The Return of Aitor Herrera - The Boss of Bilbao

[Klippybo]

AUGUST

A good start to the season I suppose as we won another trophy although we did lose one too. Got a few injury problems in the midfield area too with Herrera, Susaeta and Benat picking up knocks but that hasnt affected us too much.

Transfer wise there was no more new signings but we did loan a couple more youngsters out.

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Valencia 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain, Herrera, Inigo Martinez

A fantastic way to kick-off the new season. Valencia had a goal disallowed that would have made it 1-1 so we did get a bit of luck however the win was fully deserved in the end.

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Spanish Super Cup Final 1st Leg
Barcelona 4-2 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain, Griezmann

We were 4 down after 43min here so to win the 2nd half 2-0 was vital if we are to overhaul the deficit to win the cup!

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Spanish Super Cup Final 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao (2) 2-2 Barcelona (4)
Inigo Martinez, Benat
(Agg: 4-6)

We took the lead twice but got peggedback twice. Disappointed not to win the trophy but its not as if it was the Champions League final!

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UEFA European Super Cup
Napoli 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
De Marcos
(AET Athletic Bilbao won 4-2 on penalties)

Another trophy for our ever growing cabinet! We fell behind on 12min through a Benat O.G. but De Marcos equalised a minute later. What followed was stalemate really although Griezmann had a goal disallowed in extra-time.

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Getafe 3-5 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 3, Torres (og), Ortega

3up after 10min and 5-2 up at half-time - we just went through the motions in the 2nd half annoyingly. Getafe had a goal disallowed in the first half too!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IKER MUNIAIN

View attachment 284618

TOP 10 LIGA BBVA TRANSFERS
(not including Azpilicueta and Reverte)
[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]NAME
[/TD]
[TD]FROM
[/TD]
[TD]TO
[/TD]
[TD]FEE
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Marc-Andre ter Stegen
[/TD]
[TD]Borussia Dortmund
[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona
[/TD]
[TD]£25.5m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pedro
[/TD]
[TD]AC Milan
[/TD]
[TD]Real Madrid
[/TD]
[TD]£24m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Frederik Sorensen
[/TD]
[TD]Juventus
[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona
[/TD]
[TD]£16.5m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Junior Hoilett
[/TD]
[TD]Chelsea
[/TD]
[TD]Barcelona
[/TD]
[TD]£14.25m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bryan Rabello
[/TD]
[TD]Sevilla
[/TD]
[TD]Atletico Madrid
[/TD]
[TD]£11m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Diego Rubio
[/TD]
[TD]Sporting Lisbon
[/TD]
[TD]Sevilla
[/TD]
[TD]£8.5m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ander Iturraspe
[/TD]
[TD]Real Betis
[/TD]
[TD]Malaga
[/TD]
[TD]£8m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Darko Lazovic
[/TD]
[TD]Real Betis
[/TD]
[TD]Real Sociedad
[/TD]
[TD]£7.5m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Vlad Chiriches
[/TD]
[TD]Bayer Leverkusen
[/TD]
[TD]Real Madrid
[/TD]
[TD]£7m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Javi Hervas
[/TD]
[TD]Osasuna
[/TD]
[TD]Malaga
[/TD]
[TD]£6.75m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


Seeing Pedro move to Real Madrid emphasises how stupid he was turning his back on Spain for Equatorial Guinea! Barcelona released Victor Valdes by the way - he has been keeper of the year the last few years!

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SPAIN

Friendly

Spain 2-1 France
Mata, Muniain

Quite a few debutants here - Prieto and Vazquez (Bilbao), Bartra (Barcelona), Roberto (Zaragoza) and Didac (AC Milan)​

 

[gogogo golem]

Good month but the super cup would have been nice.

 

[HyperBall]

I hope in a few seasons to be battling off relegation from La Liga with my Albacete side.

Don't stop this story (Unless you do an incredibly difficult one).

 

[Klippybo]

SEPTEMBER

A very successful month all round with Iker Muniain going goal crazy as he scored 13 times for club and country!!!!

Our only non win came away to Porto where we drew and that will probably allow us to play our youngsters in the remaining group games as the group isnt that hard (Porto, Spartak, Slovan Bratislava).

Finally I agreed to sign a young French (regen) striker for £3m. He is 19 and will join at the end of the season but will just be there to help the B team and maybe come in in an emergency for the first team.
View attachment 284681

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Real Valladolid 1-5 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 3(1pen), De Marcos 2

2 hat-tricks in 2 games for Muniain (3 in 3 if you include Spain) means that he has started the season on fire! Due to Azpilicueta's arrival De Marcos is playing further forward now when called upon and is playing better. San Jose got sent-off and Herrera got injured for a month.

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UEFA Champions League Group H
Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Spartak Moscow
Bueno

Rested players for this game and it took a late goal for us to win it.

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Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Granada
Muniain 2

After kicking off the league season with 3 away games we now have 3 home games. This was a pretty poor performance as we played against 10 men for 70min.

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Athletic Bilbao 4-1 Osasuna
Muniain, Inigo Martinez, Illarramendi, Benat

A nice derby victory here. Muniain only scoring one is a worry lol. I have trained Vazquez to play AMC and gave him his first go there and he got 2 assists!

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Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Real Murcia
Griezmann, Muniain 2

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UEFA Champions League Group H
FC Porto 3-3 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 2, Susaeta

Hmmm. We were 2up and Azpilicueta had a goal disallowed. Then we were 3-2 down!!!!! Disappointing. Porto have done their shopping in the UK as they have Brunt, Chicarito, Wanyama, Valencia and Marin!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IKER MUNIAIN

He needs his sleep and crisps to score all these goals obviously!

View attachment 284678

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SPAIN

FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Group 9

Spain 2-0 Republic of Ireland
Wilson (og), Silva

Due to injury David Silva hadnt played for about a year for Spain. I gave debuts to Alvaro (Getafe) and Koke (Atletico Madrid)

Friendly

Spain 4-1 Iran
Javi Martinez, Muniain 3
​

 

[Klippybo]

OCTOBER

This month was not good. OK we had some tough fixtures but we only won one win out of four in the league including a defeat against Barcelona and that has seen us let an 8pt lead slip. Hopefully we will recover next month.

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Malaga 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Vazquez

Very disappointed with this result. Muniain needed a rest but such was his form that I played him anyway.

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Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Deportivo La Coruna
Muniain 2, Aythami (og)

We were very poor here and a goal down at half-time but we recovered to win the game.

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UEFA Champions League Group H
Slovan Bratislava 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Bueno, Illarramendi

Before the game I expected a big win and when they had a man sent-off after 5min I pretty much took it for granted. It didnt materialise.

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Barcelona 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
Benat

We took an early lead but that was as good as it got. Barca had a goal disallowed also while their 2nd goal was a joke of a penalty - Not impressed!

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Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg
Barakaldo 0-3 Athletic Bilbao
Ibai Gomez, Ruiz de Galarreta, Vazquez

Barakaldo is one of our feeder clubs so we didnt dare lose!

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Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Atletico Madrid
Herrera

Fell behind - equalised - thank god this month is over.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ERIC REVERTE
View attachment 284756

View attachment 284757

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SPAIN

FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Group 9

Turkey 1-3 Spain
Thiago, Javi Martinez, Alvaro

This time Reverte made his debut for Spain.

Israel 2-4 Spain
Muniain 2, Harush (og), Alvaro

Not sure if anyone has noticed but I am still unbeaten as Spain manager. Won 27 and drawn 3.​

 

[Klippybo]

NOVEMBER

Back to normal this month as we won every game. The youngsters got a few more games this month but as a result of this wonderkid Eric Reverte picked up a nasty injury.

A strange thing happened when the board gave me an extra £20m for my transfer kitty. I actually think my big spending days are pretty much over so it was a bit pointless really although young Mexican midfielder Jorge Espericueta has signed for Marseille for £13m.

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UEFA Champions League Group H
Athletic Bilbao 5-0 Slovan Bratislava
Bueno 3, Prieto, Reverte

Over our 2 games Slovan Bratislava managed a total of 0 shots on our goal lol

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Levante 1-4 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 2, Benat, Rodas (og)

A good win this as Levante are a decent outfit although they are struggling this season.

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Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Villarreal
Miguel Angel (og), Vazquez

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UEFA Champions League Group H
Spartak Moscow 2-3 Athletic Bilbao
Bueno 2, Khitrov (og)

Had to have a chuckle here as it said the Brazilian and Russian managers were here watching the game. Dont know where the Spain manager was then!!!!!!! Our backups and youngsters did a fine job here and confirmed qualification.

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Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Almeria
Benat, Gerson (og), Muniain

Another OG in our favour! lol. Thats 4 games in a row now.

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Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao (3) 4-1 Barakaldo (0)
Ibai Gomez 2, Francisco Javier, Ortega
(Agg: 7-1)

I have high hopes for Francisco Javier and he came off the bench to score 1 and assist 1. Having said that Bueno and Vicent are also battling for up front while I have been playing Ortega at RW but he prefers to play up front!

Reverte got injured here and is out for 3-4 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Real Sociedad 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 2, De Marcos

This is a massive win. Derby game - they are right up at the top of the league - and we were without 4 or 5 players. We took an early lead but they equalised when San Jose gave them a penalty but we got 2 late goals to win.

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UEFA Champions League Group H
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 FC Porto
Vazquez, Vicent

We just needed a draw to top the group from Porto so job done!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IBON BUENO
View attachment 284825

View attachment 284826

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SPAIN

Friendly

Spain 1-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina
Fabregas

The debutant this time was Sergio Asenjo​

 

[White army]

keep up the great work

 

[gogogo golem]

Doing great!!!

 

[Klippybo]

DECEMBER

An enjoyable month this as we won the FIFA Club World Cup and progressed in the Copa del Rey however we did have a few scary moments! In the Champions League we will battle against Juventus again and in the Confederations Cup in the summer I will lead Spain out against Russia, South Africa and Canada.

Good news also in the B team front as along with Numancia they are 12pts clear of the 3rd place team at the top of Second Divsion B2

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Mallorca 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
De Marcos, Bernal

We were 2 down here so I am content with a point but not really if you know what I mean!

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Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg
Levante 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 2

We were behind twice here - again I am content but not really!

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Athletic Bilbao 3-2 Sevilla
Muniain, Griezmann, Inigo Martinez

We were 2 down after 20min and it was all going wrong. Then I thought we were going to get our 3rd successive 2-2 draw. Good win in the end! De Marcos and Herrera got taken off injured.

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FIFA Club World Cup SF
Al-Ahly 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Illarramendi, Ruiz de Galarreta
AET

Dont know how this game got to extra time as we absolutely battered them but hey-ho.

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FIFA Club World Cup Final
Chivas (MEX) 0-3 Athletic Bilbao
Bueno, Susaeta 2

Nice and easy this win as we pick up another trophy however Benat got injured and is out for 3 months.

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Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao (2) 4-0 Levante (2)
Herrera, Vazquez (pen), Susaeta, Bueno
(Agg: 6-2)

We were without 6 or 7 players here so to win so convincingly was nice. Granada up next in the quuarters.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MARKEL SUSAETA

View attachment 284892
​

 

[gogogo golem]

A good, not brilliant month.

 

[Klippybo]

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

JANUARY

Cup, league, cup, league and so on is always how the month of January goes! This month was excellent as we opened up a gap between ourselves and Real Madrid by beating them at home and we also booked our place in the Copa del Rey final where we will play Real Madrid.

Transfer wise there was nobody new - I just loaned out a few youngsters.

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Copa del Rey QF 1st Leg
Granada 2-3 Athletic Bilbao
Susaeta, Muniain, Herrera

We conceded 2 late goals which was annoying but we should still progress.

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Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Celta Vigo
Muniain 3, Herrera

Iker grabs himself another hat-trick although this game had one of my pet hates - 4 up at half-time and then failing to add to it in the 2nd half.

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Copa del Rey QF 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao (3) 2-2 Granada (2)
Ibai Gomez, Illarramendi
(Agg: 5-4)

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Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Real Madrid
Vazquez (pen), Muniain

Going into this game we were level (although we have a game in hand) so this was a huge game and we got a huge win. Vazquez's pen had us a goal up at half-time and Iker doubled the lead. We were excellent here although Herrera got taken off injured and is out for a few weeks.

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Copa del Rey SF 1st Leg
Deportivo La Coruna 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain

Not good enough. We took the lead but Toquero equalised against his old club and then they had a man sent-off but we couldnt capitalise.

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Athletic Bilbao 5-0 Valencia
Inigo Martinez, Muniain 3, Javi Martinez

An excellent win this as we were ruthless in front of goal. Yet another hat-trick for Iker! This was Javi Martinez's first goal of the season while San Jose hasnt scored yet either as Vazquez takes the penalties now.

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Copa del Rey SF 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao (1) 6-0 Deportivo La Coruna (1)
Bueno, Vazquez 3(2pens), Martinez (og), Ruiz de Galarreta
(Agg: 7-1)

Muniain was suspended so in came Bueno and he scored on 2min and by half-time we were 4up and against 10 men! We were 3up before the red card though so it wasnt as if we werent going to win anyways.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IKER MUNIAIN

View attachment 284924

Once again in January there were no big deals out there. Iago Falque to Atletico Madrid for £3m was the biggest deal.

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SPAIN

Friendly

Sweden 0-3 Spain
Muniain 2, Mata

Moises Bernal made his debut here.​

 

[MaximumPower]

Vazquez is a good player, keep up the winning

 

[Klippybo]

FEBRUARY

Forget the defeat to Espanyol and the derby win over Osasuna as this month was all about Iker Muniain and his hat-trick of hat-tricks. His scoring record this season has been nothing short of phenomenal and so far this season he has scored 40 league goals, 7 cup goals and you can add 9 for Spain too if you want!

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Osasuna 2-3 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 3

Muniain's 5th hat-trick in the league this season and his 3rd in the last 4 league games!

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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
Juventus 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Griezmann

We got lucky here as Juve had 21 shots to our paltry total of 9! Griezmann put us ahead early doors but Vidal levelled on 77min. I still dont understand how Griezmann has gone from scoring 20 a season to 5 without changing anything!

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Athletic Bilbao 5-1 Getafe
Muniain 4, Susaeta

4 hat-tricks in the last 5 league games, 3 hat-tricks in a row in the league and his 2nd 1st half hat-trick in a row! His first 4 goal haul this season though. lol

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Espanyol 1-0 Athletic Bilbao

I didnt see this one coming! They had one shot on target and that was it! This was our game in hand so we are still 3pts clear.

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Granada 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Muniain 3

They took the lead via a 10th minute penalty which was their only shot on target but this time we battled back to win. As for the hat-trick count - well its getting stupid now!

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Real Murcia 0-3 Athletic Bilbao
Lamas (og), Herrera, Muniain

Murcia have 7pts and are therefor rooted to the bottom of the league so I feel somewhat shortchanged that Muniain didnt grab himself another hat-trick!

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Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Real Valladolid
Muniain 2, Bernal

Every first pick got rested here for the upcoming Juventus game apart from Ruffier and Muniain.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
IKER MUNIAIN

View attachment 284972
​

 

[DinShaba]

Can you put up the save for download?

 

[gogogo golem]

Doing really well.

 

[Sam91]

Wow, Muniain is absolutely beasting it!!!!

 

[TommyTomster]

post a screenshot of munain

 

[Klippybo]

MARCH

An average month I suppose. We dealt with Juventus in the Champions League and hold a slender advantage over Bayern in the quarters - this is the 3rd year running we have drawn against them!

In the league we thumped Barcelona but got thumped ourselves against Atletico Madrid. Iker Muniain also added another hat-trick to his ever growing tally.

Finally in the youth intake I signed up 3 players with 2 having a 5 star PA rating!!!!
View attachment 284985View attachment 284986
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao (1) 1-0 Juventus (1)
Bueno
(Agg: 2-1)

Muniain was unfit for this game so Bueno came in and got his 8th goal of this seasons tournament to put us through.

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Athletic Bilbao 4-1 Malaga
Muniain 3, Susaeta

50 not out for Muniain by getting his now trademark hat-trick.

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Deportivo La Coruna 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera, Susaeta, De Marcos

Muniain Muniain where art thou Muniain? He didnt score the ******!!!! Reverte made his comeback here while Benat was on the bench.

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Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Barcelona
Muniain, Vazquez (pen), Reverte

A huge win that pretty much secures us the title in all honesty as we are now 8pts clear. Fabregas got sent-off for them while Reverte came off the bench to score despite playing RW - I thought I put on De Marcos!!!!

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Atletico Madrid 3-1 Athletic Bilbao
Inigo Martinez

We were awful here and missed the suspended Muniain badly. They probably would have scored more if they hadnt had a man sent-off. Thankfully Barca only drew.

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UEFA Champions League QF 1st Leg
Bayern Munich 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
De Marcos

A good result this that gives us the advantage for the 2nd leg.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
INIGO MARTINEZ

View attachment 284984
View attachment 284987
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SPAIN

FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Group 9

Spain 6-0 FYR Macedonia
Mata, Busquets, Herrera 2, Mojsov (og), Isco​

 

[Klippybo]

post a screenshot of munain

View attachment 284988

 

[TommyTomster]

View attachment 284988

Yeah, he is allright