The UEFA Champions League Challenge

[Sam91]

Great to see you back mate and loving the save

 

[Klippybo]

2032-33 SEASON SUMMER TRANSFER WINDOW

I went into the summer window intent on making us stronger with one or two big signings. I have a load of decent young players that are only getting better and they are wanted by some of the big clubs in Europe so I know I am on the right track. That being said before the transfer window ended I was forced into a move that I hadnt planned for.

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PLAYERS OUT

I also sold a few B team players for around £35m to help boost the coffers. Ze Carlos and Gutierrez were backup players in their 30s so it was the right time for them to go. Unfortunately I was forced to sell Ricardo. My RW was unhappy and his contract was due to expire at the end of next season so I felt it was best to move him on. In 84 apps he scored 42 goals and got 37 assists.

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PLAYERS IN

I was thrilled to bring Antonio Silva back to the club. He is a world class defender and definitely makes us a stronger side. I had Joao Fonseca at AC Milan and he was brought back to Benfica as cover at RB essentially. Gerard Gothuey is a 16y/o LB who I have high hopes for and Kale Fostac is a Croatian right winger.

However with Ricardo departing I needed to fill the RW spot. I searched for some and then realised that I could maybe play Cardona out there and that would open up a space for Yuriy Sorokin. That meant my 2 30 goal a season forwards could play every week so I then needed to get a backup striker and I found this guy...................

I had never come across him before but Ngbokaye walks straight into my first team. He has absolutely everything and I shudder to think what he would have cost had he not had an active relegation release clause at Fulham. He can also play on the RW so he fits in perfectly.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES

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[Klippybo]

TRANSFER UPDATE

The winter transfer window is closed and you can arguably say that we are weaker than when the season started but I actually think we are now serious contenders for the Champions League. My young players have reached a level in their development where they are excelling every week and now all the top sides around Europe are after them which is a good sign but makes for an unhappy squad when I refuse offers.

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PLAYERS OUT

My backup LW Dario Cenci left to join Borussia Dortmund for £40m. He was a regular for 1 season but was put to backup last season. In all he made 84 apps, scored 19 goals and made 27 apps. Andre Amaro also left to join Real Betis for £17.5m. I had 6 CBs in my first team squad so was quite happy to let him go at the age of 30 although I am sad to losing a Portuguese player.

I also loaned out my 2 backup CMs. Rodrigo Moraes went to Leipzig and Nahuel Martino went to Inter Milan with no future fees agreed.

I rejected £85m for my LB Rafael, £75m for my backup striker Yuriy Sorokin, £60m for my keeper Alvarez, £55m for Rafael Luis, £40m for Cardona, £30m for my backup RB/RW Fogeiro and £12m for Guarana.

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PLAYERS IN

I signed an 18y/o CM from Chile for £4.8m and a 17y/o keeper from Dinamo Zagreb for £10m but immediately loaned him back. To replace Cenci I spent £14m on 17y/o Basel LW Arthur Asumani.

I am left with a transfer budget of £60m but I am willing to let the board have it at the end of the season as the club is currently £112m in debt and if I am to be here next season the proof is there that I can sell a player for a huge sum to boost any potential small transfer budget.

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I have won every game!!!! We actually suffered an injury set back when my LW Laurent Pause got injured for a few months so I moved Cardona over to that side put my star signing Ngbokaye over to the RW and Sorokin up top.

Ngbokaye has been a revelation with 23 games, 19 goals and 11 assists with an averating rating of 7.84
Cardona is 24app, 14gls, 10ass, 7.56
Sorokin 21apps, 19gls, 6ass, 7.50

Monsieur Pause is my main creator though with 4 goals and 15 assists in 18 apps while Joao Veloso has 15 goals from the AMC position!!!

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Real Madrid taught us a lesson while I rested players against Spurs but we still easily got a top 8 place.

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We got to the quarter-finals of the Euros and ran the eventual runners-up Holland close before going out. In the Nations League we made a poor start but then recovered brilliantly to win our final 4 matches but we still finished 2nd above the winners of the Euros, Belgium.​

 

[Klippybo]

2032-33 SEASON REVIEW

It looks like I will have a 4th year in Portugal as we failed to win the Champions League but the caveat to that is I am fully confident that we can win it next season as my players are just getting better and better and better and I can only improve my squad in the summer especially since the board let me keep my saved up transfer budget for next season!!!! My sense of confidence can be proven that I dont think I would jump ship if the Barcelona or Real Madrid job comes up although that may change in the unlikely event that they do become available!!!!!

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We finally lost a domestic game and I was furious. It came after we had won the league at home to BSAD as we lost 1-0 at home and spent the last 20min with 10 men but that is no excuse. In the league we had went 99 games unbeaten so not to make it to 100 just ****** me off.

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DOMESTIC CUPS

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Meh. We reached the quarter-finals but in the end narrowly lost to Man City. Tbh they were the better team in the first leg despite us winning so I can have no complaints. Hey ho. In the end Bayern Munich defeated Man City 2-0 in the final.

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SQUAD

3 years in and 3 years as top scorer yet Sorokin is still viewed as my backup striker lol. He was phenomenal but he was by far the only one. The numbers produced by my top 5 attackers (Sorokin, Cardona, Pause, Veloso, Ngbokaye) were nothing short of amazing.

This squad will be much stronger next season with my loan players returning and a couple of transfers coming in.​

 

[Klippybo]

2033-34 SEASON - SUMMER TRANSFER WINDOW

Thank **** the transfer window is shut. I went into it confident in securing my top target with the aim to make a couple more while getting some money back by selling backup players and replacing them with some youngsters in the system. That all worked but..........

So many of my players want to move on and have requested a transfer!!!!

The unhappy players are Garcia, Ngbokaye, Cardona, Sorokin (all by Arsenal the bar stewards I am after them now) and Rafael. I almost accepted their £69m bid for Cardona but I rejected for sentimental reasons as this is the 6th season I have had him with AC Milan and Benfica.

I then thought if I could get a like for like replacement at a similar level for cheaper I would let them go and while I found a striker and a CM it just didnt work out. For instance I accepted £48m from Arsenal (them again ffs) for my backup CM Martino but his replacement would cost the same amount so what was the point?

Rant over - here is my business....

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PLAYERS OUT

I was sad to see a couple of Portuguese players go out but Inacio was 31y/o and my top target was to replace him while Gaspar hardly got a game so that money was hard to turn down and my backup keeper was 32y/o so that was enough to see him leave.

One of Rodrigo Moraes or Nahuel Martino was always going to leave and when I listed them nobody wanted Martino (that would change) so off Moraes went for £30m. I more than doubled my money on him and in 56 apps he scored 15 goals from CM which is very good.

I lost a bit of money on Guarana who like Moraes is in the Brazil squad while I loaned out Fostac, Adilson and Balladares to get further development and regular starts.

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PLAYERS IN

Only 4 signings - 1 world beater, 1 surprise signing that came from nowhere, 1 former icon coming to the club to see out his playing career and 1 future superstar - in that order.

I am delighted to welcome my new club record signing Stefano Di Filippo. I saw him just as I was leaving AC Milan and he was available for £23.5m. When I got this job he had already moved to Brighton and it was only this summer that I could get him. He is world class and can play at CB (where he will play) or CM. The only negative is his height but here is the screenie of him..........

The surprise signing came just after I won the Supertaca but before the opening game of the season. I was looking through the Brazil squad and found a player there still playing in Brazil which is a sign that he must be half decent. I seen him and had to get him. At 25y/o Neider will be my new RB and backup LB. He has some great stats but although he is a natural winger he will be brilliant in a complete wing back role.

The legend coming back is Joao Felix for £15m. Sure he is 33y/o but he is still quality and will be my backup AML, AMC and possibly striker. He was unlucky in the Supertaca after he came off the bench for his debut as he assisted a goal that was disallowed and then missed a penalty.

Finally I signed Josimar who can play up front or on the RW. Hopefully he will be a future star for the club.

In the end I spent £133m - the most in Europe.

​

 

[Klippybo]

2033-34 JANUARY UPDATE

Things are looking good. We easily qualified out of the Champions League group stage going the 8 games unbeaten including a revenge victory over Arsenal after they unsettled a load of my players in the summer. We are top of the league unbeaten and doing well in the cups.

There were no January incomings and I just sold Joao Fonseca to Real Sociedad for £31m as we were spending £500k a week in wages over my budget so I had to sell someone.

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SCOTLAND - 2033 RESULTS

I was gutted when we lost to Japan at home as we were on a 14 game winning streak. We battered them as well.​

 

[Klippybo]

2033-34 SEASON REVIEW

WE DID IT!!!!!!!!

It took me 4 seasons to build a squad good enough to win the Champions League and we did it in fine style going through the whole competition without even losing a game. Indeed we lost only one game all season but more than that later.

My entire squad to a man were excellent with my attacking players yet again working wonders with some incredible statistics.

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We romped to the title and won all of our games bar 2 and the defeat was our only defeat in any competition. It came against bottom side Boavista and it was the game after we had secured the title. I was livid!!!

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DOMESTIC CUPS

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The Bela Guttmann curse is over as we become Champions of Europe. To do so without losing a single game is a magnificent achievement and in the final we defeated Man City which included a goal from Rafael Luis - his only goal of the season.

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SQUAD

Yuriy Sorokin is destined to be top scorer. All 4 seasons he has achieved it and in all 4 seasons he was my backup striker. This season he was nowhere near it until Cardona got a bad injury when we beat Bayern Munich and as a result missed the last 3 months of the season so in came Sorokin and he just kept scoring.

Cardona was my best player by far playing on the RW while Alex Sandro had a stellar season and the old man Joao Felix played his part too!!


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THE FUTURE

I am sad to leave my beautiful Benfica boys but needs must. I will do a post featuring some of them later on. Regarding the summer it is the perfect time to be looking for a job as I will be managing Scotland at the World Cup so there should be some vacancies arising. Man Utd have an interim manager in charge but finished midtable but that means it would be a minimum 2 year project with a team I cant stand so I might swerve it.

Barcelona and Real Madrid would be my dream job while Inter, Ajax, Juventus and Chelsea would be the most attractive other options.

Man Utd, Villa, Forest and FC Porto would be the least attractive. I need a break from Portuguese football methinks although it is one of the leagues that I enjoy managing in the most.​

 

[Klippybo]

MY BEAUTIFUL BENFICA BOYS

Here is a selection of my favourite players in my Champions League winning squad. It will break my heart to see a firesale happen but no doubt it will.


Goalkeeper

Inigo Alvarez
Signed from Bayer Leverkusen for £29m (2030-31)
188 apps, 85 clean sheets.

Fantastic young keeper. He fell out with me in January after I wouldnt let him leave so I was forced to arrange a transfer in the summer where he will join Man City but I have left them a Croatian wonderkid to take his place.

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Defenders

Rafael
Signed from Corinthians for £16.5m (2031-32)
131 apps, 4 goals, 24 assists

Arguably the best left back in the game at the moment.

Stefano Di Filippo
Signed from Brighton for £90m (2033-34)
45 apps, 2 goals, 1 assist

My club record signing is arguably the best CB in the game and was a key ingredient to propel us from a challenger of the Champions League to winners.

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Midfielders

Alex Sandro
Signed from Atletico Minerio for £14.5m (2030-31)
161 apps, 32 goals, 49 assists

Raiding Brazilian football proved to be fruitful and alongside Rafael, Alex Sandro was my best acquisition from there. He really came on to his own in the last 2 seasons when I changed his role in midfield and the goals and assists more than doubled.

Joao Veloso
Inherited
182 apps, 79 goals, 57 assists

Only 1 of 3 players that I inherited that I have kept (alongside Fogeiro and Ribeiro). He was my AMC and scored the opener in the Champions League final.

Laurent Pause
Signed from Borussia Dortmund for £54m (2031-32)
129 apps, 25 goals, 58 assists

His scoring record was a tad poor but I cant complain with the amount of assists he got!!! He was my left winger for 3 seasons.

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Forwards

Alejandro Cardona
Signed from AC Milan for £47m (2030-31)
149 apps, 109 goals, 31 assists

My golden boy. I took him from AC Milan where he worked wonders for me to here and he repaid my 5 times over. He was up front for 2 seasons and then played on the wing for 2 seasons but he still scored regularly. Still only 25y/o too!

Karim Ngbokaye
Signed from Fulham for £32m (2032-33)
92 apps, 72 goals, 34 assists

What a bargain signing Karim was. He mainly played up front but when Sorokin was there he was moved to the RW where he still performed brilliantly.

Yuriy Sorokin
Signed from Borussia Monchengladbach for £20m (2030-31)
165 apps, 152 goals, 14 assists

Those performance stats look insane but its even better as he only actually started 112 games!!!!! The best backup striker ever lol​

 

[Klippybo]

JANUARY 1st - 2035

Well I am still unemployed!!! On the day that I resigned as manager of Benfica Man Utd appointed Luis Enrique so that was immediately taken off the table - not that I was bothered tbh. My replacement at Benfica was Rino Gattuso who replaced me at AC Milan I think and its safe to say that my beautiful Benfica boys are no longer together but more on that in a minute.

The first job offer that came my way was from FC Porto would you believe. I spoke to them but when looking at the squad although they had 1 or 2 standout players I just felt that I needed a break from Portuguese football.

Next up was Aston Villa who I cant stand in real life (and as a Newcastle fan I was delighted by the 5-1 win over them last week!!!). They offered me £45m of a budget and had a better squad than Porto I think but with just a week of the transfer window to go I decided to pass. If they had European football I might have taken it but hey ho.

Then Hamburg came calling. Their squad was a tad weaker but their transfer budget of £75m was impressive but they were rock bottom of the Bundesliga and it didnt feel right.

Nottingham Forest (bottom of the Championship) and Steaua Bucharest (bottom of the Romanian top division) also became available but I didnt even bother going in for them.

I am getting itchy feet now though so may lower my ambitions but I may just see what becomes available in the summer.

One job I did go in for and I was rejected was actually that of my favourite FM team Athletic Bilbao. They have been relegated for the first time in their history so I thought I would march in get them promoted and see where the land lies in the summer while learning Spanish along the way and they ****** well rejected me!!!!!!

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We were respectable in the World Cup with the win over Uruguay in the 2nd round being the highlight but France proved to be our undoing however we then promptly thumped them 3-1 at Hampden in our next match in the Nations League so that was annoying.

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THE BENFICA EXODUS

I expected them to sell players especially since I left the club £150m in debt. However some of the deals is just shambolic........

Laurent Pause and Nahuel Martino both went to Man Utd on loan with £20m and £16m buy out clauses!!! I rejected £60m and £40m for them respectively at one point!

Rafael (£44.5m) and Yuriy Sorokin (£52m) joined Arsenal - I rejected £85m and £70m for them respectively

Yago Fogeiro went to Barcelona for £54m

Kim Min went to Liverpool for £44m

Kale Fostac went to PSG for £32m

At least they kept Di Filippo, Cardona, Alex Sandro, Veloso, Naider and Ngbokaye​

 

[Klippybo]

JUNE 2035

I AM THE NEW INTER MILAN MANAGER

So in the end I took a season out. PSV were the only opportunity to come up after my January post above and while I was tempted I thought I would wait until the end of the season and see who came up and it paid off as Inter sacked their manager after finishing 7th in Serie A. They have finished between 5th and 8th for the past few seasons now so they have dropped down a bit.

We are in the Europa League for next season so I am going to be here for at least 2 seasons.

I am writing this just 5min after accepting the job and after an initial look at the squad they still have the ageing Barella and Bastoni and also Mudryk and my former Celtic keeper Luis Junior. Their squad is ancient and a major overhaul is required but I only have an initial £40m to spend.​

 

[Klippybo]

I RESIGN AS INTER MILAN MANAGER!!!!!!!!!!!!

After an hour of play I knew I had made a mistake. The squad was terrible and ancient. I managed to get the budget up to £70m but I would have needed at least double that to even get close to having a first XI never mind some backup players and they wasted their non-eu signing spot on a useless 21y/o who I immediately released.

Heres hoping they appoint someone who is at a future club. I am going to be less picky now but by god I am going to check the squad rather than go by the big name of the club in the future!!!​

 

[Klippybo]

JANUARY 2036

Well I am still unemployed!!! A year and a half without club management apart from about a week in charge of Inter Milan and all I have is to twiddle my thumbs and just wait for an opening.

To be fair FCSB became available but I am not ready for them yet and then one of my favourites came up and I jumped at the chance - Crvena Zvezda of Serbia - but I changed my mind as I seen that a much bigger job may be becoming available. That manager then won his next 3 games and he was safe - typical.

I still have Scotland to manage though and we qualified from the easiest group ever to get to the Euros.

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[Klippybo]

SUMMER 2036

I AM APPOINTED AS THE NEW MANAGER OF CHELSEA!!!!!

When I turned down the Crvena Zvezda job it was because Erik Ten Haag was close to being sacked at Chelsea but he recovered their form and even went on to win the Europa League! However an 8th place finish cost him his job and he was out on his ear and I was more than happy to step in.

I inherit a squad with old players like Reece James (who is 36!!!), Levi Colwill (33), Wesley Fofana (35) and Conor Gallagher (36) while Vitor Roque is 31. However I am delighted to have my LW for Scotland - Paul Brown - who is only 23 but in 60 caps has 31 goals for the Tartan Army.

I also inherit arguably the best striker in the game but I have been out of action for 2 years so that might be wrong..........

I have £150m to spend before any sales and no doubt my aim is to win the Champions League next season!!!!!​

 

[Klippybo]

SUMMER TRANSFER WINDOW

I completely overhauled the squad and 6 games in I am pretty happy with how it looks as we have had some tough fixtures and won them all including the European Super Cup for the first time in this save.

In all I spent £261m (although £35m of that was pre-arranged) while I recouped in £212m plus even more with the transfer clauses that I cashed in.

Here are my transfers............

Regarding the incomings both Hojlund and Hasen-Aaroen were already arranged so I had no say there. As for the others I went back to Benfica to take Alex Sandro off them for £40m and he will slot into a CM role.

As for the other signings I will show you Asrihi (LB), Dragun (RB) and Klarin (backup AMRLC)..

​

 

[chrisbarber149]

amazing as always ...hope we get to see more