SL Benfica - Breaking the Guttmann Curse

[HugoCaldeira1234]

**** it screw guttman here goes another break up european final for benfica

 

[Klippybo]

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?

I have progressed to far but can give you a screenshot of my current side and tactics. The tactics havent really changed as I stick to the 4-2-3-1

Last season it was

GK - Vlachodimos
DR - Semedo
DC - Dias
DC - Vertonghen
DL - Grimaldo
CM - Luis
CM - Gabriel
AMR - Rafa
AMC - Pizzi
AML - Everton
ST - Carlos Vinicius

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON POST

Busy doesnt describe my summer. It was ******* hectic. I sold dozens of players and cant show you a screenshot of all deals as for some reason my B team sales arent anywhere to be found apart from on my profile history. I raked in about £100m in sales and spent the same to strengthen the squad although I did have to pay big wages.

With me also being appointed as the new manager of Serbia I had an action packed summer but my main aim was to strengthen the first team squad to take us up another level as the board expect me to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.

Before I go onto transfer news I should say that FC Porto announced Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager which is pretty exciting. They havent done much transfer wise at the time of writing but I expect him to develop their quality youngsters like Fabio Silva and Romario Baro.

So onto transfer news.

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PLAYERS OUT

Regarding the first team I sold 2 first choice players from last season and a few backups. My goalkeeper Vlachodimos joined Atalanta for £10.75m while the old man that is Jan Vertonghen went off to Lazio for £6.25m. Both were players who I thought I could replace with much better players so lets hope I have done that lol.

Freiburg took 2 players off me. James Rodriguez went for a cut price £9.25m which is probably a 3rd of his value while for some reason Andrija Zivkovic went for £10.75m although the fact I was saving over £100k a week in letting Rodriguez go was a significant bonus as he was pretty poor last season.

The biggest sale was that of Julian Weigl who joined Sevilla for £23.5m which is a great fee for a backup player while Pedrinho left to join Strasbourg for £9.75m.

I also sold dozens of B team and U23 players including 2 players for ridiculous fees. Tiago Araujo is a half decent winger but Spurs ended up paying £9.5m for him while Gerson Soares hardly played for my B team and didnt look like he was going to get a chance with me but Chelsea still gave me £10m for him!!!!!

Lucas Waaldschmidt and Thiago Almada left to go out on loan for some decent loan fees while I also rejected several sizable bids for players in my youth ranks from some of Europes biggest clubs. One may still leave but others I have tied down to new contracts or loaned them out.

--

PLAYERS IN

Just the 4 for the first team! My pre-arranged deal was that of Renato Sanches as I brought him back to the club for £21m which is pretty cheap considering I sold Weigl for a bit more than that! He is a club icon and at only 22 he can still improve and I hope that he will be a shining light for the future.

My main aim for the summer was to get a better striker. Carlos Vinicius did OK but 17 league goals I feel could have been bettered so I initially went in for Lautaro Martinez and had a £68m bid accepted. He would have ripped the Portuguese league apart but for some reason Chelsea bid £90m and he wasnt interested anymore so then I had to look elsewhere and I ended up plumping for Moussa Dembele.

The former Fulham and Celtic striker joined for £34m and will hopefully progress to be a world class striker. He is quick, a great finisher and should be up to the level of the latter stages of the Champions League and he can still improve.

My new keeper is Dominik Livakovic. Donnarumma was interested but I wasnt at £220m lol so I went for Livakovic and I paid Dinamo Zagreb £13m. He was far better in comparison and at 25y/o he still has his prime years ahead of him but he will have to perform if he is to stick around lol.

Just recently I signed Victor Tsygankov. I just thought that Pedrinho wasnt cutting the mustard and with Rafa playing there out of position I wanted to have another choice so I plumped for the Ukrainian who starred in their Euros victory. £30m was shelled out and I expect big things from him and I honestly dont know who will start between him and Rafa.

I then signed a few regens but only 1 deserves a screenshot and that is that of the 17y/o Dutch centre half who I signed from Feyenoord for £1.1m. He will start the season in the B team to learn the language and hopefully play every week and I look forward to seeing him develop.

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FIRST TEAM SQUAD

In addition to my new signings I promoted 3 players from the B side. Mile Svilar will be my new backup keeper (I sold my other keeper) while Morato comes in as cover for CB and Goncalo Ramos is an AMC. Ramos is particularly exciting as he is classed as a wonderkid and although he is a natural at AMC I have him in mind as my 3rd choice striker in the 2nd half of the season when the loan of Dyego Sousa ends.

Regarding my first XI there are a few changes. Livakovic comes in in goal while Ferro will replace Vertonghen although Sarr is pushing him hard. Gabriel and Sanches will fight it out for a spot as will Rafa and Tsygankov while obviously Moussa Dembele will be my new centre forward.

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AIMS FOR THE SEASON

The same again I suppose but this time I hope to get out of the Champions League group stages and a better performance in the Allianz Cup.​

 

[Klippybo]

Bela Guttmann
1959-62 & 1965-66
P162 W114 D27 L21 F518 A195 W%70.37

The reason for the story - Guttmann had 2 spells in charge of the club and he won 2 league titles and 2 European Cups


AUGUST

Supertaca Candido de Oliveira

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo*, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis (Camara), Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

This was a great curtain raiser for the season as ourselves and Porto shared 6 goals while we got 4 of them. Before the match Tsygankov and Gabriel got injured so I didnt have much decisions to make but Rafa was exceptional as was the MOM Nelson Semedo. It was a very quiet debut for Moussa Dembele however.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro (Sarr), Grimaldo*, Luis, Sanches, Rafa (Chiquinho), Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Dembele

We kick-off our league campaign with a fine performance and victory. We cantered to a 3 goal win and Dembele got off the mark for the club so all was good although we did hit the woodwork 4 times so we could have scored much more!!!

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi*, Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

A decent away victory but our 2nd half performance wasnt acceptable and we nearly conceded an equaliser as they missed a late sitter.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi, Everton, Dembele*

As a complete performance we have done much better but we were far more ruthless here and banged in 5 goals with Dembele grabbing a double. Tsygankov came off the bench to make his debut here while Renato Sanches scored a beauty from 25 yards.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Tsygankov (Ramos), Pizzi*, Rafa (Cervi), Dembele

The wins keep on coming. We rattled in 3 goals with Tsygankov getting off the mark. Dembele had a goal disallowed while Ramos came off the bench for his debut.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro (Sarr), Grimaldo*, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Tsygankov, Pizzi, Rafa, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

We took our time to win this match as we got 2 late goals to win this match. Grimaldo fired in a free-kick before Rafa sealed things.

--

SUMMARY

We have started the season brilliantly well. We kicked the season off with an entertaining 4-2 win over FC Porto to claim the Supertaca and then won our opening 5 league games of the season with the highlight being 5-0 win over Maritimo. Pizzi, Everton, Grimaldo, Rafa and Dembele have hit the ground running which is great news while the supporting cast havent been too shabby either.

Our Champions League group is very much similar to last season as we have been drawn against Chelsea, AC Milan and Fenerbahce so yet again an English and Italian side and a side who we should beat. It will be tough to get out of the group but certainly not impossible although the chairman expects a quarter-final place at the very least.

As for the transfer window I brought in a regen from Argentina and immediately loaned him out. Gonzalo Ramirez joined from River Plate for £4.2m and was loaned out for £1m to Famalicao immediately. The left back looks like a terrific prospect but his height being 5ft 3 could be a problem.

I also brought in another regen for £1.1m but he aint worth a screenie yet lol. As for players out I sold another winger to Spurs as Henrique Pereira joined Spurs for £5.75m. The 18y/o looked like a decent prospect but he was unhappy and his contract was up at the end of the season so I moved him on.

I rejected bids for Pizzi, Grimaldo, Sarr, Almeida, Matos, Morato and Everton amongst others during the transfer window.

Regarding other transfers in Portugal it was all pretty quiet but Sporting Lisbon did bring in Vinicius Junior on loan.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIZZI

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LIGA NOS

​

 

[Froug]

All well and good Klippy, but how tf are Sporting bottom of the league?

 

[Klippybo]

Cosme Damiao
1908-26
P157 W102 D21 L34 F427 A161 W%64.97

Cosme Damiao was one of the main figures who formed Benfica as a club that he and his friends set up merged with another club to give us the Benfica that we have today. He played for 9 seasons with the club as well as being the manager at the time and formed he helped to form the Portuguese football league. A true embassador for both Benfica and Portuguese football.


SEPTEMBER

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro*, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Sanches (Gabriel), Rafa, Pizzi, Cervi, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

I am overjoyed with this win as the performance was complete and to top it off my little lovechild Ronaldo Camara got his first goal for the club.

--

UEFA Champions League Group A

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Tsygankov (Chiquinho), Pizzi, Rafa (Everton), Dembele

What a result. We go to the San Siro and deservedly get a victory. We got the winner when Dembele took advantage of a goalmouth scramble to fire in the only goal of the game and we held on. Milan had 2 Portuguese strikers in Guedes and Leao playing for them.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo (N.Tavares), Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton (Cervi), Dembele*

Nice and easy. Ferro scored in his 2nd league game in a row and Dembele grabbed a brace as we won easily without getting out of 1st gear.

--

Allianz Cup 3rd Phase Group C

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Morato, Sarr, N.Tavares, Gabriel, Camara, Jota, Chiquinho (Ramos), Cervi (Embalo), Carlos Vinicius*

With this being the Allianz Cup I put out my backups and they did me proud. Carlos Vinicius notched a hat-trick while Embalo came off the bench to make his debut.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Tsygankov (Everton), Pizzi*, Rafa, Dembele

Another comfortable win and Ferro scored in the 3rd game running!!!! My side is on top form just now as we are scoring plenty and not conceding any goals which is a nice recipe.

--

UEFA Champions League Group A

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Tsygankov, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Rafa (Everton), Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

I dont know how we lost this match. We battered Chelsea but they scored 2 breakaway goals and just parked the bus in the 2nd half. An extremely disappointing result.

--

SUMMARY

This month was near perfect. We got 3 comfortable wins in the league without scoring and even my centre half, Ferro, scored in all 3 games and we sit proudly at the top of the league. FC Porto are hot on our tails however as Mauricio Pochettino has got them going well.

We won our Allianz Cup fixture thanks to a Carlos Vinicius hat-trick and in the Champions League we got a great away victory over AC Milan in the San Siro however our last fixture of the month was a home defeat to Chelsea despite putting in a decent performance.

Everything is going along rather nicely all told.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FERRO

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LIGA NOS

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SERBIA

UEFA Nations League Division B Group 3

Lineup - Rajkovic, Milenkovic, Maksimovic, Nastasic, Kolarov, Grujic, Milinkovic-Savic, Zivkovic (L.Markovic), Ljajic, Tadic (Kostic), Jovic (Mitrovic)

A decent result but what a goal was scored by Milenkovic-Savic!!!! With the game in stoppage time and with us a goal down, Romania had a corner and it was all but over but we cleared it and Lazar Markovic countered before he chipped a cross infield and Milinkovic-Savic met it full on the volley from 30 yards to find the net! Not a bad way to grab your first international goal.

--

UEFA Nations League Division B Group 3

Lineup - Rajkovic, S.Markovic (Milenkovic), Maksimovic, Spajic, Ristic, Grujic*, Milinkovic-Savic, Zivkovic (L.Markovic), Ljajic, Kostic (Gacinovic), Jovic

Disappointing.

Svetozar Markovic came in for his international debut at right back here as we defeated Hungary. I actually dont have any decent natural RBs so I have had to make do with 2 natural CBs who can do a job out on the right. We dominated but couldnt find the winner after levelling and Lazar Markovic missed a sitter right at the end.
​

 

[Klippybo]

Jorge Jesus
2009-15 & 2020-
P321 W225 D51 L45 F674 A249 W%70.09

With 3 league titles, 1 cup and 5 league cup wins, Jorge Jesus is the most successful Benfica manager. European glory naturally failed to come and when he left he actually joined bitter rivals Sporting Lisbon but he was re-appointed this summer.


OCTOBER

Allianz Cup 3rd Phase Group C

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Morato (Sebahattin Sahinoglu), Sarr, N.Tavares, Gabriel, Camara, Tsygankov, Chiquinho (Ramos), Cervi (Embalo), Carlos Vinicius*

Moreirense are a top division side so for my backups to go to their place and trounce them 4-0 is very pleasing. Sebahattin Sahinoglu got a debut goal while Embalo got his first goal for the club so it was a nice occasion.

--

Taca de Portugal 3rd Round

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Morato, Sarr (Sebahattin Salhinoglu), N.Tavares, Gabriel, Camara (Dantas), Jota, Chiquinho (Ramos), Cervi, Carlos Vinicius*

My backups got another run out and while they won I am not happy at losing the 2nd half 2-0. Carlos Vinicius is my top scorer this season despite being my backup striker!

--

UEFA Champions League Group A

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches*, Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi, Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

For the 2nd game in a row we went in at half-time 4-0 up. Sanches scored with a cross, Dias headed a 2nd, Pizzi converted a penalty and Semedo rounded off a great team move.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi, Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

FFS!!!!

Going into this game we had a 100% record in the league and had kept 6 successive clean sheets but FC Porto nick a win here to top the table by a point. We deserved at least a draw but we just couldnt convert any of our chances.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi (Ramos), Everton, Dembele*

A boring match, a poor performance butat least we bounce back with a win.

--

SUMMARY

This month ends with a bitter taste in the mouth as our defeat to FC Porto still hangs over the club. After being rubbish last year it seems that the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino has rvitalised the club and we have another title battle on our hands. Not so from Sporting Lisbon however who in their last match contrived to lose to bottom of the table Maritimo 7-2!!!!!

Everything is going well in the cups as we won all 3 ties and the Champions League group will go down to the wire I think so our match away to Fenerbahce is a must win.

Finally I have a new chairman after the latest elections and although he hasnt pumped in any money into the club he hasnt went out and spent millions of pounds on players that he promised if he was elected. Also during the month I was told that we have the best youth academy in the world which is pretty exciting!!!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
CARLOS VINICIUS

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LIGA NOS

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SERBIA

UEFA Nations League Division B Group 3

Lineup - Rajkovic, Milenkovic, Maksimovic, Spajic, Kolarov, Grujic*, Milinkovic-Savic, L.Markovic (Pantic), Ljajic (Kostic), Tadic, Jovic (Mitrovic)

A great win and my first as an international manager. We fell behind early doors when Gareth Bale worked his magic but we levelled through Milinkovic-Savic. It looked like it was going to peter out as a draw but then Milinkovic-Savic fired in a thunderbolt from 30 yards to put us ahead and then 2 of my subs combined when debutant Danilo Pantic crossed for Mitrovic to head home.

--

UEFA Nations League Division B Group 3

Lineup - Rajkovic, Milenkovic, Maksimovic, Pavlovic, Ristic, Milivojevic, Milinkovic-Savic, L.Markovic (Pantic), Ljajic, Kostic (Tadic), Jovic (Mitrovic)

Another ****** draw and its 1 win and 3 draws in the group so far. Hungary are the weakest team in the group so to fail to beat them in both matches is pretty poor. Strahinja Pavlovic of AS Monaco made his international bow here.​

 

[Klippybo]

Sven-Goran Eriksson
1982-84 & 1989-92
P234 W159 D48 L27 F527 A145 W%67.94

In 2 spells as Benfica manager he won 3 league championships and 1 cup while he also led the side to a UEFA Cup final and a European Cup final which he lost - obviously.


NOVEMBER

UEFA Champions League Group A

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi*, Everton (Tsygankov), Dembele

WOW!!!

We take charge of the group (along with Chelsea) and bar a collapse we should qualify but with AC Milan and Chelsea as our final 2 games it wont be easy. We steamrollered Fenerbahce here and even Tsygankov came off the bench and scored a couple. Renato Sanches scored a screamer from 30 yards.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias (Morato), Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Tsygankov (Cervi), Pizzi*, Rafa, Dembele

WE ARE ON FIRE!!!!

Having thrashed Fenerbahce 6-0 away in our previous match we rocked up at Braga's home and hit them for 5 and considering they are hanging onto our coattails it is a huge win. Pizzi is my top scorer with 11 goals this season - 8 have been penalties!!!!

--

Taca de Portugal 4th Round

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Morato, Sarr, N.Tavares (Rodrigues), Gabriel, Camara (Dantas), Tsygankov, Ramos, Cervi (Jota), Carlos Vinicius*

Goncalo Ramos got his 1st goal for us here while Rafael Rodrigues made his debut. A double from Carlos VInicius takes him up to 10 for the season and he recently just scored on his Brazil debut.

--

UEFA Champions League Group A

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi, Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

I am disappointed that we didnt win this match as we battered Milan but somehow (mainly thanks to MOM Gianluigi Donnarumma) they managed to grab a point. Dembele had a goal disallowed but this point at least secures us a place in the knockout stages.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo (N.Tavares), Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Tsygankov (Everton), Pizzi, Rafa*, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

EMBARRASSING!!!!

This is a disgusting result. We had the lead and everything was fine as we peppered their goal and ended up with over 30 shots in the end but they got a goal against the run of play, then had a goal disallowed and finally to cap off the nightmare end we gifted them a winner from the penalty spot. Porto can go 4pts clear of us now.

--

SUMMARY

We started this month on top form as we smashed 6 past Fenerbahce, 5 past Braga and 4 past lower league minnows in the cup before we drew with AC Milan to qualify for our Champions League group. Everything was fine but then we played against Aves and **** the bed as we lost 2-1. The only compensation there was that FC Porto went on to draw 0-0 versus Tondela so we are just 2pts behind at the top of the table.

As for Serbia - we somehow won the group! We got a huge win over Romania before drawing away to Wales and thanks to Hungary beating Romania we won the group and got promoted to Division A.

I havent actually managed internationally in FM20 but it does make the international break better as I hate having a week or so during the season without a game.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIZZI

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LIGA NOS

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SERBIA

UEFA Nations League Division B Group 3

Lineup - Rajkovic, Pankov, Maksimovic (Spajic), Nastasic, Kolarov (Ristic), Grujic, Milinkovic-Savic, Zivkovic, Ljajic (Radoja), Kostic, Jovic*

This was a must win game and we duly won. Luka Jovic finally put in a top notch performance for me as he helped himself to a hat-trick. Radovan Pankov made his debut here.

It is unlikely that we will win the group though as we are 1pt behind Romania going into the last match but considering they are playing Hungary whose only 2pts have inexplicably come against us then it is a long shot.

--

UEFA Nations League Division B Group 3

Lineup - Rajkovic, Milenkovic (S.Markovic), Maksimovic, Nastasic, Kolarov, Matic (Radoja), Milinkovic-Savic, L.Markovic, Ljajic, Tadic, Jovic (Mitrovic)

We really needed to win here but in reality that would have been tough so I am pleased with a draw - especially since they had a stoppage time goal disallowed.

But wait!!! Hungary beat Romania 1-0 so we win the group!!!!!! Division A here we come!

​

 

[Klippybo]

Janos Biri
1939-47
P272 W194 D25 L53 F982 A470 W%71.32

One of several Hungarian Benfica managers, Biri won 3 league titles and 3 Portuguese cups while in charge. He had the record for most games managed and won until Jorge Jesus overtook him and is 8 year spell in charge is the 2nd longest.


DECEMBER

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares*, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Sanches, Tsygankov (Everton), Pizzi, Rafa, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

A horrible match but at least it was a win as Rafa scored in the league for the 3rd game running. Semedo is injured but his replacement, Tomas Tavares, came in and got the MOM award.

--

UEFA Champions League Group A

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Tsygankov, Chiquinho (Ramos), Rafa (Everton), Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

We were awful here and should have lost by much more. With Chelsea winning they win the group and we go through as runners-up.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Dias*, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Tsygankov (Everton), Pizzi, Rafa, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

Moreirense recently poached one of my U19 coaches as their manager and he made his side hard to beat here. In truth though we shoudl be much better. Dembele is in awful form while maybe me constantly rotating between Tsygankov and Everton isnt helping. I dunno but we need to be better.

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Taca de Portugal 5th Round

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Morato, Sarr, N.Tavares, Gabriel, Camara, Tsygankov, Chiquinho (Ramos), Cervi, Carlos Vinicius*

Carlos VInicius goes back up as my top scorer on 13 goals but 11 have come in cup competitions against weaker sides. Dembele needs to up his game however when he comes back in.

--

Allianz Cup 3rd Phase Group C

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares (Rodrigues), Morato, Sarr, N.Tavares*, Gabriel, Camara, Tsygankov, Chiquinho (Ramos), Cervi, Carlos Vinicius (Resende)

We knew going into the match that if we avoided defeat we would win the group and my backups did just that. Nuno Tavares got a rare goal however I am concerned that we conceded 2.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Matos, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo*, Luis, Sanches (Camara), Rafa (Cervi), Ramos (Sarr), Everton, Dembele

This was a fiery affair! We went down to 10 men when Dias got sent-off but even so we went into half-time ahead as Dembele converted a penalty. They then had a man sent-off and we added another 2 goals. The fact that I was forced to give Matos a debut and gave Ramos a first league start makes it even better.

To top it all off FC Porto drew so we top the table by 2pts!!!!

--

SUMMARY

There is a spring in our step as we head into 2021. We are back on top of the league, we have progressed in both domestic cups and in the Champions League, although we put in a terrible performance in our loss to Chelsea, we are into the knockout stages.

Alas the draw for the Champions League was not kind as we were paired with Liverpool. Chelsea got Bologna so not topping the group has hit us squarely in the balls.

I have 2 pre-arranged transfers coming in in January and Dyego Sousa's loan has ended and i dont think there will be much transfer movement but who knows?

Regarding Serbia - in the World Cup qualifiers we are up against Italy, Poland, Estonia, Estonia, North Macedonia and Moldova.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
TOMAS TAVARES

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LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

Ebbe Skovdahl
1987
P16 W10 D3 L3 F24 A7 W%62.50

As an Aberdeen fan I had completely forgotton that our former manager once was in charge of Benfica. He only lasted half a season in Portugal before returning to Brondby.

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JANUARY

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo*, Sarr, Ferro, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis (Camara), Sanches, Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi, Everton, Dembele

A bog standard victory although immediately after the match Vitoria Setubal sacked their manager.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Sanches, Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi*, Everton, Dembele

FLORENTINO LUIS FINALLY SCORES!!!!

Its taken a season and a half but my CM finally scored a goal for me when he headed in a Pizzi corner to put us back in front after we inexplicably allowed them to equalise.

--

Taca de Portugal Quarter-Final

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Rafa, Pizzi*, Everton (Tsygankov), Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

We reach the semis with Pizzi pulling the strings yet again. Ruben Dias has been in the news as I rejected a huge £104m bid for him from Barcelona which he isnt too happy about.

--

Allianz Cup Semi-Final

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, N.Tavares, Luis, Sanches (Camara), Rafa*, Pizzi, Everton (Tsygankov), Dembele

I didnt know before this match but I had to start with 2 U21 players in the first XI. I didnt know this before the match as I have always played my youngsters in the competition. In the end Grimaldo made way for Nuno Tavares.

Sure we made the final but what the ****? Florentino Luis scored again!!!!!

--

Allianz Cup Final

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, N.Tavares, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton (Tsygankov), Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

FFS!!!!!

We lose the Allianz Cup on penalties after Pizzi, who has converted all 9 penalties this season, missed his penalty in the shoot-out. During the 90min we were by far the better side and had the lead when Ferro scored but Fabio Silva struck twice to seemingly win the final for them but Sanches levelled deep into stoppage time.

Unfortunately we **** the bed in the shoot-out.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo (T.Tavares), Dias, Sarr, N.Tavares, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Rafa (Chiquinho), Pizzi, Everton*, Dembele

Everton formally requested a transfer just days before this match so for him to score two in as many minutes is quite a surprise. Maybe he has decided to play better and force a move? Who knows but I am happy if he ups his performance levels. Dembele had a goal disallowed here.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, N.Tavares, Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Rafa*, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Everton, Dembele

Another convincing victory. Dembele opened the scoring before Everton netted for the 2nd game in a row and then Rafa scored twice to take us back to the top of the table.

--

SUMMARY

January was full of incident both on and off the pitch. On the field in the league we won all 4 matches and that sees us end the month 1pt clear of FC Porto with a game in hand. FC Porto are undefeated in the league and have only conceded 4 goals which is ridiculous but having said that we have only conceded 6 goals ourselves.

Unfortunately we couldnt defeat FC Porto in the Allianz Cup. Having beaten Braga in the semis we drew 2-2 with Porto in the final but they edged us out on penalties after Pizzi missed. We have a quick chance to gain revenge as we will play Porto twice next month in the Taca de Portugal semi-finals.

Regarding transfers I brought in only 2 players and those deals were pre-arranged. Firstly Matias Arezo joined for £1m from River Plate of Uruguay. The 18y/o striker joins the first team as Dyego Sousa's loan ended and he will get a little game time I presume this season as my 3rd choice striker.

My other signing was a young Dutch centre back called Nick Strijbosch from PSV for £1.2m. My director of football actually found this kid and he joins my B team where I have another Dutch CB regen doing well.

Now for players out and players wanting out. As I mentioned Dyego Sousa went back to his parent club and the only other notable departure was that of Andre Almeida who joined Man Utd for a deal that could be worth £5.5m. I signed him last summer for just over £1m and at 20y/o I felt I had better prospects so off he went.

Now for the unhappy players. Everton and Nuno Tavares have handed in transfer requests after I rejected bids for them. Man City offered me £56m for Everton while Chelsea offered me £15m for Tavares. Dias is unhappy that I rejected Barcelona's £104m bid for him, Chiquinho is unhappy that I didnt allow him to leave on loan and Sarr is unhappy that I rejected a £15m bid from Marseille!!!

Other bids came in. Man City offered me £46m for Tomas Tavares. Chelsea offered me £9m for Rafael Rodrigues. Several clubs went in for Bernardo Couto and Matos while Juventus had a £7m bid for Morato rejected.

Finally I had to renew some players contracts and with that came huge wage rises. Gabriel signed a new deal and went from £39kp/w to £95k, Pizzi got a similar increase in pay while Carlos Vinicius also got a wage hike.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FLORENTINO LUIS

--

LIGA NOS

​

 

[Klippybo]

John Mortimore
1976-79 & 1985-87
P202 W139 D41 L22 F417 A129 W%68.81

Mortimore was appointed as manager in 1976 having last managed Portsmouth 2 years earlier. He won 1 league title in his first spell and then returned 6 years later to win another title and 2 Portuguese cups.

--

FEBRUARY

Taca de Portugal Semi-Final 1st Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo (T.Tavares), Dias, Ferro (Sarr), N.Tavares, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Everton*, Dembele

A fantastic win as we trounce Porto and gain revenge for the Allianz Cup final. Everton continued his fine scoring form with the opener and we added 2 more which gives us 1 foot in the final but their away goal may prove to be costly.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo (T.Tavares), Dias, Ferro*, N.Tavares, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi, Everton, Dembele

We went 2-0 up in the first 7 minutes and from then on it was just a matter of how much we were going to score. As it was we only added one more when Pizzi converted a penalty.

--

Taca de Portugal Semi-Final 2nd Leg

Lineup - Svilar, Semedo, Dias (Sarr), Ferro, N.Tavares, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius*)

We make it into the final!!! I gave Mile Svilar a debut in goal as Livakovic was ill and he did well. Our first goal was a great team move and Everton finished it off after Nuno Tavares played him in. Carlos Vinicius getting the MOM award is a bit of a misnomer.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo*, Dias, Ferro, N.Tavares, Gabriel (Camara), Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton, Dembele

We started this game on fire and were 4 up in 20 min. We didnt really take our foot off the pedal as we still created so many chances - we just didnt take them. Semedo scored a great goal for the 5th but somehow and very frustratingly they pulled a goal back almost immediately after they had a man sent-off!

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Sarr, N.Tavares, Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Rafa, Chiquinho (Ramos), Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

I am happy with this result even though we conceded an away goal. Max Aarons put them ahead but Everton headed us level and in a 2nd half of few chances he missed the best of them late on.

Chiquinho was terrible here and after the match I did a comparison and Ramos is far better so Chiquinho drops down as my 3rd choice AMC.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Sarr, Grimaldo (Morato), Luis, Sanches*, Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi (Ramos), Everton, Dembele

Alex Grimaldo was barely fit and could only play 45min which he did (Nuno Tavares was completely unfit and Rodrigues was unavailable) and he had us a goal up at half-time as he returned to the side. We ended up with an easy win and Everton scored a beauty. 10 wins in a row now in the league!!!

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Sarr, N.Tavares (Grimaldo), Luis, Sanches (Gabriel), Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi*, Everton, Dembele

Porto lost before we played this match so we surge clear in the league. Pizzi scored yet another penalty (and a free-kick) but every penalty he scores makes me curse him for missing his penalty in the Allianz Cup final shoot-out!

--

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares (N.Tavares), Dias, Sarr (Morato), Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Tsygankov, Ramos, Everton (Embalo), Dembele*

Despite having to make several changes to the starting lineup we still won comfortably. Dembele now has 17 league goals this season which was the total that Carlos Vinicius got last year so the £34m that I spent on him has been vindicated.

--

SUMMARY

I loved this month!!! It was really enjoyable as we won nearly all our games, had some big results and I also had to chop and change my team quite a bit. Great fun!!!

We have broken away from FC Porto in the league as we won all 5 league games and goals were aplenty as we scored 18 in those matches which sees us lead the rest by 7pts! We still havent drawn a game!!!!

In the Taca de Portugal we beat FC Porto home and away to reach the final and we will play Rio Ave at the end of the season while in the Champions League we got a respectable 1-1 home draw against Liverpool. The 2nd leg will be tough.

Everton, Nuno Tavares and Ruben Dias are all happy again with Nuno Tavares even signing a new contract.

Next month sees us have the youth intake and with us having the best youth system in the world (apparently) I have high hopes. Finally look below for more personal news......................

Oh and finally part 2 - my B team are winning the 2nd division with Jota scoring a ton of goals. He seems to be too good for the 2nd tier but nowhere near good enough for the first team despite scoring in nearly every game he has played for the top team and remember he scored our goal in the Europa League final last year.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
RENATO SANCHES

--

LIGA NOS

--

KRIS STUART APPOINTED AS THE NEW URUGUAY MANAGER

I didnt last long in Serbia did I? When the Uruguay job came up I immediately applied for it as the chance to compete in a Copa America really floated my boat. Their best players such as Suarez, Cavani and Godin are at their end of their careers so I need to blood some young guns.

I am already regretting not signing Pellistri for Benfica as he is at AC Milan and valued at £37m, I missed out on a young striker who went to MLS but I did sign Arezo however with Rodrigo Bentancur, Fernando Valverde, Jose Gimenez, Maxi Gomez and Lucas Torreira I have a few decent players to build a team around for the future.

As for Serbia I think I did a decent job. 6 games, 2 wins, 4 draws, a group win which gave them promotion to division A in the Nations League plus I found a hot prospect for Benfica and I can now speak basic Serbian.

Now to learn Spanish.................​

 

[Klippybo]

Jose Mourinho
2000
P11 W6 D3 L2 F17 A9 W%54.55

Its fair to say that the "Special One" didnt have a special time at Benfica as he lasted less than 3 months as manager. He was offerered the assistant managers job at my beloved Newcastle United by Sir Bobby Robson who promised to step down for him after 2 years but Mourinho turned him down. In the end after the presidential elections the man who appointed Mourinho lost and Mourinho was soon out of a job.

--

MARCH

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Sarr, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Tsygankov (Embalo), Pizzi*, Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

Another sickening successful Pizzi penalty lol. He has scored 12pens this season, Carlos Vinicius has 6 and Dembele 1.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares (N.Tavares), Dias, Sarr, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches*, Rafa (Tsygankov), Ramos, Embalo, Dembele (Arezo)

WHAT A GOAL TO WIN A GAME!!!!

We had several players missing but we still put in a decent performance and in the last 15min we pushed and pushed and we created so many chances but as it was it took a 30 yard thunderbolt from Renato Sanches to win us the match. Embalo made his 1st start for us here while Arezo made his debut.

Sporting Lisbon wentr into this match without a manager but they did a good job here tbh.

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Sarr, Grimaldo, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi (Ramos), Everton (Tsygankov), Dembele

Meh.

It was always going to be tough but we can think ourselves a tad unlucky here. We took the lead through Dembele and we were in dreamland but they got a screamer of an equaliser. Gabriel Barbosa - a one time target and former Benfica player - put them in front and then I shoved everyone forward and they got their 3rd.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro (Sarr), Grimaldo, Gabriel, Sanches (Camara), Rafa*, Pizzi, Everton, Dembele

We go 13pts clear at the top with this win. We went 3-0 up with Dembele heading in the 1st, Rafa scoring a screamer for the 2nd and Everton popped up with a 3rd. I am ****** off however that we conceded 2 late goals and Fabio Silva scored a great goal - the sooner he ****** off so I can bring him back to Portugal the better - he was transfer listed for £6m earlier this season but he refused to talk to me.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi*, Everton (Tsygankov), Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

This win secures Champions League football for next season and I have been given a budget of £45m for next year. Not great but not bad either.

--

SUMMARY

We bounce into March on a high as we got some great results during the month as we beat Sporting Lisbon away and FC Porto at home which means we are 13pts clear at the top of the table with 6 games to play. Porto have a game in hand but we really shouldnt be throwing this away.

Our Champions League dreams are over however after losing 3-1 to Liverpool. We did take the lead but lost our way a bit and so we were eliminated. The board expected us to reach the quarter-finals so they arent too happy but my job isnt under any threat.

The board did however agree to expand the stadium up to a 72,000 capacity. It will cost about £50m to do the upgrade so that will take a huge chunk out of the clubs coffers.

The youth intake was rubbish.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIZZI

--

LIGA NOS

--

URUGUAY

CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

Lineup - Campana, M.Suarez, Coates, Cabaco, Laxalt (Vina), Bentancur, Torreira (Vecino), Pellistri, Lodeiro, de Pena*, Cavani (Gomez)

My first match as Uruguay manager and I probably only fielded 5 first choice players as the rest were completely unfit to play. In the end we won comfortably. Lodeiro scored with a free-kick and Carlos de Pena scored twice on his international debut.

This win puts us 4pts clear in 3rd place in the group with 5 games left. The top 4 qualify for the World Cup automatically so everything looks fine on that front.

--

CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

Lineup - Campana, M.Suarez, Godin (Coates), Gimenez, Vina, Vlaverde, Torreira, Pellistri (Urretaviscaya), Lodeiro (Pereiro), de Pena, L.Suarez

Easy!!!! We came flying out of the blocks here and were 2 up after 8min. Peru missed a penalty and then Valverde sealed things before half-time. They pulled a goal back but no worries there. Former Middlesbrough winger Carlos de Pena must think that international football is easy!

This win secures us at least a playoff spot.​

 

[Klippybo]

Toni
1987-89 &1992-94 & 2000-01
P215 W126 D59 L30 F401 A172 W%58.60

Toni had 3 spells in charge of Benfica having played for the club for 13 seasons beforehand. As a manager he won 2 league titles and one Portuguese Cup.

--

APRIL

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Sarr, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi (Chiquinho), Everton (Cervi), Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

FFS!!!

After winning our last 16 league matches we get beaten by Braga who we have defeated 5-0 and 3-0 already this season. We just didnt get anything going and it looked like we would draw in the league for the first time this season but they scored late on and saw the game out.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Sarr, Grimaldo*, Luis, Sanches, Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi (Ramos), Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

A standard win but the 2 goals came from 2 scorers who you definitely wouldnt expect as Sarr got his first for the club and to be fair Grimaldo now has 4 for the season.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Sarr, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi*, Everton (Tsygankov), Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

A nice win with some nice goals. Dembele is having one of his barren spells in front of goal it seems.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Sarr, Grimaldo, Luis (Gabriel), Sanches, Rafa, Pizzi, Everton (Tsygankov), Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

A poor result and a worse performance. The only thing of note really is that it is our 1st draw in the league this season.

--

SUMMARY

I didnt enjoy this month one little bit - well apart from the 4-0 win over Aves that is! My free scoring team seems to have gone on their holidays. Dembele has been awful while Everton has gone back to his poor form and Rafa and Pizzi are hit and miss. We lost out to Braga at home before winning our next 2 games and then drawing with Rio Ave who we will play in the Taca de Portugal final next month.

Anywho with 2 games left to play we may already have won the league but 1 more win will secure it.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ALEX GRIMALDO

--

LIGA NOS

 

[Klippybo]

Graeme Souness
1997-99
P71 W41 D15 L15 F139 A65 W%57.75

Souness didnt have a successful time in Portugal and made some questionable signings such as Scott Minto, Brian Deane, Dean Saunders, Gary Charles, Mark Pembridge and Michael Thomas. He apparently even turned down the chance to sign Deco for the club.

--

MAY

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro (Sarr), Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches*, Rafa (Tsygankov), Pizzi (Ramos), Everton, Dembele

CHAMPIONS!!!!!

We retain the league title with this victory. We bombarded their goal but only managed to find the net 3 times. Dembele ended his barron spell with a goal while Tsygankov scored with a free-kick.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Morato, Ferro, N.Tavares, Camara (Gabriel), Sanches, Tsygankov, Ramos, Cervi*, Dembele (Arezo)

I largely played a backup side as I rested my players for the upcoming cup final and I only started Livakovic, Sanches and Dembele as they had started every league game this season so far so I thought that it was only fair that they should see out the job.

--

Taca de Portugal Final

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro (Sarr), Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Sanches, Rafa*, Pizzi (Ramos), Everton, Dembele

We retain the Taca de Portugal with victory here. Pizzi converted a penalty to put us ahead and when Dembele put us 2-0 up at half-time it was all but over. Everton scored a beautiful solo goal before they pulled one back.

--

SUMMARY

The season ends with us completing the league and cup double for the 2nd season in a row. The title was won when we comfortably beat Moreirense and in our final league match I threw in my backups and we edged the match against Moreirense 1-0. That set us up for the Taca de Portugal final and Rio Ave were swept aside 3-1.

Happy days!!!!

End of season post to follow.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
RENATO SANCHES

​

 

[Klippybo]

SEASON REVIEW

Season number 2 was a successful one as we won the same 3 trophies as last season - the league, Taca de Portugal and the Supertaca. In the league we got 3pts more than last season and scored a helluva lot of more goals and we won the league by 8pts compared to the 1pt that we won last season.

It was easier than last term. FC Porto worried us at the start as we lost to them and Aves and they just kept winning but by Christmas time we had overtaken them and then we hit top form and sprinted ahead to claim the title.

We won the Supertaca by beating FC Porto 4-2 but they defeated us in the Allianz Cup final on penalties after a thrilling 2-2 draw. Pizzi scored all of his 14 penalties this season in matches but missed the one in the shoot-out here which proved to be costly as we lost. We did knock them out in the semis of the Taca de Portugal on our way to victory in that competition and Rio Ave were defeated 3-1 in the final.

As for European football the curse is still strangling us but it never really mucked us up this season. We qualified for the knockout stages but our loss to Chelsea in the last group stage made us finish runners-up and that proved to be costly as we were drawn against Liverpool. We drew the first leg at home 1-1 and we took the lead at Anfield but in the end we couldnt get the job done.

So overall it was much the same but a slight improvement lol.

Credit goes to my B team who won the Liga PRO title (2nd division) again. Considering I sold nearly £40m worth of talent from last seasons squad it is some achievement to win the league again with arguably a weaker squad but then again my youngsters are continually improving and no doubt I will be fielding bids in the summer.

--

LIGA NOS

--

SQUAD

Goalkeepers - My new keeper Livakovic only missed 1 match all season which came in the cup and he did well. Backup Mile Svilar made his debut and the main story about him this season was me trying to convince him to change his nationality from Belgian to Serbian but since I am the Uruguay manager now I dont care about that anymore lol.

Defenders - I went into this season with no new defenders, just Morato coming up from the B team. Ferro was the new partner of Dias and they both did excellently. Ferro grabbed himself 6 goals while Dias was so good I rejected a £104m bid from Barcelona for him. He has since signed a new contract so hopefully that will deter other teams.

My full backs Nelson Semedo and Alex Grimaldo were superb. Both scored a few goals and got several assists and their backups - the 2 Tavares' boys - were immense yet again. Malang Sarr also got quite a few apps this season and was superb.

Midfielders - Renato Sanches came back to the club in the summer and he was amazing. Last season we didnt get much goals from my central midfielders but Renato banged in 14 and proved to everyone why I brought him in. Florentino Luis continues to impress and improve and actually scored a couple which left my favourite youngster Camara (got a few opportunities) and Gabriel (who is unlucky not to play more).

In the attacking midfield areas there was a big improvement in their numbers from last season. On the LW Everton had a quiet start to the season but was on fire after Christmas and ended up with 14 goals. On the other side Rafa was my main man and he also got 14 goals but my summer signing Victor Tsygankov also played quite a bit and he scored 8 times. In the middle Pizzi was imperious. 21 goals and 26 assists is just crazy from the 31y/o and he really does make us tick. My attacking midfielders were so good that my backups hardly got a chance and it was a quiet season for the likes of Ramos, Chiquinho and Cervi although Ramos did impress and has overtaken Chiquinho in my ranks.

Forwards - My big signing of the summer was that of Moussa Dembele. The £34m man did quite well and scored more league goals than Carlos VInicius did the season before but I still feel that he could have done better. That being said if he had Pizzi's 14 penalties I would have been saying that he was the best striker in Europe!!!

Carlos Vinicius never started a league game but by god he was lethal in the cups. 6 starts brought 14 goals and he also won his first Brazil cap to boot and he scored then also. Matias Arezo came in in January and will have to bide his time but I am aware that he needs game time to improve both for club and of course country!

My Player of the Season - Pizzi
My Young Player of the Season - Tomas Tavares
Must Improve - Morato
Donkey of the Season - Chiquinho

--

SUMMER PLANS

I have a couple of changes in mind but nothing to really upset the apple cart. That being said I have a quality midfield player in Gedson Fernandes due to return unless Spurs fork out the £40m for him so that gives me a headache right from the start! I also want to promote at least 1 young player into the squad so we shall see who gets the golden ticket!!!!

In saying all that if I can manage to get a franchise player or a dream signing it can all change lol.​

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON POST

A few changes were made this summer and there was one HUGE move. A move that obliterated the clubs transfer record which did stand at £34m for Moussa Dembele - well I just paid out 3 times that much and it was all paid in one go to boot!!! Who is it? Look below (unless you are Stonecold as I already told you an hour ago when I was in at your work lol).

As I try and do I promoted a couple of players and I shelled out a few with one or two big names going that I hadnt really planned on selling and arguably you could say that I have weakened my side compared to last season. Despite spending a ton (literally lol) of money lol I have actually made a profit during the summer and the clubs financial balance stands at £78m with £28m available for transfers.

Lets get into the transfers.......

--

PLAYERS OUT

Thats not all of the players out as there was a few B team players who left etc and there were loan deals also.

The main one is the departure of Pizzi as my main player is off to Barcelona for £28m. The reason I sold him is mainly due to his age as he was going to turn 32. In 2 seasons for me he played 88 games and scored 32 goals with about 20 of them or more being penalties.

Gabriel is off to Spurs for a handsome fee of £42m. Considering he only started one league game for me last season I thought that it was best to move him on and I had my eyes on my huge signing and this would almost cover half of the fee plus I have a player coming up from the B team who is classed as a wonderkid who needs to be bedded in. He played 74 games for me and scored 5 goals.

Chiquinho, Gedson Fernandes and Franco Cervi are my other first team squad members to go. Fernandes wasnt required and although he is a decent looking player I felt I had to move him on. Chiquinho was awful last season and was overtaken by Ramos so off he went while Franco Cervi joined newly promoted Famalicao on a cut price deal.

Luca Waldschmidt returned from his loan spell at Vitoria Guimaraes where he actually finished as the top scorer in the league and has moved back to Germany to sign for Hamburg for £10m.

Regarding loan deals I have let some promising youngsters go out like Paulo Bernardo, Matias Arezo, Rafael Brito, Gonzalo Ramirez and Sebahattin Sarinoglu. My B team certainly has lost a lot of talent as I also sold Jota who scored over 20 goals last season so it will be tough for them to win the league.

--

PLAYERS IN

I say players in but only one is worth a screenshot as the other 4 or 5 players are youngsters or regens.

My signing at a cost of £103m is that of Joao Felix!!!!

He was my dream signing for the club as I wanted to bring him back to the club to prove to become a legend here. I have not had Felix before so I am looking forward to seeing how he gets on. I dont necessarily expect him to contribute to 47 goals like Pizzi did last season but in time he could do. I have probably (definitely) overspent by a fair bit but the club could easily afford it so why not?

--

SQUAD

Regarding my first XI there is just the one change as obviously Joao Felix comes in as my AMC. Coming up from the B team is Tiago Dantas and Umaro Embalo. Dantas is a CM and a wonderkid and I initially offered him out on loan but when the likes of Inter Milan and Juventus came in for him and offering him a regular starter role I knew he had to stay and tbh that was the reason that Gedson Fernandes was sold.

Embalo replaces Cervi in the squad as my backup LW. He is lightning quick and is very talented but he still needs a bit of improvement so he has a season to impress. Thiago Almada has returned to the club after 2 years out on loan and was due to be my AMC until the arrival of Felix so he will be my backup AMC and will get plenty of chances to shine.

--

AIMS FOR THE SEASON

Win everything domestically - havent done that yet lol. Naturally the curse still hangs over us and that needs to be broken but I think we are a bit off that just now however as each year passes my young players get better and better so maybe we will surprise a few people one year.​

 

[Klippybo]

Rui Vitoria
2015-19
P180 W123 D27 L30 F382 A160 W%68.33

2 league titles, 1 Allianz Cup, 1 Taca de Portugal and 2 Supertacas were won under Rui Vitoria who had an extremely successful 4 year spell. He is now manager of Al-Nassr and despite his success isnt really widely known around Europe.

--

AUGUST

Supertaca

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches (Camara), Rafa, Felix*, Everton (Tsygankov), Dembele (Ramos)

A fine 2nd debut for Joao Felix. He scored the opener and picked up the MOM award as we win the Supertaca. Considering I am paying Felix a basic £250,000 grand a week I need more performances like this. Nice to see Ronaldo Camara pop up with a goal.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa*, Felix (Almada), Everton (Tsygankov), Dembele (Resende)

If the last match was a showcase of Joao Felix's ability this is the showcase of how bad he can be lol. Tbh it gave me a chance to give Thiago Almada a debut. We won very easily here so it is a good start to the season.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo (T.Tavares), Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Felix (Almada), Everton*, Dembele (Ramos)

We dominated the 1st half but couldnt score and early on in the 2nd half Semedo picked up an injury and literally just as I was about to take him off he scored a screamer. Everton grabbed a double and it was easy in the end.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara), Sanches, Rafa, Felix*, Everton, Dembele (Ramos)

Our strong start to the season continues here with another 4 goals racked up. Dembele got off the mark for the season and Felix got a double while it seems that Everton is on one of his purple patches.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo (N.Tavares), Luis, Sanches, Tsygankov, Felix (Almada), Everton (Embalo), Dembele*

WOW!!!!!

What a marker to put down as we smash Porto 4-1. Dembele scored a fabulous hat-trick and Embalo came off the bench to grab a goal too. Victor Tsygankov was also unplayable as he assisted 3 goals. Fabio Silva seems to have a knack of scoring against us - the sooner he ****** off abroad for me to bring him back the better. He was actually transfer listed for £6m last season but nobody snapped him up.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo (Sarr), Luis, Sanches, Tsygankov*, Felix (Almada), Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

Victor Tsygankov has certainly given me something to think about as he starred again here and set up another goal.

--

SUMMARY

I couldnt have wished for a better start to the season. We have won all of our games and rattled in the goals with the highlight being the 4-1 thrashing of FC Porto. My attacking players have been on fire, even my backups when called upon, and if things carry on we are in for some fun times.

Transfer wise I ended the month by selling Bernardo Couto for a cheap £775,000with a 50% sell on fee. The only reason I was selling him was that his contract was due to expire and I didnt want to sell him for nothing. There were no incomings although I did make a contract offer to free agent Luis Suarez but he joined Atletico Madrid instead.

In the Champions League we have been given an awkward draw but certainly a draw that we should take advantage of as Bayern Munich, Red Bull Salzburg and PSV Eindhoven will be our opponents.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
RAFA

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LIGA NOS

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[Klippybo]

Ronald Koeman
2005-06
P49 W27 D11 L11 F64 A38 W%55.10

Koeman didnt have the greatest of times in his one season at Benfica and only won a Supertaca although he did make the club reach the Champions League quarter-finals - eliminating Man Utd and Liverpool along the way.

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SEPTEMBER

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis (Camara*), Sanches, Rafa, Felix, Everton (Embalo), Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

A decent result but Alex Grimaldo went off injured which put me down to 10 men and he is out for nearly 2 months so Nuno Tavares will get a run in the side.

--

UEFA Champions League Group D

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, N.Tavares (Sarr), Luis, Sanches, Rafa, Felix (Almada), Everton, Dembele*

WOW!!!!

What a result. What a performance. We thrashed Bayern here and we really should have scored more than the 3 that we did manage. Bayern didnt trouble Livakovic at all and we have certainly made the rest of Europe sit up and take notice.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo*, Dias, Ferro (Sarr), N.Tavares, Luis, Sanches, Rafa (Tsygankov), Felix (Almada), Everton, Dembele

Just the one goal here but a win is a win and after the Bayern game it was maybe natural to expect a bit of a lull. Joao Felix put in a hapless performance tbh.

--

Allianz Cup 3rd Phase Group C

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Morato, Sarr, N.Tavares*, Dantas, Camara (Jocu), Tsygankov, Almada (Ramos), Embalo, Carlos Vinicius (Resende)

With this being the Allianz Cup I played my backups even though our group is full of top division sides - including Sporting Lisbon. We won fairly convincingly and managed to give a debut to Henrique Jocu.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Rodrigues, Luis, Sanches (Camara), Rafa, Felix, Everton (Tsygankov), Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

Not good enough.

I had Grimaldo and Nuno Tavares out here and also my B team left back so Rodrigo Domingues made his debut here at left back but that was not the cause of this poor performance. We dominated the game but Dembele had a nightmare and to top it off Ferro got sent-off in injury time.

--

UEFA Champions League Group D

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo (T.Tavares), Sarr, Ferro, N.Tavares (Morato), Luis, Sanches, Rafa (Tsygankov), Felix, Everton, Dembele*

Forget PSV v Benfica - this was Malen v Dembele and it was Dembele who won as he scored 4 goals to Malen's 3. PSV lost 4-0 in their opening match so its safe to say that I know where they are weak lol.

--

SUMMARY

Nearly a perfect month. If it wasnt for the disappointing 0-0 draw with Rio Ave I would have had no complaints over how we did. Sure in that match we could easily have scored 3 or 4 but Dembele had a nightmare but having said that he scored 4 in our next fixture so I can maybe let him off.

The highlight of the month was our 3-0 victory over Bayern Munich where we absolutely tore them to shreds. We created 6 clear cut chances alone and should have won by more but I dont want to appear greedy lol.

We nearly have over a month without a league game as the next league match is on the 20th of October so Nuno Tavares doesnt get such a big run in the side following Grimaldo's injury.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MOUSSA DEMBELE

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LIGA NOS

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URUGUAY

CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

Lineup - Campana, M.Suarez, Coates, Gimenez, Vina, Bentancur, Torreira, Pellistri (L.Suarez), Pereiro, de Pena (Laxalt), Cavani (Gomez*)

We were pretty poor here but we got the win thanks to a goal from Maxi Gomez. This result means we have qualified for the World Cup with a few games left.

--

CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

Lineup - Campana, M.Suarez (Mayada), Godin, Gimenez, Ricca (Laxalt), Bentancur, Torreira*, Pellistri, Pereiro (Lodeiro), de Pena, L.Suarez

A decent point but we missed the chance to win as Luis Suarez had a 2nd half penalty saved. Hey ho.​

 

[Klippybo]

Otto Gloria
1954-59 & 1968-70
P244 W158 D46 L40 F617 A228 W%64.75

4 league titles and 3 Portuguese cups were won by Gloria in his time in charge of the club. He also led Portugal to a 3rd place finish in the 1966 World Cup. He won the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria and also managed Porto, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille, Atletico Madrid and Santos amongst many others in his career.

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OCTOBER

Allianz Cup 3rd Phase Group C

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares*, Dias, Morato, Sarr, Dantas, Camara, Tsygankov, Almada (Ramos), Embalo, Carlos VInicius

My backups did me proud again here with Tomas Tavares scoring a beauty. Ronaldo Camara is certainly impressing this season when he is called upon and he is still only 18y/o.

--

Taca de Portugal 3rd Round

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares (Matos), Alvaro, Sarr, N.Tavares, Dantas, Camara, Tsygankov, Almada (Nascimento), Embalo*, Carlos Vinicius (Resende)

Once again the backups had a chance to shine and as ever they didnt let me down although Thiago Almada did blaze a penalty miles wide.

--

UEFA Champions League Group D

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, N.Tavares, Luis, Sanches (Camara), Rafa, Felix, Everton (Embalo), Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

Very disappointing. We were the better side throughout but we just couldnt take our chances. To not be able to beat the Austrian side at home is pretty poor tbh.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo*, Dias, Ferro, N.Tavares, Luis, Sanches (Camara), Rafa (Tsygankov), Felix, Everton, Dembele (Almada)

Nelson Semedo was the star of the show here as he assisted both goals.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, N.Tavares*, Luis (Camara), Sanches, Rafa (Tsygankov), Felix, Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

FFS. For the 2nd time in 3 league games we draw 0-0 in the league. Braga away is one of our toughest fixtures but its still a poor result.

--

SUMMARY

October was a poor month for us. My backups did the job in the 2 domestic cup matches but my first team players really struggled as they drew 2 matches and won one but even at the end of last month they were not performing. My defence and goalkeeper are doing there jobs but we just arent converting the chances created and arent looking convincing in the final third. Joao Felix for example really needs to step up a few gears.

I expect a vast improvement next month!!!!!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DOMINIK LIVAKOVIC

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LIGA NOS

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URUGUAY

CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

Lineup - Campana, M.Suarez, Coates, Gimenez, Ricca (Laxalt), Valverde (Vecino), Torreira, Pellistri (Urretaviscaya), Pereiro, de Pena, L.Suarez

A fair result. At 0-0 Luis Suarez had a goal disallowed which gives me a feeling of what might have been.

--

CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

Lineup - Campana, M.Suarez, Godin, Gimenez, Vina, Valverde (Vecino), Torreira*, Pellistri, Pereira (Lodeiro), de Pena, L.Suarez (Cavani)

Lucas Torreira scored his first goal for his country here to rescue a draw for us but we were unlucky not to win in all honesty. Chile have failed to qualify for the World Cup and have sacked their manager.

​

 

[Klippybo]

Giovanni Trapattoni
2004-05
P51 W29 D10 L12 F82 A50 W%56.86

Trapattoni only had one season at the club but still managed to win the league. He also led them to the Taca de Portugal final but they lost to Vitoria Setubal. He left the club to be closer to his family.

--

NOVEMBER

UEFA Champions League Group D

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, N.Tavares (Grimaldo), Luis, Sances, Rafa (Tsygankov), Felix*, Everton, Dembele (Carlos Vinicius)

What the **** happened to my free flowing attacking side that I had at the start of the season? We were terrible here and somehow got the victory thanks to an injury time penalty. We really have been terrible recently.

Despite that - we have qualified for the knockout stages now!

--

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Dias, Ferro, N.Tavares (Grimaldo), Luis (Jocu), Sanches, Rafa, Almada, Everton*, Dembele (Ramos)

Thats better!!!! We were without a couple of players here but it wasnt a problem. Everton grabbed a double, Almada got his first goal for the club with a great free-kick and Dembele rounded things off.

--

Taca de Portugal 4th Round

Lineup - Livakovic, T.Tavares, Morato, Sarr, N.Tavares (Rodrigues), Dantas, Jocu*, Gouveia, Almada (Nascimento), Embalo, Carlos Vinicius (Resende)

Benfica versus Benfica!!!! lol

We struggled to win here and it took 2 beautiful long range strikes to see us through as both Nascimento and Jocu scored their first goals for the club.

--

UEFA Champions League Group D

Lineup - Svilar, Semedo, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis (Dantas), Sanches, Rafa, Felix (Almada), Everton (Embalo), Dembele

This is a very harsh defeat. We deserved at least a draw but Lewandowski scored in stoppage time to give them the victory. Mile Svilar came into the side but no blame is attached to him. Their last minute goal means that they are 2pts clear of us with a game to go instead of us being 1pt ahead.

--

Lineup - Livakovic, Semedo*, Dias, Ferro, Grimaldo, Luis (Dantas), Sanches, Rafa (Tsygankov), Felix (Almada), Everton, Dembele

We rattled in the goals here with Tsygankov scoring the pick of the bunch (although Ferro scored from 25 yards too!) but I am annoyed that we conceded a goal as that ends a run of 7 clean sheets in the league.

--

SUMMARY

We picked up a bit this month. In the league we only had 2 matches but we scored 4 past Farense and 5 past Famalicao to see us end the month 1pt clear at the top of the league with a game in hand. We progressed in the Taca de Portugal with a win against another side called Benfica and in the Champions League we were woeful against RB Slazburg but still somehow won before we did well against Bayern and still somehow lost. Qualification is secure there however.

Off the field I got a new feeder side in Malaga so they should be decent to work with. I just noticed that another of my feeder sides, Nottingham Forest, are in the Premier League so thats decent also. I am actually considering bringing in a few Uruguayan's in on the cheap to loan them out to sell them for a big profit so those 2 clubs could come in handy.

I also have still to agree a new contract with the club - they have offered me 2 new contracts but I am yet to agree terms lol.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
NELSON SEMEDO

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LIGA NOS

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URUGUAY

Friendly

Lineup - Campana, M.Suarez (Mendez), Coates, Gimenez (Godin), Ricca (Vina), Bentancur*, Torreira, Pellistri, Pereiro (De Arrascaeta), de Pena (Rodriguez), Cavani (Nunez)

WTF??? My first defeat as an international manager comes against Morocco at home? Thank god it was only a friendly but this performance was horrible. Darwin Nunez (who just signed for Benfica in real life) and Brian Rodriguez made their international debuts here with Nunez grabbing a goal.
​