SL Benfica - Breaking the Guttmann Curse

[Klippybo]

SL Benfica - Breaking the Guttmann Curse

I have returned after over a month away from all things football manager and I have decided to come back and manage SL Benfica as I had a really fun save earlier in the year with them until the file crashed and with them having signed Jan Vertonghen and Everton I figured that they would be a perfect side to return with.

My aim is to take Benfica back to the top of European football by winning the Champions League but that wont be easy as the Guttmann curse is hanging over the club.....

"Not in a hundred years from now will Benfica ever be European champions"

8 finals later and Guttmann is proving to be correct. He announced that after he left the club when he was rejected a pay rise despite the fact he won 2 European Cups, 2 Primeira Leagues and a Taca de Portugal. In 1990 when Benfica reached a final, club legend Eusebio even went to Guttmann's grave to pray for the curse to be lifted!

--

Founded - 1904
Nicknames - As Aguias (The Reds), Os Encarnados (The Reds), O Glorioso (The Glorious One)
Stadium - Estadio da Luz
Capacity - 64,642

--

HONOURS

Primeira Liga (37 - record) - 1935-36, 1936-37, 1937-38, 1941-42, 1942-43, 1944-45, 1949-50, 1954-55, 1956-57, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1970-71, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1986-87, 1988-89, 1990-91, 1993-94, 2004-05, 2009-10, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2018-19

Taca de Portugal (26 - record) - 1939-40, 1942-43, 1943-44, 1948-49, 1950-51, 1951-52, 1952-53, 1954-55, 1956-57, 1958-59, 1961-62, 1963-64, 1968-69, 1969-70, 1971-72, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1982-83, 1984-85, 1985-86, 1986-87, 1992-93, 1995-96, 2003-04, 2013-14, 2016-17

Taca de Liga (7 - record) - 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16

Supertaca Candido de Oliveria (8) - 1980, 1985, 1989, 2005, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019

Campeonato de Portugal (3) - 1929-30, 1930-31, 1934-35

European Cup Winners (2) - 1960-61, 1961-62

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

On arrival I got a nice surprise as I forgot that Benfica have tons of money to spend (around £75m) although I must admit at the time of writing I havent spent even half of it and arguably my squad is weaker than when I arrived as I have sold £45m worth of players which is also more than I have spent!

I am quite willing to spend the money but only on the right players and of course Benfica have some terrific young talents in the ranks so I will be looking to develop them and have promoted a couple to the first team squad already. Once again I was slightly forgetful as I have so many minor squads - my B team, U23s and U19s!! My B team plays in the 2nd tier so I hope that they are competitive but I need to get rid of dozens of players at the end of the season as I make my mark at the club and fully assess everyone.

My backroom staff has been given an overhaul as I promoted one of my coaches to be my assistant while I have made several other appointments. The U19s still need a few more coaches mind you.

I also renewed several contracts for my big players as many had release clauses so they were all given new contracts without such clauses. Ruben Dias had a release clause of £52m while Grimaldo's was also quite low.

--

PLAYERS OUT

The enigma that is Adel Taarabt was my most expensive sale as he went off to China for £11.75m. Haris Seferovic joined AC Milan for £10.75m and Andre Almeida joined many other of his Portuguese counterparts at Wolves for £10.25m. I let another experienced player go as Andreas Samaris joined Valencia for £8m while former Newcastle striker Facundo Ferreyra went to Tianjin in China for £5m.

There are more!!! Veteran centre half Jardel left for £2m while out on loan went Gilberto, Ljubomir Fejsa, Chris Willock, and Jhonder Cadiz amongst others.

--

PLAYERS IN

My main signing was to bring back Nelson Semedo back to the club from Barcelona for £29.5m. I needed a new right back and he was my first choice as Ricardo Pereira of Leicester would have cost nearly double than what Semedo cost. He will be a star player for me and is undoubtedly the best right back in the league.

My next signing and my only other one for the first team is an absolute steal as I picked up a great talent on a free transfer. As I am using an up to date database the likes of Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani, Ryan Fraser and Mario Gotze were all available on a free but I moved to bring in Malang Sarr. The former Nice centre back will be my 4th choice in that position this season but he is young and will hopefully develop into a beast.

Finally I brought in 2 youngsters. Andre Almeida joined from Vitoria Guimaraes for £1m and will play for my B team while 16y/o Bernardo Couto came in for £500,000 and will start of with the U19s.

--

SQUAD

I am fairly happy with it and despite having over £80m burning a hole in my pocket I would be quite happy if I have the same players at the close of the window. I have promoted Nuno Tavares, Tomas Tavares and Ronaldo Camara to the first team squad and despite their young age they will get plenty of opportunities. I could also promote another CM in truth but we shall see.

We have plenty of wingers with Everton, Rafa, Pizzi, Zivkovic, Cervi and Pedrinho while at CB we are really strong with Ruben Dias and Jan Vertonghen being my first choice pairing and Malang Sarr and Ferro providing backup.

Do I have a squad to dominate world football? - no - but I do have one to dominate Portugal and the base of the side looks strong with Vlachodimos in goal, my 2 CBs, Luis in midfield and my attacking midfielders.

--

AIMS FOR THE SEASON

Win the league and a cup **** win everything in Portugal although FC Porto will have something to say about that. As for Europe we shall see where it will take us. Hopefully we can get out of our group stage if the draw is kind.​

 

[JuiceMan]

Love that you still do these amazing write-ups on here. I still check once or twice a year even though I don't really play anymore.

 

[Klippybo]

AUGUST

Supertaca

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen (Ferro), Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi*, Everton (Zivkovic), Carlos Vinicius

My first game and my first trophy. We played really well and dominated but didnt create any clear cut chances and the only highlight that appeared on screen was when we scored. Pizzi swung in a corner and Carlos Vinicius headed in at the back post.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Zivkovic (Pedrinho), Pizzi*, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

We kick off our league campaign with a comfortable victory as we dominated Boavista but yet again we didnt convert enough goals given our level of dominance. Boavista had ex-Man City midfielder, Javi Garcia, sent-off in the 2nd half which made things easier for us.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo*, Luis (Weigl), Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton (Zivkovic), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

Fantastic. Famalicao have some decent young players but we showed them who is the boss here with a comprehensive 4-0 victory. Alex Grimaldo scored a brace from left back including a free-kick while Dyego Sousa came off the bench to net a brace also. We actually finished the game with 10 men when Semedo went off injured and he will be out for a few weeks.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel (Weigl), Rafa (Chiquinho), Pizzi, Everton*, Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

I am very happy with this win as Braga are the 4th best team in Portugal so to go away from home and beat them is particularly pleasing. Everton scored a fine individual goal to put us on our way and Vertonghen sealed things.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi*, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Zivkovic)

WOW!!!!

An amazing result and naturally an amazing performance. We smashed in 7 goals past Maritimo with Pizzi being the star of the show with a 4 goal haul. Carlos Vinicius powered in a free kick as did Zivkovic who came off the bench to grab a goal and an assist and Everton also got on the scoresheet when I moved him up front.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Dias, Vertonghen (Sarr), Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel*, Rafa (Zivkovic), Pizzi, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

Another good result as Vitoria Setubal were lying 3rd in the league but we rocked up to their place and beat them. We survived an early scare though as Vlachodimos saved a 4th minute penalty.

--

SUMMARY

We have had a great start to the season. In our first match we claimed the Supertaca by defeating Sporting Lisbon 1-0 and then we went on to win our opening 5 league games which included a 4-0 away win over Famalicao and a 7-0 thrashing of Maritimo. To make things even better, FC Porto lost their last match so we have opened up a gap already.

I decided to keep my money until January so I will have around £80m available to spend in January. I kinda needed another CM in all honesty but I decided to use my youngsters as I have 3 or 4 top prospects in my minor squads for that position but I will review things in January.

In the Champions League we got an interesting draw as we were paired alongside Manchester United, Atalanta and Lokomotiv Moscow. 3rd place should be easily achievable and I fancy that it will be between ourselves and Atalanta to see who qualifies alongside Man Utd for the knockout stages.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIZZI

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

wow you have very better results
im also doing benfica career but im doing so well

 

[Klippybo]

SEPTEMBER

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo*, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius

We werent quite at our best here but managed to grind out the win which is the main thing.

--

UEFA Champions League Group D

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen (Ferro), Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel (Weigl), Rafa, Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius*

A decent point although we really should have won considering we were by far the more dominating side. We fell behind but Carlos Vinicius equalised and we kept on attacking but just couldnt find the winner.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen*, Grimaldo, Luis (Weigl), Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius

Introducing Rafa!!! lol. Alongside Everton he has been disappointing so far but he grabbed 2 goals here to add a bit of respectability to his stats although in his defence he is being played out of position - Everton doesnt have that excuse.

--

Allianz Cup 3rd Phase Group D

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares*, Ferro, Sarr, N.Tavares, Weigl (Almeida), Camara, Pedrinho (Jota), Chiquinho, Zivkovic, Waldschmidt (Dyego Sousa)

This game cost me £7k because I didnt use 5 players who played in the last 2 domestic games - I dont care as I would easily pay that to give some of my youngsters a chance. We won comfortably enough in the end. At 16years and 263 days, Ronaldo Camara is now our youngest ever player.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo*, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa (Zivkovic), Pizzi, Everton, Carlos Vinicius

Our 100% record in the league continues here with a comfortable victory gained. Pleased to see Nelson Semedo score a goal as he netted the early opener. 5 clean sheets in a row now in the league.

--

SUMMARY

Our strong start to the season continued this month as we won all our domestic games and got a credible 1-1 draw against Man Utd in the Champions League where arguably we should have won. In the league we are threatening to run away with the title as Porto have slipped up a few times and realistically are our only challengers although Braga are doing well and we have already defeated them.

We just need to keep it going!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
CARLOS VINICIUS

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

OCTOBER

UEFA Champions League Group D

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen (Ferro), Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Everton*, Carlos Vinicius (Waldschmidt)

An important win as I make Lokomotiv Moscow the weakest side in the group. Everton put in a stellar performance as he grabbed a brace and I hope he can kick on now.

--

Allianz Cup 3rd Phase Group D

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ferro, Sarr, N.Tavares, Weigl, Camara, Zivkovic (Pedrinho), Chiquinho (Nascimento), Cervi, Waldschmidt (Resende)

Well this wasnt good. The board arent interested in the Allianz Cup so I decided to give them another £7k fine and play my backups. They took the lead through Tomas Tavares but we ended up losing and now have to beat Famalicao and hope that Tondela slip up against Penafiel for us to go through.

At 16 years and 193 days, Joao Resende quickly beats Ronaldo Camara's youngest player record for the club.

--

Taca de Portugal 3rd Round

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Pereira, Ferro, Sarr, N.Tavares, Weigl*, Camara (Dantas), Zivkovic (Pedrinho), Chiquinho, Cervi, Waldschmidt (Dyego Sousa)

Despite ******* up in the last game I put my faith in my backups here and they did the job. I would have preferred to have won by 4 or 5 so I am a tad disappointed that we only scored one but we won and that is the main thing.

--

UEFA Champions League Group D

Lineup - Vlachodimos*, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen (Ferro), Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel (Weigl), Rafa, Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius

A decent result but a poor performance as the fact that my keeper got the MOM award shows. Man Utd lost to Lokomotiv Moscow though so we are top of the group at the halfway stage.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi*, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

What a result!!!!

We battered Porto here and tbh it looked as though that they would somehow sneak a point but we scored 2 late goals to win the match. We had 25 shots to their 6 so it would have been criminal if we had not won this match.

Porto have a game in hand over us but we are 13pts clear over them.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, N.Tavares*, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi, Cervi (Pedrinho), Carlos Vinicius

We gain revenge from our defeat in the Allianz Cup but the fact that Tondela are bottom of the league shows how bad a result the previous one is. Nuno Tavares is a left back but he did a job at right back here and excelled.

--

SUMMARY

This month was a bit of a struggle as we largely laboured our way to results. We kicked off with 4 cup games and although we got 2 decent results in the Champions League we unforgivably lost 2-1 at home to Tondela in the Allianz Cup and struggled to beat a lower division side in the main domestic cup.

The main good point in the league however was our 3-1 win over FC Porto where we scored 2 late goals to seal the victory. They then went on to lose 6-4 to Sporting Lisbon so I will say it now - we have won the league lol.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FRANCO CERVI

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

NOVEMBER

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Ferro*, Sarr, N.Tavares (Morato), Luis, Weigl (Camara), Rafa, Chiquinho, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius

A great result as I was without 3 of my first choice defenders plus a CM and my AMC yet we go away to Sporting Lisbon and beat them 2-1 to make it 11 wins out of 11. Full credit goes to Ferro who came in for his 1st game in the league this season and he scored the winner and got the MOM award.

--

UEFA Champions League Group D

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Ferreira, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo*, Weigl, Gabriel (Camara), Pedrinho, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

Meh. A draw was a fair result in truth. Joao Ferreira is the latest taxi off the minor squad ranks as the 18y/o played at right back. I am using so many players!!!!!

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Gabriel*, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

12 wins out of 12 in the league now. We are 8pts clear of Braga and a whopping 21pts clear of Porto!!!!

--

Taca de Portugal 4th Round

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo*, Dias (Ferro), Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis (Weigl), Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton, Carlos Vinicius

An easy victory as we march into the next round although it wasnt as convincing as the 7-0 thrashing that we handed out to them earlier in the season.

--

UEFA Champions League Group D

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Dias, Vertonghen, N.Tavares, Luis (Camara), Weigl, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

I have no complaints here as we were very poor and hardly threatened the Man Utd goal. We must beat Lokomotiv Moscow in our last match and hope that the other result goes our way if we are to qualify.

--

SUMMARY

We werent amazing this month but we did a job. We werent banging in the goals left, right and centre but largely we did enough to get the required results, domestically at least. We were without a few players for most of our fixtures so to come through largely unscathed is quite pleasing.

Domestically we are just batting away our opposition with minimal fuss. We still have a 100% record in the league and I honestly think that if I played my backups for the rest of the campaign that we would win the league. In Europe however we are in a sticky situation as despite only losing one game out of five we are on the brink of being chucked into the Europa League unless we beat Lokomotiv Moscow and we shall see where that takes us. We are 3pts behind Atalanta and 2pts behind Man Utd......

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
EVERTON

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

DECEMBER

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo*, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Weigl, Gabriel (Camara), Rafa, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius

The 2-0 scoreline does not do justice to our total domination as we had 33 shots to their 1. Sure they had Chelsea player, Lucas Piazon, sent-off but we were always going to win this. Nelson Semedo scored one of the best goals that I have seen as he met a Grimaldo crossfield ball on the volley to smash it into the top corner from 25 yards - surely the goal of the season.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo*, Dias, Vertonghen (Ferro), N.Tavares, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa (Cervi), Pizzi, Everton (Chiquinho), Carlos Vinicius

Our 100% record was at risk here as it looked like that it was going to be a draw but Chiquinho scored with a lucky effort late on and we got the win.

--

UEFA Champions League Group D

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo (T.Tavares), Dias, Vertonghen, N.Tavares, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa*, Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius

A great performance and result as we blew Lokomotiv Moscow away with 4 goals in the opening 33min. Ultimately though we finish 3rd in the group as Atalanta and Man Utd drew 0-0 which means we finish 1pt behind Atalanta and miss out against Man Utd due to the head to head record being in their favour.

Europa League football it is then!

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, N.Tavares, Luis, Weigl (Camara), Rafa (Pedrinho), Chiquinho*, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

Once again we leave it late to continue our 100% record. We battered Aves in truth but it took a last minute goal from Everton to keep our win streak going in the league.

--

Taca de Portugal 5th Round

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Gabriel, Rafa (Chiquinho), Pizzi*, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

We march into the next round thanks to a goal each from my centre backs and 2 assists from Pizzi.

--

Allianz Cup 3rd Phase Group D

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares*, Ferro, Sarr, N.Tavares, Weigl, Camara (Bernardo), Pedrinho (Zivkovic), Chiquinho, Cervi, Waldschmidt (Dyego Sousa)

Out of the Allianz Cup we go..........

Before kick-off we knew that Tondela won 2-0 so this was a nothing match however my backups still went out and did a professional job to gain the victory.

--

SUMMARY

What a strange month. Despite winning every single game we got knocked out of 2 cup competitions!!!!!! In the league we still have our 100% record although we left it really late in 2 of the matches and although Braga are hanging onto our coattails they dont worry me unduly.

In the Taca de Portugal we got rid of Boavista to set up a quarter-final tie with 2nd division Sporting Covilha so I would like to think that we will win that and I will field my backups for that tie.

However our Allianz Cup and Champions League campaigns are over. We beat Famalicao but our defeat to Tondela proved to be costly and they won the group by 1pt while in the Champions League we harshly got knocked out despite only losing 1 group game, being the groups top scorers and conceding only 3 goals - the same as the top two sides!!!!! Shakhtar Donetsk are our opponents in the Europa League which I would ordinarily fancy our chances but there are some top sides in there.

As for the transfer window I really dont have any plans laid in place or ideas to act upon. I have £80m lying there waiting to be spent but we shall see what presents itself.

Finally a shout out to my B side who are 7pts clear in the 2nd division which is fantastic. I have so many young players who I have high hopes for and to see them doing so well is extremely encouraging.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
NELSON SEMEDO

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

Wow this is amazing
You doing pretty well at benfica

 

[Klippybo]

Wow this is amazing
You doing pretty well at benfica

Couldnt have asked for a better start - well apart from getting knocked out of the Allianz Cup and Champions League that is!!!!

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

maybe you can win primeira liga,Europa league and Taça De Portugal

 

[Klippybo]

JANUARY

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Gabriel, Waldschmidt (Dyego Sousa), Pizzi*, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius

I accidentally picked Waldschmidt on the RW instead of Rafa so had to change the formation to doing away with my AMC and playing 2 up top. As it was the change of formation ensued that we really struggled and not for the first time this season we had to rely on our super sub Dyego Sousa to come off the bench and grab the winner.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis*, Gabriel, Rafa (Chiquinho), Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

We are really struggling to get goals at the minute as we notch up our 4th successive 1-0 win with Franco Cervi being the supersub this time. As we are on the subject of streaks this win makes it 17 in a row (half a season) in the league and 6 clean sheets in a row.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Weigl, Rafa*, Chiquinho, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius

We were back in amongst the goals here and just aswell as we conceded more than one goal for the first time in the league this season! Rafa got a double, Weigl scored with a cross and Carlos Vinicius banged in a penalty.

--

Taca de Portugal Quarter-Final

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares (Ferreira), Ferro, Sarr, N.Tavares, Dantas, Camara, Pedrinho (Jota), Chiquinho (Nascimento), Cervi*, Waldschmidt

I took a bit of a risk and trusted my backups here in this quarter-final but it paid off thankfully as we defeat the 2nd division side. Waldschmidt got his first goal for us but unless he kicks on in the Europa League or whenever he gets a start he could be moving on in the summer.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa (Chiquinho), Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

The run is over. From day one we had won 18 games straight but 2nd placed Braga become the first team to take points off us this season as they manage to frustrate us to a boring 0-0 draw. Fuming that we couldnt beat them at home.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel*, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

We bounce back with a decent victory. Gabriel got a rare goal and yet again Dyego Sousa came off the bench to score a goal. Maritimo sacked their manager immediately after the game.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen (Ferro), Grimaldo, Luis (Weigl), Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi*, Everton, Carlos Vinicius

--

SUMMARY

We had a decent start to 2020 but I suppose the main headline was our 0-0 draw against Braga which ended our 100% start to the season which was very disappointing but we will have a chance to gain revenge as we have been drawn against Braga in the semis of the Taca de Portugal.

There is some transfer news as I brought in 2 players. Firstly I paid Velez Sarsfield £4m to bring in Thiago Almada to the club and I immediately loaned him back to them until the end of the season. At 18y/o Almada has a big future ahead of him and I am pleased to get him so cheaply.

Then on deadline day I paid £850,000 to bring in James Rodriguez from Real Madrid until the end of the season. Whether I will offer him a contract extension at the end of the season I dont know as Real Madrid are paying nearly £100k of his wages but he is a world class player and should be a star in Portugal. I didnt really need him though!

I loaned out several youngsters and sold a couple too but other than that there wasnt much else going on. I cant remember the last time I ended a January transfer window with over £80m left to spend!!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
RAFA

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

FEBRUARY

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi*, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius

Nice and easy. Pizzi scored a penalty and assisted the other two goals and he has arguably been our best player this season yet James Rodriguez has arrived and it could be him, Everton or Rafa that makes way.

--

Taca de Portugal Semi-Final 1st Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Ferro (Morato), Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel*, Rafa, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius

A good win as we gain revenge for the 0-0 draw that we played out last month. The only downside was that Pizzi got injured and will be out for around a month so that solves the James Rodriguez problem pretty quickly lol.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Gabriel, Rafa, Chiquinho, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

Pathetic. Our first defeat in the league this season and only our 3rd in all competitions. Portimonense went into this game in the relegation zone and they pulled out a shock result. Not happy.

--

Taca de Portugal Semi-Final 2nd Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Gabriel*, Rafa, Chiquinho, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

With a 2 goal advantage from the first leg we just had to be sensible and see the game out and thats exactly what we did.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares*, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Weigl, Rafa, Chiquinho (Rodriguez), Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

We are really struggling at the minute as we fail to score and win for the 2nd league game in a row. Everton's form has hit rock bottom, Carlos Vinicius cant score to save his life while the absence of Pizzi seems to have hit us hard. Rodriguez came off the bench for his debut here.

--

UEFA Europa League 1st Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa, Rodriguez (Chiquinho), Everton, Carlos Vinicius*

I feared the worst coming into this game as our form is poor and the snowy conditions were unusual for my players but they responded well and got a fairly comfortable victory.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen (Ferro), Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Gabriel, Rafa, Rodriguez, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius*

We get back to winning ways in the league and despite us containing Belenenses so much that they didnt have a shot on goal I am still not happy as we just arent threatening the goal enough. Everton really needs to have a look at himself as his performances have been awful in the last couple of months.

--

UEFA Europa League 1st Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa*, Rodriguez (Chiquinho), Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

We completed the job with a narrow victory as Rafa struck his 11th goal of the season to give us the victory. He is actually my 2nd top scorer now!

--

SUMMARY

February was a bit of a struggle as we failed to find top form and that resulted with us losing our first game of the league season to Portimonense and then follow that up with a dull goalless draw against Pacos de Ferreira. As a result, despite winning our other 2 league fixtures our lead at the top has been reduced to just 4pts which is criminal considering we won our first 18 league games but credit must go to SC Braga.

In the Taca de Portugal we knocked out Braga in the semis and have a final against Porto who won the Allianz Cup to look forward to and in the Europa League our reward for defeating Shakhtar Donetsk is a tricky tie against Arsenal.

Youth intake is next month while it will be a tricky month fixture wise as we have a double header against Arsenal and we also come up against FC Porto and Sporting Lisbon!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
GABRIEL

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

MARCH

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias*, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Weigl, Pizzi (Cervi), Rodriguez, Everton, Carlos Vinicius

We got off to a perfect start here when one of my youngsters, Fabinho, who is out on loan at Tondela decided to score a goal for us! Dias got a rare goal before Pizzi missed a penalty on his return to the side. Everton wrapped things up. Very nice.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Weigl (Camara), Gabriel*, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton (Rodriguez), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

A huge victory. Sure FC Porto have been **** this season but for us to go to their stadium not firing on full cylinders and to beat them is surely a huge confidence boost. Pizzi headed in his 10th goal of the season to give us the win while Rodriguez came off the bench for the injured Everton to play against his old club.

--

UEFA Europa League 2nd Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, N.Tavares, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa (Chiquinho), Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

Meh. Disappointed to concede late on but we are still within a shout of going through. A draw would have been a fair result but we will have a home tie to hopefully take advantage of.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo (N.Tavares), Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo*, Luis, Gabriel, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

A fantastic goal from Alex Grimaldo was enough for us to get a fantastic win over one of our greatest rivals and having beaten Porto 1-0 away in our last league outing I am delighted although we still arent at our best.

--

UEFA Europa League 2nd Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, N.Tavares, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Weigl, Rafa, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius*

GET IN!!!!!

What a comeback this is!!! When Lacazette put them ahead and 2 goals up on aggregate we were all but out but Everton quickly pulled a goal back and Carlos Vinicius put us level on aggregate before he forced Pepe to score into his own goal to see us go through 3-2 on aggregate.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Sarr, Luis*, Gabriel, Pedrinho, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Cervi (Zivkovic), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

Normally I would be fizzing about a 0-0 draw given our league form this season but with this fixture coming days after the momentous Arsenal game and with me being without several players I am content with a draw.

--

SUMMARY

Almost a perfect month! Domestically we won 3 matches and drew 1, keeping clean sheets in all 4, and the fact that we beat our 2 biggest rivals in FC Porto and Sporting Lisbon means it was all the more sweeter. We end the month with Champions League football guaranteed and just a couple of wins away from winning the league.

In the Europa League we performed a miraculous comeback against Arsenal. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg away from home we were a goal down in the 2nd leg but bounced back to win 3-1 and to go through 3-2 on aggregate to set up a tie against Real Sociedad in the next round.

The youth intake was rubbish and I didnt get any extra transfer funds in my budget for next season but I have already committed us to spend £20m for next season.................

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
RUBEN DIAS

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

APRIL

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Pizzi, Rodriguez, Rafa, Carlos Vinicius*

A fantastic victory and performance as showed by the fact that I didnt make a single substitution such was our performance. Carlos Vinicius got a fantastic hat-trick but it was a stunning goal from Gabriel that caught the eye.

--

UEFA Europa League Quarter-Final 1st Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen (Ferro), Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Pizzi, Rodriguez, Rafa (Everton), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

Disappointed not to get the away goal so we are in a precarious position but we have to fancy our chances going into the 2nd leg at home.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, N.Tavares, Dias, Vertonghen, Grimaldo (Sarr), Weigl, Camara, Pizzi (Everton), Rodriguez, Rafa, Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

A joke of a performance and a joke of a result. They took the lead and we struggled to break them down but when Everton came off the bench to score a great individual goal I fancied our chances but they got a winner in stoppage time from a free-kick and it was all over. Sure I was without several players but this was not good enough.

With 3 games to go our lead has now been reduced to 3pts.

--

UEFA Europa League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen (Ferro), Grimaldo, Luis (Weigl), Gabriel*, Pizzi, Rodriguez (Everton), Rafa, Carlos Vinicius

We reach the semis with a comfortable victory over Real Sociedad. Rafa and Carlos VInicius seem to be loving the Europa League as they have scored 3 and 4 goals respectively so far in the competition.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares, Dias, Vertonghen (Ferro), Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel, Pizzi, Rodriguez (Chiquinho), Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius*

The wheels are coming off!!! We battered Moreirense here and took the lead but they sneaked an equaliser and we just couldnt find another goal. Our lead is now down to 1pt with 2 matches to play and its going to be a struggle if we cant beat Moreirense at home.

--

UEFA Europa League Semi-Final 1st Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Vertonghen (Ferro), Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Gabriel, Rafa*, Pizzi (Rodriguez), Everton, Carlos Vinicius

WHAT A RESULT!!!!

How my team can lose to Rio Ave and draw with Moreirense but then go out and beat Inter Milan easily is beyond me. It was Rafa and Carlos Vinicius yet again who got the goals and those 2 seem to be taking us through by themselves lol.

There was some bad news though as Jan Vertonghen got injured and will miss the rest of the season.

--

SUMMARY

We go into the final month of the season with so much to play for but with not a clue or an indication as to how well we will do. On the European stage we are terrific as we saw off Real Sociedad and have a 2 goal lead as we head into the semi final 2nd leg against Inter but domestically we have been awful aside from the 5-0 win over Gil Vicente.

Braga keep winning and we have dropped 5pts out of 6 so we go into the final month 1pt ahead with 2 games to play in the league, we have a cup final against FC Porto and possibly a Europa League final!

Good news though - my B side sealed their title win as they ran away with the 2nd division title.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
CARLOS VINICIUS

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[FMVinno]

Your doing wonders there well done,

BTW what skin are you using?

 

[Klippybo]

MAY

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo*, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Gabriel (Camara), Rafa (Rodriguez), Pizzi, Everton, Carlos Vinicius

It goes down to the final day as we got a good away victory here. Carlos Vinicius got a double and Semedo scored a screamer and that was that. Unfortunately Rafa got injured and will be out for a couple of weeks.

--

UEFA Europa League Semi-Final 2nd Leg

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Pereira, Sarr, Ferro, N.Tavares, Luis, Gabriel, Pizzi, Rodriguez (Chiquinho), Everton (Cervi), Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

Into the final we go. Despite being without my first choice defenders we did enough to get through thanks to our 2-0 lead from the first leg. When they took the lead we had a nervy finish but we held on.

--

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Ferro (Sarr), Grimaldo*, Luis (Camara), Gabriel, Pizzi, Rodriguez, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

It was nervy but we did it. Despite dominating we only managed one goal when Everton headed home a James Rodriguez free-kick. Braga won 3-1 so we had to win this match to seal the title and we did it.

--

Taca de Portugal Final

Lineup - Vlachodimos, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis*, Gabriel, Rafa (Rodriguez), Pizzi, Everton, Carlos Vinicius (Dyego Sousa)

We win the domestic cup thanks to a penalty shoot-out. During the 120 minutes we were by far the better team and had a goal disallowed from Carlos Vinicius but we were forced into penalties and despite Pizzi missing our first kick we converted the other 4 with Ferro stroking home the winning penalty.

FC Porto sacked Sergio Conceicao immediately after the final.

--

UEFA Europa League Final

Lineup - Vlachodimos, T.Tavares (Chiquinho), Sarr, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Weigl, Pedrinho (Zivkovic), Rodriguez, Cervi (Jota*), Carlos Vinicius (Waldschmidt)

THE GUTTMANN CURSE STRIKES YET AGAIN!!!!

Going into this game the curse had already struck as with this match coming just 3 days after the Porto match and with that game going into extra-time it meant that I could only field 4 first choice players for the final. Despite that handicap we were the better side and I am sure that we would have won had I had my attacking midfielders playing. It was Jota who was the star once he came off the bench as he scored a fabulous equaliser but we couldnt find a 2nd goal and in the shoot-out Chiquinho missed his kick (I subbed him on on 120min to take a pen) and that was enough for Spurs to win the cup.

**** you Guttmann and your curse!!!

--

SUMMARY

Almost a perfect end to the season. We won the title thanks to wins over Aves and Santa Clara with Everton scoring the title deciding goal and then we went on to win the Taca de Portugal on penalties after a 0-0 draw with FC Porto.

Alas European glory was not to be as the Guttmann curse still holds strong. We went into the Europa League final with basically a backup side but my players played magnificently and deserved to win but yet again it went to penalties and this time our luck ran out. So close!!!

During the month I agreed a contract extension with James Rodriguez who admittedly has been quite disappointing but I figure I can sell him for big money and if not he is still a great player to have around.

End of season post to follow.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FLORENTINO LUIS

​

 

[Klippybo]

END OF SEASON REVIEW

For a first season this was pretty good but it had its downsides. We only lost 6 games in all competitions and we ended up winnig the league, Supertaca and Taca de Portugal but we were unlucky in Europe as we were harshly knocked out of the Champions League (group winners Atalanta reached the final!!) and in the Europa League we lost out on penalties in the final.

The league campaign was split in two halves. We won our first 18 games and had the title sewn up. Everything was done but slowly and surely we dropped points here and there and Braga kept winning and in the end we only won the title by 1pt. Braga only lost 1 league game (we lost 2) and that was against us early in the season.

The Allianz Cup wasnt important to the board so I played my backups and we were knocked out in the group stages after a disappointing defeat to Tondela. The Supertaca was won though and so was the main domestic cup as we beat FC Porto on penalties.

As for Europe as I said earlier we were knocked out in the group stage o f the Champions League on a head to head record despite being the highest scorers in the group and having the level best defence. We were then chucked into the Europa League and despite knocking out Shakhtar Donetsk, Arsenal, Real Sociedad and Inter Milan we lost out in the final on penalties to Spurs despite being the better side with a weakened side.

So overall we won 3 domestic trophies but the Guttmann curse still holds strong.

--

LIGA NOS

--

FIRST TEAM SQUAD

Goalkeepers - Vlachodimos played every single game and hardly conceded any goals yet I feel we can strengthen in that position. His low average rating is probably due in part to the fact he had nothing to do in most of the domestic games.

Defenders - I have no complaints with my defence. Vertonghen and Dias were solid in the middle and at full back Grimaldo and Semedo were fantastic. The two Tavares' did well when they were selected but overall everyone was pretty solid.

Midfielders - Florentino Luis was good but he didnt even score a goal which is a huge disappointment. Gabriel alongside him was excellent while Weigl and the youngster, Camara, did well when called upon. It was in the attacking midfield areas where there was more rotation. Rafa was played out of position on the RW and did OK and excelled in the Europa League. Everton started the season on fire before fading away while Pizzi was up there as my best player. James Rodriguez came in and was disappointing while the likes of Franco Cervi, Andrija Zivkovic, Chiquinho and Pedrinho all had varied playing times.

Forwards - Carlos Vinicius was the main man and he started every league match. He did ok and scored 28 goals but I think I can upgrade in that position. Dyego Sousa, amazingly, didnt start a game but made 30 sub appearances and scored a few goals but Waldschmidt was extremely disappointing.

Player of the Season - Nelson Semedo
Young Player of the Season - Florentino Luis
Must Improve - Everton
Donkey of the Season - Luca Waldschmidt

--

AIMS FOR PRE-SEASON

I will be busy in the summer. So many of my players are wanted by the top clubs in Europe be it first team players, B team players or in the younger squads. I have plans in respect to players who I am willing to sell and there is one pre-arranged transfer coming in but tbh it all depends on how much money I can raise.

I have so many good young players in the ranks that I can spend money on 2 or 3 quality signings and promote some young lads to fill out the squad.

--

I AM THE NEW SERBIA MANAGER!!!!

After the Euros (won by Ukraine 5-2 over Italy no less) a host of jobs including Portugal becameavailable but I was only offered jobs by Austria, Bosnia and Serbia so I picked the latter. They have a couple of world class players in Milinkovic-Savic and Jovic and many more capable players so we shall see how we get on. Thier ranking is quite low at 49 so lets see if that can be improved.​

 

[FMVinno]

Great finish to the season won the league and you were unlucky in the Europa league final only been able to field 4 1st team starters.

can you show us the formation you was playing for this season so we can see where you were playing your players please?