Reviving sleeping giants: AS Saint-Étienne

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October 2020: Spanish revival!

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Once again, most people didn't seem too surprised by my selection of players for our game against Austria in the European International League Division A and Hungary as a friendly. Llorente is in the team and could get his very first cap for Spain, also I feel like I shouldn't play him just so people don't think I'm biased and picked him over other players just because he plays for Saint-Étienne...

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(Initial screenshot messed up so had to put that instead, sorry about that!) A very close victory for us but we dominated stats-wise and were expected to win the game and we did. It's a great way to start this European International League campaign and hopefully we keep getting good results in the games that come!

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For our final game of the month with Spain we were up against Hungary and it was another routine win for us. It's obviously the sort of games we should be winning and after an abysmal performance in Euro 2020 (2nd round exit against Portugal), we need to be getting these results and building up some confidence for the 2022 World Cup.
 
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October 2020: destined for Europa League?

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With 4 goals so far this season and I believe 3 of them coming just this month, Süle is really showing us why we were right to sign him. He's been absolutely incredible so far and I can't wait for him to keep performing and hopefully get a couple more goals in his first season for us. Salazar has also been really good and continues his amazing form, basically transforming into the new Combe!

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A tight victory once again but this keeps us as the only unbeaten team in the league and the best defence as well, which is great to see. Jonny is also showing us why we were right to spend so much on him with a man of the match performance. This game and the game against Troyes will all build up for the game against Leverkusen, so it's good to see that we're in great form!

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Great news as Combe and Smith both agree to contract extensions and will be staying at the club for a little while longer! Combe has been incredible since he's arrived and despite a slower start to the season this year, he's still scored some important goals. Smith is playing a lot less now with Lenglet playing at left-back but whenever he's been in the team he's done a great job, so this really is great news.

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Another hammering in the league as we put 3 past Troyes and concede 0, once again. Salazar continues his amazing run of form as Brad Smith scores right after his contract extension and Llorente scores his first goal of the season. Again, this keeps us top of the league, unbeaten, and with the best attack and defence in the league. Perfect title defence so far!

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An awful, awful game for us when we really needed a good performance. Embolo was outstanding and Aránguiz was also very good and did well to help their team turn things around considering we were the ones who went 1-0 up thanks to Malcom... This means we'll need a very good result in our next game, also against Leverkusen, to stand a chance to maybe make it to the next round...

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Everything is going perfectly in the league whilst we're struggling in Europe. Combe scores his first hat-trick of the season as we smash Nice 4-0 away from home and once AGAIN continue this ridiculous run of form to make it 16 wins in a row in the league now. What a run that is... We've already broken the record for most league wins in a row in Ligue 1 but we could set it at a ridiculous number if we keep going. To do that though, we'll have to overcome our next challenge; PSG.

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What a win!!! This was the one game we needed to win to stay the only unbeaten team in the league and we've gone and done it! Malcom was absolutely fantastic as Matuidi scored against his old club and Süle even scored yet another goal! Smith also continues his great form since his contract extension and André Gomes scores his 3rd goal for the club. An absolutely incredible result which will surely make other teams wary of our talent now if they weren't already.

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A good result against Leverkusen and against Milan could mean we would have a chance at qualifying for the next round, but that could prove harder than we thought considering Leverkusen's quality. We're still unbeaten in the league and have in fact won 11 games out of 11, which is just insane to me, whilst also keeping clean sheets all over the place as well. The Dijon and Strasbourg games will be tough as they're pretty high up the table, but the Amiens game should be a walk in the park, or at least hopefully it is...
 
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November 2020: a close call


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We've got a great squad lining up for our crucial games against England and Austria. The returns of Odriozola and Morata are huge additions to the team and I definitely think we'll be able to go through the next round of the European International League if we play as well as we have in the last few games.

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We beat them at home, they beat us at home. It's even now I guess but it's a horrible result for us. With England now having played 4 games, there's only one game left to play in the group and it's between us and Austria. Only a win will see us through to the next round. Am I looking at a sack just months after taking over as the Spain National team manager?

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Phew. Well that was close... Winning 5-3 is a good result but made this such a stressful game, which thankfully was topped off by a qualification for the next round, which should be very exciting. We don't know who we'll be facing but it'll be between France, Germany, and Italy, so all good teams.
 
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November 2020: last-ditch effort to make it to the next round

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A bad result in the grand scheme of things, because it means in our next game we'll need to play really well against Milan and hope that Leverkusen can't win against Barcelona to have any chance of going through to the next round. We have a couple of league games to play before that though, so I guess we'll just move on to that but we have a big task on our hands.

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I said last month that the game against Dijon would be a tough one and I was right! Salazar played very well and is nicely starting to fit into the team as we get another 3 points and continue our great run of form which could see us win the league for the second season running!

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We couldn't have asked for a harder draw! We're expected to reach the semi-finals of the Coupe de la Ligue and I don't know if we're going to get there if we have to face teams like Monaco!

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No, no and no! The first no is for the result and how terrible it is. Strasbourg are a decent side since last season and definitely will be happy with that result but I'm not at all. As the Ligue 1 title holders, we should've done a lot better. The second no is for Combe's injury considering how bad it is (3 months!!!). We have Pléa on the bench who can probably do a job but with the January transfer window arriving quickly, I might consider investing in a new striker with the €40 million we have leftover from the summer transfer window. The final no is for Marcos Llorente, not only because he's out for Saint-Étienne but also because he's out for Spain, and both are huge blows. He's not out for as long but he's a crucial player and will really be missed.

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André Gomes might have just saved our Champions League campaign there! We went a goal up within 20 minutes and then nothing really happened to be honest, but with Leverkusen drawing 4-4 against Barcelona at the Camp Nou, this means that a loss for Leverkusen against Milan and a win for us against Barcelona would be the only way for us to get to the next round. I don't know what it is, we just always get put in real tough groups or we just don't perform in Europe and that's really, really disappointing!

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We finish our month off on a high with another win in the league, keeping us 10 points clear at the top of the table. In December we'll be facing the likes of Marseille, Monaco and such so it'll be a big test for us but considering our lead, I think one or two bad results won't hurt too much; we definitely want good results though! Pléa came in and did what he had to do, scoring 2 goals as our lone striker. It's good to see that even our backups can play well for the club as we continue our amazing start to this season in Ligue 1.

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Only a win for us at home against Barcelona and a loss for Leverkusen at home puts us into the next round and personally, I can't see that happening. I think we could definitely win against Barcelona, but I highly doubt Milan will be able to win against Leverkusen. Let's pray for a miracle though! As for the league, we're absolutely cruising with a goal difference almost 2 times better than Monaco's and 2 times better than PSG's, with a gap of 10 points between us and Monaco as well. We face Marseille next, then Monaco and then Monaco again later on in the Coupe de la Ligue. Let's just say it'll be a tough month, but we'll get a well-deserved break after that and will be able to potentially make an amazing signing.
 
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December 2020: a mixed end to the year

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Salazar has really picked up his form as of late and gets the player of the month for November as a result, nice to see for once again a really young player who we picked up for cheap and is doing amazingly. I hope he continues to grow to become an even better player because I'm loving every minute of him out on the pitch!

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Little break from Saint-Étienne here to talk about how we'll face France in our European International League semi-final in June of next year. It'll probably be one of the toughest if not the toughest fixture we could've had considering France went to the Euro final this year, and hopefully we can do a good job and go through despite some below-par performances in our last 2 games of the International League.

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Phew, well that was close! Pléa is really turning up in Combe's absence and scored the winner in the 95th minute which is incredible to see, but to have Smith come out injured and be out for about 2 weeks is a little disappointing. Lenglet can play as a left-back so it's not such a big deal but still, Smith has been incredible this season and was last season as well so it's a shame to lose him.

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I think this is the game that's really decided the title already. If we can beat Lyon 1-0, Marseille 2-1, PSG 5-2 and Monaco 3-0, there's clearly no one who can stop us. Malcom is once again our hero today with Pléa scoring yet again, as we continue our ridiculous form and increase our lead at the top of the table to 13 points I believe! We definitely are on course for a second straight Ligue 1 title.

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Toulouse have been the surprise team in Ligue 1 this season and let's just say it 100% won't be an easy game for us to win. We'll need to work very hard to beat them and get to the next round, which if we don't would be just unacceptable; to me and to the board.

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So that's it then, for 2 years in a row now our Champions League dream is shattered by Barcelona. Leverkusen ended up drawing with Milan so I think a win for us wouldn't have made a difference regardless, but we're out and in the Europa League we go. Pléa is out for almost a month now, which is horrible news for us considering Combe is, of course, still injured as well which means we'll have to put someone like Malcom or Salazar up front as we wait on Pléa's recovery. The Europa League isn't too bad I guess, and we'll definitely be one of the frontrunners for the competition but one challenge in this story is to be the French club that gets the furthest in Europe in a season and PSG made it out of the group stages, so it won't be us this year.

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Speaking of PSG and the Europa League, we get Istanbul Basaksehir in the First Knockout Round draw, who were in the same Champions League group as PSG and Napoli. They're clearly a team with a lot of quality since they made it to the Champions League but I'm confident we'll get through and beat them easily to go to the next round. We'll have to wait until February 2021 to see if I'm right!

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After some awful European disappointment, we realised we still had the league to not only play for but had more games for in December as well, so we went and faced Nantes at home and ended up basically taking it out on them. A 5-1 win keeps us way up at the top of the table and increases our goal tally for the season, keeping us as by far the best attack in the league. It was nice to see Thiago Maia scoring instead of getting sent off as well, for once.

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With basically a reserve team out against Monaco (with some key players who came on in the second half), I was expecting a close game like a draw or us just about losing to them, but we've gone and won 3-0! It's a fantastic result for us which puts us through to the quarter-finals and gets one of the main contenders for the trophy at the end out of the competition, meaning we're becoming bigger and bigger favourites by the day! We'll be playing Marseille when we come back from our winter break to get to the semi-finals, and considering how well they played against us in the league I think it'll be a tough match but definitely one we can win!

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Our second-to-last game of 2020 was against Toulouse who, as I said, have been very good so far this season and we could only get a point. Salazar coming off injured was worrying and his injury is a bad one, keeping him out for a month. How unlucky are we with injuries?! It's honestly ridiculous. Regardless, a point still keeps us miles away from Monaco and PSG at the top of the table and it was nice to see Malcom score such a late equaliser for us, once again making him our hero on the day.

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And Malcom is the hero once again! Our 29-match unbeaten run continues and keeps getting better and better now as we smash Lille 5-0 to end 2020 on a high note and go on our break all very happy about our performances in this first half of the season. It's been an incredible few months and despite a disappointing Champions League campaign, we still have the Europa League to look forward to.

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As you can see, we have by far the best attack in the league with 59 goals scored in 19 games and the second best defence in the league as well, which is fantastic. We get a nice 2-week break now until our Toulouse game in the Coupe de France then another 10-day break until the Marseille game in the Coupe de la Ligue. Our league games for next month are looking interesting, with games against Sochaux and Ajaccio which should be easy wins and games against Montpellier and Bordeaux which should be a bit tougher but hey, when was the last time I said that and we didn't end up winning anyway? See you in 2021!
 
Unbeaten domestic season on the cards!? Cracking read, Thoroughly enjoyed!! The regens you have bought have been fantastic too!
 
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January 2021: Saint-Étienne first annual awards!

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I thought we'd start off this month's update with some of the FIFA and UEFA awards that, of course, come out annually. Ronaldo won his 7th Ballon D'Or and second in a row for the 3rd time in his career, whilst Luis Suárez made the podium for the first time since 2017. Last year's runner-up Griezmann comes in 3rd, continuing his very good form in the last couple of years.

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I was a little outraged at this one. Courtois winning the award, fair enough he's been incredible for Chelsea for the last couple of years. Neuer, despite his age, is still doing very well. Rossi though, the PSG goalkeeper, was good but nowhere near Lunin last year! I guess it accounts for 2020 as a whole and therefore this second half of 2020 would've made Lunin a worse candidate for the award since he's been a little worse than last season, but he got 29 clean sheets in 51 games! Seems a little bit unfair.

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Eden Hazard continues to appear in the Footballer of the Year award, with the last time he wasn't on the podium being in 2016. Ronaldo won that award too though, with Saúl coming in 3rd. It's nice to see a Spanish player on the podium as Spain manager, although he might soon be a PSG player after they offered at Atletico about €108 million. Surely they can't reject that right?

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This is why this update is titled first Saint-Étienne annual awards. Süle, who's been incredible since he's joined us, makes it in the Team of the Year in a very, very strong defence. Bonucci is in there yet again, despite being 33 years old. There are some surprises in there like Hysaj, Jorge and even Fékir but if they're in there, they probably deserved it.

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I think we probably could've called this one. Combe played the 2019/2020 season as a 16 and 17-year old and got a 26-goal contribution in 42 games, which is really, really impressive for him. It's the first French player to win the award since Kylian Mbappé in 2018, who's now absolutely killing it at PSG. A foreshadowing of things to come for Combe at Saint-Étienne?

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Absolutely, 100% deserved. Malcom has been our best player by far this season and has been one of our best players since he's joined in 2018 to be honest. He definitely deserves this award because he's just been one of the best players in the league for the last couple of seasons but was just always unlucky with injuries. This is the second time in a row the award goes to a Saint-Étienne player, which is awesome. Now then, let's get into the actual results from this month!

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Another award for Malcom, who wins the player of the month for the first time this year and makes it 4 player of the month awards out of 5 going to Saint-Étienne, really goes to show how well we've done this year.

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This game was a lot easier than I thought it would be and I'll absolutely take a 5-1 win over Toulouse. This puts us in the 10th round of the competition, closer and closer to the semi-final which is expected of us. We'll be playing Les Herbiers (who funnily enough were playing in the Coupe de France final against PSG last night in real life), a team who really shouldn't worry us too much and I fully expect to get a big win and go through to the next round.

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As I said back in December, we definitely needed a backup striker for the team in case Combe and Pléa were both injured or suspended, and who better than Gomis, who played a total of 8 years for the club in the past. His wage demands back a year or two ago were crazy when he played for Galatasaray but now playing for Guingamp, he was a lot easier to go and get and I'm very happy to get such a competent striker as a backup striker.

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This was our last signing of the transfer window, and both players will help towards the French nationality challenge at the end of the season as well. I've been trying to get Touré for a while due to his Ligue 1 experience and good potential and we finally got him for just under €20 million. Our budget is now left at about €22 million, which is great to be able to keep for next season as well. We also get a great backup for Jonny in the process, which we've desperately needed when he was getting injured or suspended.

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We're in the semi-final! Much like the Toulouse game, I thought this would be a really tough game but we've walked away with it! Are we the new French dominant side now?? We'll play Lille in the semi-final, who we smashed 5-0 in the league so it really makes me think that we can consider ourselves in the final now and very close to our first piece of silverware of the season.

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We were really expected to win by a lot more and to score 1 goal from 26 shots is disappointing, but thankfully we still won it. A clean sheet is definitely a positive takeaway from the movie and we continue our ridiculous form. Up next is Montpellier, then Ajaccio, the Lille in the cup and finally Bordeaux to end the month, hopefully, on a high note.

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A fantastic victory against one of the better sides in the league this season. Montpellier did very well last season and have been slowly carrying that form into this season, but no one can stop us this year I think. We're still unbeaten over halfway through the season and have won most of our games and this just adds another win to the board for us. Malcom continue his astonishing form as Jonny also performs, and we're looking very good. Pierce going off injured was a shame but we've got a lot of backup players who can come in and replace him for at least a month, thank God.

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Malcom gets a contract for his insane form this season and is still getting paid under €100,000 a week, which is crazy considering his quality and the state of finances in football nowadays. I'm so thankful to be able to have a player of Malcom's quality in the team and he's been our little Brazilian magician and hero so many times since his arrival so to keep him at the club until at least 2025 is very satisfying.

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Another very small team doing well against us. By well I mean not conceding like 8 goals, which is what should be happening considering we once again had 26 shots and scored just 2 goals. Malcom gets another player of the match award and Gomis gets his first league goal for us since his return which is awesome to see. Pléa lost his place to Gomis since the latter's arrival since I wanted to test him out and get him to really know how the team plays and I've not been disappointed.

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Our Belgian wonderkid has played a total of 18 games so far this season and has scored 5 goals and made 7 assists, so he's clearly been a key player in the team since his arrival. Young players seem to always do really well with us and to be able to give him a new contract was very satisfying.

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We're through to the final! We'll be playing PSG, who beat Reims 3-0 in the semi-final. It was a great performance from us against Lille and Touré scored his first goal for us which was amazing to see. André Gomes scored his 9th goal of the season also continuing his great form and we're in the Coupe de la Ligue final for the second year running, after we lost in the final last season. Can we win it this time around? Hopefully.

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Another good performance from us and despite conceding a goal, we scored 2 with another goal from Touré, who's made an impact straight away since his arrival. Bembo-Leta scored early on what turned out to be a crucial goal which made me feel really good about renewing his contract, as we now have 5 wins in a row in the league after our draw against Toulouse back in December.

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With 21 wins from 23 games, let's just say we're having a pretty good season so far. We're 16 points clear at the top of the table and it seems like we'll be winning the league for the second year in a row, a first in for the last 48 years (between 1973/74 and 1975/76, Saint-Étienne won the league 3 times in a row), which would be incredible. Next month's fixtures are looking pretty good, with a cup game against Les Herbiers, a big league game against Lyon and 2 Europa League games against Istanbul Basaksehir. With some games against teams in the lower half of the table like Nice and Troyes, it will be a good opportunity to build on this amazing 16-point lead we have over PSG and maybe increase it too? Who knows.
 
JamesScott2908 said:
Unbeaten domestic season on the cards!? Cracking read, Thoroughly enjoyed!! The regens you have bought have been fantastic too!
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Cheers mate, that would indeed be insane. And yes I have to say, the scouts that I have at the club really evaluate some of those youngsters well. Most of the assignments I sent them on I just tell them to come back if they find anyone who's young and has at least a 4-star ability and they've found some cracking players, hoping they become better and better now.
 
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February 2021: breaking records

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As expected, an easy win against Les Herbiers as we go through to the 11th round to meet our nemesis, PSG. The only time we've faced them so far this season was a 5-2 win at home in the league so the fact that this game is at home could be a HUGE advantage for us in this massive game.

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Absolutely fantastic! This not only means he won't be considered a foreign player by the French FA but it also means he'll count towards our French nationality challenge! Oh and on top of that, if I ever manage to become the French national manager, I can call him up for the French national team!

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Talk about a derby! Considering Lyon's amazing form this season, this could have been a really close game but it absolutely wasn't and we get a 5-1 win to really make us clear favourites for the Ligue 1 title if we weren't already. This once again keeps us 16 points clear at the top of the table ahead of PSG, undefeated, really putting us in the best place possible to win the title for the second year in a row.

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Maia off injured is a big, big blow for us as he's been such an important player as our CDM, but Llorente can play there so I'm not too worried. Saint-Étienne 3, Angers 0 and our amazing run continues. Malcom, who just received the French nationality, is continuing his absolutely incredible season as well so he's 100% in the running, if not the favourite, for Player of the Year at the end of the season.

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First record we've just broken is a club one, as we break the record for most games unbeaten and set it at 25! That is absolutely incredible to be honest, and we've not lost since our defeat away from home against Leverkusen. We've faced PSG, Monaco, Barcelona and some other big teams in that run but didn't lose which is amazing. Another 3-0 win is really putting us closer and closer to the title now, which we can really just say we've won now I think.

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A great performance away from home for our 1st Knockout Round Europa League game, putting us in a great position for the 2nd leg at home, which we'll go into with 3 away goals. I personally can't see Basaksehir getting back into it to be honest and might field a weaker team in the second leg to get some players some playing time.

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Another record broken! To be unbeaten for 37 games is insane and the best part is, our first league game in March is against PSG and will have been just a little over a year unbeaten before we play them. A 5-0 win against Troyes was once again expected and we keep our ridiculous goalscoring form going, keeping the best attack and defence in the league!

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Well then, how about that?! A 6-0 win at home puts us through to the 2nd Knockout Round with a 9-1 AGGREGATE WIN, I don't think we'll ever go through with that much ease. We'll be playing Burnley in the next round, weirdly enough, who currently sit in 11th in the Premier League and knocked out Ajax to get to the next round. Ajax of course made it to 3 of the last 4 Europa League finals so Burnley are clearly a good side and we'll have to be careful against them, but starting away from home could be very helpful for us in terms of scoring a couple of away goals.

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Another 3-0 win as we officially qualify for the 2021 Champions League and we're only in February! This really does show how much we've dominated the league this year. I'm a little confused about the record that we've apparently broken since the Ligue 1 record for most league wins in a row was set by ourselves to 18 wins in a row, which would also make it a club record. It's weird. In terms of transfer budget for next season, let's just say I might have a word with the board at the end of the season to ask them to increase it because they've not added anything to the money we've saved up from this season!

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Salazar and Matuidi both had incredible months and actually ended up finishing higher than Mbappé in the player of the month standings, despite the PSG forward scoring 8 goals just in February! That's insane. I'm really, really happy to see Salazar playing so well this season and it's great to see such a young player playing with so much confidence.

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The current record of most league wins in a season belongs to PSG, set at 31. We're 5 away with 10 games to go, meaning we'll most likely break it unless something goes terribly wrong. Some huge games next month of course with the back-to-back PSG games, then both ties of the Europa League 2nd Knockout Round against Burnley and two games against mid-table opposition through Dijon and Strasbourg. Once again, our experience and quality will have to come through if we want to come out victorious in all of these games and hopefully we will to stay in the running for the Coupe de France and Europa League titles, on top of the Ligue 1 title which we'll surely win now. Can we stay the season unbeaten in Ligue 1?! That would be pretty incredible.
 
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March 2021: one record we might never be able to break

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Wow! I have to say, I knew it would be a tough game but I didn't think we'd come out on top! With PSG out of the Coupe de France, is there really anyone who can stop us from winning the whole thing? Metz will be the first ones to have a go, and I really think we'll beat them easily.

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Well, I also knew this game would be revenge for whoever lost in the cup and I guess it was us. Conceding 5 goals and losing is definitely disappointing, but it's PSG so it's actually not that big of a deal. We go from 16 points clear to 13 points clear which is still more than good enough for us to win the league and again, despite losing to PSG, I'm incredibly satisfied with our season. Unfortunately, it means we won't beat the record for least amount of losses in a season, set by Nantes in 1995/96 when they lost just once. We can equal the record, but not beat it.

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Fantastic news as Salazar gets a new contract and will stay at the club for another 3 years! I'm fully expecting him to extend his contract again when it comes to it but it's good to see a youngster like him perform so well and not have insane wage demands either!

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God **** it! Combe is out injured again! It's just for 3 weeks, which I guess isn't too bad, but it's really disappointing to lose him again. Moving on to the good news though, we can probably safely say we're through to the Europa League quarter-finals after winning 5-1 away from home against Burnley! I wonder who we'll get in the next round and if we can beat our 9-1 aggregate scoreline that we got against Beseksehir.

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A close win against Dijon, but one that gets us 3 points closer to our second consecutive Ligue 1 title. It's been a long time coming to be honest, and I'm just waiting for the fixture that will confirm it now. Malcom gets another player of the match award, taking his tally for the season to 8 player of the match awards, the highest in the league. Great stuff!

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Well, it's a disappointing defeat at home to Burnley, especially considering they had just 5 shots, but it's a 6-3 aggregate win for us in the 2nd Knockout Round which means we're through to the quarter-finals! We'll be facing Mönchengladbach, who are 7th in the Bundesliga and knocked out Besiktas and CSKA Moscow to get here, which will be, you know what's coming, a tough match. Again, playing away from home first gives us a big advantage in my opinion purely because we know we'll go out guns blazing looking to score a lot of goals and all these goals would count as away goals, which is very important of course.

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Another fantastic victory, once again putting us closer and closer to the Ligue 1 title! Bembo-Leta being out for basically the rest of the season now is a big blow because he's been a wonderful substitute and backup player but at least it's not of our starters... Pierce has played a lot more than I thought he would this season and what a year he's having.

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Next month starts off with yet another game against PSG in the Coupe de la Ligue final, which we'll want to win considering they beat us in the league. The Metz Coupe de France quarter-final will also be a big game and our Europa League quarter-final tie against Gladbach. Overall, it's a very cup heavy month with some big games and in the league it's not looking too great either. The game against Amiens should be an easy win but an away game against Marseille will be tough. The Monaco game at home will be a bit easier to get points in but will still be a big one. Keep in mind though, that winning 2 of our next 3 games or all 3 games would win us the title I believe! Anyways, I'm off to Spain for my national team duties now to play some of our World Cup qualifying games!
 
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March 2021: a disappointing start

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Another strong squad will be taking on Montenegro and Scotland for our first World Cup Qualifying games. In our group we have Ireland, Montenegro, Scotland and Azerbaijan. It's a relatively easy group to be honest, one that we should top, but we saw what happened with Italy in 2018 when they got knocked out of the World Cup Qualifying playoff by Sweden so let's not get complacent.

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A very disappointing start to our campaign as we claim a last minute win against Montenegro. We might have to switch up our system to be honest, considering this disappointing performance. Scotland won against Azerbaijan 4-0 so they'll be on form and will be tough to beat, but with the quality we have in the team we should really be winning.

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The positive is that we've not lost a game yet, but that's a disappointing start if I've ever seen one. A 0-0 draw against Scotland leaves us in 2nd in our group as we now have to wait until September to play some more World Cup Qualifying games, with our next match in June against France in the European International League semi-final. Let's hope we'll do better then...

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I do find international management utterly dreadful on Footy Manager, it needs a lot of work. Tactical familiarity is always super-low, meaning teams play with no fluidity at all and matches always seem to be really low-scoring as it's impossible to string attacks together when the players don't know each other's games.

...just like real-life international management I suppose!

Any chance you could screenshot some of your players' stats please? Some of these wonderkids seem awesome, I'd love to see how they're developing under your masterful tutelage!
 
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April 2021: a quadruple on the way?!

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Lunin getting injured is a big blow as he's been our number one keeper since last season, but Scuffet is a great replacement. The Italian played the first couple of games of the season as he wanted more game time and did really well and was the keeper with the most clean sheets in the league for a while, so we've got a great replacement for him.

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There's no doubt in my mind now that Malcom will win the Fans' Player of the Year and the overall Player of the Year. He's won player of the month just twice this season but has been so good overall and the club's leader in terms of goals and assists that I can't see anyone winning the Player of the Year other than him at the end of the season. Great stuff. Matuidi is also performing well which is just awesome.

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We beat PSG in the Coupe de France on penalties and did the same in the Coupe de la Ligue final!!! What a stressful final and with Touré having to come off injured, I was worried. When PSG missed their 3rd penalty, I thought this is it, this is our chance and when we missed our 3rd I just thought, oh no. But Combe came up and scored the winning penalty and the 18-year old just continues to amaze me. He scored the equaliser in regular time and the winning penalty to get the club's second ever Coupe de la Ligue, against PSG of all teams! Absolutely incredible as we win our first trophy of the season, with another 3 still on the line.

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Another cup semi-final! With a Coupe de la Ligue win, an almost guaranteed Ligue 1 win, a Coupe de France semi-final and potentially a Europa League semi-final, this could really be the most historic season in the history of this club. The other semi-final in the Coupe de France is Marseille against Clermont in the latter's stadium, regardless of which I fully expect Marseille to meet us in the final and fight for a trophy. Matuidi is out for 3-4 weeks which is very disappointing and worrying as we're currently experiencing an overwhelming amount of injuries and suspensions, so hopefully we'll be able to cope with those...

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Combe gets the player of the match award as he's slowly starting to get a good run of form together for the first time since his return from injury which is fantastic. Pierce, who's been a key player for us this season, is out injured for over a month meaning his season is basically almost over, a huge shame. This 2-0 win against Amiens now means that wins against Marseille and Monaco would guarantee us the title, even if PSG win their next two games as well. This would make it 2 Ligue 1 titles in a row which is just insane to think about considering our resources and the kind of players we managed to develop over the last couple of years...

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YES! Another reason why I keep saying I love starting off away from home in the Europa League! For the third round in a row, we score at least 3 goals away from home which we can say effectively puts us through to the next round! We'll need to be focused for leg 2 of course, but I really don't see Gladbach getting back into this to be honest. Getting another injury is a big problem, especially considering it's yet another midfielder, so we'll have some players who will need to play in unfamiliar positions which could delay our title celebrations until later in May...

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Let's just start off with the bad news which are that we got another injury!!! I have to say this is just ridiculous. I can understand for someone like Pierce or Matuidi, who've played a lot of games this season, but Smith hasn't played that much and went and got injured anyway. It's another long-term injury as well, which means that if Jonny gets suspended now and Lenglet is injured or suspended, we've got literally no one to play at left-back. On a more positive note, we've just broken the club record for most goals scored in a season (and it's not even over, and it's 101 goals in 33 games meaning an average of just over 3 goals a game, WOW) and also are now just 3 points away from our second consecutive league title! Can we do it?! It's against Monaco and we've got a Europa League quarter-final second leg to get through first as well!

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Jesus Christ I guess we can thank our attack for this one! I really though Gladbach were going to pull it back and knock us out there, but Combe once again came through and was just incredible and a crazy aggregate scoreline of 8-4 to us sees us through to the Europa League semi-finals! We'll be playing Inter, who are currently 3rd in the Serie A and knocked out the likes of Galatasaray, Stuttgart and Shakhtar to get here. It's fair to say they've not had to face anyone as good as us yet, but Inter are a great team and they'll be tough to beat. We do once again have that crucial first leg away from home which we've enjoyed so much though, so that could really go in our favour.

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OH YES!!! TWO YEARS IN A ROW!!! What an absolutely record-breaking, incredible season! Monaco, who used to be one of the best sides in the league, are no match to our amazing team we've built here as we go on and win the league for two years in a row. Who would've thought back in 2017/18 that an unknown manager would become one of the best France has ever seen and who would've though a team with the likes of Cabella and Ruffier would go on and win the league twice in a row? Of course, those two aren't here anymore but they've hugely contributed to our success and there we are now, kings of France once again. We have the Coupe de France semi-final now against Reims, which is yet another trophy we could win. Who's going to stop us from getting a quadruple this season?! Is anyone?!

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What a semi-final this was! With Combe rested for our bigger games next month, I started Pléa and he scored 5 goals! Absolutely insane from him there as we go through to the Coupe de France final for the first time since 1981/82, when the club lost against PSG! And guess what? PSG are out because we knocked them out and the only team stopping us now from a 7th Coupe de France title is Clermont, who somehow managed to beat Marseille in the other semi-final! What an incredible month it's been for us.

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With our last league games being against Nantes (20th), Toulouse (4th and fighting for European football), Lille (14th) and Reims (15th), we have the opportunity to not only set a new points record in Ligue 1 (currently 98 points set by PSG in 2018/19) but also destroy the goals scored in a season record (118 goals, set by Racing CFF Colombes in 1959/60) as we already have 103 goals but ALSO break the record for most wins in a season, currently set by PSG at 31 wins back in 2018/19. Isn't that insane? I'm just shocked at how good we've been this season, honestly it's insane. Our two big, big games though are against Inter in the Europa League semi-final. The other semi-final sees Roma play against Tottenham, so if we were to go through to the final we'd be playing a strong opponent regardless. On top of that, we also have the Coupe de France final at the end of May to potentially get us a treble. This is going to be one **** of a month for sure...
 
Sammuthegreat said:
I do find international management utterly dreadful on Footy Manager, it needs a lot of work. Tactical familiarity is always super-low, meaning teams play with no fluidity at all and matches always seem to be really low-scoring as it's impossible to string attacks together when the players don't know each other's games.

...just like real-life international management I suppose!

Any chance you could screenshot some of your players' stats please? Some of these wonderkids seem awesome, I'd love to see how they're developing under your masterful tutelage!
Click to expand...
Yeah I'm hoping the players start to learn the tactics I'm using a little quicker to make sure we qualify for the World Cup lol, what a crazy moment that would be if we didn't make it.

And yes sure! I'll show you the main 4 (Combe, Bembo-Leta, Pierce and Salazar) but if you want screenshots for anyone else let me know and I'd be happy to show them to you. Honestly these 4 have been utterly ridiculous and I don't understand how they've performed this well, but to be fair they have crazy stats...

Combe (18 years old, French, striker) :

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Bembo-Leta (18 years old, Belgian, left/right winger) :

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Pierce (18 years old, Argentinian, centre midfielder) :

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Salazar (18 years old, Colombian, left winger) :

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Combe and Salazar in particular are phenomenal! The other two look like serious talents as well. All of them just 18 years old!
 
Sammuthegreat said:
Combe and Salazar in particular are phenomenal! The other two look like serious talents as well. All of them just 18 years old!
Click to expand...
Yeah for sure, they clearly have a lot of room for growth since they're so young as well, hopefully no big club will try to ****** them up! (to be honest, considering we're now regularly winning the league and going so far at least in the Europa League, I don't think that should be an issue)
 
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May 2021: on our way to becoming the most successful French club ever?

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With the Ligue 1 title already wrapped up, the last couple of league games we had were all about having fun and we did just that against Nantes. Getting yet another injury was a big blow, especially with a potential Europa League final and the Coupe de France final coming up soon, but at least we broke yet another record this season, the one for most league wins in a single season. There's room for even more wins though, so don't think we're done here!

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Our incredible away form in Europe continues as we take 3 away goals back to our stadium Geoffroy-Guichard, aka Le Chaudron, for the return leg of this Europa League semi-final. Combe was once again our top performer as he's been ever-present since his return from injury. Of course though, with good news come back ones and Matuidi, surprisingly one of our better players this season, is going to be out injured for 3 months which is just a huge disappointment. His experience and quality will be hugely missed in Coupe de France final and potentially Europa League final.

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After a couple months of my scouts looking around Europe for any potential talents who's contract was running out in June, they finally came back to suggest this absolute gem to me. At 18 years old, he's been playing regularly for FK Partizan and was "wanted" by the likes of Barcelona, Manchester City and Real Madrid! Clearly, he's doing something right and I'm incredibly happy that we're the ones who got him instead of those bigger clubs. Despite him having had an incredible season, is it time for André Gomes to go to let the youngsters play and take over? Matuidi might be another casualty but with his injury, he might be a bit harder to sell.

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As we're focusing on the Europa League now, a bit of a weaker team was put out to face Toulouse at home but they still did the job and the overachievers in Ligue 1 this season won't get any points against us. Lenglet was absolutely fantastic as well as he also continues his great season as a left-back, and we still held on thanks to him despite Pavard's red card with over 20 minutes to go. We've also broken the points record in a single season in Ligue 1 during this game as well which is great to see.

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A 0-0 draw is more than good enough for me as we make it to our second Europa League final in the last 3 years, both times getting there after getting knocked out of the Champions League! We lost Salazar, which could be a bit of an issue but with Bembo-Leta on the bench, maybe it won't be so bad. We'll be facing Tottenham in the final later this month, a team who if you remember correctly we beat 3-0 in pre-season. We definitely shouldn't be complacent, despite that pre-season result, and go into this game wanting it more than they do to have a chance to win our second European trophy ever.

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As we get better and better, our players are asking for more and more money. Maia has had the same contract for a while and understandably asked for a new one, which was also an effort from us to try and get Manchester City to stop trying to sign him... Combe on the other hand, has asked for multiple new contracts over the last year and a half but deservedly so, as he's been one of the most incredible players in France and Europe since his arrival at the club. His wage demands aren't getting any lower to be honest, but if he can perform like he has been and bring us a lot of money and great results at the same time, I don't mind at all!

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Our last 2 league games of the season were relatively easy ones, as we grabbed wins in both of them without conceding any goals either. That now means Lunin will finish as the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets for the second year in a row, with 20 clean sheets from 32 games, whilst we finish the season with 107 points and just one defeat. Pretty incredible stuff if you ask me. The one negative is that we've lost Süle, who thankfully will be able to play in the Europa League final thanks to some injections but he won't be at his best which could be a problem.

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So there you go, the final league table and some of the stats as well. It's been a weird season to say the least with Diafra Sakho of all people finishing top goalscorer, Malcom with by far the most assists in the league and the 3rd top goalscorer despite being a winger, and also just edging out Neymar in the best average rating contest as well. On top of that, Toulouse of all teams have gone and qualified for the Champions League! Well, the playoffs at least but what a season for them! Monaco get Europa League football, which they'll be really disappointed by, and Strasbourg finish just outside European places for the second season in a row. Definitely a weird season but not for us, as we absolutely smashed it and won the league by a mile.

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What a disaster. I knew Tottenham would be tough to beat but to lose in the 93rd minute because of a goal from Danny Ings is just heartbreaking. We could've won 2 Europa Leagues in 3 years but Tottenham wanted to ruin our dream and get the win themselves. Congratulations to them, after finishing in 6th in the Premier League they needed this trophy to get back into the Champions League and did it and I wish them the best of luck. I can only hope now to face them in the group stages next season to get some revenge!

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Well, this is just consolation for losing in the final but again showcases the kind of season Malcom has had. Player of the Season for the Europa League, a spot in the Team of the Season and breaking the record for best average rating which was set about 2 years ago! What a player he is, and how happy I am to have signed up a couple of years back for under €20 million and be able to see him grow so much as a player with us. No time for sadness and disappointment now, as we have to face Clermont in the Coupe de France final.

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I mean, I was thinking this would be a tough final but we've smashed it! A 4-0 win in the final gives us our 3rd trophy of the season, the club's 7th Coupe de France and now gives the trophy a grand total of 26 trophies in the club's history, ranking us in 3rd in French football's history, ahead of Lyon who have won 22 trophies, behind Marseille in 2nd who have won 29 trophies and of course all the way behind PSG who have won a massive 36 trophies. We're still 10 trophies behind PSG to become the most successful club in French football, which means we'd win to win every trophy we're in for the next 2 maybe even 3 years to become the most successful club ever, and that's if PSG don't win anything in that time as well! In more personal news, I've now made it into the French football Hall of Fame as a result of our recent success and am in 9th, which isn't too bad at all after just under a 4 year tenure at the club!

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So there we go then, our season review! With just 22 players used in the whole season, this makes us the team in Ligue 1 which used the least amount of players. That makes me think I should rotate during the season a little bit more, something which would in turn probably reduce our injuries as well! We won the Ligue 1, Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue to make it a domestic treble (which could've been a quadruple if we hadn't lost to Monaco in the Trophée des Champions) and finished runners-up in the Europa League, which is more than satisfying to me. We had an incredible season overall, which is showcased through Malcom's ridiculous season as well. 29 goals and 30 assists in 58 games means a 59-goal contribution in 58 games which is absolutely ridiculous. That's like Messi or Ronaldo levels! Who knows, he might even be in the running for a Ballon D'Or if he keeps going at this rate next season as well! It's been an incredible season for us and whilst we've clearly got some improving to do in Europe (in the Champions League at least), I'm looking forward to a couple of signings and an even better domestic season next year where we can hopefully win Ligue 1 yet again and complete part 1 of the challenge! My season isn't over as I've now got to go and manage Spain against France in the European International League semi-final and for 2 friendlies as well against Ecuador and the Netherlands, so wish me luck with that!
 
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June 2021: La Roja back to winning ways?

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Before our upcoming friendlies we of course had the game against France in the International League semi-final and what a game it was! Azpilicueta ended up getting the winner in the 88th minute to get us a spot in the International League final for the second time in a row, after losing in the final 2 years ago to Germany. Again, definitely a thrilling game and a lot better than how we played in the World Cup Qualifying games so I'm happy! We'll be facing Italy in the final, who knocked out Germany.

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YES! My first international trophy! The International League has a huge reputation ever since it was introduced in 2019 and what a win this was! Koke ended up scoring the winner in extra-time and again I just couldn't be happier. After coming off such an insane season with Saint-Étienne, it feels incredible to get the same kind of success with Spain. My dream of managing the French national team could definitely come true as well if France don't perform in the World Cup in 2022, just next year, so let's hope for the best now!

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A close game against Ecuador but a win regardless, despite having 29 shots in total and Ecuador having just 3... I'm not too bothered though considering we just won the International League! Just one last game now before I can go off on holiday and wait for the start of the Saint-Étienne pre-season.

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Another close win but as I said about the last game, a win is a win! We dominated the match and ended up getting the clean sheet and the win as well so I'm very satisfied and happy to be going off on holiday now and enjoy some free time before getting back into the stressful life of being the Saint-Étienne manager! I'll get back to the Spanish national team for some more World Cup Qualifying games in September 2021, which will be huge games as we currently sit in 3rd in our group, with a game in hand.
 
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