Return of the Max

[thefmveteran86]

10 hours ago, Cardiovascular said:

2034/35 Pre-Season

Main outgoings were all backups, Miccio, Dobelle and Deana were all squad members who fetched us just shy of £26m in total. A few young players left for transfers and some left on loans to lower Serie A sides and Serie B sides. Ndrecka, Buongiorno and Kristensen all left from the first team when their contracts expired.

A few shrewd signings here in humble opinion on free transfers. Missed out on a couple of big money targets, a left back who went to Man Utd and an 18 year old central midfielder who chose Brentford over us heartbreakingly. Haven't screenshotted Salazar as we know what he looks like from the end of season update.

Soumahoro joins us on a free as a highly talented youngster from Red Star in France where he's had a solid career so far. Hopefully he carries on that form here.

Medranda is another highly talented young player who joins on a free, he's moved to lower top flight side SPAL for the season though.

Another highly rated youngster as the wonderfully named Fox Andersson joins us for just shy of £5m. Finally we have some good competition between Milo, Soumahoro and the Fox up front.

We needed depth at centre back and Sabbioni represented a cheap, talented homegrown option who fits our style of play.

With Ndrecka leaving, we required competition for Fazzini at left back and we got it in the shape of Lars Buchmann. A solid enough player who can fight for a starting spot.

Our big money signing was Lennert Vanneste. I spent alot of time looking for a right winger to upgrade on Campos on the right, but Vanneste was available meaning we could utilise Salazar on the right instead. Vanneste also capable of playing there, so he's a versatile player too. Excited to see him play here,

Andries is someone I tried to sign when he was 17, then 18 and finally we got our man. He's another youngster who hopefully will develop well with the U20's this season.

European Update

CL draw sees us pair up with Sevilla which will be a tough one. Porto and Celtic make up the group, I think our chances of progression are pretty high.

 

 

Doubt this is the group of death right?

 

[Cardiovascular]

12 hours ago, thefmveteran86 said:

Doubt this is the group of death right?

 

I wouldn't say so, I think Porto and Celtic should be manageable. Sevilla might prove to be more difficult though.

[Cardiovascular]

End of October

We started off with a bit of a disappointing stalemate with Milan, then looked like we were going to follow it up with a one goal loss to Juventus but we made a really good recovery in the last ten minutes to pick up a great win. A few good wins followed that, then we had a bit of a struggle with our form against Atalanta, SPAL and Roma before comprehensively beating Genoa to round out the update period.

Good starts for a couple of teams here, as Roma make up for a couple of poor seasons to take an early lead. None of the usual suspects around though - Inter and Napoli are 8th and 9th and Milan and Juventus are absolutely nowhere so far.

[Cardiovascular]

Midway through January, slap bang in the middle of two gameweeks, we had to travel to America for the Italian Cup which I'm sure has everything to do with the Italian football fans in America and absolutely nothing to do with money. In front of 107,000 people, we defeated Juventus 3-1 thanks largely in part to their very early red card from them. Two goals from Salazar and a penalty from Calegari ensured we would take home the trophy.

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

Forgot about our European adventures for a second!

We had a good result away to Sevilla - arguably our toughest game - and then proceeded to win every single game after including a thrashing of the Spanish side at home. Soumahoro was very good throughout the group stages, with a hattrick versus Celtic and a brace against Sevilla.

Finished top, by some margin. Allowed me to play the second choice players against Celtic.

The next round,,, we drew Bayern  tough draw.

 

[HugoLazgo12]

9 minutes ago, Cardiovascular said:

European Update

Forgot about our European adventures for a second!

We had a good result away to Sevilla - arguably our toughest game - and then proceeded to win every single game after including a thrashing of the Spanish side at home. Soumahoro was very good throughout the group stages, with a hattrick versus Celtic and a brace against Sevilla.

Finished top, by some margin. Allowed me to play the second choice players against Celtic.

The next round,,, we drew Bayern  tough draw.

 

i guess this was not group of death at all but playing with bayern is pretty very hard

[Cardiovascular]

43 minutes ago, HugoLazgo12 said:

i guess this was not group of death at all but playing with bayern is pretty very hard

 

There's a whole host of difficult teams we could've drawn to be fair - Liverpool, Madrid, Spurs to name a few. Bayern might be the best of a bad bunch, but tough nonetheless.

[Cardiovascular]

End of January 2035

Unbeaten through November and December, including a really good win at Inter to start the update period off. Our defence left alot to be desired though. We started off 2035 with a really shocking loss at home to Bologna followed by an equally poor draw with Brescia. Began to have a bit of a wonder about just how the hell we get our strikers scoring consistently, but a switch to two up front brought more joy for us as we seen goals from the Fox in the box and Milo in the last few games.

Progression in the Italian Cup too, though only just. Fiorentina pushed us hard and we were pretty rubbish, only a late equaliser from our Romanian summer signing and subsequent extra time goals saw us through. Against Bologna, we were dominant but wasteful, but we progressed which is all that matters.

2nd, four behind Roma but six clear of Inter in third. Middle ground in the title race.

Transfers

We let one young striker in Matteo Cecchetini leave on loan, and made two signings. One of whom is quite familiar.

Detlef Aeschlimann arrived from Brentford for £31m (rising to £36m). I signed him for Brentford in the summer before I left, and he never quite managed to secure a starting spot for them. He's still quality though.

Adam Myhre is a promising youngster from Norway, and he arrives to give us some depth in midfield and at right wing. Cost us £6m from Molde.

[thefmveteran86]

21 hours ago, HugoLazgo12 said:

i guess this was not group of death at all but playing with bayern is pretty very hard

At least C*ltic are playing on a Thursday 

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

Bayern were on course to easily beat us, two goals up until a red card gave us a way back into the game and we managed to snag two potentially crucial away goals thanks to Soumahoro and a last gasp header from Yosthin Bello. Hopefully we can make these count in the second leg at home.

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

This was superb fight we put up in this match - an own goal gave us the lead in the tie after 6 minutes, then just thirty seconds later our left back Fazzini hacked someone down and left me fizzing mad with him, honestly might transfer list him after that stunt. We battled on, and shocked Bayern just after the restart when Soumaharo scored brilliantly to give us a one goal cushion and that was all we needed. Gogniev pulled off a sensational save with 15 to go that would almost certainly have turned the match around and we march on,

[HugoLazgo12]

1 hour ago, Cardiovascular said:

European Update

This was superb fight we put up in this match - an own goal gave us the lead in the tie after 6 minutes, then just thirty seconds later our left back Fazzini hacked someone down and left me fizzing mad with him, honestly might transfer list him after that stunt. We battled on, and shocked Bayern just after the restart when Soumaharo scored brilliantly to give us a one goal cushion and that was all we needed. Gogniev pulled off a sensational save with 15 to go that would almost certainly have turned the match around and we march on,

well i guess i was so wrong i thought bayern was very hard to beat but it was bayern who defeat themselves

[thefmveteran86]

3 hours ago, Cardiovascular said:

European Update

This was superb fight we put up in this match - an own goal gave us the lead in the tie after 6 minutes, then just thirty seconds later our left back Fazzini hacked someone down and left me fizzing mad with him, honestly might transfer list him after that stunt. We battled on, and shocked Bayern just after the restart when Soumaharo scored brilliantly to give us a one goal cushion and that was all we needed. Gogniev pulled off a sensational save with 15 to go that would almost certainly have turned the match around and we march on,

Nice comeback bro

[Cardiovascular]

On 28/07/2021 at 23:16, HugoLazgo12 said:

well i guess i was so wrong i thought bayern was very hard to beat but it was bayern who defeat themselves

They were difficult to be fair, and we made it hard on ourselves too with the red. A strong win I'd say.

On 29/07/2021 at 01:20, thefmveteran86 said:

Nice comeback bro

Thanks!

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

We faced Arsenal in the Quarters. They were a side hovering around the top four of the Premier League and coming off a good win over Atletico in the last round. Murat was really good - he hasn't been a starter so far this season but he's on a good run of form and this game further shows he maybe deserves his place back. Goals from Huisman and Potocnik sealed a thumping win for us.

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

We just - and only just - squeaked past Arsenal in a terrible performance from everyone except Gogniev between the sticks. But we're still in it at least! We'll be returning to London for the semi-finals as we've drawn Spurs.

[thefmveteran86]

14 minutes ago, Cardiovascular said:

European Update

We just - and only just - squeaked past Arsenal in a terrible performance from everyone except Gogniev between the sticks. But we're still in it at least! We'll be returning to London for the semi-finals as we've drawn Spurs.

Who is on the other side of the draw?

[Cardiovascular]

1 hour ago, thefmveteran86 said:

Who is on the other side of the draw?

Barcelona v Sevilla is the other side.  If Sevilla win there will be another first time winner of the Champions League, whether it be us or the AI.

[thefmveteran86]

1 minute ago, Cardiovascular said:

Barcelona v Sevilla is the other side.  If Sevilla win there will be another first time winner of the Champions League, whether it be us or the AI.

Do you want Barca or Sevilla? either way would be a good match

[Cardiovascular]

55 minutes ago, thefmveteran86 said:

Do you want Barca or Sevilla? either way would be a good match

Think it has to be Sevilla for despite how good they've been in European the past two seasons, we're unbeaten against them in this year's competition. Barca also pretty dominant in Spain.

[Cardiovascular]

Domestic Cup

Made our way to the final for the second time in three seasons and faced Inter again, and once again they had the better of us. This time, we took them to penalties but still lost out in the end as Janota and Aeschlimann missed the crucial kicks for us. 

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

An early goal from Murat was one of the only sniffs we had of goal in the entire game, thankfully he scored and we take an away goal back to Italy with us.

[thefmveteran86]

19 minutes ago, Cardiovascular said:

European Update

An early goal from Murat was one of the only sniffs we had of goal in the entire game, thankfully he scored and we take an away goal back to Italy with us.

Unlucky man

[Cardiovascular]

35 minutes ago, thefmveteran86 said:

Unlucky man

Still the second leg to go! Keep the faith...

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

A pretty turgid affair with not much highlights... but we don't care  we are into the final!! We'll face Sevilla who beat Barcelona 4-2 on aggregate, we've beaten them once this year already so fingers crossed we can do it again

[thefmveteran86]

I meant to quote the final against Inter not Spurs

[Cardiovascular]

7 minutes ago, thefmveteran86 said:

I meant to quote the final against Inter not Spurs

Ah yeah, fair then  

[Cardiovascular]

League Update

In all the European excitement, it's easy to forget there was still the league to go. Roma led us by four points at the end of January, and continued that lead as our form faltered a touch and at one point we were fourth and Roma were nine clear. But they had their own wobble, and we finished strong, and with two games to go...

Max wins a second Serie A title!

 

[Cardiovascular]

I dug a little deeper into Roma's form - quite the spectacular collapse. This was off the back of seven straight wins and clean sheets through December and January too. Bottlejobs.

[Cardiovascular]

The Champions League Final - Pre-Match Buildup

Road to the Final - Lazio

We went unbeaten through the group stages, a draw to our final opposition away from maximum points. Some sketchy form in the knockouts, and maybe only here because of that red card in the away leg of the Bayern match that allowed us to score two away goals. With that said, some solid defensive performances have contributed greatly to our run as we haven't conceded a home goal in the knockouts.

Road to the Final - Sevilla

Sevilla were obviously in our group and beaten by us - will that play on their minds? They also dropped points in Scotland during the group stages, but have shown some very good form in the knockouts to reach the final. A big away win at Dortmund saw them score in the 91st minute to send themselves through to the quarter finals - until that goal, they were heading out on away goals. Eeked past Liverpool then two really good performances against Barcelona saw them reach the final.

[deltablue]

I'm sure you can do it against Sevilla.

[Cardiovascular]

The Champions League Final - Pre-Match Build Up

Team News - Lazio

A fully fit squad is available to Max Bruz, with the only exception being Romanian youngster Mihai Marius Andries who is not registered for this competition. 

Star Man - Lazio

Lazio will need a big performance from this man who has had a tremendous season flipping between central midfield and attacking midfield as required. There are a few in form players for the Italian side - Matteo Milo is coming off the back of a hattrick against Sampdoria in the final Serie A match of the season and Murat Zeybek has scored three goals in his last four matches in a late burst of good form he has failed to show for most of the season.

Team News - Sevilla

Sevilla are without their £50m January signing David Teixeira on the right, and also missing first choice central midfielder Cristian Saavedra. The Chilean suffered broken ribs at the start of May and is not expected to add to his 42 appearances this season for the Spanish side.

Star Man - Sevilla

Sandro Veloso was a £75m signing from Inter at the start of last season and it's possibly no surprise this coincided with an upturn in Sevilla's form with them having reached two Champions League finals since his arrival. Just the 20 goals last season for the Portuguese frontman which could be considered a bit of a disappointment but he's turned it around this year with more goals. He'll be looking to reach the 30 goals mark against Lazio in the final.

 

[Cardiovascular]

The Champions League Final - Lineups

A 4-2-3-1 for both sides here. Lazio are missing substitute goalkeeper David Kadlec who suffered a late ligament damage to miss not only this game but the next 7 or 8 months. No huge surprises in their lineup as Milo plays himself into the lone striker spot after his performance in the last game...

 

...the referee blows his whistle and the game is underway!

 

[Cardiovascular]

Four minutes on the clock as Sevilla float in a ball from the left hand side and it finds Sandro Veloso who draws a good save from Gogniev as he parries it to his left.. but Jamie Wood, Sevilla's captain and graduate of Derby County's academy, chases it down and plays it back to Ricardo Ruiz who lets fly from 25 yards... and he rattles the crossbar!! It bounces out to Mondino on the left who crosses back into the box for Veloso but he heads it straight at Gogniev. Early warning signs for Lazio that Sevilla are not here to mess around!

Edited July 31, 2021 by Cardiovascular

[Cardiovascular]

Some nice play as Lazio work the ball out from the back, ten minutes gone and Fazzini and Ghirardi exchange some passes. Big switch out to Soumahoro on the right, he plays it inside to Bello and Milo's on the move, he picks it up in the centre of the box! But he drives it straight at the goalkeeper! Disappointment on his face as he knows he's better than that, at least make the goalkeeper work for the save.

[Cardiovascular]

Just about a quarter of the way through the game, pretty even in terms of possession for either side. Lazio pick up a couple of yellows for Janota and Vanneste for some poorly timed challenges. Veloso has the ball in the centre now and he slides through Thiago Mondina who is through! Gogniev has raced out to meet him and Mondina dinks it over him, it's going in... but Marco Fazzini is there to hook it away. Another let off for Lazio.

[Cardiovascular]

Some great link up play from Sevilla after a quick throw in, lovely one touch football and Jamie Wood finds himself on the edge of the area with some space to shoot! But it's straight at Gogniev. Disappointing for the Englishman, and it's the last chance of the half too. Disappointing for Lazio who haven't had much of a sniff, Milo's early chance aside.

Half Time - Sevilla 0-0 Lazio

[Cardiovascular]

Vanneste picks the ball up on the half way line, drives about twenty yards into the Sevilla half and he's chopped down by Ricardo Ruiz, very clumsy challenge. Free kick Lazio on the left. The left foot of Fausto Ghirardi will be looking to find the head of one of his teammates, he floats it in and YOSTHIN BELLO meets it... and SCORES!!!!! Lazio punish Sevilla for some poor defending!

[Cardiovascular]

We are ten minutes into the second half, five minutes since the Lazio goal and they have a free kick in a similar position with Sevilla seemingly not having learned their lessons. Ghirardi stands over it... plays it short to Venneste this time, back to Ghirardi who plays it to Murat on the edge of the box. Murat finds Venneste who slips in MATTEO MILO who slides it past the keeper and SCORES! But there is a VAR check here... and Milo is offside! The goal is chalked off by Michael Oliver and we're back to 1-0. Huge let off for Sevilla, will that prove crucial?

[thefmveteran86]

2 minutes ago, Cardiovascular said:

We are ten minutes into the second half, five minutes since the Lazio goal and they have a free kick in a similar position with Sevilla seemingly not having learned their lessons. Ghirardi stands over it... plays it short to Venneste this time, back to Ghirardi who plays it to Murat on the edge of the box. Murat finds Venneste who slips in MATTEO MILO who slides it past the keeper and SCORES! But there is a VAR check here... and Milo is offside! The goal is chalked off by Michael Oliver and we're back to 1-0. Huge let off for Sevilla, will that prove crucial?

I'm in suspense right now, we can do it

[Cardiovascular]

Sevilla have had a lot of possession in this second half but haven't had much clear cut chances. Mondina and Wood have had sights of goals but both of them were poor finishers. Lazio made changes as Janota, Vanneste and Milo being replaced by Calegari - his final appearance for the club - Salazar and Andersson to inject some fresh legs. Five minutes of stoppage time for Sevilla to find anything, but they've pressed hard and seem to be running out of legs. Lazio are defending everything that comes into the box, Potocnik hoofs the ball up the field and Michael Oliver blows the full time whistle!

Lazio are the European champions!!!!

[thefmveteran86]

2 minutes ago, Cardiovascular said:

Sevilla have had a lot of possession in this second half but haven't had much clear cut chances. Mondina and Wood have had sights of goals but both of them were poor finishers. Lazio made changes as Janota, Vanneste and Milo being replaced by Calegari - his final appearance for the club - Salazar and Andersson to inject some fresh legs. Five minutes of stoppage time for Sevilla to find anything, but they've pressed hard and seem to be running out of legs. Lazio are defending everything that comes into the box, Potocnik hoofs the ball up the field and Michael Oliver blows the full time whistle!

Lazio are the European champions!!!!

Congrats

[HugoLazgo12]

4 hours ago, Cardiovascular said:

Sevilla have had a lot of possession in this second half but haven't had much clear cut chances. Mondina and Wood have had sights of goals but both of them were poor finishers. Lazio made changes as Janota, Vanneste and Milo being replaced by Calegari - his final appearance for the club - Salazar and Andersson to inject some fresh legs. Five minutes of stoppage time for Sevilla to find anything, but they've pressed hard and seem to be running out of legs. Lazio are defending everything that comes into the box, Potocnik hoofs the ball up the field and Michael Oliver blows the full time whistle!

Lazio are the European champions!!!!

Congrats Dude Lazio are European Champions from first time in history

Maybe hope you continue to make Lazio stronger next season

[Cardiovascular]

On 31/07/2021 at 16:56, HugoLazgo12 said:

Congrats Dude Lazio are European Champions from first time in history

Maybe hope you continue to make Lazio stronger next season

 

Thank you! I think we'll move on from Lazio now with this section of the challenge complete though.

[Cardiovascular]

End of Season 2034/35

Some shaky form in February and March saw our title challenge wobble alot, and we dropped a few places but we picked up ourselves in tremendous fashion and won ten in a row to finish off the season. This tremendous form, as we know, resulted in us winning the league by a considerable margin in the end. Great form from us.

Italian Cup ended in heartbreak as we missed out on a domestic clean sweep in the last season here. 

11 point gap to 2nd! Amazing. Juventus were absolutely dreadful again which helped, and of course Roma's shocking form helped us out too. What a way to round it all off.

Key Players

Ghirardi was excellent all season, providing goals and assists aplenty. His set pieces were crucial for us.

50 appearances for Potocnik this season and he was rock solid for us at the back. Consistent.

Soumahoro was our top scorer with 17, not alot but he performed well when he appeared and helped us with some crucial goals.

 

 

[Cardiovascular]

European Update

Glorious. Three victories by one goal and an away goal victory. Sneaking our way to the trophy.

PSG v Man Utd in a final that wouldn't look out of place in the Champions League, with the English side coming out on top.

Leicester with an extra time win over French side Brest for their first time winning the Conference League trophy.

Lyon proved their victory last year was not a fluke! Great season for them. Just noticed they are bankrolled by an American tycoon from 2025 so maybe have been working their way towards this for the last ten years.

What a season in Germany! Three teams tied at the top and goal difference sees Hertha come out winners. All three teams drew on the final day too so it really was anyone's title up until the final whistle.

Six in a row for Barcelona now, though only just over Real Madrid. 

[Cardiovascular]

Career Overview

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Season      Club        League             Position            Achievements/Other
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020/21   Brentford    Championship          10th                      -
2021/22   Brentford    Championship          1st                   Champions
2022/23   Brentford    Premier League        10th                      -
2023/24   Brentford    Premier League        5th                       -
2024/25   Brentford    Premier League        4th                       -
2025/26   Brentford    Premier League        4th                       -
2026/27   Brentford    Premier League        3rd                       -
2027/28   Brentford    Premier League       13th                       -
2028/29   Brentford    Premier League        4th               Carabao Cup Winners
2029/30   Brentford    Premier League        2nd          FA Cup Winners, Champion's League Runners Up
2030/31   Brentford    Premier League        2nd          Community Shield & Champion's League Winners
2031/32   Brentford    Premier League         -             European Super Cup Winners
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2031/32     Lazio        Serie A             12th                      -
2032/33     Lazio        Serie A             2nd                       -
2033/34     Lazio        Serie A             1st                 Serie A winners
2034/35     Lazio        Serie A             1st        Serie A, Italian Super Cup & Champions League Winners
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trophy Cabinet

SkyBet Championship - 2021/22 (Brentford)
Carabao Cup - 2028/29 (Brentford)
FA Cup - 2029/30 (Brentford)
Community Shield - 2030/31 (Brentford)
Champions League x2 - 2030/31 (Brentford) 2034/35 (Lazio)
European Super Cup - 2031/32 (Brentford)

Serie A x2 - 2033/34, 2034/35 (Lazio)
Italian Super Cup - 2034/35 (Lazio)

Max Bruz Champions League Wins - 2

2030/31 - Brentford (England)
2034/35 - Lazio (Italy)

AI Champions League Wins - 3

2022/23 - Manchester City (England)
2024/25 - Atletico Madrid (Spain)
2033/34 - Paris St Germain (France)

 

[Cardiovascular]

We move on from Lazio! Italian league is removed & the Portuguese top flight is added. Will be one of Germany, France or Spain next though.

[HugoLazgo12]

5 minutes ago, Cardiovascular said:

We move on from Lazio! Italian league is removed & the Portuguese top flight is added. Will be one of Germany, France or Spain next though.

so where you are gonna another club or just going down an division and manager second division team

[Cardiovascular]

On 02/08/2021 at 17:11, HugoLazgo12 said:

so where you are gonna another club or just going down an division and manager second division team

Was waiting for a team with good potential to appear, it took a season but it finally happened...