The Return of Aitor Herrera - The Boss of Bilbao

[Klippybo]

OCTOBER

A decent month as we stretch our unbeaten run to 21 games but we still arent firing on all cylinders - Griezmann, Benat and Susaeta have been poor so far this season for instance. I did get to play the youngsters a bit this month though which was nice and on the whole they did very well.

Oh and my B team decided to start winning some games to get themselves off the bottom of the table.

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Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Real Valladolid
San Jose, Muniain, Ruiz de Galarreta

San Jose scores again! lol

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Granada 0-3 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 2, Griezmann

Excellent result and performance here although Muniain missed a last minute penalty for his hat-trick - he should have let San Jose take it as usual!

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UEFA Champions League Group D
Athletic Bilbao 2-2 PSV Eindhoven
Ortega, Torres

Played a very young side but I would have still expected a victory - never mind! Ortega became the youngest scorer in the Champions League and for Bilbao when he scored here aged 16 years and 64 days.

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Villarreal 2-3 Athletic Bilbao
Benat, Javi Martinez, Muniain

Villarreal got a late equaliser here but we got a later winner! lol

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Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg
Albacete 3-4 Athletic Bilbao
Ruiz de Galarreta, Bueno, Vera, Carlos (og)

Out came the youngsters for this game and they surged into a 4 goal lead and then almost let it slip in the 2nd half! In the end we only had 6 shots on goal and only 3 on target!

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Deportivo La Coruna 0-1 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IKER MUNIAIN

View attachment 283997

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SPAIN

UEFA European Championships Quals Group F

Spain 4-2 Bulgaria
Mata 2, Ramos, Llorente

We were 2up and cruising and then we were at 2-2 and we werent! This has seen us qualify though - which is nice.

Poland 1-1 Spain
Herrera
​

 

[Ashleigh1984]

Jack Russell looks like a good signing

 

[Klippybo]

NOVEMBER

Another month has passed and this time we tasted defeat as we lost to Almeria. I was more annoyed with that than I was pleased with the win over Barcelona!

Susaeta and Griezmann are still playing like donkeys - methinks a word will be had................

Getafe, Deportivo, Osasuna and Valencia sacked their managers - Villas-Boas turned up at Valencia and Laurent Blanc at Getafe.

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UEFA Champions League Group D
PSV Eindhoven 3-3 Athletic Bilbao
Bernal, Ruiz de Galarreta, Ortega

A topsy turvy game as we fell behind 3 times and eventually got a last minute equaliser! PSV had a goal disallowed too.

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Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Barcelona
Muniain, Pedro (og)

A comfortable victory (they scored in stoppage time) which sees us on 34pts - Barca have half that!

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Almeria 2-0 Athletic Bilbao

We were absolutely awful here. Fell behind in the 1st minute and then had Benat sent-off. Not happy! Our lead has been reduced to 4pts now.

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UEFA Champions League Group D
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Anderlecht
Ruiz de Galarreta, Bueno

Thats us qualified and we just need to avoid defeat to Zenit to finish top of the group.

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Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Osasuna
Muniain

Muniain had 1 disallowed while Osasuna sacked their manager immediately after this game.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
INIGO RUIZ DE GALARRETA

View attachment 284000

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SPAIN

Friendlies

Spain 2-0 Northern Ireland
Iniesta, Javi Martinez

I gave Isco (now at Levante) and Pedro (AC Milan - not the Barca one) their debuts in this match.

Spain 1-0 Ghana
Javi Martinez

Jaime of Genoa made his debut here as Iniesta got injured in the last match.​

 

[White army]

nice one ur doing very well

 

[Klippybo]

DECEMBER

Bueno, Ortega, Prieto, Vicent, Vazquez, Bernal.............. they have all been impressive this month as my main players got plenty of rest. The future looks very bright - just need a great regen keeper and right back!

I should point out that Ibon Bueno has been promoted to the 1st team squad after his impressive form this season. He has scored 17 in 35 games for us but that includes 15 substitute appearances.

Cup draws were mixed - Bayern Munich in the Champions League, we will play Mallorca in the cup and as for Spain we will play Croatia, Switzerland and the Republic of Ireland in the European Championships.

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Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao (4) 3-1 Albacete (3)
Bueno, Ruiz de Galarreta, Ortega
(Agg: 7-4)

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Rayo Vallecano 2-3 Athletic Bilbao
Susaeta 2, Javi Martinez

We did this the hard way! A goal down and then a man down when Muniain got sent-off we came back to win well. I spoke to Susaeta before this game about his form and he responded well!

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UEFA Champions League Group D
Zenit St. Petersburg 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Bernal 2

We only needed a draw to top the group so to win with our youngsters was a great achievement! Despite not scoring or getting an assist Ortega was man of the match with a rating of 9.1 - he has been really impressive!

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Levante 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Ibai Gomez, Prieto

I was pleased with this win as Levante have some decent players in Isco, Arbeloa, Iborra and Bojan. As it was we got a last minute winner.

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Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 2-2 Real Valladolid
Illarramendi, Bueno

I decided to give the backups a go here as I felt they were good enough to beat Valladolid but we conceded a late goal to draw. Should still go through though.

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Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Sevilla
Bueno

Sevilla took the lead and then frustrated us. Remember Griezmann? 20 games, 2 goals, 5 assists = one unhappy manager - might give Bernal a run on the LW.

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Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg
Real Valladolid (2) 0-5 Athletic Bilbao (2)
Bueno 2, Vicent, Ramos (og), Prieto
(Agg: 2-7)

I played an even younger side for this 2nd leg and they did much better. Young forward Vicent made his debut - remember that name! Ortega got 2 assists too...........

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IBON BUENO
View attachment 284034

View attachment 284039​

 

[Ashleigh1984]

Youth are looking good dude, any advice on how to handle youngsters.. apart from playing them?

 

[gogogo golem]

Doing great. So many wins.

 

[Klippybo]

JANUARY

January is always a hectic month and this one proved to be no different! We amazingly had to play both Mallorca and our rivals Real Sociedad 3 times each! In the end we came through the month pretty well and we made it through to the Copa del Rey final where we will play Barcelona.

In the transfer window we agreed a pre-contract deal with a player and loaned out 2 youngsters.

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Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Real Sociedad
Inigo Martinez

Always nice to win the derby and it was even sweeter that an ex Sociedad player scored the winner!

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Copa del Rey QF 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Mallorca
Bernal, Gil

Despite Mallorca being in the top four in the league I played my youngsters and they were brilliant once again. Ortega set-up both goals.

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Mallorca 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain, San Jose

There is something seriously wrong when my full team cant beat the same team my youngsters did the game before! Two early goals set us on our way here but we got pegged back shamefully.

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Copa del Rey QF 2nd Leg
Mallorca (0) 1-0 Athletic Bilbao (2)
(Agg: 1-2)

The youngsters had an off day here - Illarramendi scored an own goal.

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Celta Vigo 2-3 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain, Susaeta, Javi Martinez

After an hour we were 3up and cruising and then we collapsed as Ogunjimi scored twice - thankfully he got injured and they played the final few minutes with 10 men!

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Copa del Rey SF 1st Leg
Real Sociedad 0-3 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 2, Illarramendi

Excellent! Should be a big enough lead for me to play the youngsters in the 2nd leg now!

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Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Atletico Madrid
Muniain, Inigo Martinez, Herrera

A very nice win indeed against the team lying in 3rd place.

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Copa del Rey SF 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao (3) 2-0 Real Sociedad (0)
Bueno, Vicent
(Agg: 5-0)

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Getafe 3-6 Athletic Bilbao
Griezmann, Mena (og), Abraham (og), Muniain 3(1pen)

I just about choked on my lollipop on the touchline when Griezmann scored! lol. Maybe he scored far too much in his first season and a half but this season he has been poor. Anywho we were 4-1 up at half time and Susaeta ended up getting 4 assists. Oh and they had a man sent-off and Javi Martinez also scored an O.G.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IKER MUNIAIN

View attachment 284051

There were no transfer deals worth posting.............
​

 

[Klippybo]

Youth are looking good dude, any advice on how to handle youngsters.. apart from playing them?

Game time is vital - good tutoring also. I also am never afraid to train players in new positions for instance I have a 5 star rated player for PA (dont know why - doesnt look that special) and he was a DM but I dont play that position so I am retraining him as a CM.

Oh and good youth coaches help too!

 

[gogogo golem]

Another good solid month.

 

[Klippybo]

FEBRUARY

On the whole this was a successful month despite the defeat to Valencia as we beat Real Madrid away and held Bayern Munich to a draw. Muniain has been on fire the past 2 months and Susaeta has also picked up but Griezmann has still been poor.

I noticed that I have 3 current wonderkids - Prieto, Bernal and Vazquez!

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Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Real Zaragoza
Herrera, San Jose (pen), Bernal

Given that we have 2 tough fixtures away from home coming up this was a must win. San Jose also missed a last minute penalty.

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Real Madrid 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Susaeta, Muniain

The night before I had a heavy night on the sangria and I was in such a state I even forgot to do a team talk. Thankfully my players bailed me out with a magnificent performance. Being away from home and restricting them to only one chance in the last minute which they scored. Unfortunately my drunkeness led me to shout at my players at the end of the match! oops

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Valencia 1-0 Athletic Bilbao

Meh!!

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Athletic Bilbao 5-1 Real Betis
Muniain 4, Herrera

I had a touchline ban for this game against a team surprisingly battling against relegation. Muniain put us 2up after 5min!

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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
Bayern Munich 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Ibai Gomez

We will take that result - an away goal and avoiding defeat!

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Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Granada
Muniain, Bernal, Susaeta

We got 2 late goals here to extend our lead at the top to 10pts!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IKER MUNIAIN

View attachment 284097​

 

[Klippybo]

Former manager Fred Pentland

MARCH

March is always one of my favourite months as not only do we get the youth intake but every competition begins to reach its final stages. As it was in the league we conceded far too many but we scored a load too although Barcelona beat us.

In the Champions League we defeated Bayern Munich and then got drawn against Juventus where we gave them the advantage for the 2nd leg.

The youth intake was decent as we got a promising centre half and even better a very good young goalkeeper!
View attachment 284105View attachment 284106

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Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Villarreal
Susaeta, Griezmann, Inigo Martinez

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Real Valladolid 3-4 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 3, Valiente (og)

We fell behind twice here but Muniain saved the day - he even set-up the 4th!

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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao (1) 2-0 Bayern Munich (1)
Muniain 2
(Agg: 3-1)

There was 1 shot on goal in the first half so we obviously restricted Bayern and then Muniain struck twice in the 2nd half to continue his run of top form.

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Athletic Bilbao 5-3 Deportivo La Coruna
Susaeta 2, Muniain, Inigo Martinez, Herrera

We are performing really well now (even Griezmann got 2 assists) and we are scoring plenty. Fans favourite Toquero scored a hat-trick against us here. This win qualifies us for the Champions League for next season already.

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Barcelona 4-2 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain, Bernal

1-1 at half-time and then we had a shocker of a 2nd half - Messi scored a hat-trick.

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UEFA Champions League QF 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 2-2 Juventus
Griezmann, Susaeta

Oh oh - we have it all to do in the 2nd leg now! Susaeta's goal came in injury time so it could easily have been worse.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MARKEL SUSAETA

View attachment 284107

Just found out that a bunch of Basque students founded Atletico Madrid!!!!
​

 

[CantGetEnoughOfJelavic]

That centre back could turn into something special, going incredibly strong again - like always, in the league! Unlucky with the 2-2 at home to Juventus though.

 

[Sam91]

Doing sooo well again. Still need to find that super wonderkid though

 

[Klippybo]

APRIL

The title is ours!!!!!!!!!! We cruised it really although we wont get near the amount of points as we did last season. However all that was overshadowed by our progress to the Champions League final as Iker Muniain had the game of his life.....................

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Athletic Bilbao 5-0 Almeria
Muniain 2, Ruiz de Galarreta, Pinter (2ogs)

I rested several players for the upcoming game against Juve and we surged into a 3 goal lead after only 14min! Muniain has scored 12 in his last 7 league games now.

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UEFA Champions League QF 2nd Leg
Juventus (2) 0-1 Athletic Bilbao (2)
Vidal (og)
(Agg: 2-3)

Sneaked through here but it was a very good result - Man City up next!

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Osasuna 2-3 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 2, Benat

Muniain the goalscoring machine! lol - Bernal had a goal disallowed in the last minute.

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Athletic Bilbao 5-0 Rayo Vallecano
Herrera, Muniain, Iraola, Susaeta, Prieto

This fine victory won us the title and for Iraola to score was the icing on the cake.

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UEFA Champions League SF 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 5-3 Manchester City
Muniain 5

INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!! JUST LOOK AT THE SCREENSHOT....................
View attachment 284130

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Sevilla 3-2 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera, Vazquez (pen)

I rested players here - but not Muniain of course - we were 3 down and they had a goal disallowed but the title is over so it doesnt really matter.

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UEFA Champions League SF 2nd Leg
Manchester City (3) 1-0 Athletic Bilbao (5)
(Agg: 4-5)

We got a bit lucky here as Tevez missed a penalty. Muniain was suspended.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IKER MUNIAIN

View attachment 284148
​

 

[White army]

you truely are a legend...what is ur secret

 

[Klippybo]

MAY

The final month of the season was one of mixed emotions. Despair in the Copa del Rey final, boredom in the league and ecstasy in the Champions League.

My B team look doomed in the Liga Adelante - pretty much have to win their last 3 games!

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Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Levante
Bueno, Prieto

I played the youngsters but even though we were disrupted by Ruiz de Galarreta and Ibai Gomez going off injured in the first 20min we won the game.

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Copa del Rey Final
Athletic Bilbao 1-2 Barcelona
Susaeta

This was a big opportunity missed as Barca were without Messi and gave an 18y/o his debut. This 18y/o wouldnt get in my u19 team yet he got man of the match! ****** off............

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Real Sociedad 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Vera

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Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Mallorca
Vicent, Illarramendi

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UEFA Champions League Final
Real Madrid 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Varane (og), Muniain

Champions of Europe for the 2nd time!! All the goals came in the 1st half as we surged into a 2 goal lead before Higuain pulled one back. Contreao got sent-off for them in the 2nd half and we held on!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOSEBA PRIETO
View attachment 284154

End of season post to follow (in the morning) - followed by the Euros!​

 

[White army]

great work in winning all ur trophies

 

[Klippybo]

END OF SEASON POST

So the season ends with us winning 3 more trophies but unfortunately just missing out on the Copa del Rey. There were some memorable games - none more so than the 5-3 win over Man City.

The board are now happy with the amount of youngsters I am playing and so they should be! Prieto, Bernal, Vazquez, Vera and Bueno featured regularly while Ortega, Vicent, Gil, Torres and Agirre also featured a few times.

Its just a shame that my B team look doomed for relegation............

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FIRST TEAM SQUAD
View attachment 284192
Muniain, San Jose and Inigo Martinez were superb while Herrera and Griezmann disappointed

PLAYER OF THE SEASON
IKER MUNIAIN

FINAL LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 284195
View attachment 284194View attachment 284193

MY LEAGUE GOALSCORERS
30(1P) Muniain, 9 Susaeta, 8 Herrera, 7 Inigo Martinez, 7(4P) San Jose, 4 Bueno, 3 Bernal, 3 Griezmann, 3 Javi Martinez, 3 Prieto, 2 Benat, 2 Ibai Gomez, 2 Ruiz de Galarreta, 1 Illarramendi, 1 Iraola, 1(P) Vazquez, 1 Vera, 1 Vicent, 6 Own Goals

AWARDS
Spanish Player of the Year - Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)
Spanish Young Player of the Year - Joseba Prieto (Athletic Bilbao)
Liga BBVA Player of the Year - Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Liga BBVA Manager of the Year - Aitor Herrera (Athletic Bilbao)
Liga BBVA Top Goalkeeper - Victor Valdes (Barcelona)
Liga BBVA Top Goalscorer - Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Pichichi Trophy - Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)
Most Improved Team - Levante

TEAM OF THE SEASON
Valdes (Barcelona)
Ramos (Real Madrid)
San Jose (Athletic Bilbao)
Inigo Martinez (Athletic Bilbao)
Marcelo (Real Madrid)
Dos Santos (Malllorca)
Rossi (Villarreal)
Susaeta (Athletic Bilbao)
Neymar (Barcelona)
Messi (Barcelona)
Muniain (Athletic Bilbao)

OTHER NEWS
Napoli thrash Ajax 4-1 to win the Europa League
San Jose wins Champions League Best Player
Muniain wins Champions League Top Scorer Award​

 

[Klippybo]

SPAIN

EURO 2016 PRE-TOURNAMENT FRIENDLIES & SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT

Spain 3-1 Norway
Muniain 3

Muniain netted a first half hat-trick here.

Spain 4-1 Andorra
Mata, Susaeta, Pique, Muniain

Spain 2-1 Denmark
Susaeta, Muniain

SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT

Goalkeepers[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]NAME[/TD]
[TD]CLUB[/TD]
[TD]APP[/TD]
[TD]GLS[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Iker Casillas[/TD]
[TD]Real Madrid[/TD]
[TD]179[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]David De Gea[/TD]
[TD]Manchester United[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Victor Valdes[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona[/TD]
[TD]14[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Defenders[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Jordi Alba[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona[/TD]
[TD]41[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cesar Azpilicueta[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Inigo Martinez[/TD]
[TD]Athletic Bilbao[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Javi Martinez[/TD]
[TD]Athletic Bilbao[/TD]
[TD]49[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gerard Pique[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona[/TD]
[TD]82[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sergio Ramos[/TD]
[TD]Real Madrid[/TD]
[TD]137[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Victor Ruiz[/TD]
[TD]Valencia[/TD]
[TD]16[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mikel San Jose[/TD]
[TD]Athletic Bilbao[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Midfielders[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Benat[/TD]
[TD]Athletic Bilbao[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sergio Busquets[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona[/TD]
[TD]71[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cesc Fabregas[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona[/TD]
[TD]95[/TD]
[TD]14[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ander Herrera[/TD]
[TD]Athletic Bilbao[/TD]
[TD]16[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ander Iniesta[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona[/TD]
[TD]98[/TD]
[TD]19[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Isco[/TD]
[TD]Levante[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Juan Mata[/TD]
[TD]Chelsea[/TD]
[TD]59[/TD]
[TD]20[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Markel Susaeta[/TD]
[TD]Athletic Bilbao[/TD]
[TD]16[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Thiago[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Forwards[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Fernando Llorente[/TD]
[TD]Arsenal[/TD]
[TD]49[/TD]
[TD]25[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Iker Muniain[/TD]
[TD]Athletic Bilbao[/TD]
[TD]20[/TD]
[TD]13[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rodrigo[/TD]
[TD]Benfica[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Players Missing Out
Bernal, Prieto, Illarramendi (Bilbao), Silva (Man City), Alvaro (Getafe), Dominguez (PSG), Jaime (Genoa), Cazorla (Arsenal), Rochina (Wigan) and Pedro (Barcelona)

I also decided against calling up Pedro of AC Milan who I capped earlier and instead he has chosen to play for Equatorial Guinea!!! He had the choice of us, them or Italy and he chose them!!!!!!​