Dalbeider Posted December 18, 2023 Author Share Posted December 18, 2023 Jun 5th 2029 Karlsen gets injured playing with the Norway U21 side, fractured ribs after a fortuituous collision which will keep him out of any training grounds for three to five weeks. Jun 6th 2029 I said there's no major senior tournament this year for national teams, but there is the UEFA U21 Championship for our youngsters. Meunier is called up by France, and both Rexhepi and Englisch make the team for Germany. The tournament starts on the 15th. It's also time for the rumor mill to start spinning at full speed, and we have lots of juicy targets in our squad. No less than twelve of our players are apparently attracting interest from elsewhere, with the most notable being Rodríguez (Everton and Southampton), Caraballo (Watford and Leipzig), Rijkhoff (Southampton and Ajax), and Magaña (again, Southampton). We have no need to sell now that we have money to spare, so they'll have to be great bids for us to consider them. I'd like to keep the team as close to last year's as possible, I've about had it already with having to rebuild the squad from scratch every summer. That said, we do have some targets in mind for the transfer window. For starters we want at least one quality midfielder, ideally two. I want them to be strong physically, too, since our current best options there are of the technical, small, and not particularly burly kind. We need to improve our balance in that area, and adding some muscle to the mix would do wonders to our consistency. Other than that we're mostly set in all positions, and for the long term thanks to the young age of most of our players, so any other signings will be made to either replace or improve on existing options. Jun 8th 2029 Javorcic is the first notable performer in this current round of international friendlies, scoring an assist for Croatia. Rodríguez then does one better with Mexico, setting up two goals before being replaced with a minor bruise. Jun 10th 2029 Still a while until the transfer window opens and we're already dealing with silly offers, sigh. Watford try to offer €375k (yes you read that right) plus young center-back Steve Purslow, who yes, is an interesting young player, but most certainly not a replacement for the player they want to buy: Caraballo. I tell them he has a release clause for a reason and send them on their way. That same day taxes hit us for €4.6M, which doesn't hurt as much when you realize they come from our €30M taxable profits. Jun 12th 2029 Looks like part exchange deals are en vogue this summer: PSV try another one with Baldé: €2.5M plus Arnau Martínez, who for once happens to play in the same position. Still, not interested, although if better offers come for Baldé I'll have to think about it, we have some very good alternatives in our shortlist should we have a gap in that position. Jun 13th 2029 Another international assist for Rodríguez with Mexico, the kid's slowly becoming a regular and a key player for his national team. Özcan then joins in with a goal for Turkey in a win against Cyprus, taking his total to fourteen goals in eighteen games. At this rate he's gonna be breaking some national records in the future. Jun 15th 2029 Okay, these part-exchange offers are getting annoying now. Kobenhavn make an offer for Hadzic which includes no cash whatsoever and just a single player instead, right winger Matias Foldereid. We're not using right wingers now, in fact we're looking into selling the one we do have, so this offer makes zero sense. And just to make matters worse, Hadzic really seems interested in this move, so expect some angry words from him and his agent in the near future. Sigh. Slightly better news: we've experienced a healthy climb in the European rankings, going from 124th to 104th in a single season. If we make it past the group stages in the Europa League this year as the board expects we should be continuing on our way up. The U21 Euros start today, too, with Germany facing Spain in a tough initial fixture that ends without goals, in good part thanks to Rexhepi's good work at goal. Looks like it's time to get serious in the transfer market now. Hadzic requests a transfer after his move to Kobenhavn was blocked, as expected, although few teams seem willing to pay our asking price. In the meantime Southampton come with a non-negotiable €18M plus 20% future profits offer for Magaña. A tiny bit short of what I'd like to get for him, despite his terrible first year I still have hopes that he'll be a great little player in the future, so for now we'll reject it and hope for a better deal in the future. Jun 16th 2029 Two offers come from Hadzic in the end, coming from Köln and Osasuna, both for €2.6M upfront, €2.2M in installments, and a 30% of future profits. Close enough to his €5.5M release clause and neither seem willing to negotiate, so accepted. Time to look for a new center-back. Solid debut in the U21 Euros for Meunier, too, playing the whole first half and doing well but being replaced at half time regardless. Not a good idea, it turns out, as France ended up losing to Poland two goals to nil. Jun 17th 2029 Today is the day. Our new stadium, simply called "1860 München Stadium" until some sponsor pays big money to plaster their name all over it I guess, is inaugurated today. Complete with under soil heating for those pesky Bavarian winter days, it can fit 27,590 spectators as is, and can be further expanded to around 41,000. We'll miss good ol' Grünwalder Strasse, but it was time to retire the aging stadium which we'd only been using because we couldn't afford anything better for a long while, really. Time to bring glory to our new home. Jun 18th 2029 Second game for Rexhepi with Germany U21 and second good performance by the keeper, this time coming together with a comfortable 2-0 win against Austria. A result against point-less Switzerland in the final fixture of the group stage should be enough to see them through. Jun 19th 2029 More incoming offers, this time with Everton and Augsburg (hah) trying to buy Thiago. I'm not selling our best defensive midfielder to our rivals and even less for an extremely low-ball €11.25M offer, but Everton's offer is better, €17.5M including installments and a 20% of future profits. Still a no because Thiago doesn't mind staying, but it won't take much more to get me to negotiate. Heck, it might be out of my hands, since he has a €18M release clause for teams in major European competitions. HSV seem to be interested and they could easily pay that and take him away... Turns out Pioli left Dortmund for Chelsea a bit before the end of the season and somehow I missed that. After having usual caretaker Lars Ricken take care of matters for a while, they've now appointed Unai Emery as their new manager. Should be an interesting fit there, with Dortmund usually favoring attacking football but Emery being more of a defensive-minded manager. As for Bayern, looks like Nagelsmann will get another year. Something tells me he would be already gone if he hadn't won the DFB Pokal... Meunier came off the bench this time for France U21, taking part in a 5-1 demolition of Bulgaria to keep their hopes of advancing alive. Jun 20th 2029 We receive confirmation from the board about this season's expectations: second knockout round of the Europa League, quarterfinals in the DFB Pokal, and qualifying for the Europa League through our performance in the Bundesliga. We're officially a Big Team now. Once again we get a hell of a welcoming committee to the Bundesliga season, starting away to our dear almost-rivals Leverkusen and then hosting Dortmund to inaugurate our new stadium. It doesn't stop there, though, as the following fixtures will feature the likes of Freiburg, Wolfsburg, Gladbach, and HSV in quick succession before a trip to Leipzig finally brings a stop to the hellish streak. Bayern won't happen until the fourth-to-last fixture before the winter break. Jun 21st 2029 Rexhepi and Germany U21 continue their solid performances with an effortless 1-0 win over Switzerland to secure their place in the quarterfinals. Spain ended up losing to Austria and failing to qualify from their group. Jun 22nd 2029 No such luck for Meunier and France U21, though: the midfielder came off the bench again and helped his team tie a game they were losing against Scotland, but they couldn't find a winner and the point wasn't enough to pull them past Poland due to their defeat against them, so France is out of the competition. A disappointing performance in a group they should've dominated. Jun 24th 2029 Well then, that was unexpected: Hadzic rejects the contract offers from both Köln, Osasuna, and Benevento, who joined in late in the bidding. Now we're back to square one, with the player wanting to leave but no offers on the table. He has a long list of suitors, but it remains to be seen if any of them can offer him what he wants. Jun 25th 2029 Well, Everton did come back for Thiago, and their offer is sure improved this time: €25.5M plus 20% future profits. With some negotiation we manage to raise it to €30M and 30% future profits, which is a fantastic deal for the player. We will try and offer him a new contract, though, he's our best defensive midfielder right now and losing our starter in that position two years in a row wouldn't be fun. Turns out Poland U21 is the real deal: in a match they dominated, the young Poles defeated Germany 2-0 in the European Championship quarterfinals, despite Rexhepi doing his damn best to keep his team alive with five saves. Great tournament for our young goalkeeper, not so much for his teammates. Jun 26th 2029 We confirm a transfer out, although it's not for one of our players. It's Jordi Cruijff, our recruitment analyst, who got an impossible to refuse offer as a scout for league champions Leipzig. His new team will pay us €875k for his contract severance, which we'll gladly invest elsewhere after we find a replacement for him. Unemployed, if possible. Jun 27th 2029 Then we finally confirm our first new signing: 20yo English midfielder Romelle Leacock agrees a free transfer move from Chelsea at the end of his contract, ie. in five days. A defensive-minded midfielder with lots of promise, hard-working, aggressive, and with a strong physical presence despite not being particularly tall, he fits the mold of what we're looking for in this window. He's still far from a finished product, though, and will need some hard work a possibly a loan or two to become first-team worthy for us, so this is one for the future rather than the present. He comes on a five-year deal on €13.5k weekly wages with a €9M release clause, which we'll reevaluate in the future depending on how he performs in training and on the pitch, wherever he ends up playing. Jun 30th 2029 Contracts expire, loanees return to their teams. In our case that also means Özcan's buy clause becomes effective, and the Turk becomes ours for €19M. A handful of our young players are released at the end of their contracts, including former top prospect Helmut Franzke, fresh after his third consecutive relegation and another extremely average season with Münster. If he can't be a regular in a borderline 2.Bundesliga team at this point he certainly can't hold a place in our first team, so this is the only possible move. A shame, I feel his injuries early in his career hurt his development a lot, he looked really good at first... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted December 19, 2023 Author Share Posted December 19, 2023 Jul 1st 2029 Transfer window opens. Let the madness begin! The first offer comes from Mainz, a paltry €2.6M for Da Silva. We're not looking into selling any midfielders unless we have their positions already covered, and so far we're still not there, so rejected. In Da Silva's case, though, we could start thinking about negotiating with any offer worth €5M and up. It's unlikely we'll recoup all our investment in him, but at least I want to get as close as possible. Leacock also gets some quick loan offers from back in England, all from National League clubs. Should be a good environment for him to play lots and hopefully develop a bit further, he's certainly still too green for the first team here. The U21 European Championship ends with Italy as the winners, beating Poland 1-0 in the final. Rexhepi's performances earned him a place as the sub keeper in the tournament's Best Eleven. Jul 2nd 2029 Well, that's one potential crisis averted: Thiago agrees to extend his contract with us with a small wage rise to €52k per week and, more importantly, getting rid of that annoying release clause. With this we basically guarantee holding onto him for at least one more year, and that if we end up selling him it'll be for a quite hefty fee. Jul 3rd 2029 Time for more silliness: Ajax offer zero euros plus right winger Kevin Ruiz for Rexhepi. Absolutely not. PSV then come with a similar part-exchange offer for Baldé, but at least they're offering some money for our right back, so it's worth negotiating. After a bit we settle into a €11M deal, all in cash, and about half of it in installments. We make an attempt to improve his contract and get him to stay but his demands are way too high so, despite him being our best full back last season, we let him go. We trust Javorcic to develop into an absolute stud, and we have a couple alternatives lined up for around the same amount than what we'll get for the Frenchman. Hadzic is attracting a few new offers, some from exotic places like Jeonbuk, so we move to secure his replacement: 21yo Brazilian center-back-slash-defensive-midfielder Ernesto joins on loan from Inter, one of our favorite targets for this kind of deal. The loan contract includes his whole €11.75k weekly wages plus a monthly fee of €175k and an optional €35M fee to make his stay permanent. Ernesto is a fantastic young player, already capped with Brazil at U23 level, extremely strong physically with great pace and aerial ability, and also a very technical player who's not only solid defensively, but also a great passer and has more than enough vision to run our midfield from behind. He comes as Hadzic's replacement first and foremost, but I'm very likely to use him as our anchor when he's not playing in defense, therefore pushing Thiago and/or Meunier to more advanced roles, or he can even take that advanced role himself. He'll be a very valuable option to have this season, and maybe in the future if he does well and we can afford him. Jul 5th 2029 Da Silva might be on his way out after all since Mainz offered €6M for him. That's about as much money as we can expect to get for him after three disappointing seasons, so accepted. Our search for new first-team midfielders continues... Jul 6th 2029 Baldé's transfer to PSV is confirmed within only a couple of days, and off he goes to the Netherlands in exchange for €11M, no other clauses included. A very solid performer on the right back position since his arrival from Valencia (who get €1.5M due to his sell-on clause), he's earned the right to decide where he wants to play next and he seemed quite keen on a move to PSV, not to mention his contract demands were a bit excessive so selling him made sense financially speaking. With Javorcic improving day by day we should have little trouble replacing him, though. Famous last words... Bayern sell Szoboszlai to Arsenal for €74M and are in the process of offloading Papetti to either Barcelona or Real Madrid for €36M. Meanwhile their only purchases so far have been veterans Musa Barrow and Jonathan Tah, both on free transfers and both extremely unlikely to play any major role for them. I have no idea what Nagelsmann is doing... Jul 8th 2029 Oh, there is a senior continental competition happening this summer, I forgot the Gold Cup was a thing. Of course Rodríguez and Magaña will be taking part with Mexico, and most likely winning it. Leacock ends up agreeing a loan move to Stockport, where he's expected to be the star of a team expected to push for promotion into the Football League. We'll see how it goes. Jul 9th 2029 Another player that leaves, and this one hurts me a bit: Can Sapmaz moves to Trabzonspor for €1.7M and a 30% of future profits. One of the first youngsters I saw arrive at the club, he was always an extremely promising winger and he showed some glimpses of that promise in his time with us, featuring quite often in the first team and having some outstanding games out there. He was also wildly inconsistent, a trait he never quite got rid of and which hurt both his development and his value noticeably. As proof, the small fee we're getting for him despite still having three years remaining in his contract. Twenty-three now, it was obvious he had already reached his ceiling and he'd never be the player we hoped him to become, so selling him was our only option, even more now that a pure winger has no place in our formation. A shame, and I hope it goes well for him back in Turkey. Jul 10th 2029 Looks like it's going to be yet another year with lots of turnover in our full backs, sigh... Sevilla come with an insufficient €1.7M offer for Vázquez, but the player is extremely keen on the move and would become unhappy if we rejected it outright. That forces our hand into negotiating, since the last thing we want is unhappy players unsettling the dressing room. In the end we reach an agreement for €4.5M, which is still a small profit after we paid only €3M to Genoa one year ago. Time for another replacement... Jul 11th 2029 Hadzic also confirms his departure, moving to South Korea to play for Jeonbuk in exchange for €3.6M and a 30% of future profits, which I expect will come back to us sooner rather than later. Another small profit since we signed him from €2.1M, but also a small disappointment in that, despite his solid performances on the field, he never quite reached the heights he was supposed to reach when he arrived as an eighteen-year-old. He still has room for improvement and I expect him to become a better player, but his willingness to move and a few previous incidents in which he complained about lack of playing time helped with making this decision. He won't need replacing, at least, since Ernesto is already here. Jul 12th 2029 Our next signing is also one for the future, but who might have more present that one would think: 21yo English full back Alex Ball joins from Tottenham Hotspurs for an absolute bargain of a fee worth only €500k, no other clauses involved. The young full back found himself transfer listed at his old club after two loan spells at Wigan and Brighton, but he is as promising as he can get. Perfectly two-footed like Javorcic, he can play on both sides of the defense and as a defensive midfielder, also like our Croatian starlet. Quick, brave, and a solid defensive-minded player, he fits like a glove in our current formation and isn't completely useless going forward either. He still has a lot of growth to do, but I think he's good enough to be used as a rotation/backup option for both sides of our defense already. As such, he'll stay and play with the first team, which will surely see his value increase. He comes with €18.5k weekly wages set to increase after ten and twenty league games and with a release clause worth €15M and which might look cheap within a year. Jul 13th 2029 One day later Florent Da Silva confirms his move to Mainz for €6M. A bit of a panic buy after Entrena was release clause'd by Köln, Da Silva did fine in midfield in his three seasons with us, but never quite reached the level expected from him and his €7.5M price tag, a big deal back in the day. Thus he becomes a rare transfer in which we made a loss, but at least we recovered most of our investment. Not really a fan of selling him to another team in the Bundesliga, though, playing against ex-players almost always ends in suffering... Minutes later his replacement arrives from Manchester United: 22yo Colombian midfielder Juan David Palomeque joins on a transfer worth €20M with no other clauses attached. Signed by United back in 2024 from Junior, Palomeque spent most of his development years in England but other than a handful of appearances last season he never quite made the break into the first team. Our scouts value him highly regardless, and I can tell why: his technique and passing are top-notch, he's hard-working and has the stamina to run up and down the midfield all game long, and his defensive and finishing skills are also quite good. He's a box-to-box midfielder through and through, which fits exactly what we want in our midfield and should work much better than Da Silva's quite one-dimensional game. His wages are reasonable at €31k per week, he joins as a squad player so his playing time demands won't be too high, and he has no release clause. Hopefully he'll live up to his price tag, unlike the player he's replacing. Mexico's debut in the Gold Cup is an easy 2-0 win over Guatemala, with Rodríguez setting up one of the two goals and Magaña only having eleven minutes off the bench. Jul 14th 2029 SG Dynamo Dresden vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) We start our preseason friendlies with a visit to our new associates from Dynamo. With our squad still being finalized and two players out with Mexico we have a shorter squad available, but we still have more than enough to take an early lead thanks to Rijkhoff, well supported by Meunier. Dynamo are still a pretty good team, though, and Batista Meier soon draws the game with a placed finish around Kretzschmar. Rijkhoff hits the post with his finish after a great pass by Palomeque later in the first half, but it's El Moussaoui who scores for Dresden after Lang fails to clear a goal kick. We look much more solid in the second half despite a very young midfield, but our finishing remains apalling and it takes until the 82nd for Ball to steal a ball then assist Maldini with a long ball ahead so the Italian can score the 2-2. Not enough for a win, but at least it's not a defeat. SG Dynamo Dresden 2 (Oliver Batista Meier 23, Ilyas el Moussaoui 34) TSV 1860 München 2 (Julian Rijkhoff 12, Daniel Maldini 83) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted December 20, 2023 Author Share Posted December 20, 2023 Jul 16th 2029 Training camp underway, just as rumors start talking about Celta wanting to buy Kretzschmar, who's also quoted as having no interest in the move. The usual non-story, then. Jul 17th 2029 Rodríguez exchanges assists for goals for once, scoring two in Mexico's trivial 5-1 beating of the Dominican Republic. Magaña also played the whole game, but somehow managed to be poor despite taking part in such an easy win. Jul 18th 2029 Vázquez confirms his €4.5M move to Sevilla and returns to Spain after three years abroad. Never a sure starter no matter where he played, he also played a rotation role with us but eventually turned out to be the better option on the left due to Magaña underperforming, rather than him doing anything particularly excellent. He was solid, had a couple good games, but nothing to write home about. Happy to make a small profit on him, and now we await the arrival of yet another full back at the club. And here he comes, just a couple of hours after Vázquez's departure to add another chapter to our growing list of Spanish full backs: 23yo right back Ian Amador joins from Espanyol in exchange for €16M upfront, €3M after 50 league appearances, and a 30% of future profits. Another versatile two-footed wing defender who can play as a right back, a left back, or even a right winger should the need arise, Amador will become the most attacking-minded of our full backs, sure to provide some width and a few assists from the wing on top of solid defense and a tireless source of pressure on opposing wingers. Expensive, yes, and his €30M release clause isn't ideal, but he's a very good player currently and has a lot of room for improvement if he works hard on his game. When it rains it pours, and minutes later we confirm a second signing for today: Maximilian Schulze, 21yo midfielder, joins on a €2M transfer from Liverpool, with an extra €300k to be paid after his 50th league game and a 30% of future profits going their way. A bit of a blind buy, we didn't have time to scout him properly before Wolfsburg forced our hand with an early bid, and thankfully we secured his signing in the end. A physical powerhouse for our midfield, he still has great technique and vision and can provide some danger from distance, but his main role is as a midfield workhorse, just what we needed. A very cheap purchase given his estimated value, he's a Liverpool homegrown player despite being German, so he probably won't count as homegrown in the nation either. Regardless, a very solid player for both present and future, and another fine piece of business on top. In other news, our ex-center back Linus Gechter moves from Freiburg to Dortmund for €31M. He's been doing fine after leaving Leverkusen, and this move confirms the good vibes we had with him when we signed him back in the day. Hope he does well there, only not against us. Jul 19th 2029 Empoli F.C. vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) Our little trip to Italy starts with a (relative) bang, facing a mid-table Serie A team like Empoli (featuring none other than ex-Löwe Erik Majetschak) instead of the usual amateurs. Debuts for Amador and Schulze from the start, and we get off to a dominating start with many early chances, culminating in Palomeque's goal after a neat assist from new kid Schulze. We take a more controlling approach afterwards, passing Empoli out of the game and sending a great chance into the post thanks to Rijkhoff's not quite accurate finish. Three minutes before half time Miranda hits a pass from deep by Thiago and puts it into the net for the 0-2, a result that holds until the break. The second half starts with Amador barging into the box and passing low towards Meunier, who finishes the job in style to score the third. Özcan joins the party with an unstoppable 25-yarder 61 minutes into the game, then finishes a great through ball by Karlsen to score his second and our fifth. Bonazzoli gets one back for Empoli in a corner kick with only five minutes to go, but that doesn't change our great display today. Empoli F.C. 1 (Federico Bonazzoli 85) TSV 1860 München 5 (Juan David Palomeque 9, Matías Miranda 42, Aymeric Meunier 47, Vedat Özcan 61 78) Jul 21st 2029 U.S.D. Lavagnese 1919 vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) Only two days later we take on Lavagnese, a Serie D semi-pro side much closer to what one usually expects from training camp opposition. We only need three minutes for Miranda to send the ball ahead of Schulze so the new guy can score the 0-1, and twelve minutes later it's Rijkhoff who volleys into the net a cross by Caraballo. The third takes a while longer and it requires a penalty on Palomeque that Miranda converts into the 0-3 from the spot. The pace drops a bit further in the second half, but we still have more than enough chances to score more. The one to score, however, is Mores for Lavagnese, controlling a long goal kick and shooting from distance to surprise Rexhepi. Karlsen soon fixes things with a great finish after a beautiful pass into the box by Meunier, who also assists Özcan for the easiest tap-in of his life in the 69th minute. Then Rovido beats Rexhepi again with a powerful effort from twenty-five yards away, which puts into question our lack of defensive intensity. Maldini restores a four-goal lead in the 78th, well assisted by Amador, then whips a free kick into the box so Casas can score the final 2-7. Entertaining game for sure. U.S.D. Lavagnese 1919 2 (Giovanni Mores 67, Davide Rovido 75) TSV 1860 München 7 (Maximilian Schulze 3, Julian Rijkhoff 15, Matías Miranda 39p, Martin Karlsen 68, Vedat Özcan 69, Daniel Maldini 78, Arnau Casas 90) * * * Third win in three games for Mexico in the Gold Cup, once again with Rodríguez scoring one of the four they put past El Salvador, and with Magaña looking good in defense for once. Jul 22nd 2029 We can't have a transfer window without Kretzschmar being someone's target, and this time it's Freiburg who try their luck with a €12M offer we reject outright, with the player having zero interest in moving there. Jul 23rd 2029 One day later it's West Ham with an insufficient €11.25M offer for our starting keeper. Also rejected, although Kretzschmar wouldn't have minded this move too much. Celta and Sevilla are also tailing him, so there might be some movement in coming days if they decide to get serious. We also receive a loan offer for Karlsen from Arminia Bielefeld, still in the 2.Bundesliga. Now this is something I might consider, the problem with this bid in particular is that they only want him as a squad player, and the one reason I'd like him loaned out is so he gets more playing time than with us, so that's out. If some other team want him as a sure starter I might have to think about it, letting him go would force us to sign another midfielder, but we still have about €20M available and Maldini is expendable now that Amador can also play as a right winger if we ever need him to, so that wouldn't be too much of a problem. On the topic of loans, young Beltramone moves to Karlsruhe, also in the 2.Bundesliga, as an important player. He'll benefit a lot from that playing time at a reasonably high level. Jul 24th 2029 Oho, Barcelona want to buy Vuskovic from Manchester City. Their offer is "only" worth €47.5M, which would only bring about €4M to us, but it's still a decent haul. The kid's been playing semi-regularly with the Premier League and Champions League winners, so they might want to hold onto him anyway. We'll see how it goes. * * * Cagliari Calcio vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) Another Serie A team for our preseason, Cagliari have even cracked the top half a couple of times in the last few years, so they should be a more difficult test than Empoli were. Once again we dominate them completely from the start, though, and in the 20th minute Palomeque scores the 0-1 after a cross from the left by Miranda and a pass back towards the penalty spot by Rijkhoff. Cagliari start pushing back a bit in the final minutes of the first half, but in the second half we regain complete control and in the 65th Özcan heads in a cross by Meunier to double our lead. We keep bombarding Cragno's goal until the end, and two minutes before full time Özcan scores again with a placed shot, finishing a good play through the center and making Maldini's assist good. Another surprisingly easy win. Cagliari Calcio 0 TSV 1860 München 3 (Juan David Palomeque 20, Vedat Özcan 65 88) Jul 25th 2029 Here I was happy with my squad and not thinking of doing any more business unless forced to, and then Leipzig want to buy Caraballo and offer €20.5M plus a 30% of future profits for him. Thing is, he has a €24M release clause, so the best we can do here is negotiate it to €23.5M plus 40% of future profits. Then, somewhat surprisingly, they withdraw their offer. Huh. Jul 26th 2029 Well, that was unexpected: Mexico are out of the Gold Cup in the quarterfinals after a 0-1 loss to Jamaica. Neither Magaña nor Rodríguez had a great game, obviously, and now they'll be returning to Munich with nothing to show for a tournament they were supposed to win easily. * * * Brianza Olginatese vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) We say goodbye to Italy with another relaxing game against serie D semi-pros Olginatese. It takes us way longer than expected to get our first goal, twenty-two minutes to be precise, and it falls to Miranda to score with an easy finish after a nod by Rijkhoff. Fourteen minutes later Miranda strikes again, finishing a great through ball by Caraballo, and in the 43rd Caraballo himself scores assisted by Schulze, who's looking like a great purchase already judging from his friendly performances so far. There's still time for Caraballo to score his second and our fourth with a great dribble into the box and an equally good finish, and even for Olginatese to claw one back with a great passing play straight out of kick-off just before the first half ends. The second half is much less exciting, though, and despite quite a few shots we don't get any more goals today. Brianza Olginatese 1 (Samuele Ruggeri 45+3) TSV 1860 München 4 (Matías Miranda 22 36, Rodrigo Caraballo 43 45+2) Jul 28th 2029 West Ham again. I really shouldn't have invited them to our stadium's inauguration friendly... Now they try to buy Rijkhoff for €17.25M, clearly not enough for a player valued around €25M. Not to mention he doesn't want to go there anyway. Rejected. The next offer is more tempting, though: associates Dynamo Dresden want Karlsen on loan. They offer to pay most of their wages, a small extra fee on top, want him as an important player, and plan to play him as a central midfielder. All perfect for my purposes, and in a team with good facilities and aiming towards the top half of the 2.Bundesliga and maybe a cheeky promotion challenge if things go well. It's the perfect oportunity to see how Karlsen performs when given more playtime without hampering our midfield in the process, even if it means spending some money on a replacement. Accepted. Jul 29th 2029 Things are heating up with Rijkhoff, now with Southampton offering €25M for him. He's still not interested in a move to a team not playing in Europe, though, so we'll have to pass on this one too. Villarreal are also trailing him and they might have a better chance at attracting his interest, though. They'll have to do better than €25M in any case. Maldini goes down with an abdominal strain. Again. That's the third time he's lost training and playing time with that particular injury and it doesn't seem to be healing properly at all. One more point against his short-term future in the squad, I think... We've already sold over fourteen thousand season tickets, and there's still a long while until the sale ends. We might run out of space in our new stadium sooner than expected... Time for our favorite competition: the DFB Pokal first round draw will bring us to Münster, currently in the 3.Liga after relegating last year and a team we've dealt with a few times in the past through various loans, the latest Franzke's just last season. Not as easy as we're used to, but we should be winning without too much trouble regardless. Jul 31st 2029 Kickers Offenbach vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly) Back in Germany and with our Mexican duo finally with the squad, we pay a visit to Regionalliga side Offenbach for our second-to-last friendly of the preseason. We expect goals today, and Rijkhoff soon delivers with a placed finish after the classic through ball from Miranda. We seem to run dry afterwards, though, and we spend the rest of the first half trying and failing to score again. Fifteen-year-old starlet Althoff gets to play with the big boys in the second half, and only thirdy seconds in Ernesto, playing in a more offensive role in midfield than usual, assists Özcan for the long overdue 0-2. The striker adds another in the 62nd after a great ball through the center by Palomeque, then collects Basualdo's assist five minutes later to complete his hattrick. Then Offenbach profit from a good counterattack to score the 1-4 thanks to striker Fuzaylov, but in injury time it's our turn to counter and Meunier finishes it with a great touch to round up another comfortable win. Kickers Offenbach 1 (Alisher Fuzaylov 74) TSV 1860 München 5 (Julian Rijkhoff 10, Vedat Özcan 46 62 67, Aymeric Meunier 90+1) Aug 3rd 2029 Freiburg keep insisting with Kretzschmar, their latest offer climbing up to €27.5M, which is insane. Kretzschmar himself still doesn't care. Rejected. Our new midfielder is here, in an extremely cheap €1M deal that brings Portuguese 24yo midfielder Joao Neves from Vizela to 1860 München. A like-for-like replacement for Karlsen in our rotation, he's a very technically gifted midfielder with fantastic vision, a credible long distance shot, and lots of flair coupled with a strong set of mental and physical abilities. He'll bring that spark of creativity we need in our midfield from time to time, both off the bench and as a solid rotation option for all those midweek games we'll be playing this season. Can also play deeper or even as an attacking midfielder, which is always a plus. A bargain deal for sure, and his €31k weekly wages are quite reasonable, as is his €12.5M release clause given how little he costed us. He even has a small window for improving even further, which might make this a very profitable signing in the long term. Miranda has been attracting some offers from PSV lately and his contract was running out next summer, so we went ahead and offered him a one-year extension with an improved weekly wage of €38.5k. We can afford it to keep our best player from the last few years in the club for a bit longer and to keep any suitors at bay for the time being. He's already twenty-nine, though, so a longer-term deal was out of the question, and we'll probably have to revisit his status a year from now. Vuskovic finally confirms his €47.5M move to Barcelona, and that brings some money our way: €1.7M upfront, €2.5M in installments, and an extra €475k as a solidarity fee since we were his second formative club after Hajduk. Not bad. Aug 4th 2029 TSV 1860 München vs. West Ham United (Friendly) And here it is, the first match to ever be played at our new and shiny stadium, which is full to the brim to see us face Premier League side and common transfer annoyance West Ham. We look good in the first minutes, with Stjepanovic heading a corner kick into the crossbar in the 10th, and in the 21st Rijkhoff puts us ahead with a short-range finish after a good low cross by Rodríguez. Lang almost gifts West Ham the draw with a terrible horizontal pass intercepted by Fornals, but the midfielder thankfully shoots into the post and we're allowed to keep our lead into the second half. The second unit, again with young Althoff on left back, keep the game under control although with less attacking intent, even though Meunier hits wood once again in the 86th with a tremendous missile from distance. West Ham don't give us much to worry about either, and we put a lid on the preseason with another good display to say hello to our new home. TSV 1860 München 1 (Julian Rijkhoff 21) West Ham United 0 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted December 21, 2023 Author Share Posted December 21, 2023 Aug 6th 2029 The Gold Cup might've been a bit of a disaster for Mexico, but Rodríguez had a great run and now that the tournament is over (Honduras beat the USA in the final) he's collecting awards left and right: Best Player, Best Young Player, finished third in the Goal of the Tournament, and got himself a place in the Dream Team. Not bad. Aug 7th 2029 Seeing it isn't working with Kretzschmar, Freiburg try their luck with Rexhepi. €6.5M won't be enough in any case, so nope, sorry. Aug 10th 2029 Finally, an offer we can accept: Mainz come asking for Maldini, who currently has no real place in our rotation with Caraballo and Basualdo both ahead of him as choices for our second striker, and we quickly reach an agreement worth €5.5M. The player seems keen on the move, so he'll probably finalize the transfer in a few days. Young keeper Englisch twists an ankle in training and will be out for three to four weeks. I'm seriously considering loaning him out, but finding suitable places for keepers to play regularly is not easy. We'll see how it goes. Aug 12th 2029 SC Preussen Münster vs. TSV 1860 München (DFB Pokal 1st round) Aaand action! The season starts once again with the DFB Pokal first round, this time with a slightly more difficult opposition than usual. Münster spent the last two seasons in the 2.Bundesliga, and before that were consistently among the promotion favorites in the 3.Liga, so they're basically where we were when we started this journey eight years ago. They have to be respected, but we should have more than enough to beat them even with our second unit starting today. * * * MÜNSTER (3-3-2-2): Jeroen Houwen (GK); Marcel Hoffmeier (DCr), Thomas Keller (DC), Amara Tapé-Gnolu (DCl); Agyemang Diawusie (WBR), Ian Landy (DM), Sascha Härtel (WBL); Nicolai Remberg (MCr), Elias Abouchabaka (MCl); Maximilian Köhler (STr), David Jonathans (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Juan David Palomeque (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) * * * Debuts for all our new signings today, and they get to enjoy the pleasures of playing against a 3-5-2 variant on their debut, isn't it great? Things don't start quite brilliantly for us, as Neves's first pass in a 1860 shirt goes to the opposition and allows Köhler to get the first shot of the game in a dangerous counterattack, thankfully over the bar. He soon corrects his mistake, though, and in the 8th minute he sends a quick pass ahead towards Özcan, who nods it back to Caraballo and allows the Venezuelan to unleash an unstoppable bullet from distance that beats Houwen and becomes the 0-1. With the critical first goal in the bag we can now relax a bit and play our game with more freedom. Neves soon starts pulling the strings in midfield, and just five minutes after our first goal he sends a great pass ahead to Özcan, who dribbles his way into the box and blasts it in for the second. We like making things difficult for ourselves, though, and in the 17th Stjepanovic commits an unnecessary penalty by pushing Diawusie inside the box during a set piece. Abouchabaka sends Rexhepi the wrong way to cut our lead in half and restore the home team's faith in pulling an upset today. We go right back at it, with Özcan trying a direct free kick that Houwen has to tip wide to prevent the third, then getting a finish blocked by Keller after a nice low cross by Amador. Ernesto keeps the pressure up with a good header in a corner kick that the keeper catches with relative ease, then Özcan misses the post by mere inches with a somewhat forced finish inside the box. Münster try long balls towards their strikers from time to time, and in the 41st one of those turns into a good chance for Remberg but Stjepanovic's timely block prevents a scare. With the first half almost at the end, Schulze sends a good pass ahead to Neves, who shoots from just inside the box into the crossbar in what becomes the final chance before half time. HALF TIME - 1-2 Twenty seconds into the second half and we're already missing more chances, this time with Caraballo's narrowly wide finish after a great through ball from Schulze. Next up is Özcan, who misses another chance at a brace by getting his finish saved by Houwen, thus wasting another good pass by Palomeque, who follows this up with a curler from distance that the keeper palms away from goal and behind. With fifteen minutes played we start rotating our most tired players, and Casas, Rodríguez, and Miranda come into the game replacing Ernesto, Schulze, and Palomeque, all of them after quite solid debuts. Rodríguez soon starts impacting the game, although his first shot ends up in a mishit that goes clearly wide. Ball joins in the attack then, trading passes with Miranda and shooting into Houwen's hands in the 68th minute. Two minutes later a quick combination through the center ends with Özcan sending the ball towards the right so Rodríguez can control it, run into the box, and shoot past Houwen to finally score the 1-3. Münster keep relying on long balls to create danger, and Köhler finds himself once again behind Stjepanovic and with space to run, with Rexhepi having to push his finish over the bar to prevent the 2-3. Amador replies with a dribble into the box and a powerful shot that Houwen also deflects over, then tries again from further away and forces the keeper into another fingertip save, the corner kick then being headed over by Stjepanovic. That's more than enough chances to score a fourth, but sadly it doesn't come in the end, and the game ends with a short but well-deserved victory. * * * SC Preussen Münster 1 (Elias Abouchabaka 18p) TSV 1860 München 3 (Rodrigo Caraballo 8, Vedat Özcan 13, Jair Rodríguez 70) - - - That'll do. It's funny that we had more trouble beating Münster than with teams like Cagliari or West Ham, but in the end the result was the same. We could only miss so many chances, and although we did make some unwanted gaffs in defense they weren't enough to put us in any real trouble. Freebie round passed, and now to see what awaits further down the road. Solid debuts for all the new lads, too, with Neves and Amador as the stand-outs, and first goal for Caraballo after fifteen hours played. Geez. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted December 22, 2023 Author Share Posted December 22, 2023 Aug 13th 2029 Maldini agrees to a €5.5M move to Mainz, of which we'll be paying Milan €1.76M due to his sell-on clause. A key signing in our second year in the Bundesliga, he came to give us some quality on the right wing and performed exactly as expected when we brought him in, lifting us from relegation candidates to Europe hopefuls. He was never the best player in the squad and his lack of consistency made him not even a sure starter for most of his stay here, always under pressure from Sapmaz for that spot in the right wing, yet in the end he was a good performer in his four years with us, and only a change in tactics made him redundant. Hopefully he'll have an equally good time with Mainz, where he'll rejoin with Da Silva. Aug 18th 2029 Just before our debut in the league we are informed of the results of the second round draw for the DFB Pokal. It's not pretty: Stuttgart away. A game that can go either way, but at least we have a chance. There's a very fun-looking Nürnberg-Bayern in this round, too. * * * Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. TSV 1860 München (Bundesliga, 1/34) And here's the Bundesliga once again, and what better way to start it than facing against our old foe Leverkusen, now under the rule of Niko Kovac after Simeone was relieved from his duties last season as a result of his failure to qualify for any European competition. This will be a very different Leverkusen from our last handful of meetings, but I'll still trust my lads to do the job and start the year with a win. * * * LEVERKUSEN (4-4-2): Tomás Serrano (GK); Gonçalo Esteves (DR), Maximilian Blücher (DCr), Pascual Piera (DCl), Adnan Ismail (DL); António Farfus (MR), Florian Wirtz (MCr), Eyüp Aydin (MCl), Moussa Diaby (ML); Tunay Can (STr), Nedeljko Pavisic (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * Complete rotation from our cup game with the exception of Schulze, who really gives our midfield some extra balance we've needed in the past. Leverkusen go with a flat 4-4-2 similar to the one Simeone used only once against us last season, although with a lot of personnel changes since then. We seem to have the upper hand in the early game, with possession clearly on our side but a certain lack of creativity in the business end. Leverkusen seem to rely on counterattacking even with Simeone gone, although their first chance comes in a direct free kick that Wirtz smashes into the woodwork of Kretzschmar's goal. We finally get something going in attack in the 17th minute with a run into the right side of the box by Schulze and a cross towards Rijkhoff that the striker heads downwards, but wide. Another cross by Schulze leads to a header by Rodríguez, well directed this time but an easy save for Serrano nonetheless. The game isn't exactly free-flowing, though, and by the time we reach the half hour the only other remarkable chance was a blocked shot by Schulze, very active today. Twelve minutes later the midfielder tries again breaking through the center, but his shot is weak and centered, once again easy for Serrano. The game looks set for a goalless draw at the end of the first half, but in injury time a foul near the edge of the box gives Rodríguez a good chance to score, and the Mexican doesn't miss, burying his direct free kick into the back of the net and putting us ahead at the perfect moment. HALF TIME - 0-1 Leverkusen look a bit more attacking-minded in the second half, but we don't give them the time to put us under real pressure: four minutes into the half Thiago controls the ball in midfield, looks up, and sends the ball long ahead of Miranda's rush into the box so the Argentinian can beat Serrano and score the 0-2, starting this year in good form once again. And only one minute later Basualdo drops towards the right side of the box, turns around, and crosses low into the heart of the box so Rodríguez can pop up out of nowhere to tap it in and make it three. Game, set, and match. And we're not done yet: Thiago controls a cleared ball in midfield and once again sends a pinpoint pass ahead to Rijkhoff, who breaks the offside trap by inches and finishes the one-on-one with his usual quality to make it 0-4, a quite familiar result by now. But if our games against Leverkusen have something is unpredictability, and just when they seemed to be dead in the water a ball stolen from Schulze in midfield allows a quick counterattack, Tunay Can assists Reinaldo Junio, and the striker beats Kretzschmar to get one back for the home team. And we're still in the 54th minute! Riding the high from their goal Leverkusen try to mount a comeback, and soon Diaby is testing Kretzschmar from distance and forcing the keeper to tip the ball wide for a corner kick that Aydin heads into the Kretzschmar's block. We make some changes then, removing Miranda and the once again irrelevant Magaña and bringing Palomeque and Amador in. Things finally calm down a bit then, and only a blocked finish by Basualdo after a break through the center and then another in a corner kick keep the attacking momentum going. Meunier replaces Schulze as our final substitution with a bit over twenty minutes left on the clock. Leverkusen return to our area with a cross from the right by Farfus that Diaby volleys into Kretzschmar's hands, but after that they disappear again, and we hit back in a counterattack in the 78th, led by Rijkhoff and finished by Basualdo with a wide header. The rest of the game is uncharacteristically calm, with only Tunay Can having a good chance in a corner kick he heads well in the 87th, but the ball is cleared off the line by a well-positioned Javorcic. There are no more chances afterwards, and we start the season with a huge away win. * * * Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1 (Reinaldo Junio 54) TSV 1860 München 4 (Jair Rodríguez 45+1 50, Matías Miranda 49, Julian Rijkhoff 52) - - - Just what the doctor ordered. Looks like we'll still have fun with Leverkusen even with Simeone gone, at least if we keep managing to score three goals in three minutes like we did today. We were the better team throughout the match, and only a certain degree of relaxation after our fourth gave Leverkusen something faintly resembling hope, but by then we were too far away to be caught. Rodríguez starts the year in great form, as do Miranda and Thiago. Meanwhile Magaña was once again the worst player on the pitch by a large margin. Seriously considering just selling him and calling him a bust at this point... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted December 27, 2023 Author Share Posted December 27, 2023 Aug 19th 2029 Well, looks like we still have some room to grow: the season tickets sale ended with 16,819 sold, a noticeable increase from the 15,982 we had last year, but not that big of a jump. Still a pretty large percentage of our stadium's capacity, but there's enough space for casual fans to buy match day tickets. For now. Aug 20th 2029 Ah yes, this was coming sooner or later... Rodríguez wants to leave for a bigger club, because as much as we've grown we're still not in a position to be winning titles consistently, and that's exactly what a player of his quality should be doing. In the end all I can do is promise to sell him if someone comes offering a fair value for him. Said fair value being his €82M release clause, of course... Obviously bad news travel fast and Liverpool and Porto are already tracking him, so I wouldn't be surprised to find myself in another last-day rush to replace our best midfielder. That feels familiar somehow... Aug 21st 2029 Rodríguez and Rijkhoff make the first Team of the Week. Hopefully it won't be Rodríguez's last... Aug 26th 2029 TSV 1860 München vs. Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga, 2/34) Just in case we thought this competition was getting too easy after last week's result, here's Dortmund! Honestly, we couldn't ask for a better opposition for our first official match in our new stadium, and the stands are going to be full to the brim today for sure. Also the immediately preceding meeting with Dortmund ended in our favor, so we'll see if we can do the same with Emery's version of der BVB. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Ian Amador (DL); Ernesto (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Aymeric Meunier (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) DORTMUND (4-3-3): Gregor Kobel (GK); Mohamed Simakan (DR), Linus Gechter (DCr), Niklas Süle (DCl), Arthur Theate (DL); Angelo Stiller (DM), Hannibal (MCr), Kacper Kozlowski (MCl); Samuel Chukwueze (AMR), Adam Hlozek (AML), Luka Jovic (ST) * * * Emery has moved Dortmund away from their usual 4-2-3-1 into a more defensively secure 4-3-3, something I don't particularly mind, and it's nice seeing Gechter as a starter for such a big club. We take the perhaps bold move of benching Miranda today in favor of starting Ernesto at the anchor and Meunier further forward, with likely transfer out Rodríguez having the chance to say goodbye to the fans with another good performance. The first minutes of the game see us holding the ball while Dortmund have a few semi-dangerous approaches that never quite generate an actual chance. There are, in fact, no shots at either goal until in the 14th minute Schulze backs into the box looking for a high pass from the left by Meunier and is pushed into the ground by Theate for a clear penalty. With Miranda out our best taker out is Stjepanovic, and the center-back buries it into the net to give us the first lead of the game. Dortmund's first shot comes only two minutes later, with Kozlowski shooting over the bar from the edge of the penalty area. A corner kick in the 22nd minute ends in a shot by Hlozek straight at Kretzschmar's position for an easy save, but after a quick recovery Hlozek and Jovic mount a quick attack down the left flank, the striker sends the ball into the box, and Hlozek passes it past Kretzschmar and into the net to quickly draw the game. They keep the pressure up afterwards, and a set piece headed by Gechter with all his strength soon forces Kretzschmar into a great reflex save to prevent the 1-2. Things calm down immediately afterwards, though, and after a few minutes catching our breath we go back into attack mode with Amador shooting into the legs of a defender in the 33rd minute. A set piece one minute later reaches Schulze unmarked inside the box, but his first-time finish is well parried by Kobel and an almost certain goal is prevented. In the 39th Rodríguez takes a corner kick towards the near post, Stjepanovic nods it farther along, and Ernesto pops up near the far post to smash it in and score the 2-1, his first goal in only two appearances. We keep things tied down for what remains of the first half and secure our lead until half time. HALF TIME - 2-1 We start the second half in style, creating a quick attack down the center with Schulze leaving the finish to Rodríguez, who finds Kobel in place to tip the ball wide. That corner kick almost ends as the 3-1, too, as Lang misses the crossbar only by a few inches with his header. Dortmund's first approach in a long while comes in the 52nd, with Simakan assisting Chukwueze inside the box but Kretzschmar coming out to close the gap and forcing the winger to shoot into the sidenetting. The same happens seconds later on the other goal with Meunier sending a pass ahead of Özcan, who runs into the box but is left without space to shoot comfortably and ends up sending it well wide. A wide shot from distance by Hannibal follows, nothing too worrying, and in the 58th it's Özcan on the run again, chasing a pass into space by Rodríguez and trying to curl his finish around Kobel, only for the keeper to tip it wide. A while later Ball comes in for Javorcic, surprisingly bad today, and trades sides with Amador, while Basualdo replaces Caraballo. Not much later it's Schulze's turn to rest, replaced by Neves. Dortmund keep trying to put us under pressure, but their formation isn't particularly good for high pressing and we don't feel threatened when playing from the back and just holding possession waiting for our forwards' movements. One of those movements comes in the 76th, with Meunier breaking in through the left and crossing for Özcan's header, well saved by Kobel. Five minutes later a divided ball just inside the ball is picked up by Rodríguez, who tries a lob over Kobel and almost gets away with it, although in the end the keeper gets enough of it to prevent the goal. The corner kick is once again headed by Lang, wide this time, and one minute later it's Dortmund on the break through Hlozek, who also shoots wide. With five minutes remaining Dortmund switch to a 4-2-3-1, just like in the good ol' days, but the best chance is, accidentally, for us as Kobel tries to clear the ball from his area and hits center-back Boller in the back, almost putting it inside his own goal. The keeper does much better flying to block Stjepanovic's header in that corner kick, a set piece that has given us lots of opportunities today. Lang heads another one wide early in injury time, and in the third extra minute Kobel does it again, deflecting over the bar a great chance for Basualdo after a quick counterattack by Özcan. We keep the ball inside their own half for the rest of the game, thus making sure our win is never threatened. * * * TSV 1860 München 2 (Mateja Stjepanovic 15p, Ernesto 39) Borussia Dortmund 1 (Adam Hlozek 22) - - - Great result, and not just the result; we actually outplayed Dortmund today in almost every department. Sure, they had their chances, and we had to get lucky with that early penalty kick to get things rolling, but we more than deserved our win and should probably have scored at least one more. We are looking really good right now against very strong teams, and that's making me feel quite optimistic for what this season could bring. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted December 28, 2023 Author Share Posted December 28, 2023 Aug 28th 2029 Ernesto makes the Team of the Week thanks to his winning goal against Dortmund. Three days left in the transfer window and still no offers coming for Rodríguez. Interest from Liverpool and Porto seems to have vanished, and now our main worry is Freiburg wanting basically half of our squad, particularly our keepers. Their last offer for Rexhepi (rejected, of course) went up to over €15M. They're really desperate to sign a keeper, huh... Aug 29th 2029 We've got the traditional early September international window coming, and there's the usual callups, but also a few new ones, like Ball and loanee Leacock being part of the England U21 squad. Schulze also joins Englisch in the Germany U21s, while youth prodigy Althoff, who just turned sixteen yesterday, is included in the Germany U20 squad. Aug 31st 2029 Busy day at the office today. Not only does the transfer window close today at 6PM, but we have a game against Freiburg just two hours later, and sometime during the day we're supposed to know our group in the Europa League, too, which by the way comes with a nice prize worth €3.4M attached. Transfers-wise we won't be signing anyone except replacements for anyone we're forced to sell, so ideally nothing will change today. Things are calm for the first few hours, but then Gladbach come out of almost nowhere with a €19M bid for Magaña. As mentioned before, his performances so far have been atrocious and I'm not holding my breath for him to get much better than this, so I'm happy to sell and look elsewhere, particularly when we have the position acceptably well covered already with Ball, Amador, and Javorcic all perfectly capable of playing there. We negotiate the bid a bit, though, because extra money is always good, and we settle on €22.5M and a 30% of future profits, of which about €4M go to Chivas as a percentage of the profit made. Now let's see what's available on short notice... Not much, it turns out. The only players with enough quality to improve on Magaña are extremely expensive in either transfer or wages, and even veterans aren't worth the money their clubs are asking for them. There is one exception, though, still expensive as heck because Mainz value him quite highly due to his potential, but if everything works right he should be worth it. It's a huge risk, though... While we're at it, even more news come in: Freiburg trigger Caraballo's release clause of €24M. A last-ditch attempt to extend his contract ends in failure because his demands are ridiculous, so that's someone else that'll need replacing today. Fun. In the meantime, the Europa League draw happens. We're barely paying attention, what with having to sign two players within three hours and with limited funds, but we're once again fourth seeds, and once again we get a pretty tough group: Leicester (current Conference League champions, mind), Valencia (who also won the same competition a couple of years ago), and Celtic. We'll have to be at our best to reach our goal of the second knockout round with this opposition. Back to transfers, and here's Magaña's replacement. Coming from Mainz in a club record transfer is eighteen-year-old German left back Mahamadou Touré, one of the best young players in the nation as of now. An attacking-minded full back, two-footed like all our other senior full backs but most used to playing on the left, he's still a work in progress but already shows signs of being a fantastic player in the future, particularly thanks to his very strong physical attributes. His transfer fee is eye-watering for those of us who remember our situation only eight years ago, though: €29M upfront including €11M in installments, €275k for each of his first ten league appearances, €7.25M after 50 league appearances, €6.5M more after five senior international caps, and a 40% of future profits. This is why I said it was a huge risk: we're spending a lot on someone who might or might not turn out to be worth it. A risky bet, but one I'm willing to make. With him and Althoff we should have a bright future with two of the best young left backs in the nation. His wages start low at €19k per week but will get noticeable increases after ten and fifteen league games, and he'll have a €60M release clause that we'll work on removing as soon as we get the chance. As for Caraballo, turns out we didn't need to worry: he isn't interested in moving to Freiburg, or at least not with the deal they're offering, so he decides to stay with us. Good for him, and for us. Our last move of the window is moving Englisch on loan to our affiliates Hansa Rostock. They relegated from the 3.Liga last year and therefore all he can get there is Regionalliga level play, but at least it's better than the nothing he'll get here, and to be honest it isn't too far from his actual level. We'll see how it goes. With that the window closes, and we can finally move on to actual football! * * * Sport-Club Freiburg vs. TSV 1860 München (Bundesliga, 3/34) No better way to end a stressing day at the office than a trip to Freiburg. To be fair, they haven't been exactly setting the Bundesliga alight so far, with only one point in their two initial fixtures, but they're still among the toughest teams to beat in this league, so we'd better keep our current level if we want to make it three out of three. * * * FREIBURG (4-2-3-1): Bart Verbruggen (GK); Hugo Siquet (DR), Laurin Moser (DCr), Eric Martel (DCl), Julio Ayala (DL); Maximilian Eggstein (MCr), Peter Jano (MCl); Almeida (AMR), Lazar Samardzic (AMC), Filip Ristanic (AML), Nicolai Skoglund (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * We keep rotating the squad, trying to get a feel for all our new players and see which combinations work best. Schulze rests today after two good games, as do Lang and Javorcic, and new kid Touré is awaiting his chance to debut in the bench. Freiburg don't seem to have found a new keeper in this window despite their best attempts and start a very average-looking Verbruggen, who only played once last season. They've also lost Gechter, Amoo, and Haksabanovic, so they're still trying to find their new selves, too. With our 3-0 defeat from last season as extra motivation we start the game looking to attack as almost always, and a good recovery by Amador leads to a quick and early counterattack that Basualdo finishes and Verbruggen stops. The keeper also holds an attempt from the edge of the box by Ball seconds later, while Freiburg have to wait until a corner kick in the ninth minute to get their first chance through Martel's header, narrowly over the bar. They get a bit closer one minute later through a twenty-yarder by Eggstein that clips the upside of the bar before going over. Still in the tenth minute, a patient passing play ends with Palomeque assisting Rodríguez inside the box so the Mexican can shoot it into the stands. Both attacks take a step back then, and the following ten minutes are played almost exclusively in the midfield zone, until Almeida heads a cross from Ayala meekly into Kretzschmar's hands in the 21st. Rijkhoff answers with another blast over the bar in the 26th after a good pass from Basualdo, but possession is evening out and Freiburg are now more daring, pushing farther up in the field and making things difficult for our defense. After a long period of calm for both keepers Palomeque tries to break into the box in the 38th minute, but his finish is blocked by Ayala and it ends up behind for a corner kick, taken by Miranda and headed over by Ernesto. One minute later it's Basualdo's turn to receive a through ball from Rodríguez and shoot into Verbruggen's save, but the best chance falls to Skoglund in the last minute of regulation after a very badly timed jump by Ayala leaves him alone against Kretzschmar, yet the keeper manages to keep himself between the striker and the goal and deflects the shot wide in the end. With a high header by Martel in the resulting corner kick both teams head to the dressing rooms with things still wide open. HALF TIME - 0-0 The second half starts almost exactly like the first ended: a high header over the bar by a Freiburg center-back in a set piece, Moser this time. Rijkhoff then wastes a great chance after Rodríguez intercepts a clearance and gets the ball to the striker inside the box, but to be fair Martel did well to deny him the space to shoot. Kretzschmar catches a weak header by Ristanic in the 52nd, and six minutes later Siquet gets a direct free kick completely wrong, sending it quite far away from the target. Not much later it's time for our first two substitutions, with Miranda and Rijkhoff leaving their places to Neves and Özcan. In the 63rd Freiburg hit wood for the second time in another set piece headed by a completely unmarked Moser. Meunier replaces Thiago then, who has been quite poor overall today, but Freiburg are now on a high and Siquet tests Kretzschmar with another direct free kick, this one much better taken and actually quite hard for the keeper to stop. We finally try something in the 70th with a shot by Palomeque that doesn't make it past the defensive line, but then the game enteres another ten-minute long lull that's only broken in the 82nd when we launch a quick counterattack, Basualdo assists Özcan on the run, and the striker tries and fails to sidestep Verbruggen, who tips the ball wide in our best chance of the game so far. A cross by Amador reaches Rodríguez inside the box in the 87th minute, but the midfielder can't get his shot out and the ball ends up being cleared by the defense. Momentum seems to be with us in this final stretch, but two minutes later Günter runs the left flank and crosses towards Almeida, who wins the jump with Ball and sends the ball bouncing on top of the crossbar and over. In the first minute of injury time Rodríguez takes a corner kick, Casas nods it towards Palomeque, and the midfielder tries to head it into the net from literally two meters away but ends up sending it high somehow. But one minute later Rodríguez finds Neves in midfield, the Portuguese is allowed miles of space as the defense focuses on Özcan, and Neves says thank you very much, runs into the box unopposed and curls it past Verbruggen to score his first goal for die Löwen and a dramatic winner. * * * Sport-Club Freiburg 0 TSV 1860 München 1 (Joao Neves 90+2) - - - If you look at the fancy advanced metrics for today's game and see our xG of 3.06 against Freiburg's 0.63 you'd think we walked all over them and were unlucky to win by such a short margin. Truth is, Freiburg were more than our match for a good portion of the game, and actually hit the woodwork three times from those "low xG" chances. Granted, we had great chances to score too, but the game could have gone either way and we can be really happy with the result. At the very least it shows we keep trying until the very end, which is always nice to see. Great game by Rodríguez once again, providing an accidental assist, and helped along by Neves off the bench with his goal and Amador being great in defense and a constant threat down the right. And the best news: nine out of nine! And we're the only team to have won all three initial fixtures after Bayern draw 0-0 in Berlin against ten-men Union, so we're top of the Bundesliga! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted December 29, 2023 Author Share Posted December 29, 2023 (edited) Sep 3rd 2029 Hamburg sell Schade to Grasshopers for €8M with the window closed and no chance to replace him, huh. That's one nightmare I won't have to worry about anymore, I guess. Sep 4th 2029 Rodríguez with his second appearance in the Team of the Week already. We're gonna miss him when he finds someone willing to take him, for sure. On that note, Atlético seem to be keeping tabs on him already. Sep 7th 2029 Not much to report in the first round of international fixtures, with Özcan scoring one against Liechtenstein as the standout performance. Rodríguez then comes one day later with two assists in Mexico's win over Nicaragua to upstage him. Sep 12th 2029 More goals for our South Americans in the second round of international games, with Caraballo scoring for Venezuela in a 6-1 destruction of Bolivia and Rodríguez, once again the attention grabber, bagging two for Mexico against Antigua and Barbuda. And yes, this was a World Cup qualifier. The Europeans were more discreet, although there were some good defensive performances for Ball and Englisch at the U21 level and Javorcic at the senior level. Sep 15th 2029 TSV 1860 München (1st) vs. VfL Wolfsburg (6th) (Bundesliga, 4/34) Ah yes, Wolfsburg. A team we've beaten eight out of the last eight times we've met. Of course this year might be different since they've made a few interesting signings, and so far they've had a quite good start to the season for their standards, but they've also sold Vidovic to Dortmund so who knows. With our current form, though, I can't help but feel really confident. Let's see if the international bug doesn't bite us. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Juan David Palomeque (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) WOLFSBURG (4-2-3-1): Vladislav Torop (GK); Felix Passlack (DR), Ozan Kabak (DCr), Moritz Jenz (DCl), Gianluca Frabotta (DL); Yaw Karikari (MCr), Gianluca Busio (MCl); Yaser Asprilla (AMR), Rodrigo Quiroz (AMC), Jovane Cabral (AML), Elias Havel (ST) * * * Lots of changes in the lineup today, both to rest some of our internationals after their midweek fixtures and to preserve some starters for our Europa League debut in Valencia. This includes Touré's debut as our starting left back. Quite a few new names in Wolfsburg's lineup, as expected, and an ex-player of ours called Tjark Rung on the bench. They try to surprise us in the first few minutes with high pressing and a very attacking outlook, but soon we regain control without having to survive any real chances and start pushing them back into their own half. Then they push back and suddenly it's the fifteenth minute and no one's even tried a single shot at goal yet. It takes four more minutes for Rijkhoff to connect with Basualdo on the run and the forward to enter the box and shoot into Jenz's legs, technically the first chance of the game. It also spawns a corner kick that Stjepanovic heads just over, so at least it looks like the game is becoming a bit more lively now. Meunier follows it up with a wide attempt from outside the box in the 21st minute, and in the 26th it's Kretzschmar's turn to show up with a great block to Busio's finish in a woefully defended set piece. That also results in a corner kick taken by Cabral towards the near post, and there's Jenz to surprise Meunier and head the ball into the net. Advantage Wolfsburg. The following minutes see us try and fail to get our attacking game in order, with our midfielders looking a bit out of sorts today. The solution comes in the 42nd minute after a long time without chances: Basualdo passes into the right side of the box towards Rijkhoff, who gathers the ball and turns around before sending it low into the center for Schulze to hit it first time and draw the game with his first goal for 1860. Neither team risks going all-out in what little remains of the first half, so the draw stands until the end. HALF TIME - 1-1 Slow start to the second half, with little going on in attack on either side except for a long-distance attempt by Basualdo that goes clearly over. The forward has a much better chance in the 58th after Schulze controls a good pass by Palomeque and passes it shot to him inside the box, but this time it's Torop who does well to deflect the ball wide, and then again in the corner kick by saving Stjepanovic's header. A much easier save comes one minute later in a weak and centered finish by Rijkhoff, then Schulze shoots wide in a great chance created by himself with a key steal, with some help from Palomeque and Basualdo to set up the finish. Palomeque is our first substituted player, with Rodríguez coming in his place to try and solve this conundrum, while Javorcic takes the right back position from Amador. Not much happens between that and our final substitution, Thiago for Meunier, but in the 71st another corner kick headed by Stjepanovic ends up with the ball bouncing off the post and running all over the goal line before being cleared. Wolfsburg finally show up in attack in the 79th with a header by substitute Jukic that Kretzschmar holds without too much issue, and we head into the final stretch with the game still undecided. Then, nothing once again until injury time, when Stjepanovic's fourth header in a corner kick in a corner kick goes very wide, and that's it. Poor result and a performance to match. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Maximilian Schulze 42) VfL Wolfsburg 1 (Moritz Jenz 26) - - - Eh. Not our best moment, that's for sure. We had the upper hand for most of the game, but we couldn't translate that into actual chances. One of those days, really, although Wolfsburg really had something to do with that, making it difficult for us to play our game. Good game for Stjepanovic, Schulze, and debutant Touré, decent show for Miranda and Rijkhoff, and the rest were unremarkable at best. We were due for a stinker sooner or later, I suppose... Down to third, with Bayern and Leipzig (of course) getting ahead of us on goal difference. Edited December 29, 2023 by Dalbeider Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 Sep 18th 2029 Schulze scores his first appearance in the Team of the Week. Sep 19th 2029 Amador will miss out on our Europa League debut after pulling his ankle ligaments in training today. Eight to twelve days should be the recovery time, so he'll be also out of our next league game at the very least. Sep 20th 2029 Valencia C.F. vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League group E, 1/6) We ended our last European tour with a trip to Madrid, and we start our new one with a short stay in sunny Valencia, and it's still technically summer! We're not here to sunbathe and eat paella, though: Valencia might as well be the toughest opposition in the group, slightly ahead of Leicester, so we'll need to get results against them if we want to top the group and skip ahead to the second knockout round as the board wants. They're a tough team, but we've faced tougher. * * * VALENCIA (4-2-3-1): Pierluigi Gollini (GK); Meddi Delmas (DR), Christian Mosquera (DCr), Aymeric Laporte (DCl), Jayden Candelaria (DL); Alex Král (MCr), Bartosz Slisz (MCl); Bernardo Mineiro (AMR), Piotr Zielinski (AMC), Luis Sinisterra (AML), Filip Stojilkovic (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Arnau Casas (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) * * * As mentioned in last season's review, Rexhepi needs more playing time and the group stage of the Europa League is a good place to see how he does against strong opposition. Valencia feature a just-signed veteran like Laporte in defense and a known face in Sinisterra, former Leverkusen player. We don't look bad at all in the early game, although the first chance falls to Král in a counterattack with Stjepanovic blocking his attempt at a shot before it becomes a problem. The game is not particularly brilliant, though, and minutes pass without the keepers getting involved other than to help move the ball around in defense. Things remain almost perfectly even for a long while, with our only approach being a header by Caraballo from an offside position in the 24th minute. Nine minutes later a corner taken by Rodríguez is headed by Stjepanovic, Gollini blocks, and the loose ball falls to Thiago on the far post, but he can't get the shot through the tiny space he had available and ends up sending it into the sidenetting. It's still the best chance of the game by far, and remains so until the end of the first half, mostly due to there not being any others. HALF TIME - 0-0 Forty seconds into the second half and we generate the new best chance of the game, with Rodríguez assisting Caraballo through the center and the Venezuelan failing to find the target with his wide finish when he only had the keeper between him and the goal. A counterattack in the 54th minute ends in a header by Schulze that Gollini saves easily, but it could've been much better if Miranda had spotted Rodríguez running completely unmarked through the middle seconds earlier. Finally, in the 59th, Miranda finds Özcan inside the box and the striker dribbles his way past Gollini's rush before passing it into the back of the net, scoring the 0-1 we'd been deserving for a while now. Ernesto and Neves enter the game a bit later, replacing Thiago and Schulze to protect them from a possible second yellow card. Valencia seem to take the goal hard and don't have any quick reaction, while good pressure by Miranda allows him to steal the ball on the left wing and enter the box before shooting into Gollini's solid save. Palomeque gives Miranda some well-deserved rest shortly afterwards, and we let time do its job for a while before Neves runs down the right flank in the 80th and assists Javorcic, who tries a left-footed shot from outside the box but ends up sending the ball halfway towards Mallorca. Valencia's first shot in the whole second half arrives in the 81st and it's a pretty terrible attempt by Zielinski from the edge of the area, nowhere near Rexhepi's goal. Ernesto intercepts a dangerous pass towards veteran Guedes in the 87th but it turns out the Portuguese forward was offside anyway, and after that we play hide-and-seek with the ball until the very end of injury time, when Ball decides it's time for more fun and sends a pass over the defense towards Neves, who runs into space and hits it first-time past Gollini, sealing our win in style. * * * Valencia C.F. 0 TSV 1860 München 2 (Vedat Özcan 59, Joao Neves 90+4) - - - Neves is now officially our injury time goal specialist, heh. At least this time it wasn't needed for the win, because we played an excellent match throughout. Professional win, never allowing Valencia anywhere near Rexhepi, who had a placid European debut. Good team effort, and fantastic result that puts us in the pole position for the group. Leicester won 1-2 in Glasgow and, as expected, will be our main opposition for the top spot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 Sep 23rd 2029 Borussia Mönchengladbach (12th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 5/34) Back to the league with a trip to visit Gladbach, who have started the season slightly better than they ended the previous one, but still hanging around the bottom half of the table. Another team with lots of personnel changes throughout the summer, not the least of which was losing Herlan Gomes and Aarao to Bayern, then spending part of that money to rid us of Magaña. With some luck the Mexican won't have it out for us today... * * * GLADBACH (3-2-2-2-1): Nico Mantl (GK); Marco Katinic (DCr), Igor Diveev (DC), Nicola Bartolini (DCl); Horst Billesfeld (WBR), César Magaña (WBL); Cheick Doucouré (MCr), Mike Kleijn (MCl); Tore Os (AMR), Andreas Schelderup (AML); Jonas Wind (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Ernesto (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Juan David Palomeque (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * Still with that strange 3-6-1 with both wingbacks and wingers, we face it with a very rotated squad after our game in Valencia, with another start for Touré and a first in the league for Neves. The game gets to another slow start, as seems to be tradition in our recent matches, and it takes thirteen minutes for Wind to head wide a cross by Billesfeld to give us our first fair warning. We take our time building our plays, with obvious trouble trying to get through the center of their three-men defense, and in the 18th Kretzschmar is called upon to touch a header by Bartolini in a corner kick just enough so Javorcic can clear it off the line. Our keeper has more work soon, saving a shot from the edge of the box by Os, but in the 27th he finds himself double teamed when Katinic heads a cross from the right by Schelderup, Kretzschmar manages to parry it, but Os escapes everyone's attention to get first to the rebound and just push it over the line for the 1-0. We finally find a way through in the 32nd when Schulze breaks into the box unmarked and catches a great pass by Neves, but he takes too long to finish the job and Mantl ends up covering all the gaps and deflecting it wide. Another way to attack them is not to allow them to form their defensive line: a clearance in a corner kick against us allows Rijkhoff to launch a counterattack, pass towards the right wing for Basualdo, then move into the box to head the cross into the net to draw the game. A few minutes later we get to do it again in another set piece against, this time with Meunier sending the ball forward to Basualdo, who lacks the composure to finish the job properly and shoots well over. A shot from distance by Palomeque meets the same fate in the 41st minute, but in our best minutes an apparently harmless cross into the box ends with Wind on the ground after a push by Ernesto, and it's a penalty kick. Wind himself takes it, but Kretzschmar continues with his incredible streak of stopped penalties and manages to block it, allowing us to keep the draw until half time. HALF TIME - 1-1 Once again it's a slow start to the second half, with only Schulze trying luck from distance in the 57th and sending it narrowly over. One minute later Kretzschmar does well to block a point-blank header by Wind after a nod by Os, who also tries a more direct header in their next attack that's an even easier catch for the keeper. Stjepanovic and Rodríguez then come in for Lang, very lost today, and a tired Schulze, and the two soon connect for our first attacking play in a while, with the center-back charging into midfield and assisting Rodríguez, who shoots into Mantl's fingertips and wide. Ernesto heads that corner kick wide. Doucouré hits back with a shot from just inside the box that an excellent Kretzschmar manages to turn around the post, and soon afterwards Ball comes in Javorcic's place, since the full back is exhausted. Another save by Kretzschmar stops a shot by Schelderup from a tight angle in the 75th minute, then Wind smashes a volley into Stjepanovic's back after a cross from the right by Os. We're holding on by a thread here, but we manage to survive and slow the game back down before heading into the final stretch. Basualdo has our first shot in a long while tipped over the bar by Mantl in the 87th after a nice pass from deep by Meunier, and one minute later a long ball forward by Santacruz leaves Wind alone against Kretzschmar, who pulls off his second miracle of the day with a wonderful save to tip the striker's shot wide. In the 90th it's a quick passing combination through the center that brings the ball to Rijkhoff inside the box, but he finds himself too far to the left side of the box and has no space left to beat Mantl, who holds the ball well. That turns out to be the last chance of the game, and the points are split in a tense and entertaining match. * * * Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 (Tore Os 27) TSV 1860 München 1 (Julian Rijkhoff 35) - - - Lucky draw, all things considered. Gladbach had many more shots and a penalty with which to grab the winner, but Kretzschmar was in god mode today and he carried us all the way to the end. We also had our chances, and Rijkhoff did well to put one of them in, but this kind of formation is a bad matchup for our center-focused tactic: we struggle to break through three at the back, and in return they double team us in the wings with excessive ease. We might have to recover our 4-3-3 for other matches like this one. Still, we remain unbeaten even if we drop off the top two a bit, but the teams behind us also fail to win today so we keep our third place for now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 (edited) Sep 25th 2029 Kretzschmar earns himself a place in the Team of the Week after one of his better performances, and that's saying something. Sep 26th 2029 Our youth team seems to have started the season in fine form, what with winning their *ten* first league games and leading the table with six points over second-place Nürnberg and *ten* over Bayern. Last year's batch has really pumped them up, since they come from two consecutive years of midtable obscurity. You might have noticed I haven't talked about them for a while now? Yeah, that'd be why... Katic in particularly is having an absolute stormer of a debut season, already with eleven goals and six assists to his name. Sep 29th 2029 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. Hamburger SV (6th) (Bundesliga, 6/34) If Wolfsburg were a team we're used to beating, HSV are the complete opposite, always giving us problems even on the rare occassion that we manage to end on top. They're recovering from a bit of a shaky start and are among a group of teams pushing for entry into the top four, and our job today is to close and bar that door for the time being. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Arnau Casas (DCr), Ernesto (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) HSV (4-2-3-1): Bekir Dereli (GK); Marcel Neigenfink (DR), Jamie Lawrence (DCr), Justin Janitzek (DCl), Andrii Buleza (DL); Burak Ince (MCr), Ludovic Reis (MCl); Faride Alidou (AMR), Tin Vrljicak (AMC), Dimitris Paligeorgos (AML); Mazinho (ST) * * * Amador is back on the bench today, and we line up our best eleven since our midweek game is at home against Celtic, in theory the easiest game of the group stage, plus next week we're traveling to Leipzig and I want my starters well rested for that one. HSV are without Amaechi today due to injury, but otherwise look very much the same as they did last year, ie dangerous as heck. They show it quickly in a set piece that Mazinho whips into the box and Lawrence heads with power past Kretzschmar to score the 0-1 just four minutes into the game. Not ideal, for sure. We aren't looking too sharp in possession today, most certainly not helped by HSV's usual high pressing. We don't need many chances to score, though, and in the 18th a throw-in on the left side of our attack leads to Miranda assisting Özcan inside the box, and the Turk striker curls a beautiful finish around Dereli and into the back of the net for a semi-quick draw. One minute later midfielder and striker connect again in a quick break through the center, but this time Dereli manages to get enough of the ball to tip it over the bar and prevent a quickfire double. Another quick passing movement ends with Schulze shooting wide from just inside the box, and now it's us putting HSV under some heavy pressure. Reis manages to break them free for a bit with a low shot from afar that Kretzschmar has to deflect wide in an emergency dive, only for Lawrence to win the header again in the corner kick, sending it wide this time. Ernesto then does well to block Alidou's run into the box from the right, and in the 27th Javorcic tries an early cross towards Özcan, who gets the tip of the boot to it but it's not enough to beat Dereli. Another ball towards Özcan, this one coming from Basualdo, ends in a wide shot from a tight angle by the striker, who's being the focus of most of our attacks today. Schulze is having a good game stealing balls back in midfield, although his finishing in the 37th is anything but pretty, sending the ball into the stands when he had a clean run into the box available. A blocked shot by Basualdo three minutes later gives way to a corner kick that Casas heads narrowly over, and in the 42nd Ernesto gets a goal disallowed for offside in a set piece that Miranda sent into the box from very deep with pinpoint precision. Injury time brings a great dribble and cross by Özcan towards Schulze, who heads it narrowly over in the last chance of a half we should've won, but sees the result still tied. HALF TIME - 1-1 With a clear message to the players to keep doing what they've been doing (except maybe marking Lawrence a bit better in set pieces, y'know, just in case), we start the second half doing exactly that, with Schulze trying a volley from the edge of the box that Dereli barely blocks and the defense clears before Ball can put the rebound in. The game then turns into a bit of a slow grind, with HSV now doing their best to survive and Dereli keeping them alive with good saves, like a flight to swat away an almost perfect direct free kick by Rodríguez in the 57th minute. Caraballo and Neves replace Basualdo and Schulze a few minutes later, looking for more creativity and finishing. We get another corner kick that almost but not quite turns into a goal, with Casas once again heading it narrowly over, and then it's Meunier's turn to come in Thiago's place. Time ticks away faster now, with HSV completely on the defensive and only getting close to our goal in set pieces, like a direct one Omer Beyaz takes in the 79th and Kretzschmar saves with ease. We keep trying all we can to break them down, until in injury time Caraballo crosses low towards Neves just inside the box and the Portuguese shoots... into Dereli's deflection over the bar. No Neves miracle this time, and Ernesto heads the corner kick over the bar again to close a game in which we were the better team by far, but still failed to get the win we deserved. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Vedat Özcan 18) Hamburger SV 1 (Jamie Lawrence 4) - - - And that's three 1-1 draws in a row in the league now, sigh. Unlike the other ones, which were actually close or maybe even in the opposition's favor, this one we should've won clearly. Double the shots, more than double the clear-cut chances, and complete domination particularly in the second half, yet their defensive effort took the point away in the end. Kinda like what we did last week against Gladbach, actually... Good game by Özcan, but I wish he could've scored just one more of his many chances today. A shame, but HSV will remain our junior boogeyman for a little longer. Edited January 9 by Dalbeider Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 Oct 4th 2029 TSV 1860 München vs. Celtic (Europa League group E, 2/6) First of two consecutive home games against the British teams in our group, starting with the theoretically easier one. Celtic have become perennial second to Rangers in the last nine seasons of the Scottish Premiership, but this year they've started wonderfully under Lionel Scaloni's lead, with seven wins out of seven and a comfy lead on top of the table. Might be the weakest team in the group by a small margin, sure, but they still can give us lots of trouble. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) CELTIC (4-4-2): Fabio Mojica (GK); Sean Jones (DR), Noureddine Saidi (DCr), Luke Mbete (DCl), Ben Davies (DL); Uriel Antuna (MR), Matt O'Riley (MCr), Callum McGregor (MCl), Osame Sahraoui (ML); Eddie Salcedo (STr), Dedé (STl) * * * Heavy rotation today as expected, with only Miranda repeating from our league match. Celtic play a flat 4-4-2 with some interesting players like Liverpool loanee Dedé, who's been in our radar for a while. We dominate possession easily in the early game thanks to our central superiority, and the first chance basically comes on its own after a long passing play and an assist from Neves to Palomeque, who sees his finish stopped by Mojica. In the ninth minute Miranda passes it short to Neves near the edge of the box and the Portuguese, feeling free of any defensive pressure, has all the time in the world to turn around, aim, and send a wonderful curler into the top left corner to score the 1-0. His first goal outside of injury time, too! Things slow down a bit after the goal, mostly thanks to Celtic finally getting it together and challenging us for possession, although still not giving Rexhepi anything to worry about. The game continues in this trend for a while, with only a few minor chances on both goals and a blocked shot by Miranda in the 31st being worth a mention. Two minutes later, though, Caraballo fights to recover a ball he'd just lost, gives it to Rijkhoff, and runs into the box to gather the return pass before rifling it past a static Mojica to make it 2-0. After that it's back to the trenches with a few shots without consequence here and there, until in the 42nd, after the ball goes from one team to the other a few times in quick succession, Miranda decides enough is enough and sends a long ball into the box towards Rijkhoff, who controls it and chips it over the keeper to score the third with a touch of quality. Maximum efficiency, and a very comfortable lead at half time. HALF TIME - 3-0 Things remain pleasant in the second half, and after ten minutes of just controlling the game as best as we can, Miranda once again breaks the deadlock by dribbling his way into the box and forcing a trip by O'Reily for a penalty the referee gives, VAR confirms, and Miranda himself turns into the 4-0. O'Reily tries to compensate with a close-range finish after a cross by Dedé from the left, but Stjepanovic is there to block and deny Celtic's first real chance of the match. The second strikes true, though, as another cross from the left, this time by Sahraoui, reaches Salcedo completely unmarked in the heart of the box and the striker has it really easy to put it past Rexhepi and get one back for the Scots. Soon Miranda goes to rest and get ready for Leipzig's game in the weekend, with Schulze taking his place, and a bit later it's Ernesto and Javorcic doing the same with Neves and Amador. Celtic try to push forward looking for a way back into the game, but a good steal by Palomeque kickstarts a counterattack in the 68th minute that ends with Rijkhoff assisting Caraballo and the forward once again not hesitating to blast it past Mojica to get himself a brace. Nine minutes later Stjepanovic shows amazing pace to be able to track back after Salcedo in a runaway break, getting there in time to go down and block his finish, saving Rexhepi a headache. We hit them back quickly with a counter of our own, with Palomeque's finish tipped wide by Mojica, then Schulze hits the post from distance as we keep pushing to try and get the best goal difference possible. We take it easy, afterwards, though, and after a relaxing final ten minutes we confirm a big win in Europe to add to our resume. * * * TSV 1860 München 5 (Joao Neves 9, Rodrigo Caraballo 33 68, Julian Rijkhoff 42, Matías Miranda 55p) Celtic 1 (Eddie Salcedo 57) - - - Nice. The Europa League feels like the "correct" European competition for us at the moment, at least when it comes to group stages. Celtic were no match today despite actually winning possession in the end, and our center beat their wings handily. Miranda, Caraballo, and Rijkhoff were stellar today, and young Touré had a very good-looking match on the left back. Leicester did one better, though, absolutely destroying group favorites Valencia five to nil and tying us in both goal difference and goals scored. The next game might be decisive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 Oct 5th 2029 Our good start of the season has prompted the board to call me to offer me a new contract, since my current one was expiring next June. I'm really happy to hear that, since at the expectation level we are now we are no longer guaranteed to achieve the goals the board set with ease as we've done in the past, so sealing a long term deal before things go awry in the future is always very welcome. The new deal is worth €29.5k per week until June of 2033. Let's win some trophies in these four years. Second round of international fixtures incoming, with the usual suspects earning callups. Oct 7th 2029 RasenBallsport Leipzig (2nd) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 7/34) In normal circumstances this would be the end of our unbeaten run almost automatically, but this year has been anything but normal so far, including outplaying and outscoring a perennial title contender like Dortmund not that long ago. I don't think Leipzig are that far ahead of Dortmund currently, even with them being the defending champions, so I won't be calling this a lost cause just yet. Let's give it a shot. * * * RB LEIPZIG (4-2-3-1): Alexander Nübel (GK); Wilfried Singo (DR), Kamil Piatkowski (DCr), Felix Uduokhai (DCl), Luca Netz (DL); Paulo Bernardo (MCr), Jakub Moder (MCl); Alan Velasco (AMR), Nedim Bajrami (AMC), Rayan Cherki (AML); Fábio Carvalho (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Tomislav Javorcic (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) * * * Rotation once again, back to the squad that drew against HSV with Amador in Ball's place as our only personnel change, although we do move our defense around a bit with Javorcic on the left this time. Leipzig maintain their main core from the Bundesliga championship, and most of the signings they've made this summer have been with an eye on increasing depth in some key positions. Daka and Bajrami have been on absolute fire so far, with eight goals apiece, and they'll need some very special attention today. The match starts spicy, with Schulze and Velasco having two dangerous shots blocked by the opposing defenders in the early minutes and possession almost equally split between both teams. Leipzig slowly gain the upper hand in the midfield battle, though, and soon Bajrami breaks into the box after a pass from Singo and shoots into Kretzschmar's hands to give us our first real scare. The attacking midfielder tries again in the 18th minute with a direct free kick that the keeper holds with little trouble, but while Leipzig are clearly taking the initiative we're holding them back decently well for now. There are no more chances until the 33rd minute, when we generate a free kick on the left side of our attack and Miranda's cross is headed very narrowly over by Ernesto. Three minutes later a good interception by Amador triggers a counterattack, and we chain passes through the center until Schulze sees a gap for Rodríguez to run into and sends the ball there, allowing the Mexican to place his finish past Nübel and score the 0-1. A wide header by Cherki after a cross by Singo is Leipzig's only response, and it comes with the first half already in its last moments. HALF TIME - 0-1 The second half starts slow, just as we want it, and with Velasco picking a minor knock that prompts his replacement by Joao Mário. In the 54th Leipzig try to hit us back with our own medicine with a set piece that Uduokhai volleys with power, but which Kretzschmar saves in a fantastic show of reflexes. Meunier replaces a tired Miranda a bit later as we get ready to endure a constant siege for what remains of the game. Netz is the next one to test Kretzschmar with a powerful effort from distance in the 65th, but the keeper answers admirably once again and tips the ball around the post. Neves and Rijkhoff replace Schulze and Özcan to keep our pressing unit fresh, and that freshness of legs almost turns into the 0-2 in the 70th when Meunier sends a long ball forward and Rijkhoff runs ahead of Piatkowski towards the goal, only for the center-back to catch up to him just in time to prevent his finish. After that comes a long period in which neither team manages to get through the other's defensive setup, and only a set piece in the 87th gives Uduokhai another chance to draw the game that he heads wide despite being free from mark. In the 90th it's Bernardo's turn to head a cross by Singo, soft and easy for Kretzschmar, then Thiago hits a good-looking shot from outside the box that a defender deflects away from danger. A last-ditch effort by Leipzig in injury time ends in a dangerous cross by Moran towards Bernardo, but Amador gets there in time to nick the ball away from the midfielder before he can tap it into the net, and with that our win is secured. Fantastic result. * * * RasenBallsport Leipzig 0 TSV 1860 München 1 (Jair Rodríguez 36) - - - Some may call it luck. I call it defensive masterclass. We limited Leipzig's chances to the bare minimum a team of their quality is going to produce no matter what, and when those inevitably came there was always a defender ready for a final block or tackle, or Kretzschmar's magic if everything else failed. And then we just took our first good chance to score on the break thanks to Rodríguez and here we are, a famous win that pulls us a bit closer to the top. We remain third, but only one point behind Leipzig and two behind Bayern, who dropped points in a draw away to Wolfsburg. Dream on... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 Oct 11th 2029 Not the best news for Caraballo in the international scene, as he got sent off in Venezuela's home defeat to Brazil and will now miss their next qualifier match. The South American group has already been completely decided, though, and Venezuela are out, so it won't matter much in the grand scheme of things. The rest of internationals have mixed performances, with Rodríguez once again as the standout with an assist against Suriname. That is, until Turkey play Gibraltar and Özcan gets a hattrick plus one assist. Bullies... Oct 16th 2029 The second round of international matches starts with a bang: Rijkhoff scores a brace in the Netherlands' 6-1 walkover against Finland, while all the youngsters do fine today with the exception of Karlsen, who has a tough time in Norway's defeat against Slovakia. Rodríguez then adds another assist to his ever growing stats with Mexico in a win over Nicaragua. Oct 20th 2029 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. FC Augsburg (13th) (Bundesliga, 8/34) Our dear mini-rivals are finally back in the Bundesliga after three seasons in the second tier, and they seem to want to defy their tag as relegation favorites. They've had a solid start with two wins and two draws already, taking points from tough teams like Hertha, Köln, and Stuttgart, and will prove to be quite the challenge to overcome today. Let's take this seriously. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Juan David Palomeque (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) AUGSBURG (4-2-3-1): Adam Stejskal (GK); Ridha Benzarti (DR), Yerson Mosquera (DCr), Niklas Stark (DCl), Vicente Báez (DL); Adrian Fein (MCr), Diyar Yilmaz (MCl); Randal Kolo Muani (AMR), Tomás Muro (AMC), Rubén Vargas (AML); Stefan Tol (ST) * * * We start a healthy mix of starters and backups today, both as a recovery measure from the international games (Rodríguez came back quite exhausted, for starters) and as a way to have a competitive eleven for our midweek game against Leicester, which might prove decisive. Thomas Reis' Augsburg play a new 4-2-3-1 formation they've never used against us before, and obviously there are many new faces in their starting eleven since our last meeting over three years ago. The players look extra motivated today, it's not every day you play a derby with real hopes of winning it after all... We only need a bit over a minute to create our first real chance thanks to Palomeque's through ball towards Caraballo, who is stopped in the end by Stejskal. We still get a corner kick out of it, though, and Casas nods Miranda's cross towards the far post where Schulze jumps and heads it into the crossbar. Augsburg look a bit overwhelmed, and soon it's once again Palomeque who assists Rijkhoff for a wide finish. We keep the pressure up in the following minutes, although our attack slows down a bit and we need until the 19th minute for Miranda to send a low cross into the box that Rijkhoff shoots into Stejskal's excellent fingertip save. Another cross by Meunier is headed by the striker into another great save by the keeper, while in the 24th Augsburg have their first chance in a corner kick that Fein heads with power, but just a tad too high. The visitors then enjoy a few minutes in which they get to keep the ball and breathe a bit easier, until Miranda says that's enough and assists Rijkhoff once again, with Benzarti providing a timely block this time to deny us again. The final fifteen minutes of the half pass by quickly with little action on either goal, our early game attacking palooza now gone and forgotten. The last chance of the half comes late in injury time when Kolo Muani controls a cross from the left with some help from Ball's lack of attention and tries a low shot that goes a few inches wide. We've been the better team so far, but the result remains unchanged. HALF TIME - 0-0 Meunier starts the second half with a surprising thirty-yarder that almost gets past Stejskal, but the keeper reacts in time to deflect it wide. Casas then heads the corner kick over the bar, and we seem to have regained some momentum after the break. Palomeque gets a dangerous shot blocked by Mosquera in the 56th, but the corner kick turns into a counterattack for Augsburg that Javorcic has to solve with a well-timed tackle to prevent an almost certain goal by Vargas. Amador and Neves come in then, replacing Javorcic himself and a tired and surprisingly mediocre Schulze. The game enters another lull then, and we reach the final twenty minutes without any changes. Rodríguez comes in for Palomeque then as our last-ditch option, but five minutes later Miranda injures his knee and has to abandon the match, leaving us in a difficult situation with no substitutions available. We pull Caraballo back a bit to help some more in midfield duties and try to keep our so far ineffective attack going, but Augsburg are now more dangerous on the break, and Lang and Kretzschmar have to combine to avoid a goal from Tol in the 79th in one of those counterattacks. Time keeps flowing fast, with Augsburg apparently happy to wait at the back and hit us on counters and us suffering due to our numerical inferiority, and in the end neither team can break through, leaving the result unchanged from the start. * * * TSV 1860 München 0 FC Augsburg 0 - - - Poor result and poor performance, no questions asked. Even before losing Miranda at the worst possible moment we were already stuck in the mud and not really generating anything worthwhile in attack. We still had more and better chances and if someone had to score today it should've been us, but we didn't deserve it enough. We have to do better, and four draws already in the league are probably at least a couple too many. Miranda's knee injury ends up being just a twist, which should heal within a week. He's still out for the Leicester game, though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 Oct 23rd 2029 Lang makes the Team of the Week after a few somewhat suspect performances in previous matches, good turnaround here. Oct 25th 2029 TSV 1860 München vs. Leicester City (Europa League group E, 3/6) A team very much like ourselves, only their success was much more sudden, but they've managed to build upon that one miracle season and turned themselves into European competition regulars since. If anything they've also reached new heights this year, remaining unbeaten so far in the Premier League and in the Europa League. Just like us, actually! This game could decide who finishes top of the group, so we'll have to be at our best, ie very different from last Saturday. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) LEICESTER (4-2-3-1): Justin Bijlow (GK); Joakim Maehle (DR), Wesley Fofana (DCr), Dan-Axel Zagadou (DCl), James Justin (DL); Joey Veerman (MCr), James Maddison (MCl); Pedro Porro (AMR), Lovro Majer (AMC), Harvey Barnes (AML); Dane Scarlett (ST) * * * Today's starting eleven is very likely to be the same that faces against Stuttgart in the cup in six days, so they'd better do well. Leicester present their best eleven starring former Dortmund midfielder Veerman and absolute stud of a striker in Scarlett. We start the game looking forward, trying to trap Leicester inside their own half but with little intent to score. Meanwhile they seem happy to run on the counter and get the first dangerous approach through Porro, who blasts it over the bar after a good run down the right by Majer. After fifteen minutes we still haven't got a single shot at goal, and we need four more and a rare chance to run on the break ourselves for Schulze to set Özcan up for a great chance to score that Bijlow denies with a great block, and the referee makes moot when he calls for offside anyway. Meanwhile Leicester are growing more and more comfortable in play, with Majer being the next one to try luck from distance with a pretty badly wide shot. Time passes with the keepers still as pure spectators, until in the 40th Schulze finds a way to get the ball to Rodríguez inside the box, the Mexican drops to the right, then quickly crosses it towards the center so Özcan can head it into the net from point-blank range in our very first legal approach of the game. Talk about effective... Soon Rexhepi has to do some serious work to keep us ahead, first coming out to prevent Barnes from even taking a shot when he broke into the box from the center, then deflecting away a volley by Scarlett when the winger instead decided to cross. The first half runs out of time before Leicester can put us under any more duress. HALF TIME - 1-0 The second half starts without any clear attacking ideas for either side, with only a couple of long shots the keepers deal with without any trouble during the first fifteen minutes. Caraballo for Basualdo is our first substitution, and in the 65th Leicester finally create something good-looking in attack through Maddison, Barnes, and Scarlett, who shoots into Rexhepi's save for a corner kick. Meunier comes in Schulze's place then, only for Scarlett to blast over another good chance for the visitors, who keep pressing us high and making it hard for us to get the ball forward. Palomeque for Neves is our final substitution for the evening, and we try the most obvious solution to get past Leicester's advanced lines: a long ball towards Özcan, who nods it towards Caraballo, gathers the return pass, and shoots into Bijlow's strong block. Leicester get an even better one in the 78th, when Scarlett's finish after a cross by Justin is stopped by Stjepanovic, but the rebound falls to Porro and the winger smashes it into the woodwork thanks to Rexhepi's fingertip deflection. Our luck runs out two minutes later, though, when Porro runs into the box and crosses low past Ernesto's failed interception and towards Scarlett, who has it easy to score the 1-1. We have ten minutes to fix this, but the first eight go by without even a sniff of a chance. Rodríguez finally gets a shot in the 88th but his finish isn't good enough and sails well over the bar. Leicester are happy to defend their hard-earned point, and injury time comes and goes without any other looks at Bijlow's goal. One point for each in the end. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Vedat Özcan 40) Leicester City 1 (Dane Scarlett 80) - - - Not ideal, but I'll take it given how the game went. Leicester were one step ahead most of the game, and we were quite lucky to score in our first arrival at their box, clear-cut chance or not. They kept peppering us with shots and dangerous runs all game until they finally scored the goal they deserved, and in the end I could call the result fair, maybe even a little lucky. This keeps both teams tied at everything at the top of the group, so our visit to the East Midlands in a couple of weeks should be the real decider. Celtic and Valencia also draw 1-1 today, practically removing them both from contention. We're mostly qualified already, now it's a matter of trying to get the first place of the group to dodge the first knockout round. 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Dalbeider Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 Oct 28th 2029 Hertha BSC (9th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 9/34) First fourth of the season done with a trip to Berlin. Hertha have been doing pretty well so far, holding onto a top half position and actually quite close to the European places point-wise. Then again the whole middle of the table is incredibly tight right now, with only four points separating Europe from relegation, so that doesn't really say much about how good they are relative to the rest of the field. Regardless, they should be a step below us now, so we should expect a win here. * * * HERTHA (4-4-2): Marco Carnesecchi (GK); Erik Warner (DR), Omar Alderete (DCr), Nico Schlotterbeck (DCl), Amar Dedic (DL); Charles De Ketelaere (MR), Miguel Carvalho (MCr); Fabian Rieder (MCl), Fredrik Bjorkan (Ml); Laureano Laconi (STr), Delyan Atanasov (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Juan David Palomeque (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * Still with the same counterattacking 4-4-2 Hertha debuted last season and with very few personnel changes, it should be a pretty decent matchup for us. We once again have to rotate most of our squad, something made a bit more difficult due to Miranda's injury. There's an important cup match in three more days, too, so we can't go all in today either. Hertha start looking aggressive, soon sending a cross for De Ketelaere to head over the bar, but soon we reply through Javorcic, who finishes a play down the right by Schulze with a shot that Carnesecchi can only parry. Atanasov then outruns Lang and gathers a pass into space to face Kretzschmar one-on-one, to which the keeper replies with his usual coolness and a great save to go with it. Fun game so far. Both teams keep trading blows for a while longer, but in the 13th minute we finally manage to land the final pass when Caraballo assists Neves as the midfielder reaches the edge of the box, then shoots low and placed beyond Carnesecchi's reach to score the 0-1, and his fourth goal of the season already. We hold the ball after that, while Hertha stick to the plan and wait for their chance to hit us on the break. Things remain calm until the 30th, but then Hertha win a free kick on the left side of their attack, Rieder sends it in, and De Ketelaere finds himself unmarked and able to hit it first-time to pull level for the home team. Five minutes later De Ketelaere escapes our defense's attention once again in a corner kick and manages to get a header in, although thankfully he sends it narrowly over. In the 37th Palomeque tries a placed shot from the edge of the box, to which Carnesecchi responds with a great fingertip deflection to a corner kick, in which Meunier manages to get a shot in but Alderete blocks it and the ball bubbles harmlessly into the keeper's hands. Another set piece near our box ends with Carvalho gathering a loose ball inside the box and shooting into Kretzschmar's save, then it's our turn with Caraballo once again generating danger with a through ball and Palomeque wasting it with a wide finish. A very wide shot from distance by Caraballo in the 43rd and a high header by Casas in a corner kick in injury time are the final chances of a very entertaining first half. HALF TIME - 1-1 Somewhat surprisingly, there are no chances in the first ten minutes of the second half, and not for lack of trying. The first one comes in the 55th with another deflection wide by Alderete to a finish by Rijkhoff, very invisible until now. One minute later he appears again, but only to pass it short to Neves so the midfielder can cross towards the far post, where Schulze gets ahead of Dedic and heads it into the net. Advantage regained, now to keep it. We very nearly fail completely at the task in just five minutes, which is what Hertha need to generate danger in yet another corner kick taken by Rieder, this time with Schlotterbeck heading it into the crossbar. Özcan, Ernesto, and Touré then come into the game, replacing Rijkhoff, Schulze, and Ball. Meunier now moves forward to better keep track of Hertha's danger man De Ketelaere, and even finds time to try a dangerous shot from the edge of the box in the 67th that Carnesecchi barely manages to turn around the post. Özcan also gets really close with a header to Touré's perfect cross two minutes later, but the ball ends up going wide by a couple of inches. Özcan doesn't miss twice in a row, though, and in the 73th he manages to shake free of his marker and collect a pass from Caraballo just inside the box, then quickly turns around and shoots low and with power to surprise Carnesecchi and bag the 1-3. After that we play the waiting game, careful not to concede any more free kicks in problematic positions, as it seems obvious by now that that's Hertha's main source of danger. A shot into the second stand by Ernesto in the 86th ends a long period with little to report on the attacking front, and three minutes later Hertha finally manage to create danger from open play with a good pass towards Duessel, who tries to score with a placed finish but finds Kretzschmar ready to tip it wide. They don't get another, though, and with a final chance for Caraballo in a counterattack that Carnesecchi saves, we round up a pleasant performance and a good result to keep us firmly entrenched in the top three. * * * Hertha BSC 1 (Charles De Ketelaere 30) TSV 1860 München 3 (Joao Neves 13, Maximilian Schulze 56, Vedat Özcan 73) - - - Solid job and great result, no complaints at all today. The first half was very even, but in the second we took over completely and clearly deserved our win. Neves and Caraballo were fantastic today, generating most of our chances, with our defensive unit also having a pretty good day, some marking decisions in set pieces notwithstanding. * * * | Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | GD | Pts | Form | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | FC Bayern | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 5 | 18 | 23 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | RB Leipzig | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 20 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | 1860 München | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 19 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Borussia Dortmund | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 16 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Mainz | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 12 | 3 | 15 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Stuttgart | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 14 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | Borussia M'gladbach | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 12 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | Nürnberg | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 13 | -1 | 12 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | Union Berlin | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 12 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | Wolfsburg | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 11 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | Hamburg | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 11 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | Hertha BSC | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 11 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | Freiburg | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 10 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | Bayer Leverkusen | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 22 | -8 | 10 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | Augsburg | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 10 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | Hoffenheim | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 17 | -9 | 8 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | Frankfurt | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 7 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | Köln | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 4 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| * * * Chuffed with our position after nine games, really. This initial run of games was anything but easy, but we managed to stay unbeaten through the whole thing, and nineteen points and a third place are a great place to start our campaign from. Best part is that this is after having already played (and beaten) two of the main title candidates in Leipzig and Dortmund. Only Bayern left, and if we can manage to steal a result against them, well, who knows, we might have what it takes to actually challenge for the league title. Too soon for that, though, for now we must be happy that we have a solid lead in the Champions League positions and that our place in Europe is under no threat whatsoever. The rest of the league outside of the top three is surprisingly tight, which has led to some incredible jumps after only a couple of good results. Mainz have been consistently in the top six, though, which makes them the positive surprise of the season so far together with a surprisingly solid Union. HSV, Freiburg, and Leverkusen have had some tough results, on the other hand, and it's weird to see them all in the bottom half, although only three or four points away from the sixth place. Then there's Köln, dead last, although at least they are not completely winless. The fact that even the worst teams don't have a two-digit negative goal difference just yet says a lot, though, everything is still up in the air. * * * PLAYER STATS ============ Average rating (min. 3 games played): Vedat Özcan 7.36 (6(2) apps) Rodrigo Caraballo 7.34 (6(2) apps) Matías Miranda 7.33 (8(1) apps) Mateja Stjepanovic 7.33 (6(1) apps) Jair Rodríguez 7.30 (7(4) apps) Goals: Vedat Özcan 5 goals Jair Rodríguez 4 Joao Neves 4 Rodrigo Caraballo 3 Julian Rijkhoff 3 Assists: Matías Miranda 4 assists Julian Rijkhoff 3 Jair Rodríguez 2 Rodrigo Caraballo 2 Thiago 2 Jonatan Basualdo 2 Vedat Özcan 2 Joao Neves 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 Oct 30th 2029 Triple presence in the Team of the Week this time: Neves, Schulze, and Caraballo all feature in it. Oct 31st 2029 VfB Stuttgart vs. TSV 1860 München (DFB Pokal 2nd round) And into what's probably the most difficult second round tie we've had recently. Stuttgart are currently sixth in the Bundesliga, come into this game after a three-match winning streak in the league, and are looking really dangerous. We are doing well too, of course, so I'm still confident in getting a win here, but it won't be easy at all. * * * STUTTGART (4-2-3-1): Finn Dahmen (GK); Bafodé Diakité (DR), Waldemar Anton (DCr), Ronny Klotke (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Filip Ronningen Jorgensen (MCr), Fabian Nürnberger (MCl); Isaac Tshibangu (AMR), Ismaël Gharbi (AMC), Jesper Hilstrup (AML); Nick Bätzner (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) * * * Mandatory rotation once again, with Miranda returning to action and Özcan trying to capitalize on his current good goalscoring form. In Stuttgart our ex-left back Manu Sánchez gets a rare start, and I think it's actually the first time we play against him since his transfer. He seems to miss us, too, and he shows by allowing Schulze a free finish in the very first minute following a cross from the left by Özcan, the goal only prevented by Dahmen's fine save. Stuttgart soon show their teeth with a quick long ball towards Bätzner, who uses his pace to get into a shooting position but ends up blasting it over the bar. In the 11th minute a bad pass by Thiago spawns a chance for Stuttgart, ending in a cross by Hilstrup that Tshibangu heads harmlessly over. We still have the upper hand in possession and momentum, though, and only their last-ditch defensive efforts prevent us from generating any more clear chances. In the 29th we get really close in a corner kick that Stjepanovic nods, Özcan heads back, and Basualdo finishes with a shot into the sidenetting. Stuttgart keep defending really well, though, and despite our overwhelming advantage in midfield we struggle to generate more danger. A good run down the left by Miranda in the 40th is our next best bet, ending in a cross by Touré towards Schulze and a header that Dahmen catches with little difficulty. We immediately recover possession after their goal kick, and once again Miranda spots Rodríguez running through the center and assists him for an apparently easy finish that Dahmen manages to block in the end. And it's the corner kick that comes from that save that finally does it: Rodríguez takes it towards the near post and Ernesto heads it in a perfect parabola over the keeper and into the back of the net on the far side. And just in time, too, because the first half ends without any further incidents. HALF TIME - 0-1 Rexhepi's first save of the game comes early in the second half, although it's an easy one to Tshibangu's cushioned and not particularly threatening header. We respond from long range through Touré, who tries his luck after gathering a cleared ball and almost puts the ball in the top right corner, only stopped by Dahmen's glove. The left back generates danger again in the 53rd with a cross towards Schulze, who controls and shoots without letting it drop prompting another great save by the keeper and another corner kick that Stjepanovic heads over. Next up it's Özcan trying a low cross towards Miranda, who shoots low but with little power and makes it easy for Dahmen to add another save to his collection. Our second looks much closer than Stuttgart's first right now, but two of our main danger generators, Miranda and Schulze, need to be replaced due to tiredness. In come Neves and Meunier, and while our attack does slow down somewhat, Stuttgart's doesn't get any better either. Javorcic soon takes Amador's place in the right back as we enter the final twenty minutes of the game, while Stuttgart change their whole attacking midfielders line in one go. In the 77th we finally end our break in attack and we do it in style: Rodríguez sends a pass through the center ahead of Özcan, and the striker dodges Dahmen's rush with a subtle chip over the keeper to double our lead, practically sealing the deal. Stuttgart still try their best, and substitute Gürkan Türkoglu sends a 20-yarder into the outside of the post in the 80th minute just to keep us on our toes. In the 88th Touré blocks another dangerous finish by Bang, while Özcan miskicks his finish in a quick counterattack in injury time and fails to beat Dahmen for a second time. A final direct free kick that Rodríguez sends straight at the keeper is the last shot in a surprisingly comfortable win. One more round for us. * * * VfB Stuttgart 0 TSV 1860 München 2 (Ernesto 40, Vedat Özcan 77) - - - Rock solid. Stuttgart barely had a sniff of the ball all game long, probably by design since they seemed to want to counterattack us, but we didn't even allow them to do that very often. We took our time, grabbed the opener in a corner kick, and then completely dominated the second half until the second goal came basically on its own. Rodríguez was our best player today, with two assists and generating danger whenever he had the ball in open play. It didn't look like a game against the sixth-placed team in the Bundesliga, honestly. Looking good, and one step closer to our goal in the competition. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 Nov 2nd 2029 Interesting draw for the DFB Pokal third round: at home against Augsburg. The last time we met them in the cup we destroyed them to reach the semifinals, although our most recent meeting in the league ended in a goalless draw. Lots of fun ties this time, including a guaranteed 2.Bundesliga team in the quarterfinals thanks to Hannover and Fürth being drawn together, Leipzig travelling to Berlin to play Hertha, and a Borussia "derby" in Mönchengladbach. Bayern, you ask? At home against Dynamo. Lucky bastards. Nov 4th 2029 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. 1.FC Köln (18th) (Bundesliga, 10/34) Yes, yes, dead last and only four points, whatever you say. All I know is that this Köln isn't all that different from the Köln we struggled a lot to beat last year and that actually stole points from us with their ultradefensive 4-1-4-1, which they're still using nowadays. Their problem is on attack, of course, they've only scored five in nine so far, worst in the league, but we'll have to be creative to find a way through their defensive lines. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) KÖLN (4-1-4-1): Ersin Destanoglu (GK); Lukas Klostermann (DR), Stephan Ambrosius (DCr), Luca Kilian (DCl), Philipp Max (DL); Anton Stach (DM); Suat Serdar (MR), Dominik Yankov (MCr), Elvis Rexhbecaj (MCl), Talles Magno (ML); Joao Resende (ST) * * * Schulze gets some rest today, he's been playing almost every game lately and was starting to run out of gas early in the second halves. Köln's eleven is basically the same one they used last season, which reinforce my fears of a difficult game when it comes to creating chances. Much as expected the early game turns into a plodding mess with too many fouls and too little football, and there are no shots whatsover until the 14th minute, when Rodríguez catches a long pass from Ball and finds space to run into and shoot with power, smashing it into the crossbar and over. One minute later Kilian heads wide a set piece for Köln's first approach, and it looks like things might be livening up a bit. They do, even if it's from set pieces again, a direct free kick this time that Rodríguez bends slighlty wide to Destanoglu's right. In the 20th minute a shot by Neves is deflected by Stach and the ball bubbles very narrowly over the bar and falls on top of the net, almost giving the keeper a scare. Another direct free kick by Rodríguez is held by Destanoglu soon after, then he's needed again only seconds later to stop a header by Rijkhoff after a cross by Caraballo. We slowly but steadily increase the pressure on Köln's defense, adding a very narrowly high header by Rijkhoff in a set piece in the 26th to the growing pile of chances. In the 33rd minute comes our best chance to date, with Caraballo dribbling his way through the center before assisting Rijkhoff, who runs into Destanoglu once again with his finish. A wide shot from distance by Meunier follows, then Rijkhoff returns Caraballo's favor with a great through ball, but the finish doesn't make it past Kilian's legs, then Casas heads the corner kick into Destanoglu's hands. We're getting closer and closer, but in the end we run out of time in the first half before we can finally get the opener. HALF TIME - 0-0 Rijkhoff continues with his wasteful current form in our first approach of the second half, blasting over the bar a one-on-one after a fantastic ball from deep by Palomeque. His aim can only be so bad, though, and when Meunier repeats the action with another long pass from the halfway line towards the striker, Rijkhoff finally finds the gap between the keeper and the post and scores the long overdue 1-0. We keep looking for more, though, because we deserve it and because we might need it, and Neves gets unlucky for once with one of his bending shots that hits the outside of the post and goes wide in the 59th. It's only one minute later that Rodríguez swings a corner kick towards the near post and Casas outjumps his marker to head the ball into the net, doubling our lead and putting us in a much more comfortable position. Now we can give the midfielder some rest and bring Miranda in his place, while Schulze gets to play thirty minutes in Neves' place and Ernesto does the same with Meunier. After a short break we get another corner kick, and this time it's Miranda who takes the cross to the exact same place and with the exact same result: Casas scoring with a great jump and header with Destanoglu unable to do anything to stop it. With the game in the bag we relax and let minutes pass by, and Köln get the chance to test Kretzschmar for the first time today with a weak finish by Kessou that the keeper has zero trouble catching. In the 82nd we return the favor with a great pass by Schulze towards the right, where Palomeque taps it towards the center first time so Rijkhoff can gather it and score the 4-0 with ease, his early misses already forgotten. Kretzschmar holds an easy header by Kessou two minutes later, but that's the last we hear of Köln's attack today and we just keep the ball out of any dangerous zone for what little remains of the match. * * * TSV 1860 München 4 (Julian Rijkhoff 52 82, Arnau Casas 60 69) 1.FC Köln 0 - - - Yeeeah, I don't see this Köln team surviving. You can only park the bus for so long before the cracks start showing, and once they do it's game over because you don't have any alternatives once you start losing. In our case it took until Rijkhoff decided he'd had enough with missing sitters, and the snowball only got bigger afterwards. Easy win, and Leipzig's 0-2 victory in the Allianz-Arena only makes it sweeter, since now we're only one point behind the two leaders and five ahead of fourth-placed Dortmund. Rijkhoff ended the game with a brace and a bruised thigh. I'm sure he could've done without the latter of those two... He'll be recovering for a bit under a week and should be back for our next Bundesliga game against Stuttgart. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 Nov 6th 2029 One player per line in the Team of the Week, except for goal because Kretzschmar didn't have much work to do against Köln: Casas in defense, Palomeque in midfield, and Rijkhoff in attack. Nov 8th 2029 Leicester City vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League group E, 4/6) First of two trips to the UK in the coming weeks, this match could very well decide who's first and who's second in this group, as it looks quite clear now that we are both a level or two above both Valencia and Celtic. Leicester is probably the second most difficult team we've played so far this season only behind Leipzig, but we still should have a decent chance at stealing a result from their stadium and secure the top seed. * * * LEICESTER (4-2-3-1): Justin Bijlow (GK); James Justin (DR), Wesley Fofana (DCr), Mads Bech Sorensen (DCl), Luke Thomas (DL); Boubakary Soumaré (MCr), James Maddison (MCl); Pedro Porro (AMR), Lovro Majer (AMC), Harvey Barnes (AML); Dane Scarlett (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alan Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) * * * One change per line from the lineup of our home game against Leicester, with Ball, Miranda, and Caraballo in the team this time. The home team also tweak their defense and midfield a bit, but otherwise keep the same core that made us sweat bullets in our stadium. And we can't start the game any better: three minutes in, Amador intercepts a pass forward and with just three passes the ball reaches Rodríguez with space, and he adds a fourth towards Özcan to leave him alone against Bijlow so the striker can place the ball perfectly in off the post. A beautiful counterattack. Leicester now need to go forward, and soon Barnes is heading a cross by Justin over the bar to give us something to worry about. We manage to keep them at bay for a long while after, though, and even enjoy a couple of chances to hit them back which in the end don't quite pan out. We reach the halfway point of the first half with only a free kick Majer smashes into the fence as a semi-remarkable chance, but in the 32nd minute we let Leicester too much space to think and Barnes punshies us with a clever long pass towards the right wing, where Porro outspeeds Ball and shoots past Rexhepi to draw the game. A scary volley by Justin in a long throw in four minutes later gives us a bit of a scare, but the ball ends up flying across the whole goal before going wide. Ball and Stjepanovic block two consecutive finishes by Scarlett that could've brough some serious danger to our goal, then Sorensen heads a corner kick over the bar with only one minute remaining on the clock. We survive what little remains without any more suffering and keep the draw when the referee calls for half time. HALF TIME - 1-1 Things slow down dramatically in the second half, with Leicester still in charge but chances not coming on either end of the pitch. Palomeque replaces the underperforming Schulze after a bit over ten minutes, and a short while later it's Basualdo who replaces Caraballo. There are no real goalscoring opportunities until the 66th, when Rodríguez recovers a ball he'd just lost near Leicester's box and passes towards Miranda, who shoots with his "bad" right foot and smashes a cannonball into the frame of Bijlow's goal. Soon after he's replaced by Neves, once again out of breath way before the end of the game. Neves enters the game all guns blazing as always, and within a couple of minutes he's already sending a cross towards Rodríguez, who tries to tap it into the net but finds Bijlow in the way and ready to deflect it wide. That corner kick reaches Stjepanovic, but his header once again is met by the keeper with a confident save. Another cross by Neves ends in a high header by Palomeque in the 73rd, and it looks like we're finally turning the tide and starting to dominate the game. Yet Leicester get a corner kick five minutes later and Fofana's header ends up hitting the post, leading to a bit of a scramble inside the box before the ball is finally cleared behind. That other corner kick leads to another header by Fofana, but this time it's an easy one for Rexhepi. We enter the final ten minutes with the game still completely up in the air, and Rodríguez's high ball from distance in the 83rd won't help change that one bit. One minute later Sorensen tries another of his bullet throws, Maddison nods it towards the box, and Scarlett volleys it with power, but centered and straight at Rexhepi. Another attempt from distance by Rodríguez meets Bijlow's gloves in the 88th for another corner kick that Ernesto heads over, and injury time brings no last second scares for either keeper, so the draw holds until the end. * * * Leicester City 1 (Pedro Porro 32) TSV 1860 München 1 (Vedat Özcan 3) - - - Fair result for a very even game, in which both teams were unlucky not to score more. Leicester had the initiative for most of the game, but our chances were really good when they came, so in the end I don't think any of us can complain about the draw. Celtic's easy 2-0 win over Valencia makes sure the Spaniards are eliminated from contention and gives them an outside chance at putting some pressure on us for the top two. Assuming Leicester and us win both remaining games, though, goal difference will end up being the deciding factor. Or goals scored, if that fails. Fun. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 Nov 9th 2029 More international callups, and this time there's something new to add to the mix: Kretzschmar gets another chance for a debut with Germany. He's most likely still behind ter Stegen and Nübel in the picking order, but considering their first game is a theoretically easy one against Azerbaijan he could have a chance. Nov 10th 2029 Bayern rescue a late 2-2 draw in Augsburg and open the door for us. A win against Stuttgart tomorrow would mean we leapfrog our neighbors and steal the second place from them. Now that would feel good. Nov 11th 2029 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. VfB Stuttgart (6th) (Bundesliga, 11/34) A quick rematch against our recent cup rivals, only this time in our stadium. Little has changed for both teams since, with only one league match and one European game (which they lost against LASK, incidentally) in between, so everything that applied back then still applies now: strong team, should give us trouble, but we're still better. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Juan David Palomeque (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) STUTTGART (4-2-3-1): Finn Dahmen (GK); Bafodé Diakité (DR), Waldemar Anton (DCr), Ronny Klotke (DCl), Fabian Nürnberger (DL); Filip Ronningen Jorgensen (MCr), Shinta Appelkamp (MCl); Aleksander Andresen (AMR), Ismaël Gharbi (AMC), Isaac Tshibangu (AML); Borja Mayoral (ST) * * * Our "league team" returns to the starting eleven today, with only Schulze and Rexhepi (first league start for the youngster) repeating from the Leicester game. Stuttgart change a few pieces from our cup match, which means among other things that Manu Sánchez returns to his usual place in the bench. Unlike then, though, they start the game pressing us hard and high, and we find it hard to get anywhere near Dahmen's goal until the 14th minute, when a good run by Touré creates a double chance, first with a blocked shot by Rijkhoff and then with a low finish by Schulze that Dahmen deflects away. We slowly regain our territory and start pushing Stuttgart back into their own half, but we still can't find a clear path towards their goal. With Rodríguez and Miranda resting it's Basualdo's turn to take direct free kicks, and he shows why he's third choice in the 25th minute with a clearly high effort from a pretty good position. One minute later Andresen manages to escape from Touré's mark and gathers a pass from Ronningen Jorgensen inside the box, shooting without much power and making it easy for Rexhepi. In the 29th it's our turn, and after trading passes all over the midfield for a bit the ball reaches Rijkhoff on the edge of the box, he passes it back towards Basualdo, and the forward bends a shot that leaves Dahmen flabbergasted and slots into the back of the net for the 1-0, also his first goal of the season. Stuttgart are starting to look exhausted already, probably because most of their starting eleven also played midweek. We profit from this by laying siege to their goal, quickly passing the ball around until Rijkhoff finds a gap to shoot through and provokes a good save by Dahmen for a corner kick that Casas also heads into the keeper's hands. The visitors find the energy to create some danger through a long shot by Nürnberger in the 35th minute that goes wide, but not by too much. Another play through the center five minutes later leaves Schulze with lots of space to run into the box, but instead he gets nervous and shoots too early, blasting it over. The final minutes bring no further action, and our short win stays until half time. HALF TIME - 1-0 Things slow down dramatically after the break, with us unwilling to take too many risks and Stuttgart not quite able to put us under any serious pressure. Things finally liven up in the 59th when Javorcic steals the ball in midfield, then assists Schulze down the right flank so the midfielder can then cross low towards Basualdo, who places a perfect little left-footed finish past Dahmen to make it two. And we have the chance to make it three only four minutes later when Touré finds Palomeque's head with a great cross from the left, but the midfielder's finish goes straight into the keeper's hands. Schulze is once again the first player to leave the field, understandable given he started on Thursday too, with Miranda taking his place. Soon after it's Özcan and Thiago replacing Rijkhoff and Neves, as the game enters a calm phase once again. Thiago plays in a more advanced role today, which gives him a rare chance to gather a cross from Miranda inside the box and face Dahmen to try and score, although his finish ends up going wide in the end. Miranda also takes free kick duties over from Basualdo, and soon shows he's the superior choice with a 30-yard attempt that the keeper has to work hard to tip over the bar. Stuttgart look completely out of the game now, and we let time pass until the 83rd, which is when Thiago sees Özcan's movement towards the inside of the box and sends the ball to him, allowing the striker a comfortable placed finish to score the 3-0. A steal by Touré creates another chance for Basualdo, who tries a shot without thinking too much and forces Dahmen to push it over. Lang does well in the 90th to block Bätzner's finish after a good run into the box by the substitute striker, then Mayoral heads a corner kick over the bar in Stuttgart's only real chances of the whole second half. The game ends shortly after in an even more comfortable win than last time. * * * TSV 1860 München 3 (Jonatan Basualdo 29 59, Vedat Özcan 83) VfB Stuttgart 0 - - - Easy. Or well, it was easy once we managed to get through their early pressure, at least. Not like it translated into much, but at least they managed to keep us locked inside our own half for a good while. After Basualdo scored the first it was all downhill, though, and their extra tired legs did the rest. See, this is why rotating the squad is important! Very comfortable result, and now the second place is ours! Oh, and good to see Basualdo finally bagging a couple, he'd been struggling with his finishing until now, even though he was playing well. Good to have multiple sources of goals in the team for when our main strikers lose their current accuracy. It'll happen eventually, and we all know it... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtown1414 Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Squad rotation so important. Often overlooked, could never figure out why? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 @dtown1414: good question, and one the AI has been struggling with for a while now. Not sure about newer versions, but in FM22 it usually takes some catastrophic levels of fitness for a starter to be dropped. Something else to profit from, I guess? * * * Nov 12th 2029 Youth facilities upgrade finally finished. I think that'll be it for upgrades this season, we spent quite a bit in the summer and we'll want to play it a bit safer until the next big paycheck comes in. Which might happen in January if Atlético's interest in Rodríguez finally materializes, of course... Nov 13th 2029 Basualdo's brace against Stuttgart earns him a place in the Team of the Week. Nov 15th 2029 Ah yes, we hadn't had an international injury in a while. Caraballo is the victim this time, and thankfully it's a pretty minor one, just a bruise in his thigh that'll heal with a week of rest. Performances-wise it was a decent round, with Rodríguez getting his customary assist in Mexico's 1-2 defeat against Norway, Özcan adding another in Turkey's remarkable 2-2 draw against Italy, and Rijkhoff scoring for the Netherlands in a 1-1 draw with Romania. The U21 contingent also had a good day, particularly the three young Germans with Touré even scoring his first international goal against Latvia. Nov 19th 2029 And just when I thought we'd dodged the worst case scenario with Caraballo's injury, Özcan strains his thigh while playing his second game with Turkey and now will be out for over a month, which basically translates to "until 2030". He'll miss the two remaining Europa League games and, most importantly, the Münchner Derby in three weeks. Wonderful. Not much to report about the second round of fixtures otherwise, a few solid performances but nothing too remarkable. No minutes for Kretzschmar, though. Sad. Nov 24th 2029 1.FSV Mainz 05 (7th) vs. TSV 1860 München (2nd) (Bundesliga, 12/34) This season's surprise package are in a bit of a low after eating four from last-placed Köln just before the international break. They're also without one of their best player, young defensive midfielder Frank Hennig, due to suspension, which is good news for us. Then again they've managed to achieve critical mass of ex-1860 players by signing Maldini and Da Silva this summer, and they've been impressive enough so far to be handled with care. * * * MAINZ (4-2-3-1): Senne Lammens (GK); Joao Conceiçao (DR), Omar Rekik (DCr), Márton Dárdai (DCl), Mathias Farnes Gabrielsen (DL); Bledian Krasniqi (MCr), Syver Aas (MCl); Ben Bobzien (AMR), Joni Zakashvili (AMC), Noel López (AML); Alessio Besio (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * There's a key game in Celtic Park in just five days, so we need to keep at least some legs fresh for then, therefore Caraballo and Miranda rest today, the former still a bit tired after travelling with Venezuela. Da Silva is in the bench and Maldini doesn't even make the match squad, which is a huge shame. The early game is a midfield battle, first for possession which we win clearly, and then to actually bring the ball to dangerous areas, which neither team seems to manage as easily as that. The dearth of goalscoring chances lasts until the 23rd minute, when Besio finally finds a gap and shoots from the front of the area, sending the ball very narrowly wide. It takes even longer for our first shot at goal, and it has to come from a direct free kick from almost thirty feet away that Rodríguez curls with his usual precision, forcing Lammens into a surprisingly difficult save to deflect it wide. That finally wakes us up, and in the 38th a long kick by Kretzschmar is nodded by Basualdo towards Rijkhoff, who breaks into the box, sidesteps the keeper to find space, and passes it into the back of the net. VAR has to double-check the striker's position, but it's all good and the 0-1 goes into the scoreboard. After that, back into the void until the end of the half. HALF TIME - 0-1 The second half is more of the same, with Mainz now showing more attacking intent but generating only long shots and very minor chances that never even require Kretzschmar's intervention. We take it slow in attack until the 62nd, when Amador sends a ball towards Rodríguez and the midfielder finds himself with space to advance and shoot, prompting a good fingertip save by Lammens to keep things close. Miranda and Palomeque soon come into the game to refresh our midfield, replacing Rodríguez and Schulze, while Caraballo takes Rijkhoff's place to keep our only striker healthy and fresh for the Europa League. With Basualdo now as our more advanced forward, our next chance comes through Amador's cross into the center that Miranda nods into Lammens's hands. Meanwhile Mainz only manage to generate danger in a direct free kick that Dárdai smashes into the fence, then another a bit farther away and that actually makes its way to Kretzschmar, who punches it away from goal. Besio then heads a corner kick very narrowly over the bar, probably their best chance so far, but it's still only set pieces that bring us any kind of trouble. That changes in the 73rd minute, when a quick attack by Mainz reaches Farnes Gabrielsen in midfield and he sends a pass towards the right side of the box for Bobzien. Ball intercepts it, but the ball ends up dead in the middle of the box and Bobzien has all the time and space in the world to gather it, blast it past Kretzschmar, and score the 1-1. And it gets worse: 79th minute, cross from Conceiçao towards the left, where Noel López is completely unmarked and controls the ball and shoots between the near post and Kretzschmar to make it 2-1. We have a bit over ten minutes to prevent our first defeat of the season, and we almost do it in two when Palomeque finds Basualdo with a pass over the defense and the forward shoots into the outside of the post and wide. Amador then blocks a very dangerous finish by Besio in a set piece to keep our hopes alive, and in the 86th Ball finds Neves down the left flank and the midfielder enters the box and curls another shot that ends up hitting the post and deflecting away. Luck is not with us today, it seems. A weak shot by Conceiçao is an easy catch for Kretzschmar one minute later, and in the 88th we finally hit jackpot: vertical play through the center that reaches Caraballo, who taps it into space for Miranda's run into the box so the midfielder can finish with a beautiful lob over Lammens, drawing the game once again. A blocked shot by Bobzen in injury time is the only threat to the status quo in what little remains, and in the end we happily split the points with a very good Mainz side. * * * 1.FSC Mainz 05 2 (Ben Bobzien 73, Noel López 79) TSV 1860 München 2 (Julian Rijkhoff 38, Matías Miranda 88) - - - That was a close shave. We almost threw away a pretty good first sixty minutes by allowing Mainz to get back on top, but usual hero Miranda performed another of his wonders to keep us unbeaten for a bit longer. Not the best result, but considering how the game went we have to be happy with it, and it's probably a fair result with the whole game in mind. Still, two wasted points, a chance Bayern take to regain their rightful (?) place ahead of us in the table after a 3-1 win over Hertha. This is also our eighteenth unbeaten game in a row, a new club record, and the first time we concede more than once in the whole season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 Nov 27th 2029 Miranda's goal against Mainz brings him into the Team of the Week. Nov 29th 2029 Celtic vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League group E, 5/6) Second trip to the UK in a row, now with the always lively Celtic Park in Glasgow as our destination. Celtic have an outside chance of qualifying from the group with a win today, but considering how the first leg went, well... Meanwhile we should win here and keep half an eye on Valencia, where Leicester might drop a point or two with some luck. * * * CELTIC (4-4-1-1): Fabio Mojica (GK); Sean Jones (DR), Bruno Eduardo (DCr), Luke Mbete (DCl), Ben Davies (DL); Uriel Antuna (MR), Matt O'Riley (MCr), Callum McGregor (MCl), Josip Brekalo (ML); Dedé (AMC); Eddie Salcedo (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * Celtic alter their shape slightly, moving from their previous flat 4-4-2 to a somewhat less aggressive 4-4-1-1 with Dedé taking a deeper role today. We rotate the squad both for fitness reasons and looking six days into the future, and start the game looking sharp in possession and trying our luck with an early shot from outside the box by Schulze, well above the bar. In the seventh minute Javorcic intercepts a pass in midfield and immediately looks forward towards Rijkhoff, who makes some space for himself to shoot and beats Mojica first try, scoring the 0-1. Perfect. Three minutes later we return through Rodríguez and Rijkhoff, although the striker's finish is deflected wide by Bruno Eduardo this time. Rijkhoff and Rodríguez trade roles a while later, with the midfielder shooting this time although not giving it enough power to put Mojica into any kind of trouble. Celtic start trying to push forward a bit more then, although without much to show in the final third and exposing themselves to counterattacks in exchange. A dangerous one comes in the 29th with Schulze making the final pass towards Rijkhoff, who tries a lob over Mojica but can't bring the ball high enough to beat the keeper, who just swats it away. The usually very defensive Javorcic joins the attack one minute later, gathering a pass from Schulze inside the box and shooting from a tight angle into Mojica's block for a corner kick. We take a bit of a break then, just holding the ball and moving it around with impunity for over ten minutes until in the 42nd minute Celtic finally give us the first scare of the evening with a good cross from very deep by Brekalo towards O'Riley, who shoots wide on the half-volley. Three minutes later O'Riley breaks into the box again, this time catching a great pass by Dedé, but once again fails to find the target with his finish and sends it well over. A knock to Thiago after a collision with Salcedo and a free kick by Miranda that Mojica catches with relative ease are the last two big events of the first half. HALF TIME - 0-1 Thiago complains about pain in his thigh during half time, so he's immediately replaced by Stjepanovic and Ernesto moves up to the anchor. Celtic start the second half like they ended the first: generating danger through O'Riley, this time with a bending shot from just inside the box that Rexhepi has to tip wide. We soon regain control, though, and start pushing them into their own half to keep them away from our goal as much as possible. There's very little to report chances-wise, though, and soon it's time to bring some refreshments to our eternally overworked midfield by replacing Rodríguez and Schulze with Neves and Palomeque. Things remain calm until the 70th minute, when Stjepanovic charges into midfield in one of his semi-frequent runs forward before sending a great pass ahead of Neves, who runs all the way into the box and tries a shot, but McGregor chases him all the way there to block the finish. Three minutes later Celtic give us another scare through two of their subs, first with Sahraoui stealing the ball from Touré, and then with Emersonn escaping from Stjepanovic's mark and shooting into another good save by Rexhepi. That corner kick becomes a bit of a pinball inside our box, with Rexhepi saving at least one very dangerous finish and Jones finally shooting into Casas and wide. Too much danger for my tastes, so we try and score a second before Celtic get lucky. Rijkhoff goes close with a good header after a cross by Palomeque, but Mojica answers perfectly with a great save. The keeper does it again in the 82nd in another chance generated by Palomeque's crossing and finished this time by Miranda, while on the other goal Rexhepi saves with ease a soft header by Emersonn three minutes later. In the 87th, however, we leave ourselves completely exposed to a counterattack when we push way too many players forward in a throw-in, and Celtic punish us: Brekalo leads the counterattack and Emersonn finishes it, beating Rexhepi in the one-on-one to score the 1-1. We try to regain our lead immediately through Caraballo, who tries luck from just outside the box but finds only the stands behind the goal. We lay siege to Mojica's goal, and in the last minute of injury time we manage to find Rijkhoff inside the box after a series of rebounds and missed passes just outside, but the striker's accuracy isn't good enough in this critical moment and he shoots narrowly wide. There's no time for more, and we return to Munich with a smaller reward than expected. * * * Celtic 1 (Emersonn 87) TSV 1860 München 1 (Julian Rijkhoff 7) - - - Bottled it. We had the game in our hands but gave Celtic way too much leeway in the second half, and they eventually profited from that and took a draw they probably deserved. A huge waste, particularly because Leicester didn't do the same in Valencia and defended an early goal by Pedro Porro all the way until the end. We're qualified for the next round now, at least, but if we want the first place we'll have to hope that Celtic steal at least a point from Leicester in the last fixture, something I'm not gonna be holding my breath for. Guess we'll have to reach the second knockout round the hard way... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 Dec 2nd 2029 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. Eintracht Frankfurt (16th) (Bundesliga, 13/34) Another year of struggles for Eintracht, constantly coming in and out of the relegation zone until now. They're only a couple of good results away from escaping that battle for good, though, at least for a short while, and last week they got an important win over Köln which brought them to the playoff position. We're heavy favorites, but we'll have to rotate a lot today and we come into this after two pretty bad draws. We need to improve. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Juan David Palomeque (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Jonatan Basualdo (STl) EINTRACHT (4-4-2): André Gomes (GK); Nico Elvedi (DR), Marvin Friedrich (DCr), Jackson Porozo (DCl), Noah Katterbach (DL); André Franco (MR), Idrus Abdulahi (MCr), Toma Basic (MCl), Bryan Mbeumo (ML); Datro Fofana (STr), Joe Gelhardt (STl) * * * Rest for Rijkhoff today, since we want him as fresh as possible for our next fixture in just three days. Eintracht opt for a flat 4-4-2 today, and we start the game with less possession than them (somehow) but with the first shots being all ours, two into defenders' legs or backs by Caraballo and one from distance over the bar by Meunier. Another shot from far away by Schulze in the 12th minute also flies into the stands behind Gomes's goal, but one minute later Neves runs through a acres of space in the center and Meunier sends a vertical pass towards him so the midfielder can score with his trademark placed shot and give us the lead. Basualdo almost gets a second in the 21st after a nice little touch from Schulze inside the box, but the forward's finish is met by Gomes with a good dive and all we get is an inconsequential corner kick. In the meantime we've managed to regain control of possession too, and now Eintracht don't really have many weapons left to hurt us with. Schulze keeps the pressure up with a wide shot in the 26th, and six minutes later Palomeque tests Gomes with a low and placed twenty-yarder that the keeper holds without much trouble. In the 33th, finally, Schulze sees Amador's run on the wing and sends the ball there so the full back can cross low into the heart of the box, allowing Basualdo an easy tap-in for the 2-0. Still under no pressure whatsoever from Eintracht, we keep looking for gaps to send the ball through and find one in the 37th, allowing Neves to pass it across the box towards Caraballo in a dangerous position, although in the end the ball is deflected into Gomes's hands. With one minute left on the clock Schulze sets up another run into the box by Basualdo, and this time it's the keeper who has to work hard to block his finish and prevent a third. The play continues until a clash between Schulze and Basic ends with both players writhing with pain on the ground, with our midfielder not even able to finish the half, being immediately replaced by Ernesto. Injury time still brings a rare shot from outside the box by Stjepanovic that Gomes barely manages to deflect into the post, mere seconds before the referee calls for half time. HALF TIME - 2-0 Nothing much changes early in the second half, and in fact we need only seven minutes to hit wood again, this time with a first-touch finish by Basualdo after a great cross by Palomeque, now playing on the right side of our midfield with Meunier on the left and Ernesto in the anchor. We take things a bit easier now, though, trying to keep the ball and preventing Eintracht from ever realizing their game plan, whatever it happens to be. After a while Rodríguez comes in to give Palomeque some rest, and Touré replaces an excellent Amador and trades sides with Ball. The Mexican soon has a chance to score the third after a loose ball inside the box falls practically on his lap, but Gomes dives well to turn the ball behind. The game then goes to sleep until the 81st, when a cross by Ball creates a double chance for Neves and Meunier that the keeper denies with two excellent saves, with some help from his defense making our finishes as awkward as possible. A shot from distance by Rodríguez five minutes later is deflected wide by Gomes, and Eintracht finally create their first real chance in a corner kick that Arrey-Mbi heads over three minutes before full time. Rodríguez keeps monopolizing our attack, now with a direct free kick that Gomes barely manages to stop from going into the top corner, but after that we finally pull back for good and let what little remains of the game pass by without incident. Solid and very comfortable win. * * * TSV 1860 München 2 (Joao Neves 13, Jonatan Basualdo 33) Eintracht Frankfurt 0 - - - Good show, never giving Eintracht a chance to wake up and realize they were supposed to be playing a game today. Our "backups" did well to seal the game early then dominate the rest, and we probably should've scored at least one more today, but that'll do. That makes twenty games without losing, just in time for the Big One. Bad news come in the shape of Schulze's groin strain, which will keep him out for what remains of 2029. We'll need someone else to play the role of a midfield annoyance against Bayern... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 Dec 4th 2029 Amador and Neves feature in the Team of the Week. Dec 5th 2029 FC Bayern München (2nd) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 14/34) Here we are once again. Something smells different this year, though. For one it's us and not them who are still unbeaten in all competitions this season, and for two I don't think we've ever been this close to Bayern before a Münchner Derby unless it was played in, like, the first four weeks of the season. We're still clear underdogs here, but we might actually have a chance today. * * * BAYERN (4-2-3-1): Aaron Ramsdale (GK); Joshua Kimmich (DR), Dayot Upamecano (DCr), Brendan De Decker (DCl), Alphonso Davies (DL); Aarao (MCr), Sandro Tonali (MCl); Luka Romero (AMR), Kai Havertz (AMC), Deivid (AML); Yousouffa Moukoko (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Tomislav Javorcic (DL); Thiago (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * Palomeque finally takes Schulze's place in the starting eleven, with Javorcic playing as our left back today as a more reliable defensive option than either Ball or Touré. Bayern eventually got off their collective rearsides and spent a metric ton in the summer window, including bringing in Aarao (€47M) and Herlan Gomes (€46M) from Gladbach, last year's Kopa trophy winner Deivid (€106M) from Barcelona, Luka Romero (€88M) from Atlético, and Brendan De Decker (€67M) from Porto. Sure, they had to sell players like Szoboszlai, Papetti, Sané, Saliba, and Wijndal, so I'm not sure if their depth is actually better or worse than before, but at the very least they remain a force to be reckoned with. The first chance of the game is ours in a direct free kick only two minutes after kick off, sent narrowly wide by Rodríguez. Bayern take their time at first, letting us play our game for a bit, but it doesn't take long for Havertz to dribble his way into the box from the left and shoot low to give Kretzschmar his first scare of the evening. A header by Moukoko in the 12th flies narrowly over the bar, then Deivid shoots wide in a clear-cut chance created by Moukoko with a fantastic through ball. Very much the usual so far, although we do manage to keep them away from our goal for the next few minutes. In the 21st a corner kick taken by usual suspect Kimmich finds its way to the far post, where Havertz gets a header in and sends the ball into the post. Two minutes later Romero sends another cross into the box and De Decker, who was still hanging around after a set piece, heads it onto the top of the crossbar and over and makes it two quick woodwork hits for Bayern. We are lucky to escape from that still unhurt, and happily see how the game slows down again, this time for a much longer period. It isn't until the 45th minute that something else happens, but that "something else" is Moukoko dribbling past Casas inside the box on his way towards a goal and the center-back bringing him down with a trip. No complaints about the penalty, even less when Kretzschmar does it again, guessing Moukoko's kick from the spot perfectly and saving, then holding Upamecano's header in the corner kick that marks the end of the first half. Still alive. HALF TIME - 0-0 The second half is still not particularly brilliant when it comes to attacking football, and Deivid needs eight minutes to set up another chance with a movement towards the center and a pass forward to Moukoko, who sees his finish deflected away by Casas's timely tackle. Moukoko tries again with a very wide direct free kick, but in the 55th Romero sends a cross towards Moukoko, Casas blocks his finish once again, but this time the rebound is unlucky and falls to Deivid for a very easy finish that becomes the 1-0. We now need a bit of extra creativity, so in comes Neves in Palomeque's place, while Ball replaces a surprisingly poor Amador. We get right to it, and soon Rijkhoff receives from Rodríguez inside the box and tries to get a shot in, but De Decker denies him with a great block. The two trade roles immediately after, with Rijkhoff assisting Rodríguez on the run and the midfielder shooting low into Ramsdale's first save of the game. In the 63rd arrives our best chance so far, a set piece Rodríguez whips into the box and Ernesto heads very narrowly over the bar. Then we bring Caraballo in Basualdo's place as our final substitution, while Bayern seem to be happy with defending now, only testing their luck with a free kick that Moukoko smashes into the fence. We might have turned it up a bit too much, though, and in the 73rd a very fired up Rodríguez goes one step too far with a strong challenge from behind on Tonali, resulting in a red card from the referee and the death of any hopes of a comeback we might've had. Yet, somehow, two minutes later Neves has the ball in midfield and spots Caraballo's movement behind the defense, and the Portuguese times his pass perfectly to break the offside trap and allow the forward an easy placed finish past a very static Ramsdale to pull level. It's time to defend, and we do it really well for the next few minutes, only allowing a header by Mukiele in a set piece that Kretzschmar holds with little effort. In the 82nd Caraballo wears his best Messi mask and runs across the whole field into the right side of the box, first trying a shot from a tight angle that Ramsdale blocks, then gathering the rebound and crossing for Rijkhoff's volley, once again stopped by the keeper. We remain firmly focused in defensive duties, though, and somehow manage to deny Bayern any other chances until we reach injury time. Then it's Javorcic who sends a ball forward to Rijkhoff, his shot deflected behind by Mukiele for a corner kick that Miranda takes and Casas heads over. Kretzschmar has no more work to do afterwards and we manage to steal our first point away from Bayern in the most unlikely of circumstances. * * * FC Bayern München 1 (Deivid 55) TSV 1860 München 1 (Rodrigo Caraballo 75, Jair Rodríguez sent off 73) - - - Well then. That worked out somehow. Caraballo is die Löwen's new hero after that goal, and we sure left the Allianz as the happier team, by far. Rodríguez's gonna get a bit of a slap on the wrist for that red, though, that's two derbies in a row in which someone has lost their nerves at the worst possible moment. Still, absolutely brilliant point in a game we should've lost clearly, Kretzschmar's heroics on goal are now the stuff of legends (how many stopped penalties in a row is that already?!), and we keep our distance with our dear rivals, even though Leipzig escape a bit farther away and Dortmund creep a bit closer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 Dec 8th 2029 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (13th) (Bundesliga, 15/34) The other just-promoted team together with Augsburg, Hoffenheim have been playing reasonably well so far, keeping themselves a step or two above the drop zone most of the time and scoring some notable results. They come into this match after one draw and two wins in their last three games, but after the high from the draw in the Allianz we should be winning this with relative ease. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Alex Ball (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Ernesto (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Aymeric Meunier (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Jonatan Basualdo (STl) HOFFENHEIM (4-4-1-1): Lukas Schneller (GK); José Hurtado (DR), Stefan Posch (DCr), Lee Jae-won (DCl), Hannes Lippold (DL); Martin Baturina (MR), Roméo Lavia (MCr), Jean-Manuel Mbom (MCl), Chaka Traoré (ML); Ayman Benarous (AMC); Armindo Sieb (ST) * * * We have one problem today, though: suspensions. Our new, much more aggressive style means we pick yellow cards at an accelerated pace, and Amador has to serve our first suspension today, with Javorcic, Ernesto, and Ball one card away from being next. Add Rodríguez's red against Bayern and our two injured players and our pickings for today are quite slim, forcing us to bring a couple youngsters just to have enough players on the bench. Ernesto takes the anchor today since Meunier has to fill in midfield, and having played the whole game against Bayern it's likely he'll need to rest at some point. Hoffenheim start a defensive-looking 4-4-1-1 today, and we start pushing forward form the first minute looking for an early lead. We gets things started five minutes in with a cross by Ball that Neves heads very narrowly over the bar, but after that Hoffenheim tighten their lines to make things more difficult for us. A triangle pass between Neves, Meunier, and Palomeque ends with a low shot by the latter that Schneller catches well, but that's already ten minutes later. Soon after the keeper saves another low shot by Neves with little danger, but afterwards it's back to the midfield mines to grind hard and hope to find diamonds in the middle of all this rough. In the 27th minute we get a rare chance in which Hoffenheim's defense is caught out of position, but Basualdo wastes it with a wide finish when he had all the space and time in the world to get a better shot. Luck is not on our side either, as Stjepanovic notices when his header on a corner kick two minutes later bounces off the crossbar and behind for a goal kick. In the 32nd a great combination through the center led by Neves ends in another horrible finish by Basualdo, blasted over the target. We've been deserving a goal for a while now, though, and we finally get it in the 35th with another quick passing movement through the center, this time with Basualdo taking a step back and assisting Caraballo so his partner in crime can continue his goalscoring streak with a clean finish. Hoffenheim's bus finally moves out from in front of their goal as they try to push forward a bit more, but that just gives us a bit more space to create danger, and soon Palomeque sets Basualdo up with a great cross that the forward volleys wide. There's very little else going in the remaining minutes, though, and our minimal lead holds until half time. HALF TIME - 1-0 Things seem to change a bit in the second half, which starts with a cross by Lippold that Baturina heads well over the bar only thirty seconds after kick-off. We still keep the ball, but we fail to generate anything worthwhile after ten minutes while Traoré tests Kretzschmar for the first time with a powerful effort from the edge of the box the keeper has to work hard to tip wide. After fifteen minutes Thiago replaces the exhausted Ernesto, but our play doesn't improve much, so soon it's Miranda replacing Palomeque and Rijkhoff coming in Basualdo's place. That seems to do the trick, as our re-energized midfield starts once again laying siege to Hoffenheim's goal. In the 68th minute Miranda gathers a loose ball inside the box after a blocked shot by Meunier and dribbles towards goal, only to be brought down by Mbom for a penalty. Miranda himself blasts it home from the spot, and suddenly the game looks much under control. The midfielder almost gets a third not much later with a powerful right-footed effort from the edge of the box that Schneller manages to push away, while on the other end Kretzschmar saves and holds a moderately dangerous finish by Sieb after a cross from the right. The game slows down afterwards, with us finally using our possession to try and kill things down before Hoffenheim could get lucky and find a way back into the game. We still find time to create another chance for Miranda, who profits from another loose ball to shoot left-footed this time into Schneller's fingertip save. With three minutes left on the clock Neves sends a good-looking finish into the sidenetting following a nice ball from, who else, Miranda, but afterwards we return to our controlling selves and hide the ball away until full time. Solid win, once again. * * * TSV 1860 München 2 (Rodrigo Caraballo 36, Matías Miranda 69p) TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 0 - - - Not much to say here. Just another day at the office in a game in which we were clearly superior except for maaaaybe the first ten minutes of the second half, perhaps? We had to be patient and endure Basualdo's multiple misses, but Caraballo showed him how it's done and then Miranda came in in the second half to seal the deal. Par for the course, really. Leipzig beat Dortmund in the high-profile duel of the day, while Bayern win more easily than expected in Mainz. Everything stays the same, only Dortmund fall further behind us. No complaints there. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Dec 11th 2029 We're almost in January, which means another transfer window and another round of the fun fun "how many starters will we have to replace this time" game. The two obvious names that come to mind are Rodríguez (still only followed by Atlético) and Caraballo (PSG, Ajax, Porto, and Benfica are willing to pay his €24M release clause), but Rijkhoff might be about to join this list after a report about Monaco's interest came up. Apparently he'd be very keen on the move, unsurprisingly, but thankfully his release clause is set at €48.5M and I'm not willing to sell him for much less than that, so we'd have quite the buck to replace him with. There are many other big teams chasing the striker, including but not limited to Bayern, Ajax, Inter, and Juventus. Dec 13th 2029 TSV 1860 München vs. Valencia C.F. (Europa League group E, 6/6) The most shocking part of this Europa League group is seeing Valencia dead last with only one point out of fifteen and without any hopes of improving on that position. We could've seen it coming after beating them in Mestalla, but still... They have nothing to play for, so we should secure the win and keep an eye on Leicester to see if Celtic manage to steal a point from there. If we win by two goals or more and Leicester fail to win we'll be first. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Alex Ball (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Matías Miranda (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) VALENCIA (4-2-3-1): Yoann Santiago (GK); Meddi Delmas (DR), Christian Mosquera (DCr), Casimiro Gil (DCl), Jayden Candelaria (DL); Daniel Amartey (MCr), Bartosz Slisz (MCl); Bernardo Mineiro (AMR), Lovro Zvonarek (AMC), Gonçalo Guedes (AML), Kayky (ST) * * * With a difficult trip to Nürnberg coming and this game being potentially worthless if Leicester win theirs, we can afford to keep some starters in the bench today, and we even put young left back Althoff on the bench to perhaps give him his senior debut if the game goes as it should. Valencia also change their squad around from our previous meeting, with club legend Guedes starting today. It's a rainy afternoon in Munich, but the pitch of our new stadium seems to be holding up pretty well, and our players also seem to enjoy the rain; twenty-five seconds in Miranda steals the ball from Amartey, runs down the left, and crosses towards Caraballo, whose volley almost turns into the 1-0 but instead goes behind for a corner kick after Santiago's save. We take a bit longer for our next approach, generated by Neves with a high pass towards Palomeque inside the box for a soft header and an easy save for the keeper. We're looking good in attack, but Valencia are having much more possession than us, and eventually get their first chance in a set piece that Mineiro heads over the bar in the 16th minute. More dangerous is Zvonarek's header in the 23rd, well aimed and with enough power but deflected away in the end by Rexhepi in a great show of reflexes. We're losing control of the game by the second, though, a feeling we haven't experienced in a long while. Eventually we manage to regain a bit of possession and at least slow the game down enough to stop Valencia's approaches, but they still give us another scare in the 37th in a corner kick, headed narrowly over by Candelaria. Six minutes later, though, we finally manage to create something in our usual vertical style: ball forward to Rijkhoff, who touches it back for Caraballo and runs forward to gather the return pass, leaves Gil behind in a burst of speed, and shoots past Santiago to score the 1-0. Valencia have the chance to pull level immediately when Kayky gathers a long ball into space and runs alone against Rexhepi, but the striker wastes a clear-cut chance with a bad shot and the ball rolls harmlessly wide to the right. Ahead at half time, somehow, and Leicester and Celtic are still goalless. HALF TIME - 1-0 We look more in control in the early second half, not exactly brilliant in our attacking movement but at least having the ball and keeping Valencia at bay. After fifteen minutes with no chances we start rotating our players around, bringing Rodríguez in for Neves and Javorcic for Ball. Rodríguez's first action is a shot from just outside the box that Santiago catches well, and in the 65th Touré enters the box from the left and crosses low towards Rijkhoff, whose finish is deflected by a defender into the keeper's hands. Not much later Basualdo comes in for the striker as our final substitution. Althoff will have to wait a bit longer for his debut. Things slow down again until the 76th, when Caraballo controls a long pass by Miranda and dribbles past Mosquera only to blast his finish over the bar when the most difficult part was already done with. Five minutes later Basualdo receives a pass from Rodríguez, crosses back from the left side of the box, and Caraballo smashes his shot into the crossbar. Unlucky, but at least Valencia haven't shown any attacking intent in the whole second half so far. Santiago soon has more work to do, parrying a good-looking shot by Rodríguez for another corner kick, then Casas heads the ball on top of the net after a good cross by Javorcic in the 85th minute. News of Leicester's first goal reach us then, and that means we no longer have any reason to push for a second goal. But then O'Riley draws the game for Celtic almost immediately and the game is back on. Sadly we don't have enough time to create any more danger, so we have to do with a minimal win. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Julian Rijkhoff 43) Valencia C.F. 0 - - - Not the most brilliant of games by any means, and in the first half we actually suffered quite a bit to gain the upper hand against a very controlling Valencia side, but the second half was all ours and more than enough to make us deserving of the result. In the end Leicester and us finished tied on points, goal difference, and goals scored, so the deciding tie breaker was away goals scored, in which Leicester beat us six to five. As a result we'll have to go through the first knockout stage if we want to reach the board's goal in this competition, and against a third-placed Champions League team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 (edited) Dec 16th 2029 1.FC Nürnberg (10th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 16/34) Last year's surprise package aren't reaching the same heights this season for sure, but they're still doing quite well for what could be expected from a bottom half team suddenly thrust into European contention. They've been hanging around the middle of the pack for most of the season so far, but are actually quite close in points to the seventh place, so they could very well repeat last year's final place and return to the Conference League with some luck. Both teams come into this tired after a midweek fixture, so we should have a slight advantage, but it's still a very tough fixture for us today. * * * NÜRNBERG (4-4-2): Steven Benda (GK); Nicholas Mickelson (DR), Lee Han-Bum (DCr), Maksim Paskotsi (DCl), Franck Yoan (DL); Bénie Traoré (MR), Niklas Dorsch (MCr), Ilai Madmon (MCl), Facundo Farías (ML); Miguel de la Fuente (STr), Manuel Wintzheimer (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Ian Amador (DL); Ernesto (DM); Joao Neves (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Aymeric Meunier (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * Nürnberg are still doing fine with their 4-4-2, while we rotate as much as we can to keep ourselves fresh and give us a bit of a physical edge today. The home team start pushing forward and soon generate a shot for Yoan that licks the outside of the net on its way behind, but soon their momentum suffers a serious setback when Mickelson is forced to leave the field due to injury, replaced by Pfeil. We start moving the ball around with more attacking intent then, and after a couple minor chances we find a way through the very center, with Rodríguez sending a pass through the gap towards Rijkhoff so the striker can do his usual run into the box and placed finish to score the 0-1 in the 13th minute. Both teams take some time to adapt to the new scenario, and eventually Nürnberg start looking forward once again and Javorcic has to perform a key tackle to knock the ball away from Farías's feet inside the box, preventing what looked like a certain goal. Even more dangerous is a run alongside the goal line and into the box by Traoré in the 25th, sending a death pass towards de la Fuente that the striker somehow manages to shoot wide. After that quick burst of attacking intent, though, we manage to get things back under control and hold the ball for a while, with Rodríguez sending a very distant direct free kick over the bar in the 35th minute. In the 41st we find our usual path towards goal through the center, this time with Basualdo providing the final pass into space towards Rijkhoff and the striker trying to bend his finish around Benda, who reacts perfectly and tips the ball wide. That corner kick ends with a narrowly high header by Stjepanovic, then one minute later it's Neves assisting Rijkhoff for another run at goal, once again deflected wide by the keeper. We reach the 45th minute then, and we earn a free kick really close to the edge of the box that Rodríguez takes with his usual confidence, dodging the fence and burying it into the back of the net to make it 0-2 in a critical moment. A high ball from distance by Farías should've been the last chance of the half, but deep in injury time a cross from the left by Farías reaches Traoré, who nods it back towards the center. Amador and Stjepanovic both fail to clear the ball in time, and de la Fuente gathers it in a perfect position to just blast it in and get one back for Nürnberg just as the first half ends. HALF TIME - 1-2 The second half starts with a daring volley by Neves in a set piece taken by Rodríguez, very clearly over the bar but pretty to watch nonetheless. One minute later a quick combination between Javorcic and Neves ends in a great assist towards Rodríguez, who runs into the box but can't hit the ball cleanly enough to seriously threaten Benda. Ernesto and Traoré have a minor collision that ends with the Brazilian somewhat knackered, so ten minutes into the half we're forced into our first substitution, bringing Thiago in. Nürnberg then generate their first chance with a long ball towards Farías, who receives it in a very doubtful position before assisting Wintzheimer for a pretty badly high finish. Yet another collision in midfield ends with both Madmon and Neves a bit worse for wear. The Portuguese was next in line for a replacement anyway, so Miranda takes the chance to come into the game together with Casas, who replaces a tired by very solid Lang. In the 68th Rijkhoff has another chance with his head after a cross by Javorcic, but it's an easy one for Benda. On the other end Thiago tackles the ball away from Farías just before the forward manages to get a dangerous shot off, then he tries a thirty-yarder that goes nowhere close Kretzschmar's goal. Fifteen minutes remaining and the game is still on the wire. Miranda comes next, shooting narrowly wide after a good touch from Rodríguez allows him the space he needs, and in the 80th Rijkhoff turns provider with a great ball towards Basualdo, who tries a lob over a very advanced Benda, but the keeper gets just a small touch of the ball with his fingers, enough to deflect it into the crossbar. Another great save by the keeper stops Rijkhoff from scoring in the 84th following a fantastic assist from Meunier, then Benda continues with his rampage with a miracle block to Casas's point-blank header in the corner kick that comes from his previous save, and then does it again with Stjepanovic's header in the next one. Another stop by the keeper comes in the 89th, deflecting wide a not too confident finish by Basualdo, and then Casas once again gets really close in that corner kick, although this time the ball goes narrowly over without any intervention from Benda. Somewhat surprisingly, there are no more chances in injury time, and in the end the 1-2 both teams had been trying to break since half time stands until the very end. * * * 1.FC Nürnberg 1 (Miguel de la Fuente 45+4) TSV 1860 München 2 (Julian Rijkhoff 13, Jair Rodríguez 45) - - - Very entertaining game for sure, and a good result to match. Both teams did enough to deserve a result today, but in the end we had just enough of an edge to grab the three points, even with Benda in absolute god mode during the whole second half. Great game for both Rodríguez and Rijkhoff, finishing aside, showing we're really gonna miss them if they do end up leaving this coming window. Edited January 31 by Dalbeider Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 Dec 17th 2029 Tough draw for us in the first knockout round of the Europa League. We'll be going back to England to play Leeds United in February. They're currently midtable in the Premier League so maybe they'll be a bit less tough than Leicester were, but things can change a lot from now to February. Dec 18th 2029 Another appearance in the Team of the Week for Rodríguez, who's racked quite a few this season already. More good news: Özcan is back in full training slightly ahead of schedule, and could feature normally in our last game before the turn of the year against Union. Dec 22nd 2029 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. 1.FC Union Berlin (11th) (Bundesliga, 17/34) End of the first half of the season, and with a chance of finishing it unbeaten if we manage to get a result against another midtable team that's doing better than expected like Union. For a team most bookies predicted to end dead last in the Bundesliga their current position is quite the achivement, and they could even climb a bit further up with a couple of good results. We'll need to be at our best today if we want to keep our winning ways going into the new year. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) UNION BERLIN (4-4-2 diamond narrow): Florian Kastenmeier (GK); Lucas Klünter (DR), Nathan Phillips (DCr), Dominique Heinzt (DCl), Jarrad Branthwaite (DL); Mirko Koch (DM), Kristoffer Askildsen (MCr), Rani Khedira (MCl), Aymen Barkok (AMC); Iker Bravo (STr), Andreas Skov Olsen (STl) * * * Practically a mirror game today tactically speaking, the center is going to get cluttered pretty hard so we'll have to rely on our superior quality in that area to get through. Both Özcan and Schulze make the bench in the end, although the midfielder will most likely not play today unless he's absolutely required to. We generate our first chance quite quickly, with Miranda dropping towards the left wing for a cross that Rijkhoff heads straight at Kastenmeier. Another cross from the left, this time by Ball, reaches Palomeque inside the box in the tenth minute, yet the midfielder's shot is not good enough to beat the keeper. Two minutes later Union test our defense for the first time with a through ball by Skov Olsen towards Barkok, who enters the box but can't get past Kretzschmar with his finish. The attacking midfielder returns in the 16th, gathering a cross from Klünter and shooting quickly, but only managing to hit the outside of the post as the ball goes wide in the end. We hit back through Rijkhoff once again, this time with his finish blocked and deflected wide by Phillips, but Barkok strikes again in the 21st with a direct free kick Kretzschmar barely manages to tip wide. The attacking midfielder is giving us real headaches today, and after a few minutes without any danger on either goal he goes right back at it, this time assisting Skov Olsen for a finish that Kretzschmar once again has to deflect wide. We aren't doing much with our superior possession rate today, but the one time we're allowed to counterattack we use it well: Rijkhoff gathers a clearance after a corner kick in our own half, then sends it forward unceremoniously so Caraballo can gather it, escape Heintz's attention, and finish with a crossed low shot past Kastenmeier to score the 1-0. Union react quickly, and a cross by Klünter leads to a soft header by Skov Olsen that Kretzschmar saves with little issue. Ball replies with a long ball ahead of Rodríguez, who can't get rid of Phillips in time to get his finish to reach the goal, but then it's Barkok once again breaking free from Thiago's mark and controlling a cross by Branthwaite before shooting into another deflection by Kretzschmar, who's having much more work today than anyone expected. A cross from the left by Skov Olsen is headed by Bravo into our keeper's hands in the 36th, but the rest of the first half only brings a couple of blocked shots, one fir Skov Olsen and another for Rijkhoff, and the result remains unchanged until half time. HALF TIME - 1-0 The second half starts with a bang: free kick on the left side of our attack for Miranda, who crosses it towards the far post and finds Casas unmarked for an easy volley in, doubling our lead just four minutes after restart. That goal gives us the tranquility we need to start controlling the game for good, holding the ball and keeping Union from generating any more danger in the following minutes. In the 58th Palomeque performs a really good individual run, dribbling past opponents before shooting low and with power to give Kastenmeier some serious trouble, although in the end the keeper manages to block it and send it wide. Casas heads over the bar a corner kick taken by Miranda, getting really close to a brace there, just a couple of minutes before Neves replaces a very irrelevant Rodríguez. A while later Stjepanovic replaces Ernesto and Özcan makes his return from injury in Rijkhoff's place. He looks as good as when we last saw him, too, and only needs a couple of minutes to catch a long pass by Palomeque and run at Kastenmeier, who does a good job covering all the gaps and blocking the finish. That's another corner kick for Miranda and another high header by Casas, who keeps beating Union's defense in almost every set piece we have. Stjepanovic soon joins his partner in defense in another corner kick come the 76th minute, also headed over the bar, and by now it's been a long while since we last saw Union in attack. A corner kick in the 79th is their return to action with a header by Branthwaite that Kretzschmar saves and holds easily, but one minute later Neves and Ball trade passes on the left wing of our attack before the midfielder whips a perfect cross towards the box for Özcan to volley into the net. Would've been a perfect cap to his return to action, but sadly he was offside. Union keep trying, and in the 83rd a long ball towards substitute attacking midfielder Jeanjean ends in a narrowly wide finish, thankfully for us. They then try a 4-2-3-1 shape for the final five minutes of the game, but it doesn't give them any results. A wide shot by Maina in injury time is all they can muster, while we enjoy a couple of good chances that end up in blocked shots by Miranda and Palomeque before the referee calls for the end of the game. Another win to end the year with. * * * TSV 1860 München 2 (Rodrigo Caraballo 32, Arnau Casas 49) 1.FC Union Berlin 0 - - - Much, much closer game than the scoreline might suggest. Similar in some ways to our win in Nürnberg in that Union gave us lots of trouble in the first half but we managed to take the lead anyway, and then killed the game in our favor in the second half. They certainly deserved at least one goal, but Kretzschmar had one of His Days (TM) and that was that. * * * | Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | GD | Pts | Form | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | RB Leipzig | 17 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 42 | 11 | 31 | 44 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | FC Bayern | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 43 | 13 | 30 | 40 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | 1860 München | 17 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 32 | 10 | 22 | 39 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Borussia Dortmund | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 12 | 10 | 33 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Hamburg | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 31 | 19 | 12 | 29 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Wolfsburg | 17 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 34 | 32 | 2 | 26 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | Mainz | 17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 24 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | Stuttgart | 17 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 21 | 23 | -2 | 21 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | Borussia M'gladbach | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 21 | 1 | 20 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | Nürnberg | 17 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 17 | 26 | -9 | 19 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | Union Berlin | 17 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 17 | 29 | -12 | 19 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | Freiburg | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 17 | 27 | -10 | 18 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | Bayer Leverkusen | 17 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 31 | -12 | 18 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | Augsburg | 17 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 28 | -10 | 17 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | Hertha BSC | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 25 | -8 | 16 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | Hoffenheim | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 29 | -13 | 16 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | Frankfurt | 17 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 15 | 35 | -20 | 15 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | Köln | 17 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 25 | -12 | 11 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| It's kind of funny seeing the likes of Wolfsburg and Mainz still hanging out with the big boys near the top while teams like Freiburg, Leverkusen, and Hertha remain mired in the bottom half and dangerously close to the drop. It's been a strange season so far for these teams, and the fact that there are only six points between Stuttgart at eighth and Eintracht at seventeenth probably has a lot to do with this. Looks like avoiding relegation will be a real struggle this year, with no doomed teams and everyone doing their best to hold onto their place in the division. Gonna be a fun season. As for us, there we are, still third and still really close to Bayern and a bit less close to Leipzig, who just can't seem to drop points anywhere. Still unbeaten by some miracle, the best part is that now that we enter the second half of the season most of the really dangerous teams (including the two teams ahead of us) will have to come to our stadium, with only Dortmund as an away fixture we might seriously struggle in. If we can manage to repeat our away performances against the top sides when playing them at home we have a real chance of achieving something big. Of course the winter transfer window is likely to have a huge influence on whether our winning form continues, too... * * * PLAYER STATS ============ Average rating (min. 6 games played): Rodrigo Caraballo 7.39 (13(4) apps) Arnau Casas 7.39 (13(2) apps) Vedat Özcan 7.34 (8(4) apps) Matías Miranda 7.29 (14(6) apps) Tom Kretzschmar 7.29 (17 apps) Goals: Julian Rijkhoff 9 goals Vedat Özcan 8 Rodrigo Caraballo 6 Jair Rodríguez 5 Joao Neves 5 Assists: Jair Rodríguez 7 assists Matías Miranda 6 Julian Rijkhoff 5 Rodrigo Caraballo 4 Jonatan Basualdo 4 * * * ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD Premier League: huh. Manchester City are not the leaders. Now that's different. Newcastle are the new owners of the first place in the Premier League table, although the Cityzens aren't too far away, only two points behind, with United and West Ham (yes, seriously) not that farther behind. Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal follow in the remaining European positions, but they're all already out of the title race unless they pull out a real miracle. The drop zone also has a couple of interesting inhabitants, with Aston Villa second from bottom, Fulham dead last, and Burnley, Blackburn, and Brentford all equally likely to be the third one down. LaLiga: another two-horse race in Spain, because change is overrated. This time it's Real Madrid with a small lead over Barça, but both have such a huge advantage over everyone else that it's already obvious no other team will ever get close to them. Real Sociedad, Sevilla, Valencia, and the surprising Sporting are currently in the European places, and there's also the shocking sight of Atlético in fourteenth place, only six points above the relegation zone. Said zone is also looking interesting, with Granada last with ten points and then four teams tied on fifteen: Alavés, Getafe, Tenerife, and Osasuna. Serie A: Juve are on their way to establishing another long period of domination over the Italian league, it seems. Granted, their lead over the two Milan sides is small, but the fact that they're consistently top year after year is already a good sign for their future, and a bad one for my interest in the competition. What's interesting is what follows behind, with Empoli, Udinese, and Fiorentina (who've been battling against relegation in recent years) currently in the noble zone of the table and ahead of usual suspects Roma, Lazio, and Napoli. At the bottom Spezia look like a certainty for relegation already, and Venezia and Torino have a lot of climbing to do if they want to escape the drop. Ligue 1: call me back when PSG are not dominating this league at their leisure, otherwise I'm not interested. If there's anything worth talking about here it's the fact that Lille are third from the bottom and seriously threatened by relegation. 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Dalbeider Posted February 5 Author Share Posted February 5 Dec 25th 2029 Christmas gift for Kretzschmar, Casas, and Miranda, who all make the last Team of the Week of 2029. Dec 31st 2029 One more gift for one of our players in the shape of an end-of-year almost-award: Rodríguez finishes second in the CONCACAF Player of the Year award, only behind Bayern's Alphonso Davies. Jan 1st 2030 Welcome to the thirties, and to a new transfer window. We already went over our most high-profile players being targetted by bigger teams, but there are some others attracting attention, including Stjepanovic, Casas, Thiago, Meunier, and even Basualdo, and most of them don't even want to start discussions on a new contract due to expecting much higher wages from the clubs interested. We're gonna have our work cut out for us this month to keep everyone here, or to find worthy replacements should anyone end up leaving. Jan 2nd 2030 Leeds start the party for real with an exchange deal for Rijkhoff, offering 22yo midfielder Jerónimo Hoyos for him. The values add up, but with the player not particularly interested in a move there we're free to say no and wait for a better option. Freiburg then keep it up with a €25.5M bid for Stjepanovic, fair value for him but again, the player isn't interested so it's a no-go from the start. I won't be listing all the offers we receive during the whole window and reject outright, but assume there's at least a couple every single day. Sigh. Jan 9th 2030 After a few days the onslaught of offers seems to die down, with only Freiburg returning with an improved offer for Stjepanovic we still reject without hesitation. In fact it looks like teams are starting to look elsewhere in general, with Atlético apparently no longer interested in Rodríguez and no other club taking their place. Caraballo, Rijkhoff, Meunier, and Casas still have some teams trailing them, but offers aren't coming just yet. We might actually survive the winter with an unchanged squad... Jan 13th 2030 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen (13th) (Bundesliga, 18/34) And back into action, this year without any winter friendlies at all. Not sure if that'll prove to be a good idea or not... Anyway, it says something about Leverkusen's season so far that their current 13th place is most likely the high point of the year. They've been hanging by a thread the whole season, and spent a good portion of the first half inside the drop zone. They're still only two points over, though, so they might be returning there sooner rather than later... * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) LEVERKUSEN (3-2-2-2-1): Tomás Serrano (GK); Maximilian Blücher (DCr), Oier Gil (DC), Christopher Jimenez (DCl); Daniel Saltro (WBR), Adnan Ismail (WBL); Florian Wirtz (MCr), Vieira (MCl); Moussa Diaby (AMR), Reinaldo Junio (AML); Tunay Can (ST) * * * Gone and forgotten is the flat 4-4-2 era for Leverkusen, and since ex-Frankfurt man Adi Hütter took the reins in late November they've been using this 3-6-1-slash-3-4-3 variant we already saw in Eintracht and Gladbach previously. We can finally enjoy a fully healthy squad, and Schulze and Özcan return to the lineup today to quickly get their fitness levels up to scratch. As expected, we face a tough battle in midfield from the start, and Leverkusen seem to have the upper hand in that early battle, even managing to score through Can in the ninth minute from an offside position. In the 14th minute we take our first chance to run in a bit of a quick break, Miranda sends the ball into the box for Özcan, who drops to the left before crossing low towards Rodríguez for a well-placed finish that becomes the 1-0 in literally our first shot at goal. The lead gives us an energy boost, and soon Miranda is testing Serrano from outside the box with a shot that the keeper holds after an initial block. Kretzschmar does the same on the opposite end of the pitch in the 21st, stopping a dangerous shot from distance by Wirtz in Leverkusen's first legal chance. Blücher follows it up with a narrowly wide header in a corner kick, but even though they have more possession we still manage to keep them away from our goal without too much trouble. We return to attacking ways in the 37th with a flat shot from outside the box that Touré that hits a defender and is deflected wide, but four minutes later Wirtz a set piece on the right side of Leverkusen's attack, his cross headed by Gil from just inside the box with a weird curve that Kretzschmar can't grasp and that becomes the 1-1. Miranda goes for the quick answer with another long shot that sails over the bar in the 44th, but that's the last we can produce before the first half reaches its end. HALF TIME - 1-1 Diaby needs only twenty seconds of the second half to play a quick one-two with Saltro down the right and enter the box, eventually shooting straight at Kretzschmar from a difficult angle. We respond with a long passing play and a good assist by Rodríguez towards Schulze, who also fails to make the chance count and makes it easy for Serrano to deflect his finish wide. In the 57th it's our turn once again, and this time Amador generates the chance with a great pass into space ahead of Caraballo, who performs a great control, runs at Serrano, and makes some space for himself to finish the job with ease. We remain in control after retaking the lead, slowly increasing our possession rates. Soon it's time for substitutions, though, starting with the still somewhat unfit Schulze, who leaves his place to Palomeque, and Miranda who is replaced by Neves after a rare bad game. Our renewed midfield continues passing the ball around, eventually leading to a cross by Neves that Özcan heads into Serrano's hands in the 65th minute. Javorcic for Touré is our last substitution, and Leverkusen now don't look as threatening as they did in the second half. Özcan gets another header in after a cross by Amador in the 71st, also well saved by Serrano as we continue with our newfound domination. The striker almost scores the third four minutes later, his finish following a low cross by Neves only going wide by inches after a last-ditch block by Jimenez, and then Casas heads the corner kick a bit over the bar, as is tradition. A bit later Özcan passes the ball back outside the box for a long distance attempt by Javorcic that goes clearly wide to the left, and we soon enter the final minutes of the game looking completely in control. Leverkusen change their formation to a two-forward one without wingers, but not even the surprise factor seems to faze us. A chance for Palomeque in injury time goes wide for a corner kick after another defensive block, Casas heads the corner better this time but Serrano still saves, and the game ends shortly after in another win for us. * * * TSV 1860 München 2 (Jair Rodríguez 14, Rodrigo Caraballo 57) Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1 (Oier Gil 41) - - - Again, a similar game to our previous wins with a quite level first half and an extremely one-sided second half. Well deserved win for us in the end, with good playmaking around Leverkusen's overpopulated defense and Amador having an absolute stormer on the right wing, both in defense and in attack. Caraballo is suddenly turning into a very reliable goalscorer, just now that he's extremely likely to leave... That makes twenty-six games without losing, which is a new team record. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 Jan 15th 2030 Amador makes the Team of the Week after a fine performance against Leverkusen. Half of the month gone and still no serious offers for any of our players, huh. I'm gonna be very angry if everything happens in the last day of the window once again... Jan 19th 2030 Borussia Dortmund (4th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 19/34) A game I've been dreading for a while now. Sure, we've beaten them in our last two meetings, but those were at home. Dortmund in their stadium are a very dangerous beast, and one very likely to end our unbeaten run in a swift and decisive blow. Would be fantastic to get out of here with our run still going, and knowing for sure that we'll remain third no matter what happens today (we're eight points ahead now) absolutely helps to keep us relaxed and focused. Let's see what we can do. * * * DORTMUND (4-3-3): Gregor Kobel (GK); Mohamed Simakan (DR), Linus Gechter (DCr), Niklas Süle (DCl), Arthur Theate (DL); Angelo Stiller (DM), Hannibal (MCr), Kacper Kozlowski (MCl); Samuel Chukwueze (AMR), Giovanni Reyna (AML), Luka Jovic (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Tomislav Javorcic (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * We rotate the squad to keep everyone involved and match fit, rather than due to any specific need. Meanwhile Dortmund repeat almost exactly the same eleven that lost in our stadium back in August, only with Reyna in Hlozek's usual place in the left wing. Hlozek isn't even on the bench today, which is always good news for us. Things start exciting, with a foul by Rodríguez on Hannibal just on the very edge of the box that requires VAR verification just in case it's a penalty, and then with Theate heading that set piece narrowly over, all within the first minute of the game. Dortmund certainly want to get off to a positive start and push us back into our own half in the initial minutes of the game, although our defense holds on really well too, only allowing a weak header by Hannibal that Kretzschmar catches easily and a long shot by Kozlowski that flies all the way into the highest stands in the stadium. We have possession most of the time, although almost always far away from the danger zone, but it's still a way to avoid any further attacks from Dortmund, who soon lose their early flair and settle down into a more paused game pace, one in which there are no more chances for a long time. We go all the way until the 37th minute for something else to happen, which is a wide finish by Kozlowzski after a pass from the right by Chukwueze. Our first dangerous shot comes six minutes later in a rare run forward by Amador (who's having a much tougher game today having to deal with Reyna) that he finishes with a not too well placed shot, straight into Kobel's hands. That's also the last action of a not particularly exciting first half. HALF TIME - 0-0 The second half starts slow, too, with Reyna needing over ten minutes to shoot well over in Dortmund's first approach after half time, while also being offside. Soon we make a triple change, removing three underperforming players in Amador, Rodríguez, and Rijkhoff and bringing in Ball, Miranda, and Özcan to try and improve our game. Dortmund remain in control, but they still struggle to generate any real danger, resorting to long shots that never threaten Kretzschmar in any serious way. A corner kick in our favor in the 71st ends with the ball being cleared out of Dortmund's box, but Ernesto manages to gather it back and shoot narrowly over. Dortmund don't do much better with their attack, and with fifteen minutes on the clock they decide to change to a 4-2-3-1 with Traoré behind substitute striker Vidovic. That change seems to give us more freedom in midfield, and soon a quick attack down the right ends with Palomeque assisting Özcan, who fails to hit the ball correctly and sends it straight at Kobel in our best chance of the game so far. Equally good is Dortmund's next chance, generated by a defensive unbalance that leaves Chukwueze unmarked on the right of their attack, although thankfully Kretzschmar fixes that mistake with a great save in the end. The winger soon gets another opportunity, but this time Ball goes down to block his shot and the ball bubbles harmlessly into Kretzschmar's hands. Injury time brings another chance for Chukwueze, who volleys wide a great run-and-cross down the left by Theate. And then, with time almost running out, a low cross into the box by Chukwueze finds its way to Reyna, but the attacking midfielder mishits his finish and the ball goes wide by about half a foot. We survive in the end, though, and steal a point from the Signal Iduna Park with another good defensive show to keep our run going a bit longer. * * * Borussia Dortmund 0 TSV 1860 München 0 - - - I'll take it happily. For once the second half wasn't our best moment of the game, and in fact we suffered quite a bit in the final third when Emery decided to go for broke with that formation change. The only reason it didn't work for them was because their finishing was abysmal today, with Reyna and Chukwueze missing way too many chances. Kretzschmar also did his part, as did an excellent Ernesto. Our midfield and attack were almost unheard of today, though, which makes this point taste even sweeter. Still, we need to do better than this when we face up against Leipzig and Bayern in the future if we want to have any hopes of cutting their lead. That said, today we do cut Leipzig's lead down by a point after a shocking 5-0 defeat by the leaders in Hamburg. Not sure what happened there, to be honest... Meanwhile Bayern (who just offered €67M for Leverkusen's Tunay Can, just because they don't have enough forwards already) also lose in their visit to Nürnberg, meaning their only lead on us right now is a +9 on goal difference. All according to keikaku. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 Jan 26th 2030 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. Sport-Club Freiburg (11th) (Bundesliga, 20/34) Another season of midtable mediocrity for Freiburg, more or less as expected at the start. They're currently right in the middle of the pack, five points away from Europe and also five points above the relegation playoff, so their season could still go either way. Their form isn't particularly great, though, with only two wins in their last nine games and coming into this fixture after a home 0-0 draw with last-placed Köln. We should win this. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) FREIBURG (4-2-3-1): Bart Verbruggen (GK); Hugo Siquet (DR), Laurin Moser (DCr), Eric Martel (DCl), Julio Ayala (DL); Peter Jano (MCr), Yangel Herrera (MCl); Almeida (AMR), Lazar Samardzic (AMC), Danrlei (AML), Nicolai Skoglund (ST) * * * Once again we rotate our starting eleven to keep everyone fit through this one month in which we don't have to deal with midweek fixtures. Herrera and Danrlei are Freiburg's only changes from our previous meeting, a match we won with a last second goal by Neves, so we can expect a tough game today, too. The game starts with possession split almost equally between both teams, but we do get an early chance thanks to a long pass by Thiago that Moser fails to head away, allowing Özcan to control the ball and try to round Verbruggen, who reacts quickly to block the finish and prevent a quick lead for us. Another great chance comes in the 7th minute in a counterattack led by Caraballo and finished by Schulze, but once again denied by a great save by the keeper. After that, though, the game gets mired in a battle for the center with no clear winner, and the keepers enjoy a quite long respite until the 25th minute, when a throw-in on the left side of our attack ends with Caraballo controlling and shooting inside the box only for Ayala to get in the way and clear the ball away. One minute later Schulze sends a great little pass into the box ahead of Özcan, who somehow misses the target completely with his finish. Meanwhile Freiburg haven't had a single shot at goal thus far, completely focused on defending and making life difficult for us. The turning point arrives in the 29th, when Thiago spots Miranda's run into the box and sends a great pass from deep so the midfielder can finish it with his usual coolness and score the 1-0. Seven minutes later Freiburg finally get near our box with a play down their left flank, Samardzic sends a cross towards the far post, and Almeida shows up to head it almost unopposed, prompting a botched attempt at a save by Kretzschmar that ends with the ball in the back of our net. Miranda tries luck with a direct free kick soon after, but Verbruggen does well this time to save and hold the ball, then in the 41st a great recovery by Touré turns into a quick attack that the same left back finishes with a run into the box and a pass back towards the center so Özcan can finish it with great ease. Suddenly the game has gone crazy. There's still time for a run by Rodríguez through the center that a timely block by Martel prevents from becoming the 3-1 and a header by Stjepanovic in that corner kick, well saved by Verbruggen. We then reach the 45th minute, and Verbruggen takes an innocent-looking goal kick towards Samardzic, Stjepanovic completely mistimes his clearance attempt, and the attacking midfielder just has to run into the box and dribble past Kretzschmar to draw the game once again. A first half in which Freiburg took two shots at goal for our twelve somehow ends 2-2. HALF TIME - 2-2 After reassuring the players that we've been the best team so far, by far, we go into the second half looking for another lead, and soon Schulze sets Caraballo up for a run at the keeper that Verbruggen's save turns into a corner kick. The game is not as free-flowing as the final part of the first half was, though, and now Freiburg are actually putting some pressure on us, even generating a decent chance through a cross by Siquet that Skoglund heads straight at Kretzschmar in the 58th minute. One minute later, though, Rodríguez assists Caraballo for another run through the center, but a tackle from behind by Ayala is spotted by VAR and somehow turned into a quite dubious penalty. In a painful moment of karmic justice, though, Verbruggen manages to block Miranda's penalty kick and keep the result unchanged. Neves is soon called to come in Schulze's place and try to reignite our attacking spark. That doesn't seem to work, though, and ten more minutes of nothing much happening pass until we decide to bring Palomeque and Ernesto for Rodríguez and Lang, both surprisingly mediocre today. Another run inside the box by Caraballo is stopped short by a good block from Moser, while on the other end a cross from the right allows Herrera to test Kretzschmar with a good-looking header, well held by the keeper. Just like that, we find ourselves in the final ten minutes with the game still tied. We go all out then, trying our best to find a goal as quickly as possible, but only getting close in a corner kick that Stjepanovic heads straight at Verbruggen in the 87th. One minute later a long pass forward allows Danriel a dangerous run into the box, and Kretzschmar has to work hard to deflect his finish wide and prevent a bigger scare. That corner kick turns out to be decisive, though, as our clearance turns into a picture perfect counterattack in which Caraballo times his final pass perfectly to leave Özcan completely alone against Verbruggen, and the striker finishes it decisively with a beautiful chip over the keeper to score the 3-2. Injury time brings another miracle save by Verbruggen to deny Ernesto in a corner kick, but no last-second threats to our hard-earned victory. * * * TSV 1860 München 3 (Matías Miranda 29, Vedat Özcan 41 89) Sport-Club Freiburg 2 (Almeida 37, Lazad Samardzic 45) - - - We can't have a quiet game against Freiburg, it seems. Absolutely deserved win with some incredible goalkeeping by Verbruggen, while Kretzschmar on the other goal allowed Freiburg's first two shots to go in and almost cost us the win in the end. We pulled through, though, and that's one thing this squad has been doing consistently this year, always managing to get results even when things go wrong in almost every possible way. Caraballo and Özcan were excellent upfront today regardless of multiple misses, and I really hope the Venezuelan will still be here for our next match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 Jan 29th 2030 Özcan's two goals earn him a place in the Team of the Week. Jan 31st 2030 And into the final day of the winter transfer window we go. Ideally I want this to be completely irrelevant for our interests, but I know things usually don't work that way. At the very least interest in our players seems to be minimal compared to what it was one month ago, with only Casas, Caraballo, and Rijkhoff as likely ones to receive offers. Let's hope that doesn't change. Six hours left and still no movement. The big news of the day is Leverkusen selling Tunay Can to Bayern for €67M, because what else is new, Faticanti to Atlético for €25M, and also being set to lose Eyüp Aydin after transfer listing him. Smells quite bad for them, considering they're currently in the relegation zone and selling their best players with few hints of any equal replacements coming anytime soon. Three hours. Rumours about Spurs wanting to pay Caraballo's release clause intensify, but still no bids coming our way. One hour, still nothing. Worst possible moment for anything to happen. And the German transfer window closes without incident. Phew. There's still a possibility that a foreign team will come and want to do some business when we have no way to find a replacement, but hopefully that won't happen now. Feb 1st 2030 All transfer windows in Europe's major leagues close and our squad still remains intact, yay. Good news today: Caraballo's €24M release clause expires, meaning anyone who wants to buy him will have to pay much more than that. Even better, after two windows waiting for someone to buy him but no one coming, Rodríguez is now happy to stay with us for the time being. Yay! We'll probably offer them both new contracts in the near future just to keep them happy in the long term. Feb 2nd 2030 VfL Wolfsburg (6th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 21/34) With Mainz a bit on the decline after their fantastic start, Wolfsburg have now officially become the surprise package of the season. After many years hovering dangerously close to the relegation positions and even having to deal with a relegation in 2025 and a playoff appearance in 2028, now they're pushing hard for European qualification just two years later. Probably one of the toughest away fixtures we have left to play, even if we haven't lost to them in our last seven meetings. * * * WOLFSBURG (4-2-3-1): Vladislav Torop (GK); Felix Passlack (DR), Dmitry Alborov (DCr), Moritz Jenz (DCl), Jefté (DL); Rodrigo Quiroz (MCr), Maximilian Arnold (MCl); Yaser Asprilla (AMR), Piotr Starzynski (AMC), Jovane Cabral (AML), Elias Havel (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * We have an important cup derby against Augsburg in just three days, so we save some of our starters for that fixture today. Wolfsburg have just lost Busio to Leipzig, but still have a very strong eleven playing today, and they show by starting the game fully on the offensive, keeping us trapped inside our own half for the first few minutes. Their shots are not too dangerous, though, and in the seventh minute we manage to escape and create our first chance with Rodríguez assisting Basualdo with a perfect little through ball and the forward sending his finish into the root of the post and clear. One minute later Asprilla manages to dribble his way into the box and crosses low, Kretzschmar dives to intercept, but the ball rolls towards Havel and the striker only needs to pass it into the net to give Wolfsburg the lead. h Time for a comeback, and in the tenth minute Basualdo shows us the way with great pressure to steal a ball from Quiroz, although his shot afterwards goes a little too high. Five minutes later Neves finds Palomeque inside the box, Jefté tackles the ball away from him, but it only goes as far as Rijkhoff, who finds himself in a perfect position to shoot with Torop slightly out of position and scores the 1-1, and his tenth goal of the season. In the 18th, though, a fantastic cross from the right by Asprilla finds Cabral unmarked on the far post and the left winger taps it into the net for the 2-1. Back to the drawing board. It gets worse, as in the 22nd Asprilla once again leaves Ball for dead with a burst of speed, enters the box, then assists Havel for another easy finish that becomes the 3-1. First time we concede three this season, and it only took this long. The game slows down then, right when we don't want it to, but in the 34th minute we return to attacking duties with a good run into the left wing by Neves, who then turns around and whips the ball into the box for Rijkhoff's header, perfectly placed past Torop to make it 3-2. This madness of a game continues with Palomeque receiving from Neves inside the box and shooting into Torop's parry, but after that things calm down once again and the result holds until half time. Lots of work to do still. HALF TIME - 3-2 We continue attacking into the second half, soon seeing a shot by Neves deflected away by the defense, and in the 49th Rijkhoff receives another great assist from Neves but fails to complete his first chance at a hattrick, his finish blocked by Torop. Next the striker runs into the left flank and crosses low for Basualdo, who once again finds the woodwork with his shot. The unlucky forward is soon replaced by Caraballo, while Javorcic takes Ball's place on the left back. Miranda then replaces Palomeque, as our attacking flair from the early minutes of the half seems to dissolve into nothingness. Rijkhoff blasts over the bar our next good chance in the 67th following a long ball from Caraballo, but time is starting to run short and our attack is now struggling to create danger with consistency. We repeat the same play ten minutes later, once again with Caraballo assisting Rijkhoff with a pass from deep, and this time the striker even fails to find the target, shooting wide in the end. Rijkhoff himself generates another clear-cut chance with a pass into space for Rodríguez, who does exactly the same the striker did earlier: shoot wide when the goal looked almost certain. With under ten minutes on the clock we increase our attacking pressure to its limit, and in the 84th a corner kick taken by Miranda is headed across the goal mouth by Casas so Rijkhoff can hammer it inside on the far post, finally completing his hattrick and drawing the game. We want to push for a winner, but with only two minutes on the clock Rodríguez goes down with a groin injury and we're forced to end the game with only ten men on the pitch. Wolfsburg suddenly remember they can attack, too, and a corner kick early in injury time ends with Asprilla heading it narrowly over. Then they also suffer an injury of their own, with Jefté forced to abandon the pitch, and things become equal once again for the very end of the game. Miranda almost gets the fourth then, his direct free kick deflected over the bar by Torop with an excellent save which he repeats seconds later to hold Casas's header in the corner kick that follows. After seven minutes of injury time, this crazy game ends in a fair 3-3 draw. * * * VfL Wolfsburg 3 (Elias Havel 8 22, Jovane Cabral 18) TSV 1860 München 3 (Julian Rijkhoff 15 34 84) - - - Madness. Our solid defense up until these last two weeks seems to have gone the way of the dodo, and Kretzschmar has entered one of his rare phases where he just can't stop conceding goals. Not completely his fault today, Asprilla tore us a new one in the first half hour, although then he thankfully went silent and allowed us to dominate the rest of the game, having more than enough chances to deserve the final result, and probably more. Rijkhoff and Rodríguez had two absolute sitters that should've been goals, for starters... Oh well, lesser evil given how the game started, although Leipzig escape back to six points ahead after destroying Augsburg six to one and Bayern also regain a two-point lead on us after a narrow 2-3 win in Leverkusen. Best news of the day is that Rodríguez's injury turns out to be nothing serious, and he'll be available (if tired) for our next fixtures without issue. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 9 Author Share Posted February 9 Feb 5th 2030 A hattrick is worth a presence in the Team of the Week for sure, and Rijkhoff gets exactly that. * * * TSV 1860 München vs. FC Augsburg (DFB Pokal third round) And back to the cup with the mini-derby, a game I've had marked in my calendar for a while now. Augsburg are among a handful of teams who've been capable of stealing points from our new stadium this season in a goalless draw, and that plus the whole rivalry thing going on makes this match hard to predict. On the other hand Leipzig just put six past them in the league, so hey. There'll be pressure on us both from the fans and from the board, not just to win the derby but to fulfill our expectations in the competition. Let's see how we handle it. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Matías Miranda (MC), Juan David Palomeque (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) AUGSBURG (4-2-3-1): Adam Stejskal (GK); Ridha Benzarti (DR), Yerson Mosquera (DCr), Niklas Stark (DCl), Marat Gadjiev (DL); Thorben Rhein (MCr), Darko Churlinov (MCl); Stefan Tol (AMR), Diyar Yilmaz (AMC), Rubén Vargas (AML); Randal Kolo Muani (ST) * * * Full team rotation today, with Rodríguez missing the game altogether after his knock against Wolfsburg, but Schulze returning to action in his place. Young Althoff makes the bench, too. Augsburg also shake their eleven around a bit from what we saw last time, yet all they can do is watch as Caraballo gets things started with an unopposed run through the center and a weak finish into Stejskal's hands only thirty seconds into the game. Promising start, but after that Augsburg put us under heavy pressure for a few minutes, although the only tangible thing they get out of it is a high ball from the edge of the box by Yilmaz in the tenth minute. Four minutes later Rexhepi is called to action for the first time with a dangerous shot by Churlinov that the young keeper tips over the bar, but by now Augsburg's territorial domination is starting to get a little bit worrying. We answer through a cross by Touré that Schulze heads with little power, making it easy for Stejskal, but in the very next play Schulze himself controls a pass by Özcan outside the box and with space ahead of him, and the midfielder doesn't hesitate to move forward and shoot with power into the underside of the bar and in to score the 1-0. Beautiful. Being ahead means losing possession doesn't worry us all that much, as long as Augsburg keep doing little worth mentioning with it. We go all the way until the 30th minute until something happens to bring the fear back into our fans' hearts, a beautiful pass into space by Churlinov towards Kolo Muani, who runs at Rexhepi unopposed but misses the target with a wide finish. That's a sign we need to start working hard to deserve this win, and Thiago responds with a wide long range effort only three minutes later. Things seem to even out in midfield after that, and the game becomes mired in a positional battle until the final minute of regulation, when a quick passing play ends in a blocked finish by Özcan. The corner kick that follows has a bit of everything: a header by Stjepanovic blocked by Stejskal, Thiago gathering the cleared ball and shooting straight into the crossbar, and then Schulze smashing the final rebound into Caraballo's legs and wide. With that bout of temporary madness, the first half ends with our momentary victory. HALF TIME - 1-0 Just like the first half started with a chance for us, the second starts with a cross by Benzarti and a first-time finish by Yilmaz that Rexhepi saves well. Hopefully that's the only thing that'll be mirrored... We soon reply with a long pass by Schulze towards Caraballo, who once again finds himself alone against the keeper and once again fails to find a way past, his finish deflected wide by Stejskal in the end. Wide also goes Stjepanovic's header in the resulting corner kick, and in the 52nd Caraballo decides to focus on assisting and leaves Miranda in an equally fantastic position to score, but once again the keeper blocks the finish and our lead remains minimal for a while longer. Seconds later the corner kick is cleared out but only as far as Ernesto, who curls a beauty that Stejskal barely manages to deflect into the crossbar and over. Palomeque is the next one to find the keeper in the way of his finish one minute later after a great combination through the center with Miranda, then Stejskal does it again by saving over the line another header by Stjepanovic, then watching Palomeque's long distance attempt after the clearance go harmlessly over. The second feels close, but we're struggling to make it into a reality. We're not having any luck today, and Schulze shows it once again in the 62nd minute when Caraballo once again assists and the midfielder finds a way around Stejskal with his shot, but finds the root of the post there instead. Three woodwork strikes for us already, right before a tired Palomeque is replaced by Neves. Things calm down a bit afterwards, although we remain in command and Augsburg seem to have forgotten how to attack. Ball then takes Miranda's place, pushing Thiago forward and taking his role as a defensive midfielder. And finally, in the 72nd minute, a rare attacking movement by Augsburg ends in a steal in our own half, followed by a lightning-quick counterattack that Caraballo finishes with a pinpoint assist towards Özcan, who runs into the box and rounds the keeper to score the long awaited 2-0. With the result now much clearer we take the chance to give Althoff his first first-team minutes in Javorcic's place, with Touré moving to the right and our two promising youngsters filling both full back positions. The following minutes are the absolute opposite of eventful, something that works out just fine for us. A header by substitute Eftimove two minutes before fulltime licks the upside of the bar before going over in Augsburg's most dangerous approach, but afterwards there's only a saved finish by Thiago following a good assist from Neves in injury time and very little else. A solid win and another step forward in the competition. * * * TSV 1860 München 2 (Maximilian Schulze 19, Vedat Özcan 72) FC Augsburg 0 - - - Thoroughly professional win, managing to overcome a tough start with a spectacular goal from Schulze and then slowly but surely turning the game around in our favor until we completely dominated them in the second half, as is almost traditional lately. We should've scored at least a couple more, but Stejskal had a great game and prevented a major thumping of our little rivals. Quarterfinals reached, and now we have a chance to repeat last year's heroics and make it all the way. Thirty games unbeaten and counting! Oh, and Althoff's debut makes him the youngest player to ever play for 1860's senior side. Nice. There are a few surprising exits in this round, including Freiburg losing at home to St. Pauli. The big bombs would drop the next day, though, with Gladbach and Hertha kicking out Dortmund and Leipzig respectively. Dresden couldn't do the same with Bayern and lost 4-0, though, so the big one is still lurking. Let's see if we can dodge them until the final once again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 Feb 7th 2030 No Bayern in the quarterfinals, thankfully, but we still got a pretty nasty pairing against our next league opposition: Gladbach. At least we play once again at home, which is always nice. HSV and Hertha, the only other surviving Bundesliga sides, will also face each other, meaning Bayern got a home tie against St. Pauli (the lucky bastards, once again), and Fortuna and Hannover will play each other to guarantee at least one 2.Bundesliga team in the semis. Fun. Feb 9th 2030 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach (8th) (Bundesliga, 22/34) Looking at both teams' positions it looks like Gladbach are dangerously close to us, but then you look at the table and realize that the real distance is twenty-one points. Yes, that's how far we are from dropping out of Europe altogether... Gladbach's season so far has been so-so, but they're in the cup quarterfinals so they must be doing something right. Still a game we should win, both for our aspirations in the Bundesliga and as a general essay of our upcoming meeting in the DFB Pokal. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Joao Neves (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) GLADBACH (3-2-2-2-1): Nico Mantl (GK); Marco Katinic (DCr), Igor Diveev (DC), Nicola Bartolini (DCl); Horst Billesfeld (WBR), César Magaña (WBL); Antoni Milambo (MCr), Mike Kleijn (MCl); Edgar Santacruz (AMR), Anthony Stephens (AML); Jonas Wind (ST) * * * That said, last time we met they managed to put us in trouble and steal a point from us, so we'd better be careful. We once again rotate almost the whole squad today, with Rodríguez back in action and Miranda repeating from our midweek fixture, while we once again come across a familiar face in Gladbach's lineup with Magaña, who's having yet another very mediocre year in his new team. Possession starts split, but we strike first with a long pass from Neves towards Rijkhoff, who controls inside the box but is denied by Mantl's save. Gladbach reply with a good dribble and cross by Santacruz for Stephens' cushioned header, easy for Kretzschmar. The match is still not particularly brilliant attacking-wise, though, not helped by Gladbach's three center-backs plugging our preferred area to strike through. We still have our high pressing to rely on, though, and it's that pressure on their back line that yields results in the 18th minute: Miranda steals the ball from Katinic and quickly passes it forward to Rijkhoff, who turns around and shoots it straight at the top left corner of Mantl's goal from the edge of the box to score a beautiful 1-0. Gladbach's response is another weak header by Stephens, this one rolling harmlessly wide, then a much more dangerous-looking corner kick that Santacruz takes to the near post and Diveev heads narrowly over. Things seem largely under control outside of those isolated chances, however, and we wait for a chance to strike again that comes in the 31st through a long pass by Amador towards the center, gathered by Rodríguez in one of his traditional forward runs and finished with a powerful, low shot that hits the inside of the post before rolling over the line, becoming the 2-0. Seven minutes later we return again with a high shot from distance by Miranda, but other than that we just control the game at our leisure and allow the first half to reach its end. There's a last second run into the box by Milambo that Casas solves with a great block, but otherwise it's been really comfortable for us so far. HALF TIME - 2-0 The second half starts slowly, with Gladbach trying a bit harder on attack but never finding a way through to really threaten Kretzschmar. After taking it easy for a while we finally hit them back with an attacking play of our own in the 57th, and after many short passes all over the pitch a combination through the center allows Rijkhoff to find Neves behind the defense and the midfielder faces Mantl, chips the ball over him, and scores the 3-0. Game set. Ernesto, Palomeque, and Touré enter the game soon afterwards, and nothing of note happens until the 70th when Stephens tries another header after a cross from the right, finally putting Kretzschmar in some trouble that the keepers solves by pushing the ball away with a good show of reflexes. Four minutes later Touré tries luck from outside the box but sends the ball narrowly over, then Rijkhoff sets Rodríguez up for another run through the center, this time well stopped by Mantl. The keeper does well again in the 78th, blocking a smart finish by Rijkhoff trying to put the ball through the gap between him and the near post, then he manages to save and hold a finish by Basualdo following a low cross by Ball. Mantl remains as the only Gladbach player to have any positive contribution during the final stretch, though, as they never create any further chances and we stroll into another easy win to keep us flying high. * * * TSV 1860 München 3 (Julian Rijkhoff 18, Jair Rodríguez 31, Joao Neves 57) Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 - - - You know you've made it to the top tier in the division when a 3-0 drubbing of a consistent top-half performer like Gladbach starts feeling like routine. It wasn't our best game of the season by any means, but we managed to turn whatever advantages we could find into a quick and decisive lead, and from then there was no stopping us, particularly if your attack is as pedestrian as Gladbach's was today. Magaña had an absolute stinker for them today, too, which vindicates our decision to sell him. Our position in the top four becomes even more solid today after defeats for both Wolfsburg (in Mainz) and HSV (against last-placed Köln). The big game of the week happened in the Allianz-Arena, though, where Bayern copied our result in der Klassiker against Dortmund and put Emery's boys nine points behind us in fourth place. To round up a very positive week for us, Hertha and Leipzig draw 3-3 in a repeat of their recent cup meeting, and now the leaders are only two points ahead of Bayern and four ahead of us. Worth noting: there are only six teams with positive goal difference in the league right now, and one of them (Mainz) is at just +1. Even weirder, there are just eleven points between sixth-placed Wolfsburg and seventeenth-placed Leverkusen, which is less distance than between us in third place and Hamburg in fifth. This league has gone mad. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 Feb 17th 2030 Hamburger SV (5th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 23/34) Now we enter a quite nightmarish stretch, starting with this away match in Hamburg, following with a trip to England to face Leeds in the Europa League, then hosting league leaders Leipzig and once again Leeds for the return leg. Phew. If our unbeaten season remains so after all this I'll be incredibly happy, but also surprised. First things first, though, and although we're the farthest ahead we've ever been from HSV since we both reached the Bundesliga, this won't be an easy match by any means. They're still the first team to steal points from our new stadium, after all. * * * HSV (4-2-3-1): Bekir Dereli (GK); Marcel Neigenfink (DR), Jamie Lawrence (DCr), Justin Janitzek (DCl), Andrii Buleza (DL); Burak Ince (MCr), Ludovic Reis (MCl); Faride Alidou (AMR), Tin Vrljicak (AMC), Dimitris Paligeorgos (AML); Mazinho (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) * * * It's nice having a full week to recover the squad and being able to pick whichever starting eleven I want for a change. We go with a mix of starters and backups to keep our team competitive throughout these two weeks, with Casas as the only forced absence due to suspension. HSV repeat the exact same eleven that drew 1-1 in Munich, and we go on to dominate the early game possession-wise, although needing nine long minutes to create our first chance in a run by Özcan kickstarted by Schulze and well saved by Dereli. There's very little action otherwise, with HSV now trying to press our defensive line to limit our buildup play but forgetting about attacking in the process. Minutes pass without changes, the one exception being a direct free kick taken by Ince in the 23rd minute with his usual quality, forcing Kretzschmar into a difficult save for a corner kick. We need fourteen more minutes to create the next chance, Rodríguez being the culprit with a short pass inside the box towards Schulze, who gets it completely wrong and shoots miles over. In the 40th minute, though, a quick counterattack after a blocked shot by Alidou brings the ball to Caraballo, and the forward continues with his amazing recent form with a pinpoint pass towards Rodríguez, who breaks the offside trap by half an inch and beats Dereli to score the 0-1. Rodríguez soon has a chance for a second following a great ball from Javorcic, but this time he can't find the target with his finish and the ball flies into the stands. With the home team still reeling, the end of the first half comes to their aid before we can grow our lead any further. HALF TIME - 0-1 HSV don't look much sharper after the break, and after ten minutes of neither team managing any breakthroughs Miranda gathers a pass into space and drops towards the left for a cross that Schulze heads well, but straight at Dereli's hands. A solid Javorcic is replaced soon after by Amador to protect him from a likely second yellow card, while Palomeque takes Schulze's place to keep our midfield fresh. Time keeps passing without any reaction from HSV, so we make our third substitution and bring Neves into the game in Rodríguez's place. Kretzschmar finally has something to do in the 73rd minute, although it's an easy catch to deny Amaechi's header following a cross from the left by Alidou. We hit back six minutes later when Özcan brings down a clearance so Caraballo can then assist Palomeque on the run, only for Dereli to block the midfielder's somewhat hesitant finish. Lang then heads the corner kick narrowly over just as we enter the final ten minutes of the game. One minute later, though, we find ourselves in an unexpected predicament when Palomeque is forced to abandon the game due to an injury in his arm, which means we must pull Caraballo back a bit to help in midfield duties. We obviously switch to a much more conservative style to preserve our lead and it seems to work just fine, with HSV only managing a single approach in the 88th minute through Cros, who gathers a long ball inside the box but sees Kretzschmar cover what little space he has left to score through. Cros tries luck once again one minute later with a high ball from the edge of the box, but injury time only brings a direct free kick that Miranda sends over at the very last second and we secure the three points with room to spare in the end. * * * Hamburger SV 0 TSV 1860 München 1 (Jair Rodríguez 39) - - - Solid. Even when we went one man down in the last ten minutes we never really looked like losing this, even though we weren't at our sharpest attacking-wise today. It helps when you have players like Rodríguez who know when to push forward, and who're also learning to take their chances very consistently as of late. Important win, too, since everyone else involved in the top of the league won today, so we needed the three points to keep the pace. The bad news today is, of course, Palomeque's injury. There are few kinds of arm injury that force a player to abandon the game outright, and a fracture is the most obvious one. He'll be sent to a specialist to recover as quickly as possible, but he'll still miss a bit over a month in the most decisive part of the season. Ball is also out of the Leipzig game after picking his fifth yellow card of the year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 Feb 19th 2030 Lang led our defensive efforts against HSV and earns himself a place in the Team of the Week as a result. Feb 21st 2030 Leeds United vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League 1st knockout stage, 1st leg) And here we are, back in England. Our two games against Leicester in the Europa League group stage were among the toughest we've had to face this season, so pairing up against Leeds in the knockouts isn't exactly idea, even more considering they're Champions League dropouts. Then again, while Leicester remain in contention for European qualification this season, Leeds are having a bit of a torrid year, currently only eleventh in the Premier League and having lost their last four games there. We have a chance to progress, but we'll have to be at our best. * * * LEEDS (4-4-2): Etienne Green (GK); Matthew Sorinola (DR), Joachim Andersen (DCr), Isaak Touré (DCl), Tyrick Mitchell (DL); Reiss Nelson (MR), Kalvin Phillips (MCr), Patrick de Paula (MCl), Jack Harrison (ML); Pedro (STr), Divock Origi (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * Second unit coming in, but still keeping some starters from our win in Hamburg like Javorcic, Rodríguez, and Schulze. Leeds have a very experienced eleven, with power veterans like Phillips, Pedro, and Origi leading a team that's been hit quite hard by injuries this year. And it's one of those veterans who draws first blood a few seconds into the second minute of the game following a quick passing combination finished by Harrison with an assist into the box so Pedro can beat Rexhepi and give the home team a very early lead. We're now in need of a comeback, something we're not particularly used to as of late, yet we almost get it by accident when Rijkhoff's pressure on Andersen leads to a dangerous pass towards Green that Basualdo intercepts, only for his first-time finish to hit the root of the post instead of going in. Soon enough we're back at it with Javorcic assisting and Schulze finding Green in the way of his finish, but Leeds quickly react and give us another scare with a cross by Nelson that Pedro heads into the frame of Rexhepi's goal. In the eleventh minute a set piece ends with Isaak Touré controlling the ball inside the box, then assisting for Patrick de Paula for an easy point-blank finish against which Rexhepi can't do anything: two down. The game finally seems to slow down a bit after that, with possession split but both teams failing to create any more danger in the next fifteen minutes. Rijkhoff ends that deadlock with a good-looking run through the center that ends in a dreadfully wide finish, but it still shows we're in the game. We confirm that feeling in the 29th: Neves runs forward and passes the ball into the box for Rijkhoff, who fakes a shot and instead passes it low towards the center where Rodríguez, who else, runs into it and shoots to score the all-important 2-1. Pedro tries to restore the two-goal lead for Leeds almost immediately after a cross by Mitchell, but this time his header is weak and easy for Rexhepi. Things seem to calm down again afterwards, though, and the game looks headed into half time without any further events, but two minutes before getting there Basualdo has the ball in the central area of the pitch, looks up, and sees Rijkhoff's run into space. The through ball is almost automatic then, and Rijkhoff makes good of it with a perfectly placed finish around Green to complete our comeback and draw the game. Two offside chances for Rijkhoff and Origi mark the end of a very entertaining first half. HALF TIME - 2-2 The second half starts almost as eventfully as the first did, first with a yellow card for Casas that results in a suspension, and then with a fantastic long ball by Schulze towards Rijkhoff, who runs behind the defense and shoots with power and precision to leave Green frozen in place as he scores the 2-3. Leeds now have to push forward, and soon Origi has a great chance following a cross by Nelson that Ernesto blocks with a timely challenge, then de Paula tries luck with a first-time shot from distance that sails well over. We quickly contain them, though, and our defense is allowed a breather until the 59th, when de Paula sends a ball forward and Pedro breaks free from Casas' marking, but then fails to find the target with his finish and shoots wide. Miranda and Thiago soon replace Neves and Schulze, with the Brazilian taking the anchor from Meunier and pushing the French midfielder forward. Our defensive efforts continue to keep Leeds away from any dangerous areas, and with twenty minutes to go Ball takes Touré's place in the left back. After a long while without any attacking movement on either side of the pitch we get a corner kick in the 73rd minute, but it only leads to a blocked shot by Rodríguez after it's cleared by Leeds' defense. The home team get a much more dangerous corner kick four minutes later, headed by substitute Gaich and miraculously cleared off the goal line by Javorcic and Ball. Andersen heads another corner kick over the bar one minute later, and we get ready for a tense final stretch. Somewhat surprisingly, though, there are no more chances until the 85th, and the one to break that trend is Meunier, sending a great low cross into the box for Rodríguez only for the Mexican to see Green block his tap-in. And afterwards, nothing: Leeds seem to give up and don't even threaten Rexhepi's goal any further, and the game ends in a fantastic result for our chances to progress in the competition. * * * Leeds United 2 (Pedro 2, Patrick de Paula 11) TSV 1860 München 3 (Jair Rodríguez 29, Julian Rijkhoff 43 48) - - - Fantastic. I was half-expecting a game similar to our 4-1 defeat against Club Brugge two years ago when we went two down in eleven minutes, but these guys have learnt a thing or two since and, above all, they have guts of steel. Great comeback and very deserved win, which could've been even larger if Rodríguez had put that last chance in. Regardless, good result for the return leg, in which by the way we'll be without the suspended Casas and Javorcic, and we've managed to survive two very difficult away fixtures with our unbeaten streak still intact. Now for the big one... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 Feb 23rd 2030 Important result on the lead up to our decisive match against Leipzig: Bayern drop two points in a 1-1 home draw against Wolfsburg. This means that a win tomorrow puts us level with our neighbors on points (still behind on goal difference) and just one point behind the leaders. No pressure. As a bonus, Dortmund lose 2-0 in Nürnberg and completely drop out of the title race. First defeat of the season for our U19 team, a surprising 0-3 against Stuttgart's kids. Our youngsters are still comfortably top of their group, though, with a ten-point cushion over Nürnberg and Bayern sitting fourth no less than twenty points behind. Lovro Katic's debut season continues to be remarkable, with the forward already on 24 goals and 11 assists out of 35 starts. Feb 24th 2030 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. RasenBallsport Leipzig (1st) (Bundesliga, 24/34) Absolutely season-defining fixture, this one. Not only because a win here would put us in a fantastic position to keep pushing for the Bundesliga title until the end, but also because it'd signal to the whole nation that we're the real deal. We already beat the leaders and champions at their own stadium (with more than a bit of luck, to be fair), but doing it twice in a row? Now that'd be something. Let's kick ass. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Tomislav Javorcic (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) RB LEIPZIG (4-2-3-1): Alexander Nübel (GK); Wilfried Singo (DR), Marko Cumic (DCr), Ali Reynah (DCl), Luca Netz (DL); Gianluca Busio (MCr), Paulo Bernardo (MCl); Francisco Conceiçao (AMR), Nedim Bajrami (AMC), Rayan Cherki (AML); Patson Daka (ST) * * * Some difficult decisions in our lineup today, which leave the likes of Lang and Rodríguez out of the starting eleven due to tactical considerations and fitness issues respectively. Javorcic is also unlikely to play the whole game today, but I'd rather use him from the start since he's out of our next match against Leeds and he's more reliable on defense than Touré, not to mention more experienced. Leipzig also rest some key players like Uduokhai, Moder, and Piatkowski, not to mention Velasco missing out due to a serious ankle injury, but still have an absolutely terrifying set of players out in the field. The game starts nervy, with both teams trying to out-press the other, and as a result possession is almost equally split and chances are basically nonexistent for the first twenty minutes. We decide to try playing a bit more attacking then, seeing as Leipzig aren't exactly putting us under any kind of serious pressure. Soon we create our first real chance, quickstarted by a great steal by Stjepanovic followed by a great counter launched by Caraballo and finished by Özcan, his shot deflected wide by the always reliable Nübel. Another recovery, this time by Javorcic, leads to another good run down the left by Miranda and a cross towards Özcan, whose header is well held by the keeper. We reach the half-hour looking like the best team on the pitch, and soon we create danger again with a good pass into the box by Schulze and a finish by Miranda that Nübel manages to block. Leipzig so far have only created a couple of isolated corner kicks that have led nowhere, so things are looking promising. After a brief pause we go back at it, with Schulze once again providing the assist and Özcan being the one denied by Nübel's solid goalkeeping in the end. That's our last approach of the first half, though, and the result remains unchanged when the referee calls for half time. HALF TIME - 0-0 Twenty seconds is all we need to put the fear in Leipzig's hearts again, with Neves launching a quick pass into space towards Özcan, who runs alone into the box but shoots badly wide in the end. Leipzig also get their first "chance" of the game after a few rebounds inside our box end in a weak header by Conceiçao that Kretzschmar saves without issue. Another header, this time by Reynah in a corner kick and well over the bar, signals their intention to try and be more attacking-minded in this second half. We're still in command, though, and in the 52nd Miranda gets close once again with a well-taken direct free kick that Nübel flies to block and deflect away. A few minutes later we decide to make our first change, with Rodríguez coming in Schulze's place and giving our midfield a bit of extra punch. This coincides with some particularly dull minutes, reminiscent of the early first half in which nothing really happened on either side of the pitch. A bit later Ernesto replaces an exhausted Miranda, pushing Thiago forward, while Rijkhoff takes point in Özcan's place. And that's when it happens: 30-yard free kick for Bajrami, and the attacking midfielder sends it with perfect precision into the top right corner of our goal, impossible to reach for Kretzschmar. Advantage Leipzig. We need to react quickly, and soon Thiago is whipping a good cross towards Rijkhoff that the striker heads over. Our reaction is cut short in the 79th minute, though, because Amador's somewhat reckless challenge on Cherki while already on a yellow card isn't exactly the brightest of ideas. We're now left with ten men on the pitch and no real way to cover our right back position other than moving Casas there and placing Ernesto as a center-back. We also pull Caraballo back a bit so he can help in our understaffed midfield. Somehow, this works well enough. We even manage to create a good chance in the 85th through Caraballo, who runs into a low cross by Rijkhoff but sees his finish blocked by a well-positioned Uduokhai. Leipzig don't look too bothered, though, knowing that eventually we'll leave a gap they can exploit to kill the game, and that's exactly what happens in the 90th minute: Javorcic pushes forward too much, Singo is left alone on the right, and his cross reaches Daka inside the box for an easy finish. 0-2, and with it our dreams of a perfect unbeaten season come to an end. * * * TSV 1860 München 0 (Ian Amador sent off 79) RasenBallsport Leipzig 2 (Nedim Bajrami 70, Patson Daka 90) - - - Aww. Oh well, an unbeaten season out of nowhere was probably too much to ask for, really, we knew it had to come sooner or later. Still, we most certainly didn't deserve it today. We had more than enough chances in the first half to take the lead, and only failed to do so because Nübel had one heck of a game and stopped everything going his way. The second half was more even and a draw was looking likely until Bajrami did Bajrami things completely out of nowhere. The sending off was just icing on the cake, really. A shame, and this means Leipzig are now seven points ahead and most likely out of reach for us unless they "do a Leipzig" and waste their lead in the final stretch, as they're wont to do. Not dead yet. Our unbeaten run ends at thirty-three games, not bad at all. Possibly more impressive is our now finished Bundesliga unbeaten run, which stretched to twenty-seven games. Let's see if we can start an even bigger one starting next week. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 16 Author Share Posted February 16 Feb 28th 2030 TSV 1860 München vs. Leeds United (Europa League 1st knockout stage, 2nd leg) Time to forget our woes and secure our place in the next stage of the Europa League. Leeds lost in the league again this weekend, meaning they aren't showing any improvement on their form and we can expect to have at least a bit of an edge today. Let's hope our first defeat of the season isn't the start of a downfall, at the very least there aren't any visible signs pointing that way. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Alex Ball (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) LEEDS (4-4-2): Etienne Green (GK); Matthew Sorinola (DR), Joachim Andersen (DCr), Isaak Touré (DCl), Tyrick Mitchell (DL); Reiss Nelson (MR), Kalvin Phillips (MCr), Patrick de Paula (MCl), Jack Harrison (ML); Pedro (STr), Divock Origi (STl) * * * Suspensions to Javorcic and Casas combined with many tired legs mean Stjepanovic stays in the lineup and our two young full backs start together for once. Leeds repeat the exact same starting eleven today, which says a lot about their lack of options. We start without any kind of hesitation and Basualdo gets his first run-and-shoot of the game only ten seconds after kick off, a shame that his finish wasn't precise enough to hit the target. Leeds stay back at first, but soon find a gap through which Sorinola can assist Origi inside the box only for the striker to shoot straight at Rexhepi. Then it's our turn, and in the seventh minute Basualdo passes the ball through a gap in the defense and towards Rijkhoff's run into space and the striker does the rest with a powerful finish: 1-0. Two minutes later we do it again, starting with a long passing play down the right flank that moves towards the center, Rodríguez passes it to Rijkhoff, and the Dutchman taps it forward towards Basualdo, returning the earlier favor and allowing the forward to place the ball into the back of the net for the second. Looks like we shouldn't have worried about our first defeat bringing any kind of morale drop with it... Leeds try to react and claw their way back into the tie, with Pedro as their obvious danger man trying a turnaround shot from just inside the box that Rexhepi tips wide. We decide to slow the pace down a bit before things get out of control, and proceed to control possession for the following minutes, although only generating a long shot by Rodríguez in the 26th that sails well over the bar. Rijkhoff does the same four minutes later in another run through the center kickstarted by an excellent Basualdo, but afterwards the game slows down for good and the keepers have no more work to do until the break. HALF TIME - 2-0 Once again we start the half going forward, this time finishing another good play by Basualdo with a wide header by Rodríguez within the first thirty seconds. Afterwards we return to our patient possession play, though, only interrupted by a groin injury sustained by Rijkhoff after a challenge by Sorinola which leads to his substitution by Özcan as a precaution, together with Neves in Miranda's place. In the 58th a run down the right by substitute full back Çelik leads to a high header by Pedro, Leeds' first dangerous approach in a long while. One minute later, though, Schulze spots Özcan running behind the defense and times his pass perfectly so the Turk can calmly and comfortably score the 3-0, putting both the game and our presence in the next round beyond any reasonable doubt. Leeds seem to give up then, or at least Nelson does when he goes down hard on Neves and sees a red card as a result. They still get close to the 3-1 in the 62nd in a corner kick that Isaak Touré heads into the root of the post and wide, but we remain firmly in control. Soon it's Ernesto's turn to replace a solid but tired Stjepanovic, and the game enters another lull only broken by a counterattack finished by Özcan and saved by Green, probably his first real positive intervention of the game. Afterwards we just let the minutes pass, and only when we reach the 90th minute we try for another goal with a simple passing play that ends in a 25-yarder by Schulze, unstoppable for a somewhat out of position Green, and which caps the game and the tie in spectacular fashion. * * * TSV 1860 München 4 (Julian Rijkhoff 7, Jonathan Basualdo 9, Vedat Özcan 59, Maximilian Schulze 90) Leeds United 0 (Reiss Nelson sent off 60) - - - Much easier than expected, honestly. Putting your first two chances of the game into the back of the net really helps, though, Leeds really had no way back after those first ten minutes. Basualdo had what was probably his best performance since his arrival at 1860, playing fantastically well together with Rijkhoff. Objective achieved in this competition, too, so the board is guaranteed to be happy with us come the end of the season. Now to see how far we can go. €500k received as a reward, too, I'll take it. Rijkhoff's injury turns out to be a pulled groin. Nothing serious, but he's in doubt for our next match. Which by the way it's not a Bundesliga game but the DFB Pokal quarterfinals, because calendars work in mysterious ways. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 19 Author Share Posted February 19 Mar 1st 2030 Looks like we're going to France next: Olympique de Marseille will be our next opposition in the Europa League, with the first leg to be played at home. Not ideal, but other than a couple of teams like Ludogorets or Slavia Prague the surviving pool is scary at best and outright nightmarish at worst. We'll do our best regardless, all we can achieve this year will surely help our seeding come next year's Champions League draw. Mar 2nd 2030 No Bundesliga game for us this weekend, since we played against Leeds on Thursday and will be playing against Gladbach on Tuesday, leaving no space for another fixture in between. We were supposed to travel to Augsburg for another edition of the mini-derby, but that'll have to wait until early April at the earliest, considering how full our schedule is for March. Leipzig, Bayern, and Dortmund all win their games today, too, so we'll have to play catch-up for a while. Mar 5th 2030 TSV 1860 München vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach (DFB Pokal quarterfinals) We sure have welcomed the four days of rest before this game, because legs were starting to look a bit tired after so many high-tension fixtures. We now return to the cup against a team we recently destroyed 3-0, so a favorable match-up in paper, but considering Gladbach's formation and our troubles with teams that plug the center we should still stay sharp and take our chances when they come today. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) GLADBACH (3-2-2-2-1): Nico Mantl (GK); Marco Katinic (DCr), Igor Diveev (DC), Horst Billesfeld (DCl); Nicola Bartolini (WBR), Anthony Stephens (WBL); Antoni Milambo (MCr), Cheick Doucouré (MCl); Edgar Santacruz (AMR), Andreas Schjelderup (AML); Jonas Wind (ST) * * * Rijkhoff has to stay on the bench in the end due to lack of fitness after his injury, but other than that we have no issues with team selection today, with Amador and Thiago starting due to being set to miss our next league game against Hertha. Gladbach pull out a surprise (only not really) by benching Magaña and juggling players back and forth in their lineup, but otherwise remain roughly the same. They do get an early chance thanks to a cross by Stephens that Wind heads over the bar, so maybe that was the right decision for them. Our engine soon starts ticking, though, and four minutes in Thiago sets Miranda up for our first chance with a long pass that the Argentinian wastes by sending his finish into the sidenetting. We remain patient with our buildup for now, taking our time before trying any risky passes, and it almost pays off in the 13th when Rodríguez ends a long play with a good assist towards Schulze, who tries a lob over Mantl but ends up giving it a bit too much power, the ball finally falling on top of the net. Miranda's finish five minutes later after a quick one-two combination with Özcan meets the exact same fate, and Mantl dives to tip wide a good effort from distance by Touré in the 23rd and another finish by Schulze just a handful of seconds later. We're getting closer. Gladbach tighten up their defense a bit further, thus denying us any clear chances in the following minutes. Blocked shots by Rodríguez and Miranda are the best we can manage, and things remain unchanged until the 45th, when another blocked shot by Özcan after a great interception and assist by Caraballo leads to a corner kick that Ernesto heads narrowly over. Thus ends the first half, still goalless despite our domination. HALF TIME - 0-0 Things remain difficult in the second half, and Gladbach finally approach our goal again in the 51st in a set piece that Schulze fails to clear properly and Stephens finishes with a wide shot. We have to wait until ten minutes later to get our first shot in, a powerful 20-yarder by Özcan that Mantl pushes over the bar with some difficulty. Casas then heads the corner kick wide, but the real danger comes in the 65th when Stephens is allowed to run free into the box and shoots very narrowly wide, giving the whole stadium a huge scare. We need to change things, and Neves is the obvious candidate for that, replacing Schulze. A bit later it's Ball for Touré, and in the 70th we finally see the effects when Neves gathers the ball in midfield and sends a no-look pass into space for Özcan, who times his run perfectly to break the offside trap, collect the ball, and pass it low into the back of the net to put us ahead. Meunier comes in then to give Miranda a rest, and immediately sets up a quick counterattack in the 72nd with a great assist towards Caraballo, who finishes it with a masterful chip over Mantl to score the 2-0. Gladbach don't seem to have any kind of response to our quick one-two punch, and after taking things slow for a while we return to action with a bender from distance by Neves that Mantl barely manages to deflect wide. That corner kick becomes the 3-0 regardless, though, as Rodríguez takes it towards the near post and Ernesto shows his aerial prowess with a perfect header. That basically kills Gladbach's hopes for good, and we cruise through what little remains of the match almost effortlessly, only stopping for a few pot shots at Mantl's goal here and there. Özcan has our last chance in a quick run through the center that Mantl turns into a corner kick with a good save, and soon after the fans can finally celebrate our second consecutive appearance in the DFB Pokal semifinals. * * * TSV 1860 München 3 (Vedat Özcan 70, Rodrigo Caraballo 72, Ernesto 81) Borussia Mönchengladbach 0 - - - Sometimes two minutes is all you need. Like most games against Gladbach as of late, this was an exercise in patience and concentration, and we did excellently in both regards, patiently prodding at their overpopulated defense until it finally gave way. Great show of creativity by Neves and Meunier off the bench to seal the deal, too, that's why we bought Neves in the first place and he's certainly delivering when needed. Now to see what we get in the semifinals, hopefully not Bayern... HSV and Fortuna are the other two teams to make it this far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 20 Author Share Posted February 20 Mar 9th 2030 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. Hertha BSC (15th) (Bundesliga, 25/34) Back to the league after what feels like an eternity, and with a home game against one of the big disappointments of the season. True, Hertha haven't exactly been at their best for a long time now, but being this close to relegation is completely new to them. It's a quite misleading position, though, since their goal difference is only -5, currently the ninth best in the league, and ninth is also their position if we only take into account recent form. Still a game we should be winning, but with a bit of extra care. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Matías Miranda (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonathan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) HERTHA (4-2-3-1): Marco Carnesecchi (GK); Erik Warner (DR), Alejandro Francés (DCr), Nico Schlotterbeck (DCl), Frederik Bjorkan (DL); Fabian Rieder (MCr), Eyüp Aydin (MCl); Miguel Carvalho (AMR), Laureano Laconi (AMC), Charles De Ketelaere (AML), Delyan Atanasov (ST) * * * As always, rotation due to tired legs and suspensions, with Amador and Thiago missing out today due to too many yellow cards. Hertha are now coached by a certain Thomas Tuchel, who has brought back the 4-2-3-1 to decent results, although so far not decent enough to bring them back into the safe zone of the table. We start the game with a long pass forward by Neves to Rijkhoff, who makes his way past Francés through sheer skill but then blasts his finish well over the bar. Another show of dribbling skill by Basualdo a bit later also ends with the ball sailing over, although this time helped by a good fingertip save by Carnesecchi. That corner kick is good enough, though, since Lang is there to jump high and head downwards almost unopposed to open the score only eight minutes after kick off. Despite our early lead, though, Hertha are playing quite well, actually stealing possession from us and not making it easy for us to create danger consistently. We still get there from time to time, though, like in the 14th minute when Rijkhoff assists Basualdo inside the box and the false nine crosses so the marauding Schulze can head it very narrowly wide. Another shot by Schulze ends in Carnesecchi's hands eleven minutes later, with nothing relevant from either attack in between, then two minutes later a quick counterattack finished by Rijkhoff also meets its end in the keeper's gloves. Hertha still haven't got a single shot at goal. Javorcic is the first to try after a good play down the right flink by Basualdo and Schulze, but the full back is anything but a goalscorer and his wide shot from just outside the box shows. His counterpart on the left today, Ball, has a similarly wide attempt in the 32nd, although this one was much closer and much more dangerous-looking. Hertha finally get something resembling a chance four minutes later, although Laconi's shot from the heart of the box is blocked and sent behind by Lang. The final minutes of the half bring a couple of worrying but apparently minor injuries to Basualdo and Laconi, plus a great run into the box by Schulze in injury time that leads to a low pass and a centered finish by Miranda, easy for Carnesecchi. Ahead at half time and looking good so far. HALF TIME - 1-0 Caraballo replaces Basualdo at half time to keep his hurting knee from getting any worse, and we start the second half like we ended the first, with a centered shot that Carnesecchi saves easily, this time coming from Neves. After ten minutes Caraballo makes his presence felt with a great run that provokes a corner kick, although Stjepanovic's header isn't particularly good and the ball goes over. In the 59th Ball has a rare chance to run on the counter almost unopposed, and the full back does well with his final cross towards Schulze, who can't give his header enough precision nor power and makes it a simple catch for the keeper. One minute later we find ourselves in trouble again, as Schulze's innocent-looking foul on substitute Otte near the halfway line is enough for the referee to show him the second yellow card. We decide to bring Rodríguez in Rijkhoff's place and leave Caraballo alone up front, hoping it'll be enough to survive the remaining half hour. We double down on this defensive outlook a bit later when a tired Miranda is replaced by Ernesto, with Meunier pushing forward to take the Argentinian's place. Minutes pass and Hertha don't even seem to bother trying to push us, but in the 81st we decide to make it even easier for them when Javorcic also picks a second yellow for another needless foul in the central area of the pitch. Stjepanovic takes the right back now, Meunier returns to the anchor, and we pray. Tuchel decides this is the right moment to try a weird 5-4-1 variant with two attacking midfielders behind the lone striker, and the result is that their first shot on target of the game comes in the 89th minute, a centered but dangerous 20-yarder by Carvalho that Kretzschmar deflects wide. It's also their last, as we defend wonderfully well in injury time to deny them even a single serious goalscoring chance. Suffering with a reward in the end. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Niklas Lang 8, Maximilian Schulze sent off 60, Tomislav Javorcic sent off 81) Hertha BSC 0 - - - Yeeeah, I think we might be overdoing it a bit with the aggressiveness of this tactic. Just a hunch. Good thing our defensive work was top notch today both before and after the sending offs, because otherwise we would've lost so hard. We got out of jail for free this time, but we really need to cut down on the number of bookings in general, otherwise we'll eventually suffer the consequences. Nothing serious for Basualdo in the end, by the way, just a minor bruise. * * * | Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | GD | Pts | Form | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | RB Leipzig | 26 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 67 | 20 | 47 | 66 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | FC Bayern | 26 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 64 | 21 | 43 | 62 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | 1860 München | 25 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 45 | 18 | 27 | 56 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Borussia Dortmund | 26 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 35 | 20 | 15 | 50 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Wolfsburg | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 47 | 44 | 3 | 39 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Hamburg | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 43 | 31 | 12 | 37 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | Mainz | 26 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 38 | 33 | 5 | 37 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | Nürnberg | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 31 | 35 | -4 | 34 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | Freiburg | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 31 | 39 | -8 | 33 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th| Union Berlin | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 29 | 48 | -19 | 29 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th| Stuttgart | 26 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 28 | 37 | -9 | 28 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th| Borussia M'gladbach | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 28 | 38 | -10 | 28 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th| Augsburg | 25 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 26 | 45 | -19 | 27 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th| Frankfurt | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 25 | 46 | -21 | 27 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th| Hertha BSC | 26 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 28 | 34 | -6 | 26 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th| Bayer Leverkusen | 26 | 6 | 5 | 15 | 27 | 45 | -18 | 23 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th| Hoffenheim | 26 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 23 | 48 | -25 | 22 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th| Köln | 26 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 22 | 35 | -13 | 20 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| I actually hesitated about whether to post the table here or wait one more week, but since it'll be at least one month until we catch up with the rest I figured now was as good a moment as ever. And yes, the top three remain unchanged since last time although the space between us has widened up a bit, in part thanks precisely to that missing game against Augsburg. Assuming a victory we still have an outside shot at pushing Leipzig and Bayern all the way, but in the worst case scenario we've almost guaranteed our presence in next year's Champions League, since I doubt seventeen points plus a game in hand will ever not be enough to secure the top four. We'll focus on finishing third from here on, but if we keep winning regularly and get a result against Bayern we might have a chance at something bigger. Who knows. As for the rest, well... what an absolute mess of a season, really. Köln still dead last, Leverkusen now in the relegation playoff position (and only just!) after only five points in their last nine fixtures, Hertha and Gladbach dangerously close to the drop, and the likes of Mainz and Union comfortably safe and, in Mainz's case, even pushing for European qualification. Distances remain extremely tight, particularly between fourth and ninth (just six points to decide who goes to Europe) and between tenth and last (nine points separating midtable "safety" from the last place, and seven from the 2.Bundesliga). Anything could happen within those two groups, and I won't be surprised if some big names find themselves relegating come the end of the season. * * * PLAYER STATS ============ Average rating (min. 9 games played): Julian Rijkhoff 7.44 (21(3) apps) Rodrigo Caraballo 7.40 (13(4) apps) Vedat Özcan 7.37 (14(6) apps) Arnau Casas 7.34 (20(2) apps) Niklas Lang 7.30 (21 apps) Goals: Julian Rijkhoff 16 goals Vedat Özcan 13 Jair Rodríguez 9 Rodrigo Caraballo 8 Joao Neves 6 Assists: Jair Rodríguez 8 assists Matías Miranda 8 Julian Rijkhoff 8 Rodrigo Caraballo 7 Jonatan Basualdo 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 21 Author Share Posted February 21 Mar 10th 2030 Yep, just as expected. I mean, there's no way Bayern wouldn't get Fortuna in the DFB Pokal semifinals, right? And at home, too, just in case. That just left HSV for us, so that's what we got in an exact repeat of last year's semifinals matchup, including the fact that we'll be playing in Hamburg. Last time we needed penalties to get through, let's see if we can do one better this time. Worth noting, if Bayern make the final (they will) then they will have played only one Bundesliga team to get there, and that'll be Nürnberg all the way back in the second round. Lucky doesn't even begin to describe them. Mar 12th 2030 Team of the Week appearance for Lang, who's once again having a great season. This guy has performed at basically the same excellent level in every division we've gone through, regardless of the circumstances. Such a club legend in the making. Mar 14th 2030 TSV 1860 München vs. Olympique de Marseille (Europa League 2nd knockout stage, 1st leg) Europa League once again, this time with one of the biggest teams in the French league historically speaking. Of course they haven't won anything recently thanks to PSG existing, and this year they're hovering near the lower end of the European positions in the league, but they're still a tough opposition and a team with lots of European experience, which might prove decisive against our newbie selves. We'll give it our best as always, of course. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) MARSEILLE (4-2-3-1): Pau López (GK); Jordan Lotomba (DR), Dario Maresic (DCr), Strahinja Pavlovic (DCl), Jefferson (DL); Leandro Barreiro (MCr), Matteo Guendouzi (MCl); Mohamed Sherif (AMR), Diego Rossi (AMC), Everton (AML), Myron Boadu (ST) * * * Another 4-2-3-1 straight after a very tough match against Hertha, yay. We repeat the same lineup that destroyed Gladbach in the cup last week, although this time telling our players to take it a little bit easier when it comes to tackling. We start the game looking sharp, and within the first minute Rodríguez has already volleyed over the bar a dangerous-looking cross by Touré. And with not even three full minutes gone Caraballo assists Miranda through the center and the midfielder shoots into López's block, only for Caraballo to get to the loose ball first and pass it into the back of the net unopposed. I like early leads. Things calm down after such a fiery start, and we take our time to make sure OM have as little of the ball as possible while we look for an opening to get a second. That opening appears in the 15th minute and Caraballo once again spots it, this time assisting Schulze for another run into the box that ends in a narrowly wide shot under pressure. Marseille's first approach comes from an interception by Boadu in midfield and a quick counterattack by Rossi, eventually denied by Miranda after rushing back in a great defensive effort. In the 21st we get a corner kick that Rodríguez sends with precision into Casas's header, but López parries the finish. Once again, though, the ball ends up loose inside the small box and Thiago gets there first to push it over the line and score the 2-0. We almost get a third just three minutes later when Miranda assists Rodríguez with our traditional pass into space, but López reads well the Mexican's subtle touch and dives to save at the right moment. The keeper goes down again soon after to tip wide a good-looking finish by Schulze, then watches as Ernesto smashes his header into the crossbar in the resulting corner kick. A wide shot by Caraballo after a great pass from Schulze arrives in the 32nd, and eleven minutes later we hit wood again when a curling shot by Miranda bounces off the crossbar. Another wide shot by Miranda is our last chance in an excellent first half performance. HALF TIME - 2-0 Not much changes after the break, and we soon return to our regularly scheduled siege on Pau López's goal. Miranda continues missing chances, though, the next one coming in the 52nd after a great ball over the defense by Schulze and finished by the attacking midfielder on a weak half-volley that the keeper catches well. One minute later we come to regret it, as what looks like a simple cross from the right by Sherif turns into a perfect assist when all our defense focuses on Boadu and forget about Everton, who gathers the cross unopposed and scores the 2-1 in Olympique's first real chance of the game. We suddenly find ourselves with a dangerously short lead considering there's a return leg in Marseille next week, and Rodríguez fails to restore it to a more reasonable two-goal advantage in the 56th, once again blocked by an excellent López. Casas then heads the corner kick narrowly over, and not much later Javorcic replaces a very solid Amador to keep him fresh for the weekend, since he'll most likely have to start again then, while Neves does the same with Miranda. It's the Portuguese midfielder who gathers a pass from Özcan inside the box next, only for it to become another easy save for the goalkeeper. Rijkhoff for Özcan is our final substitution as we keep looking for a third, and Rodríguez has our next serious attempt with a well-placed direct free kick that yes, Pau López saves once again. Meanwhile Marseille lose Barreiro due to a worrying foot injury, and in the 86th minute, following a quite long dry spell for both attacks, Rijkhoff scores with a perfect header in a set piece taken by Rodríguez, but it doesn't count due to a very obvious offside position by the striker. Rodríguez gets two more good-looking chances blocked by the defense, Schulze sends another straight at López after a great assist inside the box by Neves, and that's all she wrote. A short win, but a win nonetheless. * * * TSV 1860 München 2 (Rodrigo Caraballo 3, Thiago 21) Olympique de Marseille 1 (Everton 53) - - - Thirty-one shots to three. Sure, we won the match, but we should've done so by a decisive margin, and now we'll have to go to Marseille to defend a very short lead if we want to advance. Great game for Pau López on goal despite basically gifting our two goals with two failed catches, while Casas and Caraballo were the best for us in a great team effort, finishing aside. Not the best result, but we'll manage as long as we outplay them next time as thoroughly as we did today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 Mar 15th 2030 If we make our lead against Marseille count next week we'll be facing against the winner of the Sporting-Napoli tie in the quarterfinals, with it currently tied 2-2 after the first leg played in Lisbon. After that it'd be one of Athletic, Atlético, Ludogorets, or former acquaintances Leicester in the semifinals, but that's probably looking at least two steps too far ahead. It's not a bad draw, honestly, since we won't be seeing the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, Monaco, and PSV until a (very) hypothetical final. Mar 16th 2030 Potential title decider match in the Bundesliga today with Bayern visiting Leipzig. Bayern need a result to keep their chances alive, but all they can get is a goalless draw, probably the best result for us since winning our games in hand puts us one point behind Bayern and five behind Leipzig, still with a shot at the title. Mar 17th 2030 1.FC Köln (18th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 26/34) First we have to deal with Köln, though. Granted, they're dead last and should be an easy matchup considering we haven't lost against them in a long time, but there's something to be said about overconfidence, and a team that really shouldn't be down there is the perfect candidate for an upset if we don't take this seriously. We'll also have a somewhat depleted squad due to injuries, tiredness, and suspensions, so everything adds up to a dangerous match. * * * KÖLN (4-2-3-1): Ersin Destanoglu (GK); Lukas Klostermann (DR), Gabriel Oliveira (DCr), Stephan Ambrosius (DCl), Pietro Beruatto (DL); Suat Serdar (MCr), Anton Stach (MCl); Jan Thielmann (AMR), Dominik Yankov (AMC), Talles Magno (AML), Joao Resende (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Joao Neves (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonathan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * Yet another 4-2-3-1, brought to Köln by recent appointment Domenico Tedesco. Meanwhile we bring Palomeque to the bench today, although he's still more than a bit short on fitness, since we might need him to keep the likes of Rodríguez from exhausting themselves. Köln start the game looking to score through Magno, although his header has no real bite to it and Kretzschmar saves easily, but soon after Ambrosius gifts the ball to Rijkhoff near their own box and allows the striker a great chance to score, with Destanoglu having to work to fix his defender's mistake. After those two early blows things slow down drastically, with Köln having a bit more possession but us pushing higher on the pitch. In the 16th minute Stjepanovic blocks a dangerous shot by Thielmann, then five minutes later it's Miranda who crosses towards the far post so Neves sends his header wide. Much better is Rijkhoff's chance, gathering a short pass by Rodríguez and facing Destanoglu, who does down to block and send the ball behind with a great save. Stjepanovic follows it up with a narrowly high header in the corner kick, and it looks like we're finally starting to bring the game where we want it to be. We keep pushing forward and once again find a gap through which to send the ball into the box, with Neves assisting Miranda and the Argentinian being denied by Destanoglu once again. The final minutes see the game slow down to a crawl once again, though, not helped by Miranda picking up an annoying knock in his chest. We reach injury time, and then Rijkhoff surprises with a long pass forward toward Neves, who enters the box struggling against Beruatto before tumbling onto the pitch. The referee points to the spot, VAR says yes, and Miranda scores the penalty kick to give us the lead just before the end of the first half. HALF TIME - 0-1 Köln restart the game with a quite wide attempt by Thielmann in a direct free kick, while it's soon obvious that Miranda should rest and recover from his injury and is replaced by Thiago. Magno tries another weak header that Kretzschmar catches effortlessly, but soon this early rush dies off without any further effects and we start controlling the game once again. With over twenty minutes of the second half already gone without any further incidents we decide to rest our repeating starters from the Marseille game, bringin Touré in for Amador and Palomeque in Rodríguez's place. Our first serious approach of the second half doesn't come until the 70th minute, but when we go forward we make it count: long passing play with Köln chasing after the ball without any results until Neves spots Meunier's run forward and sends a pinpoint pass ahead of him, allowing the defensive midfielder, playing in a more advanced role now, to finish with a surprisingly high quality placed shot past Destanoglu and score the 0-2, which also happens to be his first goal for 1860 since his arrival. That's the final nail in Köln's coffin, and we once again let time pass until the 81st, when Basualdo tries a direct free kick that the keeper has to work hard to deflect wide. The home team try their luck in another set piece, this one crossed into the box for a surprisingly unmarked Resende, yet Kretzschmar rushes forward immediately to deny him the chance to claw one back. Destanoglu blocks another dangerous finish by Basualdo in the 85th, and four minutes later Resende manages to put the ball into our net after a cross from the left by Kessou, but from a clearly advanced position. A final chance for Rijkhoff after a nice cross from the right by Neves ends with the ball clipping the outside of the post before going wide, and soon afterwards the game comes to an end. * * * 1.FC Köln 0 TSV 1860 München 2 (Matías Miranda 45+2p, Aymeric Meunier 70) - - - Not the most brilliant of performances, but it'll do. Deserved result in the end, although Köln were tough to crack, particularly in the first half, and we needed a penalty kick and an unlikely goalscorer to bring the points home. A low profile game all in all, but the points count just the same. Miranda's injury turns out to be a bit more serious than expected, a pulled back muscle that will keep him out of the game for around two weeks. With Schulze again suspended against Marseille and Palomeque still not quite up to the required fitness standards we might have an interesting time choosing our starting midfield come Thursday... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 Mar 19th 2030 Kretzschmar and Neves feature in the Team of the Week. Mar 20th 2030 It's been a while since the last international window, but here we are again. There are some notable callups among our youngsters, including Beltramone's first chance at a youth cap with Argentina U20, Katic earning his first presence with Germany U18, Althoff making the jump to the U21s despite being still sixteen, and Schulze, Touré, and Englisch all featuring in the German U23 side. Javorcic, Özcan, Rijkhoff, Stjepanovic, Caraballo, and Rodríguez are our only senior internationals this time. Mar 21st 2030 Olympique de Marseille vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League 2nd knockout state, 2nd leg) Time to see if our complete (and somewhat sterile) domination last week was a fluke or if we really are that much better than Marseille. We will have fitness troubles today, which will probably force us to line up a very non-standard midfield at some point, but hopefully we'll be able to have this tie solved before it comes to that. * * * MARSEILLE (4-2-3-1): Pau López (GK); Jordan Lotomba (DR), Dario Maresic (DCr), Strahinja Pavlovic (DCl), Toni Lato (DL); Elián Irala (MCr), Mohammad Reza Ghobishavi (MCl); Mohamed Sherif (AMR), Diego Rossi (AMC), Everton (AML), Myron Boadu (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) * * * Palomeque is basically forced into the starting eleven right after getting the all-clear from the medical staff, which is far from ideal, but Neves and Rodríguez aren't much better than him in fitness terms. Meunier, Ball, Ernesto, Thiago, and even Javorcic might be needed to play there at some point today, most certainly. Marseille move their starting eleven around a bit, particularly in midfield with two brand new faces there. The players look focused on the task at hand from the get go, and we get an early chance through a corner kick that Ernesto heads over the bar just one minute plus some change in. Other than that first shot, though, there's very little action on either goal in the initial minutes, with both teams annulling each other in midfield and never getting anywhere near dangerous positions. Lotomba has OM's first attempt of the game in the 17th minute, trying luck from outside the box but blasting his shot well over. Next up is Everton with a weak finish after a good run down the left wing, easy for Rexhepi, but soon afterwards the worst possible news arrive in the form of another game-ending injury for Palomeque, this time in his right thigh, only twenty-four minutes after his return to the lineup. Meunier is brought in his place. Somehow that disgrace reinvigorates us, and soon Caraballo is sending a beautiful cross into the box so Neves can half-volley it, testing Pau López for the first time today only for the keeper to parry it with his usual quality. Even better is Rodríguez's chance in the 28th minute, well set up by Meunier, which the attacking midfielder smashes into the crossbar when the keeper looked completely beat. On the other goal Rexhepi has some work to do against a header by Rossi following a good cross by Lato, then again after an indecision by Thiago allows Rossi to assist Everton inside the box, forcing the young keeper to deflect his finish wide. That corner kick becomes decisive, though, as Everton takes it to the near post and Pavlovic wins the jump, heading it into the net to give Marseille the lead in both the game and the tie. The rest of the first half has no chances whatsoever on either side, and we go into half time with a lot of work ahead of us. HALF TIME - 1-0 Twenty seconds into the second half and things seem to have changed already, with Rodríguez quickly assisting Neves on the run for another good chance that López blocks and sends wide. Maresic soon blocks another shot by Özcan, who's been surprisingly invisible so far today but then reappears in the 52nd to finish a great assist by Neves, yet again denied by López. The keeper does it again one minute later, blocking a header by the Turk after a great cross from Javorcic, but it certainly looks like the goal should be only a matter of time at this point. Time indeed passes, but our chances seem to dry out with it, and soon it's time to replace a solid but very tired Rodríguez. Amador is his replacement, taking the right back from Javorcic, who in turn moves to the anchor and pushes Thiago forward. In the 65th minute we finally strike gold: great steal by Caraballo in midfield, Meunier gathers the ball and spots Özcan's run ahead, and the long ball over the defense has more than enough precision to allow the striker to face López one-on-one and, finally, beat the Spaniard to score the 1-1. Marseille seem to reel from the hit, and the following minutes pass quickly while we control the situation and give ourselves a bit of a breather. Amador tries a rare direct free kick from afar in the 75th minute, which goes clearly wide but is still the first attempt by either team since our goal. Javorcic is then replaced by Stjepanovic, and now Ernesto is the one to take the role of the anchor. A wide volley by Özcan after a good cross by Neves follows, while on the other end of the pitch Marseille finally get a good look in through Kownacki, who receives from Rossi unmarked but can't beat Rexhepi with his curling finish. The game is set up for an interesting final stretch, even more when Everton breaks into the box from the left side and sends a death pass towards Ikoné on the far post, only for the substitute winger to smash his finish against the root of the post. Thiago answers on the counterattack with a 20-yard volley that López gathers comfortably, and in the 82nd it's finally game over: good passing combination through the center in which all our midfielders and forwards take part until the ball enters the box under Thiago's control, the Brazilian passes it towards the left for Meunier, and the midfielder hits it with confidence to score his second goal in two consecutive games and basically seal our presence in the next round. Marseille wave the white flag afterwards, allowing us to take it easy in the final minutes and enjoy a great win. * * * Olympique de Marseille 1 (Strahinja Pavlovic 32) TSV 1860 München 2 (Vedat Özcan 65, Aymeric Meunier 82) - - - Defensive midfielders suddenly clutching matches out of nowhere, nice. But really, this was a nailbiter that never should've been, just like last week we had more than enough chances today to run away with the game and never look back, but once again bad finishing and good goalkeeping kept it close until the end, and in fact it could've gone the other way easily if Ikoné had hit that one finish just a couple of inches further to the left. Regardless, we're through, and we'll be playing against Napoli in the quarterfinals, a reunion after destroying them in the group stage two years ago and a new milestone in our progression as a club. Onwards! This game also means goodbye to what remains of the season for Palomeque, sadly. His injury is a torn hamstring this time, with an estimated recovery time of two to three months. He might see one of the final games of the Bundesliga, but other than that he's done for the year, and thus leaves our midfield awfully thin at a somewhat awkward moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 Mar 22nd 2030 It's time for our new youth intake, and it's... not as good as last year's, that's for sure. Then again having a potential generational talent like Althoff plus a couple of very good-looking prospects on the side is something that happens once in a decade at best. This time we have a pretty good-looking false nine who might actually have enough potential to reach the first team at some point, 15yo Pascal Jahn. Other than him there's a handful of players in a variety of positions who might reach low Bundesliga or high 2.Bundesliga levels, but very unlikely to ever make it to our senior side. Mar 24th 2030 VfB Stuttgart (12th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 27/34) Very mediocre season for Stuttgart, to the point of sacking long-time manager Markus Gisdol just a couple of weeks ago. Lukas Podolski left Hoffenheim and took over while we were playing in Marseille, so this will be his debut fixture, meaning it'll be a difficult game to predict. He'll have to work hard, too, since his new team is just five points above the relegation places. Better for us if he gets started after the international break rather than today, though... * * * STUTTGART (3-2-2-1-2): Finn Dahmen (GK); Bafodé Diakité (DCr), Waldemar Anton (DC), Ronny Klotke (DCl); Bali Mumba (WBR), Diego Rocha (WBL); Williot Swedberg (MCr), Aleksander Andresen (MCl); Nick Bätzner (AMC); Borja Mayoral (STr); Eduard Heise (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Aymeric Meunier (MCl); Jonathan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * Podolski's boys line up in a 3-5-2 variant we hadn't seen since two years ago in Hannover, somewhat surprisingly, and forward Eduard Heise happened to feature in that Hannover lineup, too. Funny how things work sometimes... As for us, we obviously lose Palomeque but are also without Stjepanovic due to the regularly scheduled suspension, while Schulze is back in the lineup but once again a single yellow card away from yet another day of forced rest. Meunier, Thiago, and Neves are all tired, but thankfully we have an international break right after this match that'll allow our overspent midfield to recover. We also give Rexhepi another league start, since the youngster has been doing pretty well in the knockout competitions so far. Stuttgart seem to want to dominate possession in the early game, and we decide to let them do so and hit them on the break from time to time for a handful of minor chances. The first serious threat for Dahmen's goal doesn't arrive until the 16th minute, though, when Basualdo battles for a loose ball near Stuttgart's area, wins it, then runs at the keeper and chips the ball over him and into the top of the crossbar and over. The home team answer immediately with an attack through the center very reminiscent of our own, finished by Mayoral and well deflected wide by Rexhepi. Next it's our turn, with Rijkhoff blasting wide a half-volley after a nod into the box by Meunier, then in the 22nd Basualdo assists Neves on the run and the midfielder shoots with power into the outside of the post and wide. Two and counting. Dahmen's first really remarkable save comes in the 26th, when Meunier lobs the ball into the box towards an unmarked Schulze and the keeper performs a minor miracle with a fantastic block to deflect the ball over. Another good save by the keeper comes one minute later, this time denying Rijkhoff after a nice pass by Neves, and then he does it again in the following corner kick to keep Lang's header away from the net. That's three major chances in a row for us, yet we still remain goalless. Meanwhile Stuttgart only manage to create some minor danger in a corner kick that Klotke heads without much conviction, easy for Rexhepi to catch. We keep missing clear-cut chances, the next coming in the 33rd with our classic combination through the center and Rijkhoff's narrowly wide finish. Another wide shot by Neves follows, and afterwards the game peters out until we reach the halfway point, somehow still without goals. HALF TIME - 0-0 The early second half is a repeat of the first, with little real action on either goal except for a shot by Lang on a corner kick that Rocha blocks with some fortune. Andresen breaks the deadlock in the 55th with an attempt from outside the box Rexhepi has to tip over, then five minutes later a cross by Mumba reaches Heise's head, but the result is a weak finish that our keeper has no trouble saving and holding. It's obvious now that we need some changes, though, so Rodríguez and Ernesto replace Neves and Thiago, both of them completely spent. Their presence soon is felt, and it's only four minutes until we return to attacking action, although with a pretty terrible long-range attempt by Amador. It doesn't last, though, and our reaction soon vanishes in thin air, so we pull the trigger on our last change and Javorcic replaces Meunier, also exhausted, moving Ernesto to a more advanced role. But in the 72nd disaster strikes when Lang mishits a pass and sends it straight to Heise, who quickly sets Mayoral up for an easy finish that puts Stuttgart ahead. One minute later we're back at it, trying to at least regain the draw, and it's once again time for Dahmen heroics as the keeper flies across his goal to block a point-blank header by Ernesto, rendering Basualdo's great cross null and void. We can't find any kind of consistency in our play today, though, and once again our attack disappears completely in the worst possible moment. No more shots on target are registered on either goal, and we stumble to our second defeat of the season in the most unexpected moment. * * * VfB Stuttgarg 1 (Borja Mayoral 72) TSV 1860 München 0 - - - And this, children, is what happens when you don't take your chances. We should've ended the first half with at least a couple of goals but we got none, and then our lack of fitness in midfield caught up with us, we stopped generating danger, and Stuttgart profited from our one and only defensive mistake all game long and stole the game. To make matters worse everyone else in the top four win their games, so now pushing for the title is even more of a distant dream. We'd better worry more about Dortmund, currently only three points behind us, although we still have that one game in hand. Just to put a cherry on top of a pretty horrendous evening, Leipzig's boss Manuel Baum happened to be on the stands today, reportedly looking at Rijkhoff for the next transfer window. Not just him, but many of our players have a lot of teams chasing them right now, including the usual suspects but also some outliers like Meunier, Amador, and Lang (wanted by Dortmund!). Too early for this... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 27 Author Share Posted February 27 Mar 27th 2030 Goals for Karlsen and Beltramone with their youth national teams, the latter in his U20 debut no less, while both Althoff and Katic had off-the-bench cameo apperances for Germany U21 and U18 respectively. Mar 28th 2030 One day later it's the senior internationals' turn. Javorcic and Stjepanovic have solid defensive performances and Caraballo has one assist with Venezuela in a 1-4 defeat against the Netherlands, where Rijkhoff played but was pretty unremarkable. Rodríguez and Özcan played their whole games to little impact. Mar 30th 2030 The second round of international matches starts with a bang: hattrick for Katic with Germany U18. Schulze then makes a big splash with the U23 side scoring once and assisting once in a remarkable 3-1 win against Brazil. Good showings for Touré and Althoff, too, while Beltramone and Karlsen were the cameo appearances this time. Meanwhile, our U19 team secure their presence in the playoffs with a 7-0 trouncing of Ahlen despite having all our good youngsters away in international duty, not bad. They've won every single game since that first defeat a couple of months ago. Mar 31st 2030 Final batch of national team games for this window, with Özcan rebounding with one goal and two assists for Turkey, Rijkhoff scoring for the Netherlands, and Javorcic bagging one assist in a 1-3 defeat against Rodríguez's Mexico, with the midfielder having a pretty meh game. Stjepanovic and Caraballo were pretty average, too. Another year, anothr NxGn list. This time the winner is Reims' 19yo midfielder Lakhdar Osmani, an absolute monster of a player our scouts have been keeping an eye on for a while now, but who's most likely way beyond our reach right now. Utrecht's 17yo attacking midfielder Ciro Melillo finishes in second place and the almost mandatory high-rated Mexican youngster of the year, Cruz Azul's midfielder José Luis Chan, ends up in third place. Only one of our players makes the list, but it's a very remarkable sixth place overall for Mahamadou Touré, who is showing that the high fee we paid for him was warranted. Apr 3rd 2030 FC Augsburg (14th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 28/34) And back to action, following an international window which has allowed us to rest most of our squad and to recover some injured players. We finally catch up with the rest of the league in matches played today with the mini-derby in Augsburg, against a team who're in a bit of a downward trend and should be careful not to be dragged into the relegation scuffle after being in the safe area of the table for most of the season. We need the points to stay third, so there'll be no freebies given today. * * * AUGSBURG (4-1-4-1): Adam Stejskal (GK); Ridha Benzarti (DR), Yerson Mosquera (DCr), Niklas Stark (DCl), Marat Gadjiev (DL); Adrian Fein (DM); Darko Churlinov (MR), Tomás Muro (MCr), Diyar Yilmaz (MCl), Rubén Vargas (ML); Stefan Tol (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonathan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) * * * Another team with a newly-appointed manager, this is Roy Stapelfeld's first job as a manager, but he might be replaced soon if his results as a caretaker don't impress. His 4-1-4-1 doesn't look too threatening, at least. We lose Amador to suspension but recover Miranda from injury, and today we rest some of our internationals to keep them fresh for the weekend game against Mainz, which should be much more challenging than this one on paper. We start the game looking good in attack, soon generating a good chance when Basualdo controls inside the box, finds himself some space, and shoots over the bar with his left foot. One minute later it's Özcan's turn, tapping in a low cross by Miranda into Stejskal's confident dive to save. Augsburg don't look half bad either, though, and in the seventh minute they give us a serious scare with a narrowly high header by Tol after a precise cross by Gadjiev. Two minutes later our high pressing yields results when Miranda steals, Neves passes forward to Basualdo, and the false nine assists Özcan with his first touch to allow the striker a placed finish to score the 0-1. And in the 11th minute everything explodes: Özcan goes down two-footed on Benzarti for no good reason at all and the referee sends him to a very early shower. We leave Basualdo alone upfront and prepare for a long, long game of resistance. Miranda almost makes it a bit easier with a direct free kick he can't get past Stejskal, but Tol hits us back immediately after another good cross from the left, his first-touch finish miraculously sent wide by Kretzschmar's fingertips. Another finish by Augsburg's striker, this one wide, comes in the 16th minute, then it's Churlinov who sends a header straight at Kretzschmar. It was coming, and in the 22nd it arrives in the most unlucky of ways: shot from just inside the box by Yilmaz, the ball strikes Casas and sends Kretzschmar in the completely wrong way, and Churlinov just picks up the rebound and puts it in unopposed, drawing the game for Augsburg. We're not dead yet, though, and two minutes later Schulze leaves Basualdo one-on-one against Stejskal with a fantastic through ball, but the forward can't beat the keeper and all we get is a corner kick that Ernesto also heads straight at Stejskal's hands. Tol sends another shot wide then, just to keep the pressure on Kretzschmar's goal up, yet once again we strike back in the 28th, this time through Neves, but with the same end result: Stejskal's save and a corner kick headed by Casas and, once again, stopped by the keeper. This madness of a first half continues with a long pass into our box by Yilmaz towards Churlinov, who hits it first time into the root of the post and wide. Yimaz himself follows it up with a great run into space with no one tracking him, only for Kretzschmar to show he's also a miracle worker and deflect his finish wide. We still keep looking for goals, though, and Basualdo almost gets it when he steals the ball from Stark in a dangerous position and shoots very narrowly wide in the 40th minute. Kretzschmar soon has more to do when he saves and holds a looping header by Churlinov, in what in the end becomes the last chance of a very eventful first half. HALF TIME - 1-1 The second half starts with Churlinov hitting wood again, this time with a 20-yarder Kretzschmar had no hope of ever reaching. Our answer comes in the 52nd through Neves's pass towards the right side of the box and Schulze's wide finish from a difficult position. Soon it's time to give our overworked players a bit of a break, though, and the recently recovered Miranda plus a very lost-looking Thiago leave their places to Rodríguez and Meunier. The fresh legs give us a bit of a boost, and in the 62nd minute we strike again, this time with Schulze and Basualdo combining through the center and the forward managing to find a way past Stejskal at last, placing the ball beyond his reach to score the 1-2. Now Augsburg are the ones in trouble, as they don't seem to be producing as much danger in this second half as they did in the first. We keep refreshing our team, this time replacing Javorcic with Touré and moving Ball to his natural right side, and we continue holding onto the ball with little in the way of opposition from the home team. Yet in the 82nd, in their first approach in over half an hour, Vargas manages to sneak a cross past Ball's mark and sends the ball towards Tol in the penalty spot, which the striker volleys with all his power to score the 2-2. The game then goes back to sleep until the referee calls for time, leaving us with a bittersweet aftertaste. * * * FC Augsburg 2 (Darko Churlinov 22, Stefan Tol 82) TSV 1860 München 2 (Vedat Özcan 9, Jonathan Basualdo 62, Vedat Özcan sent off 11) - - - Not ideal, but I'll take it given the circumstances. Circumstances we created on our own, I might add, particularly a certain Turk who had seen exactly one yellow so far all season long, and therefore wasn't exactly suspicious of violent behavior until today. Sigh... At least we rescued a point, but given how little action there was in the game after our goal besides Augsburg's second it makes me wonder how close we actually were to holding on to our lead until the end. Oh well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 Apr 6th 2030 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. 1.FSV Mainz (6th) (Bundesliga, 29/34) Not the best moment of the season to face against this year's positive surprise in the Bundesliga, I guess. Mainz have solidified their push for Europe in this second half of the season and have a really good shot at even overtaking Wolfsburg in the fifth place, and other than a predictable defeat against Leipzig their recent form is quite good. We need improvements and soon, or this final stretch of the season might end up proving too long for us. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Aymeric Meunier (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) MAINZ (4-2-3-1): Senne Lammens (GK); Joe Scally (DR), Omar Rekik (DCr), Márton Dárdai (DCl), Mathias Farnes Gabrielsen (DL); Florent Da Silva (MCr), Frank Hennig (MCl); Ben Bobzien (AMR), Joni Zakashvili (AMC), Paulos Abraham (AML); Alessio Besio (ST) * * * I want to say our ex-players have contributed a lot to Mainz's success this season, but while Da Silva has been a regular in their midfield and starts today, Maldini has barely featured at all. Meanwhile ex-Mainz starlet Touré also starts today against his ex-team, and we start the game looking good in possession and with Rijkhoff having an early chance stopped by Lammens after breaking into the box through the center. The keeper also saves a finish by Meunier in the sixth minute following a good assist by Rijkhoff himself, very active from the start today. Things slow down a bit once Mainz position themselves and start challenging us for possession, but we still manage to creat a fantastic double chance in the 18th minute, first with Meunier's finish after a great pass forward by Rodríguez, blocked by Lammens, and then with Caraballo who shoots after the rebound makes its way to him, deflected wide by the keeper with a spectacular dive across the goal mouth. Eight minutes later the visitors finally have their first look at Kretzschmar's goal thanks to a great run-and-cross by Scally and a centered header by Besio, well held by the keeper. The final third of the first half is even less eventful than the second, with Mainz only breaking the monotony thanks to a steal on Miranda in a very dangerous position that Bobzien turns into a clearly high shot come the 37th minute. Three minutes later it's our turn, with Rodríguez sending a perfect little pass into the box for Caraballo and Lammens once again standing tall to deflect his finish wide. With that and little else, the first half comes to an end. HALF TIME - 0-0 We've obviously struggled to create danger consistently so far, so we try giving our midfielders a bit more free reign in the second half. Six minutes in that works in our favor when Miranda finds Caraballo inside the box, only for Lammens to do his thing once again. On the other end of the pitch a great run by Abraham is capped by a good pass towards Besio, who leaves Lang behind and tries a placed shot that Kretzschmar manages to stop with little more than his fingertips. Miranda tries his luck next, intercepting a bad clearance and running forward before shooting straight at the keeper. He's obviously looking tired by now, though, so we bring Neves in his place to try and liven things up a bit. The Portuguese soon has a chance to make an instant impact, gathering a cross by Meunier and shooting first time, but it lacks power and Lammens holds it with ease. Then it's Kretzschmar's turn to make miracles, winning the one-on-one against Besio following a great pass over Lang's head by Zakashvili, who also gets a header in in the corner kick that follows and forces our keeper into another good save. Seconds later, a bad clearance by Stjepanovic leads to another quick combination between Zakashvili and Besio, and once againt Kretzschmar is there to deflect the ball wide. Schulze and Ernesto come into the game then, replacing the underperforming Thiago and Stjepanovic. With twenty minutes left on the clock we try to push forward with more intensity now, and soon Neves has another finish parried by Lammens after gathering a loose ball near the edge of the box. But this has its risks, and in the 77th a ball lost near Mainz's penalty area turns into a quick long pass by Zakashvili towards Besio, who outruns both center-backs and dribbles his way past the isolated Kretzschmar before passing the ball into the back of the net, giving the visitors the lead. We go into full desperation mode then, but get absolutely nothing out of it for a worryingly long time. We go all the way to the 90th minute until Rijkhoff sets up a good chance to run through the center for Rodríguez, but in the end the Mexican's finish doesn't even make its way past the defense. Then, in injury time and when everything seems lost, a run by Touré down the left leads to a cross towards Schulze by Rijkhoff, Farnes Gabrielsen intercepts, but the loose ball falls to Rodríguez and he shoots first-time to score a goal that, at least, saves a point after another pretty poor team performance. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Jair Rodríguez 90+3) 1.FSV Mainz 1 (Alessio Besio 77) - - - Fair result in the end, I'd say. We were dominant in the first half, but the second was much more even and Mainz had more than enough chances to deserve a goal. The problem was, of course, that we also had had more than enough chances to deserve a goal by then but we hadn't got it, half because Lammens, half because we seem to have forgotten how to finish lately. Rijkhoff in particular has been very anonymous in his last couple of appearances, and today with Özcan suspended we didn't even have the option to replace him. Oh well, strikers are streaky, news at eleven. Thankfully Dortmund also drop two points away to Wolfsburg, so we're still safe in third place for now. More surprising is Bayern's draw in Berlin against Hertha, which practically gift wraps the Bundesliga for Leipzig... Or rather, it would have done so if the leaders hadn't joined the drawfest with a 2-2 at home against Nürnberg. So, absolutely nothing changes at the top in the end. At the bottom, Leverkusen fall deep into the drop zone after losing in Mönchengladbach and Hoffenheim's surprising win in Augsburg, and in fact are now dead last following Köln's 2-0 win against Eintracht. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted February 29 Author Share Posted February 29 Apr 8th 2030 Bad time for more injuries, but at least it's not a really serious one this time: Basualdo suffers a gash in the upper leg in training, he'll need a few stitches and will be forced to rest for five to ten days. Misses the Napoli game on Thursday for sure and most likely the next league fixture in Frankfurt. Apr 11th 2030 TSV 1860 München vs. S.S.C. Napoli (Europa League quarterfinals, 1st leg) Quarterfinals! And a tie that shows how surprisingly small Europe can be, really. Not only do we meet Napoli again, a team we already enjoyed as group partners in our first Europa League appearance two years ago, but their current manager is Jindrich Trpisovsky, who back then was in charge of the Club Brugge side that kicked us out of the competition and went all the way to the semifinals. He's not having such a good year in Italy, though, with his team languishing in ninth place in Serie A and needing a serious final push to make it to the European places. Will be tough, but not unbeatable by any means. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) NAPOLI (4-2-3-1): Luis Maximiano (GK); Ismael Casas (DR), Matteo Lovato (DCr), Mattia Viti (DCl), Giuseppe Pezzella (DL); Monchu (MCr), Fabián (MCl); Rodrygo (AMR), André Anderson (AMC), Samuel Espinosa (AML), Andrea Pinamonti (ST) * * * We go all in today, playing what's probably our best available eleven given current form. There are quite a few remainders of our previous meetings in Napoli's lineup today, including keeping the same formation despite the manager change, and our early game also brings to memory those dominant performances from late 2027, with us basically living inside Napoli's own half and soon having a first chance through Miranda, who volleys a cross from Javorcic straight at Maximiano. In the tenth minute we reap our rewards with another cross, this one by Ball, that flies from the left straight into Schulze's free header: 1-0 and looking good. We keep dominating after the goal, although in a less aggressive and more controlling way. Napoli need all of twenty-one minutes to get anywhere close to scoring, and that's in a corner kick taken by Monchu and headed over the bar by Lovato. We aren't much better in this stage, though, and only return to Maximiano's box in the 29th with Schulze assisting Rodríguez on the run and the Mexican failing to get his finish past the keeper. Two minutes later we also get a corner kick that Ernesto nods towards the far post, Özcan smashes into the post from a difficult angle, and Caraballo then sends wide with his finish after gathering the rebound. Napoli return with a cross by Ismael that Espinosa heads towards goal, prompting a good dive and catch by Rexhepi in his first intervention of the game. We respond with another header, this one by Schulze after a counterattack and cross by Özcan, but also an easy catch for Maximiano. We look like good value to keep our lead until the end of the half, but in injury time a momentary lapse in concentration by our center-backs allows Pinamonti to receive a pass into space by Rodrygo, and the striker does the rest in the one-on-one against Rexhepi, placing his finish into the net and drawing the game just seconds before half time. HALF TIME - 1-1 Very little action in the early minutes of the second half, with basically no shots at goal except for a blocked finish by Caraballo already in the 58th minute. We obviously need to change things if we want a positive result today, so Rijkhoff comes in for Caraballo while Neves replaces Miranda, once again short on fitness. A mistake by Javorcic almost costs us a couple of minutes later, allowing a quick counter by Napoli that thankfully ends with Rexhepi tipping wide a dangerous finish by Rodrygo. Then we finally get creative upfront through Özcan, who sends a beautiful pass towards Neves only for the Portuguese to see his shot also deflected wide by Maximiano. The game could go either way right now, but one of our most creative players, Rodríguez, needs to rest and leaves his place to Meunier. After that the game goes into another lull that only a weak header by substitute Paz breaks, already in the 83rd minute of the game. Rexhepi deals with that one easily, but five minutes later he can only watch as Paz receives inside the box from Fabián and shoots very narrowly wide to the right of the target. In the 89th we aren't so lucky, and a free kick 25 yards away from our goal turns into the 1-2 thanks to Monchu, who bends it expertly around the fence and beyond Rexhepi's reach. Our final push goes nowhere, and we end up losing a game we really should have won. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Maximilian Schulze 10) S.S.C. Napoli 2 (Andrea Pinamonti 45+1, Monchu 89) - - - Spiralling... That's four games without winning in a row at the most critical stage of the season, and in most cases the only reason we didn't win was because we just couldn't score no matter how often we tested the opposing keeper. Then we run out of gas sometime in the second half and that's game over. That's basically what happened today, too: we should've scored at least one more in the first half, but instead ended up conceding the draw just before the end, and in the second half we just vanished and let Napoli take control until they scored the winner. Sigh. Thankfully it's a short result and it can be fixed in the second leg, but we'll need to improve by a lot if we want to have a chance there. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 Last update in a while, since I'll be leaving on a holiday trip for three weeks this Sunday. We'll be returning to the Lions' den on the 25th, most likely. * * * Apr 13th 2030 One piece of good news in the midst of this streak of bad results: after Wolfsburg's defeat in Freiburg today, we're now guaranteed to finish in the top four, and thus we've also guaranteed Champions League football next season! We'll also be receiving a nice boost to our coefficient thanks to our performance in the Europa League, so we might even dodge the fourth seed with some luck. Apr 15th 2030 Eintracht Frankfurt (15th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 30/34) Very late fixture for us this week, which is not ideal considering the Napoli game on Thursday, but hey. Frankfurt are bordering disaster right now, and in fact after Hoffenheim's win against Hertha they're now provisionally in the relegation playoff, provided they don't pick up any points today. Our biggest enemy today, though, will be ourselves, as it's obvious by now we've entered a downward spiral and we really need a positive result to get out of it. Quickly, if possible. * * * EINTRACHT (3-2-2-1-2): André Gomes (GK); Kevin Lomónaco (DCr), Jackson Porozo (DC), Bright Arrey-Mbi (DCl); Rasmus Carstensen (WBR), Noah Katterbach (WBL); Guilherme Santos (MCr), Toma Basic (MCl); André Franco (AMC); Datro Fofana (STr); Bryan Mbeumo (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Matías Miranda (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * Basualdo makes it in time for today's game in the end, and for the first time in a long while we have no suspended players and only Palomeque out due to injury. Eintracht surprise slightly with a 3-5-2 variant, and start a known face in defense with Lomónaco. We once again start well, with Rijkhoff being the first to test Gomes with a centered shot from the edge of the box just three minutes into the game. We don't get any others in the early game, though, despite having lots of possession and Eintracht defending inside their own half most of the time. In fact the next shot at goal doesn't come until the 26th and it's on the wrong side of the pitch: cross from the right by Carstensen and great header by Fofana, straight into the root of the post and clear. The boredom continues into the final minutes of the half without any more work for the keepers to do. It's not until the 45th minute that Meunier sends a ball forward so Miranda can run into the box and try a shot, only for Porozo to block it and deflect it wide. That's it for a seriously unremarkable first half. HALF TIME - 0-0 We look a bit sharper at the start of the second half, and at least Amador gets another early shot in, even though it doesn't even make it to Gomes. The keeper does have to work hard in the 52nd, though, to save a good-looking direct free kick taken by Miranda. One minute later, though, a long ball towards Mbeumo leads to the striker being pushed inside the box by Stjepanovic, and after a few tense seconds VAR confirms the penalty. Kretzschmar guesses the direction right, but Franco sends his shot right next to the post and makes it impossible to save. Not good. Özcan and Rodríguez immediately come into the game replacing Schulze and Rijkhoff, and we quickly feel the effects: Touré intercepts a clearance by Eintracht's defense before it can turn into a counterattack, then passes it short to Rodríguez so the young Mexican can unleash a perfect 20-yarder and score the 1-1 in the 63rd minute. Fofana tries to reply immediately for the home team but his shot is an easy catch for Kretzschmar, and in the 67th we almost complete our comeback with another direct free kick by Miranda, this one deflected away by the crossbar. Thiago then replaces Neves and pushes Meunier forward, all while Franco sends a curler from distance way over the bar in Eintracht's next attempt to regain the lead. We answer through Touré, who shoots low following a pass back by Miranda but fails to surprise Gomes. Entering the last ten minutes the game looks up in the air, and after a couple of blocked shots on each goal we finally get our real break in the 89th in a counterattack launched by Basualdo, but which Özcan finishes terribly by shooting wide with only the keeper ahead of him. Seconds later Rodríguez intercepts the goal kick, then quickly assists Özcan for another try, this time stopped by Gomes' great save. The keeper also goes down to tip wide a long range attempt by Miranda, still within the 89th minute of the game. Injury time brings another attempt by Özcan, also sent behind for a corner kick by Gomes, and a final double chance for Amador that the defense blocks twice. With that the game ends, once again with us failing to turn our best chances into goals. * * * Eintracht Frankfurt 1 (André Franco 53p) TSV 1860 München 1 (Jair Rodríguez 63) - - - Our luck stinks as of late, really. This should've been an easy win given our overall performance despite a very lackluster first half, but once again we found ourselves conceding after an individual mistake and only Rodríguez's moment of genius saved us from another defeat. That final stretch of clear-cut chance after clear-cut chance was painful to watch, honestly. Still third, but our lead over Dortmund is now only two points, and Bayern are coming next week... We're also officially out of the title race now, unless we somehow manage to recover a twenty-two goal difference disadvantage over Leipzig in the remaining four fixtures, not to mention twelve points. We're now heading into the most decisive week of the season for sure, starting with the return leg against Napoli, following with the Münchner Derby, and ending with the DFB Pokal semifinals in Hamburg. I don't expect to win them all, most certainly not with our current form, but winning at least one of the three would save us from a very discouraging ending to what has been a fantastic season otherwise. Let's hope we're up to it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbeider Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 Apr 16th 2030 Following our official qualification for next year's Champions League, the board set next season's initial budgets at €1.1M in weekly wages and around €33M for transfers, which is... basically what we have right now. Thankfully we don't plan on making any big moves this summer as the expectation is to run it back with as close to the current squad as we can afford, but from past experiences it's easy to guess that things won't be as easy as that. On the other hand if anyone ends up leaving this coming transfer window it's likely to be for big wads of cash, so we should have enough to replace them. Apr 18th 2030 S.S.C. Napoli vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League quarterfinals, 2nd leg) Let's get this party started. Last week we deserved better than the 1-2 we got in the end, so there are hopes that we can turn this around if we at least play at the same level we did back then. Of course that'll only become true if we actually put our chances in, and that has been our main struggle for the last month or so. Regardless, let's give it all we've got. * * * NAPOLI (4-2-3-1): Luis Maximiano (GK); Ismael Casas (DR), Matteo Lovato (DCr), Mattia Viti (DCl), Giuseppe Pezzella (DL); Monchu (MCr), Fabián (MCl); Faton Istrefi (AMR), André Anderson (AMC), Rodrygo (AML), Andrea Pinamonti (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) * * * Javorcic misses out today due to suspension, which means Amador is going to need a rest at some point today after playing the whole game against Eintracht. Other than that and Neves in Miranda's place we repeat the same eleven as last week, while Napoli only replace Espinosa with Istrefi and move Rodrygo to the left. We start the game being pushed back by Napoli, who seem to want to dominate the game to never give us a chance for a comeback. Their domination is defensive-minded, though, and despite having us in our own half for most of the initial twenty minutes they don't have any chances to show up for it. In the 23rd minute they finally manage to create something when Pinamonti dribbles past Ernesto on the left flank and crosses towards Anderson's header, prompting a good save by Rexhepi. By now we're starting to regain the lost ground, though, and slowly push Napoli back until we can begin to play our game for real. And the first time we get near Maximiano's goal with a long possession play we bring the ball to Caraballo in the space just in front of the defensive line and the false nine spots the perfect passing line towards Özcan inside the box, allowing the striker to dribble his way past the keeper and score the 0-1. Tie tied. Momentum is now on our side, and we take the chance to give Maximiano a bit more work to do with a direct free kick by Rodríguez that the keeper has to deflect over the bar. Then in the 37th Ball sends a good ball down the left flank towards Neves, and the midfielder finds himself with lots of time to think. That's dangerous, and Napoli soon feel it when the midfielder sends a perfect through ball towards Özcan, who once again finishes the job perfectly and makes it 0-2. Now it's our turn to defend with the ball, and while Napoli try a couple desperate shots that never give Rexhepi any trouble, our lead remains intact come half time. HALF TIME - 0-2 Things stay calm in the early second half, with Napoli needing nine minutes to test Rexhepi through a shot from distance by Pezzella, well tipped wide by the keeper. Not much later we bring Touré in Amador's place as expected, since the right back was already on a yellow and running on fumes. Meanwhile, Anderson heads a corner kick well over the bar in Napoli's next approach, but we seem to have things mostly under control so far. Minutes pass without any other chances, and with the final stretch approaching we bring more reinforcements into the game, with Meunier and Miranda replacing Schulze and Rodríguez. We haven't forgotten about attacking, though, and in the 69th we turn another long passing play into our chance to seal the game for good: the ball moves around Napoli's box for a while until Meunier chips it over the defense and towards Özcan, who once again controls it perfectly and finishes even better, grabbing himself a big game hattrick and putting ourselves two goals ahead on aggregate. Napoli seem to throw in the towel after that, and we enjoy a few pleasant minutes without any real pressure from their attacking players. That changes in the 81st minute, though: a deep set piece is whipped into the box and Anderson falls to the ground in the middle of the usual melee. VAR spots a push by Ernesto there, and a penalty is awarded, allowing Monchu to score from the spot and give Napoli a glimmer of hope. Özcan has a chance to kill those hopes right away after he runs into a pass from deep by Caraballo and enters the box alone, but this time he can't aim correctly and blasts it over the bar. Monchu then tries a direct free kick that also goes high, although not by much, but our defense does an admirable job after that, denying the Italians any further chances and cementing our place in the Europa League semifinals. * * * S.S.C. Napoli 1 (Monchu 82p) TSV 1860 München 3 (Vedat Özcan 32 37 69) - - - Özcan here just making his signing worthwhile with only one single match, nothing big. Just the kind of performance we needed to break out of our funk, and with the extra prize of making it one step further in the competition. Sure, Napoli probably had the advantage today in possession, but we took our chances for once and then denied them any clear-cut ones to get back into the game, penalty aside. Back in the right path. Oh, and €1.8M in prizes coming our way, nice. The next step will bring us to Spain's capital after Atlético managed to overcome a 3-0 first leg loss in Leicester with the same result in regulation, then conceding early in extra time only to turn it around again thanks to a Matheus Cunha hattrick sealed in the 120th minute. And heh, do you know who's Atleti's manager now? Simeone is back! Should be a nice throwback to those thrillers we enjoyed during his time in Leverkusen... The other semifinal will be an all-English affair, with Arsenal and Manchester United having defeated Atalanta and Stuttgart respectively. 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