[Abe Sargent]

Spanish Cup Semis, Leg Two vs R Sociedad – I worked on att set pieces today too. Diallo back from injury and starts for Mputu. I also have Ibrahim on the wing. Good luck! THAT was a boring half. No shots by out foes, and we were stymied by their tackles and such. Are they playing defensive? But they are down 3-1, what do they expect? I’m far from pleased! Then things change quickly. They score a goal in the 47th, and then injure Ibrahim in the 51st, and send out Grealish. Grealish gets a yellow. Then in the 55t, another goal to our foes and we are down 2-0. I decide to unleash my team. I go to attacking, I move to fluid shape, roam from positions, and be more expressive. In the 61st, Dong-Hyuk is found by Grealish for a score. In the 72nd, Dong-Hyuk scores again with a Mance back tap. Then I sub in Oliver for Valenzuela and Mputu for a horribly performing Diallo at 6.1, We are tied 2-2, and holding on against the onslaught when. At the 90:14, on a counter, Jae-Hwan to Ricardo for a score. I pull us back from attacking to counter. Cecchi delivered a lethal pass from the box to deep to set that one up. We win 3-2, and 6-3 aggresgate. MOM is Ricardo



Ibrahim is out for 5-7 weeks with an ankle sprain.

We will play Barca in the Spanish Cup Final

With 25, we have scored more goals in a Spanish Cup than any other team, with was 23 by At. Madrid

Jorga Mesa catches a virus and is out for a week-2 weeks

Home vs Valencia- There have been times when Valencia play us tough or beat us, and then time when they don’t. Which Valencia do we face tonight? We start the usual, and Diallo is on the bench for Mputu, and El Ghazi in the middle. Pick it back up baby! Jae-Hwan finds Mance in the 14th minute for a score. GRealish with a booking. Quiet for a while as we push back some Valencian offenses. Finally they break us in the 37th with a goal from the left corner of the box. Half. You can still win! I send in Kadodia for a poor Dong-Hyuk and Oliver. Then in the 75th, the ball is tackled, Oliver grabs the rebound, drives a tad, and scores. Head on in Garcia. We hold, and win 2-1, and MOM is Jae-Hwan

Valenzuela in Team of Week


Over to NAPOLI for the knockout Leg One - We are favored. Bonnot is back from injury. Today. Hes way too tired for a match though. I make no changes to my squad, our A Team was already out for the big V. We are away today, and I respect my foe enough to begin countering. We have the early momentum! For like the first three minutes, and then Napoli moves to own us. Jae-Hwan to Ricardo for a goal in the 12th on a counter. Whenever those two link up it’s like everything is right with sports. D. Perez with a card. Or the next 10 minutes, we move in front and push hard back And then we crack the Napoli code in the 25th with a Mance driving on the right flank, crossing to Dong-Hyuk for a score. EL Ghazi intercepts the ball, slides it to Ricardo, who finds Mance for a shot that the GK can only dive, push aside, and Grealish, attacking on the far side, puts in. 3 goals in the first 30. If we keep this pace up, we’ll get to 9-0 by the end of the match. And apparently hearing me, 44 seconds later Mance scores again. He passes to set up Dong Hyuk, ball intercepted, falls on it and scores himself. In the 35th minute, Valenzuela finds Ricardo for a score. 5 in 35. Now at that pace its 18 by the 90 minute mark.  Half. I think they turtled. Keep it going! 17 shots, 11 on target, to their 5 and 1. Now that’s a half to remember. I Sub in Garcia for Perez early, no sense risking a double yellow, and I tell my folks to ease back on the tackling. Dong-Hyuk finds Mance in the 49th. I sub in Oliver for Valenzuela. Gameiro heads in. Why not? He’s retiring soon, give him some game. Now Napoli was in this. They finish with 14 shots, and we had 21, a low second half as they turtled and pushed slowly at us. We win, in their place, 6-0. MOM is Mance.

I grab google real quick. What’s the biggest blowout in Knockout History? Valencia has a 7-0 victory in the Group Stage, and Liverpool an 8-0 over Besiktas in 2007 was also in a Group Stage. So 6-0 might be, or tied for, the biggest Knockout Round Shut Out.

Dang!