuguese Sides.

The Stadium will be expanded, training facilities upgraded and junior coaching bolstered.

We are now ranked as the 8th most reputable side in Portugal as we start to make moves up the pecking order.

I was also voted Manager of the Year which is always a bonus.

Benfica lost out to Napoli in the Semi-Final of the Europa League, whilst Braga lost in the Europa League Conference to Spurs (yes, they finally got silverware).

​

 

[zacram]

It's another transfer window focusing on free transfers and transitioning to a Portuguese squad.

Our biggest signing was the free transfer of Ryan Gauld.

Now he is technically Scottish, but does have Portuguese nationality, so have decided to still go through with the deal, but will sell him if he ever gets a senior cap for Scotland. He has managed 15 assists in his last 2 season playing for Farense in the Premier League and his attributes are pretty insane in comparison to the rest of the squad.

We also secured another creative playmaker to add some technical quality to our midfield, picking up Vasco Sousa from Porto. He looks a very good player, capped at U20 level, and is still just a teenager.

My backup keeper decided to retire despite still having a year on his contract which meant I had to secure a player. Francisco Meixedo appeared to be the best fit and is still only 21. He is probably on par with the current first team keeper and has bags of potential so could be a player that sticks around for a longtime with us.

I did also extend a couple of our loan players including last season goal machine, Gonçalo Ramos.

I'm still trying to clear a bit of deadwood out of the squad but we have nearly transitioned into a fully Portuguese squad.

We were drawn against Zenit for our first CL qualifying round. They finished runners up in Russia last season and have some quality players to call upon.

Having said that we have looked very impressive in our pre-season, beating the likes of West Ham, Bayer Leverkusen and Saint-Etienne. Just need to carry this form into the season now!

​

 

[zacram]

Despite giving a penalty away in the 2nd minute, we rallied well and completely bossed Zenit, much to the surprise of many spectators. Before kick off I probably would have accepted a draw but at the full time whistle we can feel pretty hard done by not to be ahead in the tie.

We now have to make the long trip to Saint Petersberg, needing a win.

We managed to pull it off, controlling the game once again and very worth winners across the two legs.

Ryan Gauld looked very good in the game, scoring and then assisting the winner. A player I am really excited about this season.

We now have to face PSV in our final hurdle to qualify for the CL Group Stages. A side that finished second in the Eredivisie last season and squad filled with international experience.

Once again I was thinking a draw would be a good result, but we have managed to secure a 2 goal lead to take to the Netherlands. It was another world class display from our side and we are now on the verge of qualifying for the CL!

We have qualified for the CL!

As we entered into the last few minutes of the game with a 3 goal aggregate lead, we were cruising. However, 2 late PSV goals made it a very nervy ending as they pushed to take the game to extra time. Fortunately we managed to kill the game off and have just been rewarded with £14M in the bank.

Pray for Nacional da Madeira.....

I mean we were always going to be up against European Giants but we will be lucky to secure a single point. Despite the fact we will likely get hammered in each game, the money generated is massive for the club as well as the prestige of playing at this level, something that can hopefully attract bigger and better talent.

At 9000/1 we are almost twice as unlikely to repeat Leicester's Premier League heroics....

Amongst our CL qualifiers we have kicked off the Portuguese season and haven't had the greatest start. We dropped 2 points at home to Famalicão and then lost away to Braga. Still along way to go and we should definitely be securing a Top 6 finish as a minimum I'd say.

A couple of big deals in the Portuguese Premier League....

 

[zacram]

Our CL campaign started with a casual trip to the Bernabéu and the outcome was exactly as anticipated. The gulf in class was quite evident and although we kept hold of the ball pretty effectively, we didn't have the cutting edge up front to really threaten an upset.

We managed to secure a point!

Of the 3 other teams in our group, Milan were always going to be the side we targeted and in front of a sellout crowd managed to hold the 7 time champions.

PSG were the next side in town and we put up a much bigger fight than many thought before kickoff. Obviously we did lose the game, but we fashioned some really good chances and just couldn't convert them. Definitely a lot of positives on show.

So we sit bottom of the table at the half way stage. Madrid and PSG have all but secured the top 2 spots and we are now battling Milan for 3rd. It will likely come down to whether or not we can get a result at the San Siro... something I highly doubt.

Back to the Premier League and we slumped to a crushing defeat at home to Sporting. 3 of the goals did come right at the end of the game but they were by far the better side on the day and sets us back in a potential title race.

As usual most of the early focus is on cup competitions in Portugal. We continue to progress on the domestic front, winning out PT Cup and League Cup fixtures, but are still looking to get going in the Premier League. If we win our games in hand we will be right back in the European places but have lost early ground on some of the front runners.

So Ryan Gauld has finally been called up to the Scottish side, which really isn't surprising considering his performances over the past few season. Perhaps the fact he is now playing in the CL has boosted his status somewhat, but he already has 2 goals and 7 assists for us in 15 appearances - I may now have to sell him....

The stadium expansion has been complete and as we are now over 8,000 can finally host our own European fixtures rather than using our rivals, Maritimo's stadium. Hopefully our attendance can creep up in the league as well, coupled with some extra income.

 

[Nomadic]

Massive achievement to make it to the Champions League Group stages in your 3rd season - Not bad performances against Europes elites either!

Personally I think you should keep hold of Gauld. I mean technically you signed him when he had Portuguese nationality and no senior caps, plus looks a really exciting player to have in the squad.

 

[zacram]

Despite all of PSG's dominance they needed a penalty to breakdown our stubborn defence. We were massively outplayed as expected but some gritty defending almost helped us pull off an incredibly hard fought draw.

Two late goals deny us recording a historic result over Real Madrid. We were 4-3 up with just a couple of minutes left to play, before Odegaard and Milenkovic scored 2 late goals to leave us empty handed. Regardless of the end result we two-to-two with one of Europe's elites and are slowly making our presence felt.

We needed a score draw against Milan to come 3rd in the group and despite having the majority of possession, just couldn't make the break through. Again we were massive underdogs so weren't expected to come away with anything, but it was another impressive losing performance from us.

So we finish bottom of the group with a single point to our name in our CL debut season.. we just need to make sure we are back in the tournament again next season now.

We squeezed a couple of domestic games in-between our European commitments, progressing in the PT Cup and still trying to battle our way back into the top 6.

We then had a 2 month break as the 2022 World Cup got underway in Qatar.

Portugal got knocked out by Belgium in an all European Quarter Final affair.

Deja Vu of the 2010 World Cup, as Spain beat Holland in 1-0 in extra time.

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

Despite all of PSG's dominance they needed a penalty to breakdown our stubborn defence. We were massively outplayed as expected but some gritty defending almost helped us pull off an incredibly hard fought draw.

View attachment 554839View attachment 554840




Two late goals deny us recording a historic result over Real Madrid. We were 4-3 up with just a couple of minutes left to play, before Odegaard and Milenkovic scored 2 late goals to leave us empty handed. Regardless of the end result we two-to-two with one of Europe's elites and are slowly making our presence felt.

View attachment 554841View attachment 554842



We needed a score draw against Milan to come 3rd in the group and despite having the majority of possession, just couldn't make the break through. Again we were massive underdogs so weren't expected to come away with anything, but it was another impressive losing performance from us.


View attachment 554843View attachment 554844



So we finish bottom of the group with a single point to our name in our CL debut season.. we just need to make sure we are back in the tournament again next season now.


View attachment 554845



We squeezed a couple of domestic games in-between our European commitments, progressing in the PT Cup and still trying to battle our way back into the top 6.


View attachment 554846
View attachment 554847



We then had a 2 month break as the 2022 World Cup got underway in Qatar.

Portugal got knocked out by Belgium in an all European Quarter Final affair.


View attachment 554848



Deja Vu of the 2010 World Cup, as Spain beat Holland in 1-0 in extra time.


View attachment 554849
View attachment 554850​

holy banana Braga,V Guimaraes and Farense are in champions league places and big three are in challenge from europa league and conference league places
5000/1 on Braga doing an leicester fairytale in primeira liga

 

[zacram]

We recorded another victory over Benfica in the League, as Ramos once again scores against his parent team. They really need to start amending their loan contracts, although I highly doubt we'll be able to loan him for a 3rd consecutive season. A very strong performance as we try to remain in the title race.

I did then decide to sign Nani on a 6 month deal. I'm a bit of a sucker for bringing in veteran players on these kind of saves and although he may not add that much to the team, his wages are minimal and may potentially boost our kit sales. I just have to make sure he doesn't play 15 games as that will trigger a 1 year extension (something I don't really want to commit to)

We miss out on a third consecutive League Cup Final on penalties. Sporting were much the better side and we were lucky to make it to penalties to be honest, but is another shot at silverware down the drain for this season.

Benfica managed to get some revenge for our thrashing in the League, dumping us out of the PT Cup as another chance of domestic silverware slips past us. Our sole focus now is on the League and trying to finish in the Top 3 again and another season challenging in the CL.

So alongside our 2 cup exits we have also dropped some points in the League, losing to Portimonense and drawing away to Famalicão. We still have a lot of games in hand over those at the top of the table, but need to get some form back after a bit of a dip through January.

As the January Transfer window closes, Benfica are the side that have spent the most amount of money, bring Cristian Pavon in as they look to climb back up the League standings.

 

[zacram]

holy banana Braga,V Guimaraes and Farense are in champions league places and big three are in challenge from europa league and conference league places
5000/1 on Braga doing an leicester fairytale in primeira liga

Yes, the League table is looking rather strange at the moment but some teams still have a lot of games in hand so imagine the Top 6 will be the usual sides come the end of the season, although Braga are continuing to impress at the top!

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

Yes, the League table is looking rather strange at the moment but some teams still have a lot of games in hand so imagine the Top 6 will be the usual sides come the end of the season, although Braga are continuing to impress at the top!

And what the **** is happen to benfica and sporting do they have an bad luck and sacked the managers this season