FM Dynasty - Hungarian Nights, Balmazújvárosi Days - Now with U.S. Sassuolo

[Abe Sargent]

August

1st – Testimonial at PSG
6th – Home vs Utrecht, FR
13th – Home vs Milan, FR
20th – Neutral vs Roma – Italian Super Cup
27th - Away at Torino

Good Training – Gautier and La Rosa

Testimonial – We lose 2-1 to a big bad. Vincente scored!

I accept an offer for our U20 team to play in the U23 Premier Division International

I loan Baranowski

Milan cancels the FR it has a Cup match

Friendly #5 – Home vs Utrecht – We win 2-0, MOM is Gautier

I submit the numbers for their kits

Toni Kroos still hasn’t signed. But now he is willing to negotiate, but I’m set for now

We sell 11,818 season tickets, a big number!

Rubio is 3-1 odd to win the best of award. Others from my team in the top ten are Mendez

West Ham make an offer for 600k for a Dutch youth I signed named 42. Kay van Binsbergen to help Burgzorg adapt to the move to Italy. AMC, 19 years old. I don’t need to keep Kay a year later, but Kay is 2 star with 3.5 star potential, so I keep them around.

I sell a couple of hot prospects and a backup for small amounts.

[Abe Sargent]

Italian Super Cup – Neutral Site


Your Italian Cup Winner

Roma

Vs

Your Serie A Champion

US Sassuolo



Notes

I begin standard. This is my first Cup Final in Italy, hopefully it’ll be my first win! For the Fans!

9th Minute – Berardi feeds Mendez for goal!




19th Minute – Ghoulam feed Vincente for goal!



27th Minute – Berardi hits Vicente on a counter!




Sweet! I’ll stop giving you goal updates…

45th Minute – Mendez scores off a rebound
HALF – I am not screwing this up by talking
They make 2 subs at the half
Bongonda for an injured Berardi
Adjapong for a carded Lirola
Gautier for Cebellos
Three Minutes – We shut out Roma 4-0, good debut for Donnarumma. Ghoulam an 8.2 rating, Cebellos a 7.2, nice debuts, and MOM is Vincente,

[Abe Sargent]

I talk to my board and...



That attendance at the Super Cup broke the record!

I keep Berardi and Politano as my Capt and Vice

I sell a hot prospect named Licka

Serie A Game #1 – Away at Torino – we have ties or wins against them 5x in a row, can we continue our good form today? I open countering.

Notes

HALF – Wow that was quiet. Don’t get complacent!
La Rosa for a carded Farfan, Thiago for a carded Arena, Bongonda for Berardi
4 Minutes
91st Minute – On a counter, Mendez scores! Can we hold! We do, MOM is Mendez

[Abe Sargent]

12 call ups

We make 12.7 mill for making it to the Champions Group Stage

August 31st

The Group Draw Arrives – We are seeded first

Group A

Us
Chelsea
Leverkusen
Celtic

That’s not good, Germany, Italy and EPL are there. We may not get past that.

We loan two

Deadline passes

September

4th – Home vs Genoa
16th – Away at Chievo
20th – Away at Celtic
24th – Home vs Empoli
27th – Away at Cagiliari
30th – Home vs Inter

Good training – Rubio, La Rosa, Gautier

I register for the Champions Cup

Serie A Game #2 – Home vs Genoa – I begin countering.

Notes

14th Minute – They foul Mendez in the box and Berardi…sinks the PK
Bongonda for a carded Berardi
HALF – Don’t get complacent!
Mariano for a 6.3 Mendez
Burgzorg for a6.4 Ghoulam
We hold and win 1-0, MOM is Politano. Not my first 1-0 win with a PK. We finished with 13 shots to their 8, and 7 on target for their 5. That sets our most wins in a row with 7, and that’s 3 shutouts for Donnarumma.

[Abe Sargent]

Burgzorg was capped by the Netherlands and I congrats him

Mendez is capped! I send him congrats. He also scored on his debut

Serie A Game #3 – Away at Chievo -I begin countering

Notes

Gautier for a carded Cebellos
Adjapong for a carded Lirola – uh oh
29th Minute – they score, first goal allowed by Donnarumma.
HALF – Show me something else
51st Minute – Ghoulam drives the corner, crosses and hits Mendez for goal to tie it
56th Minute – Gautier to Mendez for goal to break the tie
Bongonda for a 6.3 Berardi
Four Minutes – Will we hold and win 2-1?
We do, MOM is Mendez

[Abe Sargent]

Champions Group A Game #1 – Away at Celtic – I begin countering. We need to get 6 from Celtic to get out just like the 6 we scored from Galatasaray that got us out last year.

Notes

8th Minute – They score, offsides
Arena and Rubio early cards…Rubio sucks. I send in Thiago and Mateo
32nd Minute – Berardi feeds Politano for goal on a counter



Nice because they are all over the stats.

HALF – They have 7 shots to our 4 and we have 55% possession. Don’t get complacent!
Burgzorg for a tired Ghoulam
Three Minutes – Can we hold and win? We do, MOM is Politano.

Leverkusen beat Chelsea 3-2.

We win 1.5 mill


Another shut out by Donnarumma, this time on the road. As you saw, he is the starting GK on the Italian team, so he is the best GK in Italy, so my hope is that get further with my team.

[Abe Sargent]

Juve beat Wolfburg, Bologna lost.

Serie A Game #4 – Home vs Empoli – I begin controlling.

Notes

Enea for a carded Lirola
We injure their AML and he heads out
Arena and Berardi back to back cards. I send in Thaigo for Arena and will leave in Berardi
Enea is injured and I send in Adjapong
HALF – Nope! We only have 2 shots
Card for Adjapong
52nd Minute -Thiago feeds Mendez for goal
Thiago a card
68th Minute – Cebellos to Politano, goal
76th Minute – Vicente feeds Mendez for his 2nd goal
85th Minute – they score, no shut out
89th Minute – a double booking Thiago, I slide back to defensive
We hold and win, MOM is Cebellos

Thiago is banned for the next match – I warn him and he accepts it

[Abe Sargent]

I wanted to give the early starts to the veteran Ghoulam and then ease Burgzorg into the starting role, but he has been playing quite well – in one Champions game, 1 Cup and 4 Serie A games he has 2 assists and a 7.15 rating. Not bad. I’ll leave him in for now, but I think we’ll move in Burgzorg later on, unless he continues to have a nice rating and results.

Serie a Game #5 – Away at Liorla – I begin countering. Hello Baranowski!

Notes

Ahmetaj for a carded Arena
45th Minute – Ahmetaj feeds Mendez for goal
HALF – Don’t get complacent, we have 8 shots to their 3
They make two subs at the half
Bongonda for a carded Berardi
59th Minute - Rubio a red card, I swap AMC Cabellos out for DC Mateo, I pull back to defensive can we hold on to our narrow 1-0 result?
Ahmetaj a card
Mendez a card
Farfan a card
Four minutes for them to break free – we hold and shut them out 1-0, MOM is Farfan


Replace Thiago

Rubio is suspended for a match and I warn him and he accepts it

The Table




Here you go, as you can see we are the only 5-0 team after 5, Bologna are 4-1-1 and Juve and Udinese each lost just one game. Just one team with 5 wins, just 3 teams with 4.

[Abe Sargent]

Serie A Game #6 - Inter just thumped Venezia 9-2. Home vs Inter – I begin standardly

I start Mateo

Notes

9th Minute – Cebellos hits Vicente for goal
Burgzorg for a carded Ghoulam
HALF- We are ahead 5 shots to 4 and 51% of possession. Don’t get complacent!
Gautier for Cebellos
Thiago for Arena
Inter are coming hard
Six minutes of added time, can we hold onto our 1-0 score?
We win 1-0, MOM is Vicente, and just one card this game so that was nice

Return Rubio

[Abe Sargent]

October

4th – Home vs Chelsea
8th – Away at Venezia
21st – Away at Fiorentina
25th – Home vs Leverhusen
29th – Home vs Atalanta

Good Training – Thiago, La Rosa, Enea

We now have 12 wins in a row

Mendez named in Team of the Month

Juve beat Sparta Prague 4-1

Champion’s Group A – Home vs Chelsea – I begin standard – I need to get a win at home like with Man Utd or AS Monaco to get out against a big player like Chelsea. Their GK is Courtois. This is going to be a major game in a rough group.

Notes

46th Minute – On a corner kick, Arena scores!

Wanna see?



HALF – Quiet half, we had 3 shots to their 4. We had 55% possession and we have…8 fouls to their 2 but no cards to their 1. Don’t get complacent. We defeated AS Monaco by a 1-0 score that put us through to the knockout round.
Bongonda for a 6.4 Politano
Adjapong for a 6.4 Berardi
Mateo for a tired Farfan
Here they come
Four Minutes – Can we hold and win?
We hold and win 1-0! MOM is Arena. Nice shut out by Donnarumma.

Roma tied Bayern on the road 1-1

We win 1.5 mill

[Abe Sargent]

Serie A Game #7 – Home vs Venezia – I begin controlling – my AssMan suggested attacking. This is the team that Inter hung 9 on.

Notes

Cebellos is banged up and I send in Thiago
36th Minute – They get a yellow card fouling Politano, up steps Berardi and…he misses the PK.
44th Minute – Berardi feeds Mendez’s head for goal
47th Minute – Politano crosses to Mendez for goal
HALF – Don’t get complacent – we have 15 shots to their 5
Ahmetaj for Arena
Enea for Lirola
Still no cards for my team
We injure their ST and they head off
Ghoulam a card
4 Minutes
93rd Minute – Berardi feeds Mendez for a hattrick
We win 3-0, MOM is Mendez

[Abe Sargent]

Serie A Game #8 – Away at Florentina – I begin countering

Notes

Mateo for a carded Rubio
37th Minute – Berardi feeds Mendez for goal on a counter
HALF – They have 8 shots to our 5, and we split possession 50/50. Don’t get complacent!
47th Minute – on a set piece, Arena scores a long shot
Thiago for Vicente
67th Minute – They score off a nasty cross, and claw one back, we won’t shut them out.
Arena a card, I send in Ahmetaj
Lirola a card
Four Minutes- can we hold? We do, we win 2-1, MOM is Arena

[Abe Sargent]

Bologna lost to Dortmund, Juve host Barcelona and win 1-0.

Champions Group A – Game #3 – Home vs Leverkusen – We both have two wins and assuming Chelsea beats Celtic they will get their first win. If we can manage a win here and move up to first clear with 3 points over Chelsea and Leverkusen at the halfway mark, then that would be pretty good. We need another major win. We finished in 1st last year with 7 points. I begin standard.

Notes

35th Minute – Off an IFK, we left the ball to Cebellas that breaks free and feeds Mendez for goal.




Nice!

40th Minute - They score off an IFK and tie it
HALF – Nope!
56th Minute – On a counter Berardi feeds Politano for a goal to go to 2-1.



61st Minute – Ghoulam misses an interception on a corner kick and they tie it back at 2-2, I send in Burgzorg for him
Mateo for a6.5 Rubio
I move to Control
Adjapong for a 6.2 Lirola
Five Minutes – can either break the 2-2 tie? Nope. Leverkusen will be a lot happier with a tie in our place that we will.


Celtic host Chelsea and…they tie 0-0. That means Leverkusen and us have 7 points and Chelsea and Celtic have 1.

[Abe Sargent]

Serie A Game #9 – Home vs Atalanta – I begin controlling

Notes

18th Minute – Cebellas to Politano for goal
HALF- Don’t get complacent we dominated in stats.
Bongonda for a 6.5 Berardi
Mateo for Farfan
Enea for a carded Lirola
Five Minutes – Can we win?
Mateo a card
We win 1-0, shut out, MOM is Cebellas

[Abe Sargent]

November

1st – Away at Lazio
4th – Home vs Juventus
7th – Away at Leverkusen
12th -Away at Sampdoria
25th – Home vs Palermo
29th – Home vs Celtic

Good training – Farfan Arena, Gautier,



Serie A Game #10 – Away at Lazio - move to countering. Lirola is suspended and I start Adjapong

Notes

8th Minute – Corner kick, Rubio from Farfan
HALF – We only have 3 shots and a set piece goal so don’t get complacent,
Enea for a carded Adjapong
Thiago for a carded Arena
Gautier for a tired Politano
We hold and win 1-0 MOM is Farfan

Table after 10



We haven’t dropped a game…although we have Juve next…

Replace Lirola

[Abe Sargent]

Serie A Game #11 – Home vs the Big Bad – I begin standardly

Notes

Adjapong for a carded Lirola –
29th Minute – They score on a counter
HALF – Nope!
49th Minute – They score on a corner
Bogonda for a carded Berardi
58th Minute – Bongonda for Politano
Thiago for a carded Arena
Five Minutes – can we score and tie it?
We lose 1-2 we had 4 shots to their 17

[Abe Sargent]

Champion’s Cup Group A Game #4 – Away at Leverkusen? I begin countering, Can we steals points away like we have with Man Utd or Real Madrid?

Noes

21st Minute – Vicente feeds Berardi for goal



Nice!
HALF – Don’t get complacent!
Mateo for Farfan; Thiago for Arena;
86th Minute – They equalize.
Bogonda for Ceballos
We tie 1-1, MOM is Vicente

[Abe Sargent]

Celtic lost on the road to Chelsea

Roma beat Benfica

Juve on the road with Barcelona and they lose 0-2

13 call ups

I move Burgzorg to start

Arena is banned and Thiago will start

Serie A Game #12 – Away at Sampdoria – I begin countering.

Notes

HALF – Nope!
Adjapong for a carded Lirola
61st Minute - On a corner, Farfan scores
Gautier for Cebellos
77th Minute – They score
Mateo for Rubio
87th Minute – Politano scores on a counter.
4 Minutes and…we hold and win 2-1, MOM is Politano

I replace Arena

[Abe Sargent]

Serie A Game #13 – Home vs Palermo – Uh oh. I begin standarding.

Notes

20th Minute – Cebellos to Politano, goal
Ghoulem for a carded Burgzorg
HALF – Don’t get complacent
Mateo for Farfan; Bongonda for Berardi
Can we hold and win 1-0?
87th Minute – They foul us, Politano step up and the shot hits the GK
92nd Minute – Arena sinks a DFK
We hold and win 2-0 MOM is Cebellos

[Abe Sargent]

Juve host Wolfsburg and…they win 3-2 they are out with 12 points in 5 games
Bologna beat Dynamo Kiev
Roma lost to Salzburg on the road 2-1


Champions Group A Game #5 – Home vs Celtic – I have two wins and two ties and 8 points. If we have a result here we are through. I begin standard.

Notes

10th Minute – Berardi feeds Politano for goal



Note the time stamp
40th Minute – Cebellos feeds Vicente for goal!



Nice times twice!
We injure their MCL
HALF – Don’t get complacent
Thiago for Arena;
70th Minute – Berardi grabs a rebound and sinks it
Mateo for Farfan; Mariano for Mendez
Can we hold the shut out? We do! MOM is Berardi

We make 1.5 mill in cash

Just like last year when we dropped Real Madrid, this time Chelsea won’t get out.

[Abe Sargent]

December

2nd – Away at Salernitana
5th – Away at Chelsea
10th – Home vs Bologna
17th - Away at Cremonese
23rd – Home vs Napoli
30th – Away at Udinese

Good training – Donnarumma, Arena, Gautier

Serie A Game #14 – Away – I begin countering

Notes

Big Rain
HALF – Nope
Mateo for a carded Farfan; Thiago for Vicente; Enea for Lirola
Four minutes – Can we break the tie?
We tie 0-0.

[Abe Sargent]

Champions Group A Game #6 – Away at Chelsea - I keep countering. We have 5 results in 5 games, can we tie or win today’s match? This is Ghoulam’s old club we signed him from as a reminder. Hello Pires!

Notes

17th Minute – Corner kick, Lirola to Farfan for goal past Courtois



I doubt that result lasts.
HALF – They have 12 shots to our 4, don’t get complacent
Bongoda for a 6.3 Berardi
I send in Ghoulam to play against his old club for Burgzorg
Thiago for Vicente
Four Minutes - Can we hold and win 1-0? We win and we swept Chelsea! MOM is Farfan

We make another 1.5 mill

[Abe Sargent]

We draw Palermo in the Italian Cup – they knocked us out last year…

Serie A Game #15 – Home vs Bologna – I begin standard against the #4 team in the league. Mendez hasn’t scored in a while and I’m getting questions now about it.

Notes

26th Minute – Ceballos feed Berardi for goal
30th Minute – Mendez feeds Politano for goal and all four of my attacker have assists or goals
HALF – We have 8 shots to their 0, and have dominated them. Don’t get complacent
Thiago for Arena; Ghoulam for Burgzorg; Ahmetaj for Vicente
Four Minute – can we hold the shut out?
We do, MOM is Mendez


Here’s the table after 15




Juve and us are tied at the top with 13 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss each, and we are behind in GD. Udinese is 8 behind us and we are already pulling away.

[Abe Sargent]

Serie A Game #16 – Away at -Cremonese – I begin countering

Notes

Bongonda for a banged up Berardi
Mariano for a carded Mendez
HALF – We have outplayed them but no scores. Show me something else!
53rd Minute – They get a red card fouling Cebellos. I push forward.
67th Minute – Politano to Mariano for goal
71st Minute – Lirola to Polianto for goal
Thiago for Arena
We hold and win 2-0, MOM is Politano

[Abe Sargent]

Italian Cup 1st Round – Home vs Palermo – I begin standard… this is my 300th game

Notes

13th Minute – Berardi feeds Mendez for goal
HALF- We have 9 shots to their 7. They’ve shown up, don’t get complacent
Ghoulam for Burgzorg; Thiago for Arena; Ahmetaj for a banged up Vicente
Five Minutes – Can we hold and win?
We knocked out Palermo!

[Abe Sargent]

We draw Bologna in the next round!

Champions Knockout Rounds

Roma made it out and they draw At. Madrid

We draw Liverpool

Juve draws Man Utd

Serie A Game #17 – Home vs Napoli – I stay standard, this is Lirola’s 225 game for the club

Notes

44th Minute -They gift me an OG off a corner
HALF – The game is close, don’t get complacent
Mateo for Farfan;
63rd Minute – Mendez to Politano for goal
Thiago for Vicente; Gautier for Ceballos
Four Minutes Can we hold?
We shut them out 2-0, MOM is Politano

[Abe Sargent]

That’s 8 shut outs in a row, a new record!


Serie A Game #18 – Away at Udinese – I begin countering

Notes

Heavy rain
HALF – Boring
Mariano for Mendez; Gautier for Ceballos; Thiago for Arena
Three Minutes – 0-0 tie, another shut out,

Juve won

[Abe Sargent]

About to expire…

I’ll let Crivelli and Baranowski head out, let’s check out two rotations and one starter

Mariano – 2.5 stars, 30 years old
Bongonda – 2.5 stars, 28 years old

Keep them? I’d prefer 3 star backups, but they haven’t fallen in ability the rest of the squad has improved. None of my rotation key backups are 3 stars, and they play fine. After I moved my team to stay on feed we’ve had fewer yellow card subs

Alright, Politano has 6 months. I originally signed Gautier to be his starter in two years. He’s 30, right now in Serie A:

18 starts, 8 goals, 4 assists, 7.28 rating – he went from an assist machine to a goal one.

Here’s Gautier and Politano compared



As you can see, Politano is better in mental by 2, defending by one, aeriel by 2, attacking by 3, and vision by 1, and Gautier better in one, speed. Gautier is currently a 2.5 player. What do I do?

Meanwhile Berardi is a problem:

6.74 rating,29 years old, 2 goals, 3 assists, 3 stars. Uh oh…

Ceballos has been a nice revelation:

6 assists, 7.19 rating

What do I do with my subs and Politano and Berardi?

[Abe Sargent]

Anyone coming free I might want to bring in next year for ST and AMRL?

I reach out to 30 year old Hakim Ziyech and 29 year old Gustavo Scarpa but they don’t want to sign now. 33 year old Italian Ciro Immobile wants 90k, yeah everyone I like wants to keep their options open or they are older or very expensive.

How about AMRL? Marcel Sabitzer from Austria nope. The other ones aren’t any better than Bongonda. I make an offer to keep him. I offer a two year extension for Bongonda to rise his contract from 20k to 26k.

Do I want to bring in competition for Berardi?

Homegrown for my club:

Arena
Lirola
Adjapong
Berardi
La Rosa


2 star hot prospect 22 year old Pierini, AML
Ahmetaj
2.5 hot prospect Marcello Castagnetti on loan, AMC,
ST Derbali, 2 star, on loan,
ST Cappa – 2 star, here

So I could move on from Berardi in theory and be fine.

Do I? Did he just take a temporary or permanent step back?

I have 25 mill available to bring in to replace him.

Who is available at ML?

I start with a transfer list

None that are transfer listed for free. Any Wonderkids I could bring in?

I send out my scouts. My favorite is Juve’s Luca Tos but I doubt they’ll sell to me, they start with 143 mill and I remove my enquiry. I make an offer for Eneko Sánchez a Spanish wonderkid.

Goodbye 2023!

[Abe Sargent]

Hello 2024!

January

3rd – Transfer Window Lifts
4th – Away at Bologna, Cup, QF
8th – Home vs Roma
14th – Home vs Torino
28th – Away at Genoa
31st – End of Transfer Window

Good training – Arena, Burgzorg, Gautier

Rubio in Team of the Month

My offer for Sanchez at 15 was declined, and 20 was rejected and I am offering my max 25, they reject that as well and I withdraw my offer.

What about 18 year old Irish and English Anthony Diallo who plays for Crystal Palace in the 2nd level of English football? I scout him. What about Frenchman Paul Frugier? Or Germany‘s Philipp Degner? Frugier appears to be the worse one currently of the four I found. Frugier is only 18, and worth just 900k over at Nantes on a hot prospect deal, so ideally I could bring him in now, and then give Berardi six months and then develop Frugier to be my starter whereas Sanchez was ready to go. Frugier and Degner are for loan so I could bring one in and see if that works. I really like Tos and Sanchez and hoped that we could have made a deal for them.

How about non-EU? Bryan Bond-Pears is over at Man Utd, personally not. What about Argentinian Nicolás Carballo? He plays for Velez in South America. That worked for Farfan. I scout him.

Is Gautier going to be ready to send in for Politano in a few months?



Here, as you can see, Politano is, right now, better at Gautier in every ranking save speed. I don’t want to take a drop off from his quality just because I didn’t want to push forward. I make an offer to extend Politano by a year. He agrees with an increase of pay by 10k.

I transfer list backup DC Erlic who is home grown by just 1.5 stars. He wants to leave

The transfer window lifts

I reject an offer to loan Cappa as he is my 3rd ST.

Mendez has been working on complete forward in training and now can do it better than Target Man, so I move him over and let’s see what happens.

[Abe Sargent]

Bongonda signs his two-year extension.

Making it to the Semis are Torino, Roma and Atalanta knocked out Juve.

The Italian Cup QF – Away at Bologna - I begin countering – Hello Babacar!

Notes

HALF – Boring…
69th Minute – Babacar scores
Mariano for a 6.3 Mendez and Bongonda for a 6.4 Politano
84th Minute – Bongonda to Mariano for goal!
Thiago for Arena
Four Minutes- Tie 1-1
Extra Time –
Half Time –
Game – PKs


Babacar sinks his PK
Up steps Berardi and…in, tied 1-1

Up they step and…they miss!
Mariano is next and…he sinks it! 2-1

Up they step and…Donnarumma saves!
Thiago is next and…it’s in, 3-1

Here they come and…Donnarumma blocks again! We win 3-1!



Good job Donnarumma!

We get Atalanta in the Semis

[Abe Sargent]

I sell Erlic for 50k

Politano resigns

Serie A Game #19 – Home vs Roma – I begin standardly. The halfway game!

Notes

HALF – They was busy we dominated but nothing to show for it
Mateo for Farfan; I push forward to control
Ghoulam for Burgzorg; Thiago for a carded Arena
Ghoulam a card
83rd Minute – Vicente feeds Berardi for goal!
I pull back
They sub in Sensi
Four minutes – Can we hold our 1-0 win?
We win! MOM is Lirola. Another shut out for our D


Let’s look at the table after the halfway mark



As you can see, after that 0-0 tie Juve moved into 1st place by 2 points. We then have Udinese an incredible 11 points behind us, so it’s really just a two team race just like two years ago when Juve won and we came in 2nd by two points.

[Abe Sargent]

None of my EU wonderkids are purchasable. I make an offer for the Argentinian one

We agree to 9.5 and 40% profit of next sale.

He is interested in coming here. I make him a hot prospect offer and offer him and his agent 1 mill in fees.



He’s coming! He’s 17 so he’ll be coming at the end of the year.

I decline a job interview for Valencia

Our youth facilities are upgraded

I loan two

Serie A Game #20 – Home vs Torino – I begin controlling.

Notes

7th Minute – They get a yellow fouling Mendez in the box, up steps Berardi and…it’s in!
HALF – We are dominating in shots (13 to 4) on target (7 to 1), fouls 3 vs 7, yellows 0 v3, and possession – 54% and yet our only goal is on a set piece. Don’t get complacent!
Mateo for Rubio; Enea for Lirola; Thiago for a carded Vicente
Five Minutes – can we hold our 1-0 result? We do, MOM is Vicente

[Abe Sargent]

That is not my first 1-0 PK win, or my first this season…

I make an offer to extend Mariano for a year

I have finished training Arena to play MC

Mariano resigns and drops to backup from rotation

At 49 apps, Pires is one game away from giving us another 12.5 mill from Chelsea

Serie A Game #21 – Away at Genoa – We begin countering, we have won 5 in a row against them

Notes

Big rain
We injure their MC and they are subbed out
HALF – We have 7 shots, none on target. They have 4 cards Nope!
Thiago for a carded Vicente;
63rd Minute – On a counter, Berardi feeds Mendez for goal, that’s his first goal since moving to Complete Forward.
Mateo for Farfan
66th Minute - We give up a Pk and…Donnarumma saves!
Ahemetaj for a tired Arena
Four Minutes – Can we hold 1-0?
We win!

[Abe Sargent]

The transfer window arrives

Baranowski is offered a deal by a team named Torino – he signs with them

I make some loans

Crivelli is heading to Nantes

Deadline passes

February

4th – Home vs Chievo
7th – Away at Atalanta, Semi Game 1
11th – Away at Empoli
17th – Home vs Cagliari
21st – Home vs Liverpool
25th – Away at Inter

Good training – Vicente, Gautier, Enea

Farfan has reached his peak, and he’s just 3.5 stars, is it time to find a replacement? But his Serie A rating is much better this year so far, and remember the ratings are comparisons.

Mendez also is finished, his lower cap is why he was purchasable for our cap of 5 mill at 4.5 mill, but he’s at 4 stars.

Serie A Game #22 – Home vs Chievo – I begin controlling. I am disappointed with Chievo dropping to the expected place at 16th from EURO last year.

Notes

Big rain
25th Minute – They foul Mendez in the box and…it’s in!
Bongonda for a carded Berardi
HALF – We are dominating every stat not named possession where they are 52%. Don’t get complacent?
Ghoulam in at DL
74th Minute – Cebellos feeds Mendez for goal
Gautier for Politano
Four Minute – can we hold our shut out?
93rd Minute – Gautier feeds Mendez for goal
We win 3-0 MOM is Mendez

417 minutes since Donnarumma allowed a goal

[Abe Sargent]

417 minutes since Donnarumma allowed a goal

Gautier gets a salary hike to 8k after his 20th app

Roma on the road beat Torino 2-0 in the SF

The Italian Cup Semi-Final Game #1 – Away at Atalanta – I begin countering. They knocked out Juve so I respect them.

Notes

Big rain today as well
15th Minute – Corner kick, Lirola feeds Rubio for goal
26th Minute – On a counter, Politano drives the corner and crosses to Cebellos on an attack run for goal
43rd Minute – They claw one back.
HALF – We each have 8 shots, don’t get complacent
Bongonda for a 6.5 Berardi; Ghoulam for Burgzorg; Thiago for Vicente
Five Minutes Can We hold?
We win 2-1, MOM is Rubio


We get 12.5 mill from Pires’s 50th game for Chelsea.

I go to the board and ask for more youth upgrades and they agree:

[Abe Sargent]

Serie A Game #23 – Away at Empoli – I remain countering. This is Berardi’s 375th app for us

Notes

Big rain today as well
Ghoulam for a carded Burgzorg
30th Minute – They score
Adjapong for a carded Lirola
HALF – Nope
Mateo for Farfan
We…lose 0-1 to Empoli…dropping points…

Juve beat Roma on the road 1-0.

[Abe Sargent]

Burgzorg gets a salary hike to 21k after his 25th app

Serie A Game #24 – Home vs Cagliari – I start controlling. Hello Baranowski!

Notes

14th Minute – Berardi feeds Cebellos for goal
29th Minute – Berardi’s cross hits Mendez’s head for goal
HALF – Our foes have 1/3 the shots (9 to 3) and 3x the fouls (6 to 2). Don’t get complacent
48th Minute – Mendez hits Berardi on an attack run for goal
La Rosa for Rubio; Adjapong for Lirola; Gautier for Politano
Three Minutes – Can we hold the shut out?
We win 3-0, MOM is Cebellos

Good win to give us momentum for the Liverpool match

Juve tied 0-0 with Torino to drop points.

[Abe Sargent]

Champions Knockout Round, 1st Leg

Roma heads to At. Madrid and…they win 1-0! Will they take out At. Madrid?

1st Game, Home vs Liverpool – I begin standard. I swept Chelsea, can I get off to a wining start here today against Liverpool?

Notes

5th Minute – On a counter, Cebellos is fed the ball by a cross from Lirola and then finds Mendez for goal



Awesome possum!!!!!!!!!!!!
Adjapong for a carded Lirola
Thiago for a carded Arena
HALF – They have 2x as many shots (10 to 5) twice as many on target (4 vs 2) but we have just one foul and no cards. And we are winning. Can we pull it out in the 2nd half?
Ghoulam for a tired Burgzorg
Ghoulam a card
Vicente a card as well
Three minutes and…we hold and win 1-0!

[Abe Sargent]

Serie A Game #25 – Away at Inter – I begin countering

Notes

20th Minute – Berardi is fed by Mendez for goal on a counter
Mariano for an injured Mendez
46th Minute – Driussi ties it
HALF – They have out played us
Thiago for a banged up Vicente
67th Minute – They score
Adjapong for a carded Lirola
Berardi a card
86th Minute – Corner kick, Thaigo feeds Farfan for goal to tie it
Can we hold the tie?
89th Minute – They get a double card but it’s likely too late to matter, right?
Five Minutes- 2-2 tie, I’ll take it given who and where.


Table after 25



As you can see, tying Inter on the road dropped points on Juve but I’m happy for the late equalizer from Farfan. We are 5 back from the big bad and loads up on Udinese.

[Abe Sargent]

Champions 1st Leg Knockout Update

OL defeats Real Madrid 2-0 at home
Juve host Man Utd and…they win 2-0 as well. Italy won all three of their first games. Good job!


Mateo bags his coaching license and enters another

Rubio is just a few months from being homegrown at the club


March

3rd – Away at Venezia
6th – Home vs Atalanta, SF Cup
9th – Home vs Fiorentina
12th – Away at Liverpool
17th – Away at Atalanta, Serie A
24th – Home vs Lazio

Good training – Burgzorg, La Rosa, Enea

Mendez named in Team of the Month

Our U20 squad made it to the playoffs:



As you can see we are playing quite nicely and winning.

[Abe Sargent]

Berardi is suspended for this match and Bongonda will start

Serie A Game #26 – Away at #20 Venezia – I begin countering.

Notes

Gautier for an injured Cebellos
20th Minute – Gautier scores
26th Minute – Mendez scores
HALF – They haven’t been in this match.
59th Minute – Politano scores
La Rosa for Farfan; Enea for Lirola
88th Minute – Mendez scores again
4 Minutes can we hold the shut out?
92nd Minute – They score off a corner
We hold and win 4-1 MOM is Mendez


Replace Berardi

Cebellos is out for a week and will miss the Atalatna cup match, Gautier will start

[Abe Sargent]

Vicente can now knock balls past opponents

Roma tie Torino and are through to the final of the Cup. We played Roma and thumped them in the Super Cup earlier this year.

Italian Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg Home vs Atalanta – We beat them 2-1 on the road, now we just need to be Pros. They knocked out Juve in the last round, and us Bologna, so I take them seriously and am only moving to standard. Don’t get complacent!

Notes

6th Minute – Gautier pounces on a rebound and scores! He scored my first goal the last two games!
35th Minute – Mendez feeds Gautier for goal!
HALF - Nice times twice! 45 minutes to go and we’ll make my first Cup Final in four attempts
55th Minute – Get this, ready…off a goal kick, Donnarumma feeds Mendez for goal!
Bongonda for Berardi, La Rosa for Farfan; Enea for Lirola
We hold and win 3-0! MOM is Gautier…

Wanna see?



3-0 baby!


Replace Cebellos

[Abe Sargent]

Donnarumma has 26 shut outs, 2 short of Karius’s record set last year….

Serie A Game #27 – Home vs Fiorentina – I begin controlling. Cebellos is back and we have everyone running around.

Notes

44th Minute – Poltiano feeds Berardi for goal
HALF – We have outplayed them but just one goal.
Gautier for a tired Cebellos; Thiago for Vicente; Mateo for Farfan
Four Minutes – Can we hold and win 1-0?
We win,MOM is Lirola

[Abe Sargent]

Champions Knockout Round 2nd Leg – Away at Liverpool – we beat them 1-0 at my place, so any win, any tie, or any 1 goal loss where we score a goal will get us through. We begin countering

Notes

They get a very early card
They are coming HARD.
We injure their DR and he heads out
HALF – We have 7 shots to their 13. I’d be very okay with a 0-0 tie, but I doubt this result holds.
67th Minute – Rubio fouls in the box on a corner and…they score
Mateo for Rubio; Ghoulam for Burgzorg; Bongonda for Berardi
Three Minutes - Can we score?
Lirola a card
Extra Time – Dig down and score!
Half Time –
115th Minute – Cebellos feeds Vicente for goal!




Woot! That will be rough for them to come back from.

We hold and tie 1-1 and are through 2-1 aggregate! MOM is Vicente

We have advanced to the QF!

We bring in 6 mill

Roma host At. Madrid and they won on the road 1-0, will they hold serve? They tie 1-1 and At. Madrid is out.

[Abe Sargent]

New intake of youth! Doria won’t compete for my first team

Juve dropped a game to Empoli. That opens up the game.

Serie A Game #28 – Away at #8 Atalanta – I keep countering –

Notes

Main rain falls
They get an early card
HALF – NOPE
Thiago for a carded Arena
Mateo for Farfan
Gautier for Politano
75th Minute – They get a double booking fouling Berardi on an attack run, he steps forward and…saved. I push forward
Four Minutes – we tie 0-0. We gain a single point on Juve

[Abe Sargent]

In Champions fun times, Juve head on the road to face Man Utd where they are up 2-0 from their home win and…they tie 2-2 and they win 4-2 aggregate.

Also advancing are OL, Man City, Barcelona, Dortmund and PSG

We draw…Roma! Ah well, they goes the idea of three Italian clubs in the SF.

Us vs Roma
Juve vs PSG
Man City vs OL
Barcelona vs Dortmund

We have 18 call ups

Serie A Game #29 - Home vs #11 Lazio – I begin controlling. This is Farfan’s 100th game for us!

Notes

HALF – We have dominated with 10 shots, 6 on target, to their 4 and 1. No goals
Thiago for Vicente; Meteo for Farfan;
78th Minute – They give me an OG.
Mariano for Mendez
Card for Burgzorg
Four Minutes – Can we hold 1-0? We had 18 shots and 11 on target, we win 1-0 and that’s Donnarumma’s 29th shut out, MOM is the GK.


Juve lost 2-1 to Inter on the road

[Abe Sargent]

The International Break begins

Arena won his first cap for Italy and I send him congrats!

April

6th – Away at Juventus – Uh oh
10th – Home vs Roma, Champions QF
13th – Home vs Sampdoria
16th - Away at Roma – Champions QF
19th – Champions SF Draw
21st – Away at Palermo
24th – Home vs Salernitana
28th – Away at Bologna
30th – Champions, SF 1st Game

Wow that’s a busy month

Roma are growing into our big rival. We faced them in the Super Cup, we’ll face them in the finals of the Italian Cup and now two games in the quarters of the Champions league.

Lirola and Rubio in Team of the Month

Good Training – Donnarumma, Arena, Gautier

Arena wants a new deal and I agree and offer him one

Serie A Game #30- Away at Juventus, I begin countering. If we win today we’ll move into 1st.

Vengeance!

Notes


Thiago for a carded Vicente
Adjapong for a carded Lirola
29th Minute – They tackle Burgzorg and score a 1:1 opportunity
36th Minute – Mendez feeds Berardi on an attack run to tie it 1-1
HALF – I’ll take a 1-1 tie at the end, or a 5-5 tie for that matter.
55th Minute – They score again
64th Minute – Mendez intercepts a back pass for their GK and sinks a 1:1 opportunity to tie it back to 2-2
Ghoulam for Burgzorg
90th Minute – Thiago feeds Politano for goal and we are up 3-2!
Four Minutes for them to grab the tie back
93rd Minute – Politano feeds Mendez for goal! That’s his 50th goal for us. That seals it
Game! MOM is Mendez. That’s only my 2nd win against Juve in the last 7 games.

Wanna see?




They had almost 2x as many shots as us and 2x as much shots on target and possession, but we were more clinical in front of goal. That win moves us to first place for the first time this year

We qualify for the EURO

Here is the table after 30:



Palermo, who won the Serie A our first year here, are back to 3rd with a point over Udinese. We are first by 2 points over Juve, we each have 24 wins in 30 games. With 8 games left, we’d need 5 to beat last year’s 28 win total.

[Abe Sargent]

Arena signs a new deal, his new one is paying him 60k a week and removes his minimum release fee of 85 mill.

Champions League Update Quarter Final

Juve host PSG; They win 2-1 but that away goal could come back to haunt them
Man City host OL; OL win 2-1 away at a big bad and all they have to do is be professional to get to the Semis


Champions League Quarter Final First Leg – Home vs Roma – I begin standard. Except for the Super Cup, Roma has always played up to us.

Notes

HALF – We have 10 shots, 4 on target to their 4 and 1, we have 57% possession and no cards to their card, so we are ahead everywhere save where it matters…
Bongonda for a carded Politano
53rd Minute – Vicente feeds Berardi on an attack run for goal!



Great snake!
61st Minute – They get a second booking. I push to control and speed up
Mateo for Rubio; Adjapong for Lirola
Five Minutes – Can we hold 1-0? We do, MOM is Berardi. I was hoping for a 2-0 after they went down a man, but Roma are not an easy side but I’ll take any win


Barcelona host Dortmund and…just win 1-0, which opens the door for Dortmund at home

[Abe Sargent]

Serie A Game #31 – Home vs #10 Sampdoria – I begin controlling. Lirola is suspended and Adjapong starts.

Notes

HALF – They have outplayed us with 6 shots to our 2.
Bongonda for Berardi; Mariano for a 6.5 Mendez, Thiago for Vicente
Burgzorg a late card
Adjapong a late card as well
Four Minutes – Can we break the tie?
We tie 0-0, MOM is Burgzorg. Well, it was another shut out for my D. That opens the door for Juve.

Juve are on the road at Florentina and they win 4-2 and we are tied on points with 77

I replace Lirola