[FM24] Vigo - Rise of the Celts

[warlock]

6 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Really solid progress

Cheers, mate!

Life keeping you busy? You've been missed 

[SixPointer]

12 hours ago, warlock said:

Cheers, mate!

Life keeping you busy? You've been missed 

Works been crazy infact beyond crazy! 

[Stuniverse]

Great first two seasons, @warlock but Real Madrid and Barcelona are juggernauts that are going to take some overhauling.

Good luck 🍀⚽️🤞

[warlock]

28 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Real Madrid and Barcelona are juggernauts

That they are! We did well in the first season to split them by coming second, but Barca came storming back in the second season to push us down to third. Realistically, third is about all we can hope for this time around. This is what we're up against:

We've done well to improve the club financial situation, but we're still hampered by the La Liga salary cap, which currently limits us to a £36m total wage spend. It's going up - from around £25m in the first year - but it's a slow process.

For clarity, in this particular table the red (negative) spending represents profit on transfer dealings - ie, it's a negative spend overall. Which is why we're rich... buy low, sell high . It's not exactly moneyball, but I do look for players that represent good value and potential resale value.

[Stuniverse]

5 hours ago, warlock said:

We did well in the first season to split them by coming second, but Barca came storming back in the second season to push us down to third. Realistically, third is about all we can hope for this time around. This is what we're up against:

Wow! Even Real Sociedad, 4th in that table, have almost double the salary you do, and the top three are way out of sight...

Going to be tough to dislodge those two juggernauts but you did finish in between them once, so...

... overachieving is always a possibility though...

5 hours ago, warlock said:

We've done well to improve the club financial situation, but we're still hampered by the La Liga salary cap, which currently limits us to a £36m total wage spend. It's going up - from around £25m in the first year - but it's a slow process.

OK, apologies I'm not familiar with Spanish football and La Liga, so why are so many clubs spending over that salary cap limit?

Edited April 14 by Stuniverse

[warlock]

6 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

why are so many clubs spending over that salary cap limit?

The cap is calculated for each individual club; the more they earn, the more they can spend. A cynic would suggest it's designed to ensure the continued dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona, but IRL Barca have fallen foul of the rules. But they're very creative at cooking the books, ahem... generating new sources of income 

[Stuniverse]

27 minutes ago, warlock said:

The cap is calculated for each individual club; the more they earn, the more they can spend.

Aah, gotcha. Thanks, @warlock

27 minutes ago, warlock said:

A cynic would suggest it's designed to ensure the continued dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona, but IRL Barca have fallen foul of the rules. But they're very creative at cooking the books, ahem... generating new sources of income 

So you either need to earn more, or get more creative at cooking the books, ahem... generating new sources of income? 

Edited April 14 by Stuniverse

[warlock]

August 2025

Towards the end of last season I was asked in several press conferences to explain the number of changes in playing personnel during my managerial spell. None of the available responses come close to the reality: Spanish release clauses, and the financial draw of the Saudi clubs. And they were the big factors again. But before the transfer window opened, we had several bits of unfinished business to conclude:

Aidoo, Bamba and Cervi completed their loan-to-buy moves, generating another £40m in transfer income (of which, sadly, I can only retain 70%). Baeza and Paciencia were not good enough and were allowed to leave as their contracts expired. One-time No.1 'keeper Villar was moved out as he'd fallen far behind last summer's signing Felix Gebhardt. On his day, Villar was very good but equally prone to disastrous mistakes.

In his place, I had a pre-arranged deal for an upgrade:

Hedl already has a lot of international experience at 24 with 22 caps for Austria, and offered excellent value at £12.5m from Rapid Wien. He comes in as our first-choice GK with Gebhardt happy with backup status.

No sooner had the window opened than we lost star RB Oscar Mingueza when Saudi outfit Al-Hilal triggered his £37.5m release clause. Then Real Sociedad did the same for No.1 striker Jorgen Strand Larsen but, miraculously, the Norwegian chose to reject the contract and stay at Vigo. With plenty of other interest in his services, I immediately broke our wage structure and he signed a new deal on £63k a week, with his release clause rising dramatically to £87m.

Other departures included two CBs. Carlos Dominguez had rarely played for me, and didn't impress when he did. After a season on loan last year I decided it was time to move him on and eventually he signed for West Ham for £7.75m. The last move was a loan for Taylor Harwood-Bellis, something of a panic buy back in January and another who'd struggled to break into the squad. At 23 he still has room to improve so we chose a loan rather than a transfer and he joined Nice who are covering the bulk of his wages.

First priority for replacements was a first-choice RB and we had a target in mind:

Mendy was signed from Nice for £14.5m and while he already looks a decent replacement for Mingueza he has the time and talent to overtake latter's ability.

With Dominguez leaving we needed another option at left-sided CB and eventually decided on a South American veteran who would bring some much-needed experience to the squad:

Costing just £4m from Getafe, Alderete should be an able backup to captain Carl Starfelt.

While I still have hopes that Ivan Azon will develop into a decent striker for us, I decided we needed a better backup to Strand Larsen in the immediate future. We found a solution in the USA:

Joveljic was on an expiring contract at the end of the MLS season but we opted to pay £5m to bring him immediately, and the coaching team rate him as close to Strand Larsen's ability in the complete forward role we use.

Our final business was prompted by an injury to first-choice LB Fredrik Bjorkan, who suffered a broken toe on the opening day of the season. I already had doubts about the ability of backup Manu Sanchez who was unhappy with his playing time but did little to impress when given a chance. I decided a long-term solution was needed:

Bartesaghi joined from AC Milan for £14m and has the potential to develop into a top-class player. In the meantime, I like a tall fullback who is useful at both ends of the pitch and at 6'2" he fits the bill nicely.

So another window in which we made a handy profit on transfers, bringing in around £90m and spending about £50m, leaving us around £40m in the budget should any business need to be done in January.

[warlock]

August 2025 - On the pitch

The first competitive games of the season, with new players to bed in to the squad, always leave room for doubt. On the whole, we did pretty well:

After losing to Almeria at the end of last season I was keen to extract a measure of revenge, and the lads didn't disappoint. We were less impressive away at Girona in a defensive battle that saw both attacks nullified, but got back to winning form at home against Osasuna.

The real disappointment of the month came against Sevilla, a good side who qualified for the Conference League last season. But they had started this season with three games without a win and I thought we should have taken the victory in this match, especially after Larsen gave us the lead on 15 minutes. But they came after us in the second half and we couldn't match their intensity as they scored twice without reply. Early days, but I'm hoping these first games are not a sign that we're going to struggle away from home this season.

[Stuniverse]

31 minutes ago, warlock said:

The first competitive games of the season, with new players to bed in to the squad, always leave room for doubt. On the whole, we did pretty well:

Two good home wins which bodes well for building that Celta Vigo fortress this season.

31 minutes ago, warlock said:

Early days, but I'm hoping these first games are not a sign that we're going to struggle away from home this season.

A draw and a defeat away from home… early days and, as you say, you’re still bedding in new players which will take time. I’m sure your away form will improve once the new signings settle in.

Edited April 14 by Stuniverse

[warlock]

September 2025

A good month, with just the slight slip - away from home again - against Valladolid. On the other hand, two good home victories against Atletico Madrid and Athletic of Bilbao, and an away victory against La Liga new boys Tenerife.

Highlight of the month was undoubtedly our entry in this year's Champions League campaign where we made the long trip north to Sweden and produced a superb performance. New signing Dejan Joveljic certainly made his mark on this one, bagging a first-half hat-trick and adding another after the interval. As much as I loved that, though, I'd appreciate it if he could find the net in our bread-and-butter league matches.

We've now adopted our customary position in third place, surrounded by the usual suspects. We're also boasting the best defence in the league, bolstered by the arrival of Hedl between the sticks, who has 6 clean sheets in his first 9 appearances for the club.

We've also had the first personnel issue of the season. Backup RCB Nunez was complaining about game time. When I accepted his request he promised he wouldn't let me down. Then he let me down - in addition to his poor in-game performances, he has posted the worst training ratings (5.5 and 5.6) for four weeks in a row. After our most recent chat he said he was happy with his training effort and that I should, in so many words, get off his back. He's now transfer-listed and exiled to the u19s. I've already accepted two Saudi bids of £9.5m so he should be gone in January.

October will be a much tougher month as we face both Barcelona and Real Madrid in the league, plus Rennes and Chelsea in Europe. Any points from those fixtures would be a bonus.

[Jogo Bonito]

A fantastic season again, 3rd is very decent despite the 2nd of the previous year.

Liking most of the new signings such as Monchu, Mendy and the super-saver Hedl. I tracked the latter quite closely on FM23 when managing in Germany and Austria.

A strong start again this year, looking forward to seeing you keep up the challenge 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

A strong start again this year

Yes - so far, so good.

We've done quite well with our signings, too. As always on a tight budget, we've had to prioritise potential over current ability and I wasn't expecting them to develop so well this early. Complicated by my house rule: only sign players that the scouting team recommends.

[Jogo Bonito]

2 minutes ago, warlock said:

Yes - so far, so good.

We've done quite well with our signings, too. As always on a tight budget, we've had to prioritise potential over current ability and I wasn't expecting them to develop so well this early. Complicated by my house rule: only sign players that the scouting team recommends.

Well, they might say you're a wily old manager 

[warlock]

6 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

they might say you're a wily old manager 

Wily by name, wily by nature. And old, too 

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, warlock said:

Wily by name, wily by nature. And old, too 

[SixPointer]

Great summer business and a great start to season. Barcelona and Real always going to be a big ask but first couple of seasons you already look in good shape to mountain a challenge in the coming years 

[warlock]

October 2025

As predicted, October turned out to be a tough time - although we did slightly better than expected in some respects.

We managed to pull off an unlikely win at Rennes, thanks the latest possible winner from midfielder Jose Gragera. But we followed that with another disappointing away draw at Cadiz before picking up an important 3 points against Las Palmas who have been much improved in the last couple of seasons and were sitting just behind us in the league.

Defeats to Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid felt inevitable but we weren't embarrassed. Against Barca and Real we were level at 1-1 at the interval, but they're a class above and will punish any lapse in concentration. And, he said bitterly, their wage bills should buy them some kind of advantage .

We were helped, I think, by dropping the AMR/AML to the wide midfield slots but we don't really have the personnel for that switch - of our 4 regulars in those positions, only one is happy in the deeper role and Allende - nominally our first-choice AMR - whines when asked to play deeper. Since we're two months away from bringing in new players I'm unsure whether to stick with it or abandon it in the short term.

Next month, the big games are Champions League ties against Benfica and Monaco, plus another contest in our increasing rivalry with Real Sociedad in the league.

[Fantasista10]

Just catching up on this - a great job as always, especially with the transfers. It's not easy to lose your best players year after year and maintain that consistency, so to be where you are still in the league is very impressive... and after that brutal month you just had too. 

Bartesaghi is a player I had an eye on in my save at one point, but a bid didn't materialise in the end. So I'm all the more interested to see how he does for you.  

Keep up the good work!

[warlock]

18 minutes ago, Fantasista10 said:

I'm all the more interested to see how he does for you

He might be my new favourite player 

He's improved massively since joining and the coaching team already rate him as good as Fredrik Bjorkan which, I think, is high praise.

[Fantasista10]

Just now, warlock said:

He might be my new favourite player 

He's improved massively since joining and the coaching team already rate him as good as Fredrik Bjorkan which, I think, is high praise.

Wow, he is developing into a beast! Don't you just love those green arrows  

Do you tailor training plans out of curiosity? I'm sure playing regular football at this level is a key driving force for his progress too. 

[warlock]

2 minutes ago, Fantasista10 said:

Do you tailor training plans out of curiosity?

No, I always leave training up to the backroom staff, unless I want a specific position or role change. And yes, by 19 or 20 years of age, I think game time at a competitive level is key.

[warlock]

November 2025

After three back-to-back defeats at the end of October - albeit to three very good teams - we needed to stop the rot. And with one exception we did that:

The home win against Getafe was probably expected, but welcome nonetheless, before we produced by far the worst performance of my managerial reign.

It wasn't that I expected anything other than a  defeat against Benfica, who are performing very well in this year's Champions League. It was the manner of the defeat. We allowed them an early lead after just 7 minutes, then in the 10th minute they had a man sent off. What followed was 80 minutes of utter incompetence... we should have had a man spare somewhere on the pitch but we not only failed to take advantage, we rolled over and gave up. Benfica extended their lead after 15 minutes while we continued to do nothing, before they cemented our embarrassment with a third goal 10 minutes from time. We couldn't keep the ball, we couldn't create a half-decent chance, and we certainly couldn't defend.

Emoji match report:    .

With that out of the way, we did much better in the remainder of the month. A win away at Gijon was fine, the draw at home to Sociedad wasn't ideal, especially after taking the lead inside 5 minutes, but they're a very good team and I wasn't too disappointed.

Then, against Monaco, we produced the very opposite of the Benfica match - they also took an early lead but this time we fought back, equalised before the interval and then dominated the second half. And we ended the month with a solid away win against Betis.

After slipping down the table after last month's losses against Barcelona and Real Madrid, we've now clawed our way back:

Atletico have a game in hand but I'm happy enough with the current situation. I'm less happy about our attacking performance - all of our best-rated players are defenders and DMs. Whatever combination of players we use, the front four just aren't getting the job done. Strand Larsen continues to score at his slow-but-steady rate, but new signing Joveljic has done almost nothing since his four goals against Hacken, Swedberg has been nowhere near his best this season, his backup Theo has missed 6 weeks with a back injury, and youngsters Rego and Rodriguez continue to develop but aren't major contributors yet.

It presents a dilemma for the January window: can we afford to be patient with the younger players or do I bring in an established talent to improve our scoring ability? Results in December will help to answer that as we have league games against Valencia and Villareal, and a Champions League game against FC Kobenhavn.

 

[warlock]

Here's a good example of the Saudi problem...

At the end of season 2, star midfielder Fran Beltran was one of our first unwanted departures as Saudi club Al-Nassr paid £25.5m to trigger his release clause. 18 months later this just popped up in my inbox:

So he's available on a free transfer, he was great, let's get him back and pocket that £25.5m. Except:

He wants about £1.5m per week in wages. Per week 

[Stuniverse]

14 minutes ago, warlock said:

At the end of season 2, star midfielder Fran Beltran was one of our first unwanted departures as Saudi club Al-Nassr paid £25.5m to trigger his release clause. 18 months later this just popped up in my inbox:

15 minutes ago, warlock said:

So he's available on a free transfer, he was great, let's get him back and pocket that £25.5m.

 Good plan...

15 minutes ago, warlock said:

Except:

He wants about £1.5m per week in wages. Per week 

[warlock]

December 2025

Feliz Navidad, as they probably say in Vigo. And Christmas is a happy time as Spain is one of those civilized footballing nations that implements a mid-winter break. And the jollity extended to our on-field performances with a perfect month:

We opened the month with a good showing away at Vallecano, and after I called out the front four for poor performances so far this season it was pleasing to see Larsen and Allende finding the net. We stepped it up even further against Kobenhavn in the Champions League with a storming performance from Swedberg who bagged a first-half hat-trick en route to a 6-1 caning of the Danes.

Swedberg was on the scoresheet again as we picked up a good win against Valencia, before concluding the month, and the year, with another victory at Villareal. That means we're now unbeaten in the league since our double defeat against Barcelona and Real Madrid at the end of October, making us the form team in La Liga:

We're also in a good place in the Champions League:

Our remaining fixtures in the league phase see us travel to Leipzig before facing Spanish rivals Real Sociedad. I doubt we can improve our position much but we should be able to secure a place in the playoff round. Either way, we've been much improved in Europe this season.

Ahead of the transfer window, we've already done some business. Three out-of-favour players will be leaving, and we have two replacements already signed. We also have £28m in the transfer budget and room in the wage budget, plus two squad registration spots if we identify a good prospect. Otherwise, we're waiting on the dreaded release clause bids.

 

[Fantasista10]

What a reaction to the Madrid and Barcelona games. Benfica aside, it seems like you’ve been pretty much flawless.

There is something weird about facing 10 men at times. The same happened to me on my save when I played Milan. They were 1-0 up, went a player down, we equalised, but they were still the better side! Maybe the game requires us to be more aggressive in those situations. Not sure what you did, but I didn’t really change anything as I just imagined the extra man would make a difference. 

Impressive UCL campaign too, hoping for a favourable draw if you go via the Playoffs. 

[warlock]

11 minutes ago, Fantasista10 said:

There is something weird about facing 10 men at times

That is true... a good side (which Benfica are) will often work harder. Some teams will look to sit back and defend, Benfica did that but never stopped looking for chances to score. My usual reaction to the situation is to play wider and slower, trying to take advantage of the extra man and reveal gaps in their defence, wear them down. The problem was, my players were sloppy in possession, giving the ball away through poor first touches or misplaced passes so we couldn't maintain any pressure.

The problem with poor first touch is one I need to address in the squad. I've lost count of the times we've had an attack break down because somebody receives the ball and it pings 10-12 yards away from the player, allowing an opponent to nip in and either hoof it away or launch a counter.

 

[Alejandro_FM]

Nice progress so far!  

Bartesaghi looks immense. What a talent. 

[warlock]

January 2026 - Transfer window

Unusually for a Vigo window, we received no unwanted bids or release clause offers. I'd also done most of our business before the window opened.

The first two departures were for players who were on my 'begone' list. LB Manu Sanchez had been a useful player but was very much behind Fredrik Bjorken and when Bartesaghi arrived in the summer he was even further down the order. Increasing complaints about his playing time meant we had little option but to move him on, and he signed for Marseille for £6.5m. The Unai Nunez saga was explained at length earlier - poor performances and a bad attitude sealed his fate and he left for Saudi club Al-Sadd and a £9.5m fee.

The third was a move I didn't really want to make. Young striker Ivan Azon is a good prospect but only third-choice in the Vigo squad, and he wanted more first-team football than we could offer him. He rejected a number of loan moves and eventually we agreed to sell him to Lens, recouping what we paid for him at £5m.

No replacement was needed for Sanchez but we definitely needed another CB, especially as first-choice defender Igoh Ogbu would miss the whole of January at the African nations cup:

Marin is a graduate of the Real Madrid academy and looks ideal for the job. He becomes our record signing at £24m and should be with us for years.

Next in was the arrival of a player I'd signed back in the summer:

Nyheim was a young star of my Southampton save, so when the recruitment team urged me to sign him I was happy to take the advice. For just £4m he's an absolute bargain and an additional 6 months' development at Bodo/Glimt appears to have done him the world of good. He comes in as backup to Swedberg at AMC.

The final signing was for a long-term solution at AML/AMR. We weren't desperate for reinforcements here but there are signs that our first-choice players are struggling to perform at the higher level we're now competing at.

Prestianni has featured on scouting reports for a while but since we have no available non-EU slots he was on my nice-to-have list. But on closer inspection, it turned out he has Italian nationality so we decided to make the move. £22m secured his signature from Benfica. I'm a big fan of traditional-style tricky wingers and he certainly fits that mould, with the added bonus of being equally adept on both flanks.

In the not too distant future, I think the squad will need something of a rebuild to allow us to better compete at the top of the league and in Europe. At the very least, it would be nice to find a reliable 20-goal-a-season striker, but I'm happy with where we are for now.

[warlock]

January 2026 - Team performance

The month turned to be busier than expected as we competed in multiple fronts:

After a perfect month in December I was hoping to carry on that form. Unfortunately, we slipped at the first hurdle as we struggled to a home draw against Girona, as the visitors scored either side of the interval and were leading 2-0 in the 75th minute. But demonstrating the power of a good substitution, I sent on DM Enzo Barrenechea and within 5 minutes he set up Bjorkan to pull one back and then, in the final seconds, grabbed the equaliser to clinch the PoM award.

In our only other league game, we did just enough to break down Almeria who are fighting against relegation and set up with a parked bus. They rarely ventured out of their own half and didn't manage a single shot on target, but it took us until midway through the second half before Larsen managed to find the back of the net.

The memorable moment of the month came in the irritating distraction that is the Supercopa in Saudi Arabia. We managed to beat Real Madrid for the first time in the save, and not just beat them but comprehensively outplay them:

I have no idea how - it was our usual tactic and they had a full-strength team out - and we reverted to type against Barcelona in the final.

But the highlight of the month was our performance in the Champions League. A battling away draw at Leipzig and then an excellent home victory against rivals Real Sociedad secured us a place in the knockout round, just outside the Top 8. And I had no idea until a pre-match media question alerted me to the fact, plucky little Vigo are the competitions top scorers:

We await the draw for the knockout round, but hopefully we can put together another display of goalscoring brilliance 

 

[warlock]

Well, this is disappointing:

[Stuniverse]

13 hours ago, warlock said:

Well, this is disappointing:

Ouch!

15 hours ago, warlock said:

The memorable moment of the month came in the irritating distraction that is the Supercopa in Saudi Arabia. We managed to beat Real Madrid for the first time in the save, and not just beat them but comprehensively outplay them:

But you did beat them in Supercopa (whatever that is?) so fingers crossed...

Edited April 19 by Stuniverse

[warlock]

2 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

But you did beat them in Supercopa

Update incoming 

[warlock]

February 2026

I'm not sure why the fixture computer does this, but yet again the shortest month of the year has been the busiest month of the year with 8 games across three competitions.

In the league it was another unbeaten month as we secured a narrow win against Sevilla, and rather more convincing performances against Osasuna and Valladolid before struggling to a draw away at Athletic in Bilbao. The Valladolid game was notable for youngster Nyheim scoring his first goal for the club, and for Joveljic breaking a 15-game streak without finding the net.

In the Copa del Rey we managed an easy win against L2 opponents Oviedo but then failed in the quarter-final against Sociedad. This was a big disappointment because if we're to win some silverware the Copa looks like our best opportunity. Must try harder!

But the highlight of the month - and perhaps of the save so far - came in the Champions League:

As with our Supercopa victory in January, I can't quite explain how we pulled this off. The away leg was a repeat of January's encounter - they had slightly better possession but we did more with what we had, slightly winning the xG battle with more accurate shooting.

In the home leg Real gifted us a man advantage as DM Nicolas Seiwald was red-carded for a lunging tackle on Bartesaghi and I feared the worst when the 10-man Madrilenos scored within minutes, but we pulled ourselves together and, across the two legs, were much the better team:

So for the first time Vigo find themselves in the Round of 16. Of course, there are no easy games at this stage but I was hoping to avoid one of Europe's giants. Alas:

Back to matters domestic:

Realistically, third place is probably the best we can hope for but, barring a disaster, we should qualify for another season of European football. It's been a while since we took a close look at the squad and how they're performing so we'll do that next.

[Stuniverse]

27 minutes ago, warlock said:

But the highlight of the month - and perhaps of the save so far - came in the Champions League:

As with our Supercopa victory in January, I can't quite explain how we pulled this off. The away leg was a repeat of January's encounter - they had slightly better possession but we did more with what we had, slightly winning the xG battle with more accurate shooting.

Very well done, @warlock

If only you knew how Celta Vigo were doing it  

 

[warlock]

February 2026 - Meet the squad

Goalkeepers

Simple - Hedl is our No.1; if he's fit, he plays, first name on the teamsheet, etc. Gebhardt is an adequate backup but prone to calamitous errors.

Defenders

Bjorkan, who is still an excellent player, has been supplanted as first-choice LB by wonderkid Bartesaghi but I'm happy to have both of them. Central defence is less clear-cut - Ogbu and Marin are natural right-footers, and Aldarete is a leftie. Starfelt is right-footed but prefers to play on the left, they all work well together and give us good flexibility to cover for injuries and international duty. But Starfelt turned 30 this year and looks to be declining. He has a year remaining on his contract and I'd normally look to move him on in the summer, but he's our club captain and I'm wary of the disruption. On the right, Mendy is the obvious first-choice while Carreira was an able backup. However, he has been unhappy with his playing time and in trying to pacify him, I've annoyed Mendy who also wants more games. As a result, Carreira is now transfer-listed.

Defensive midfield

My usual approach of having two players for each position applies to our double-pivot. Currently both roles are set to DM with one on defend and one on support. The weak link here is Sotelo... at the start of the save he was rated at 4.5* potential but despite more than 60 first-team appearances he simply hasn't realised that potential, as shown by his last 5 games rating. Since there's interest in him it feels like time to move him on. Monchu is our main set-piece taker, which accounts for his eye-catching assists number.

Swedberg should be our main man here, but I've been disappointed by his contribution this season, where he's been somewhat overshadowed by Allende and Rodriguez, neither of whom is his equal in terms of ability. Some of it likely to be role-related - the latter pair play as IFs on support while Swedberg is a natural shadow striker and it seems as though he gets marked out of games too often. On the left, Rego is a rising star as De La Torre is declining and I think I'm close to calling time on the latter's services. Prestianni was brought in as cover on both flanks and should be able to step up as Rego's backup next season - he hasn't yet had the chance since since he immediately suffered a virus after arriving and is just coming back to fitness. Nyheim has the potential to be our best player and it raises the question about how long he'll be happy as second fiddle to Swedberg.

Strikers

Our main problem area. Larsen's 13 goals in 24 starts looks OK but that translates to just 7 in 16 league games. Joveljic's stats look similar, but he front-loaded his scoring and has just brought to an end a 15-game barren streak. Both are rated as natural complete forwards and I can't help but wonder whether a tactical switch, dropping the striker to a support role, might work better. Something to think about and, perhaps, preferable to spending big on a top class goalscorer.

[warlock]

58 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

If only you knew how Celta Vigo were doing it  

Yeah... I'd be a great manager if I did 

[Fantasista10]

Fantastic results against Real Madrid! Couldn’t help but notice João Rêgo scoring the winner in the away leg - he has established himself as a big game player for me. He seems to be humming along nicely for you looking at his stats as well. 
 

And Bartesaghi looks to be developing superbly at left back, what a player. 
 

Keep up the good work mate, you look on course to have another successful season in the top 3, and maybe, just maybe, you can cause another upset vs Liverpool! I’ll give you my notes on how I beat them if you like  (kidding, because just like you, I’ve no idea how I did it )

[warlock]

26 minutes ago, Fantasista10 said:

just maybe, you can cause another upset vs Liverpool!

Maybe . I was expecting a defeat away against Madrid and hoping we might draw at home. So you never know. Liverpool are currently 3rd in the Premier League, and have lost 10 games so far this season so they're not invulnerable. "We back ourselves against anyone," he lied 

[Alejandro_FM]

3 hours ago, warlock said:

This is a comprehensive dismantling. Mostly down to them having 10-men? Or some tactical magic? 

Prestianni developed really nicely for me. He's the complete wide player. Great purchase! 

[warlock]

16 minutes ago, Alejandro_FM said:

Or some tactical magic?

See posts above - I haven't a clue 

[AlfieLucas]

Doing excellent. Certainly performing above expectations.

[warlock]

March 2026

What. A. Month! After the heroics of February that took us past Real Madrid in the Champions League I thought nothing could surpass that. I was wrong.

We opened the month with a league game against Cadiz at home and duly racked up a 3-0 win, before we entertained Liverpool in the Round of 16 of the Champions League. If only for the sake of pride, I was hoping we might hold them to a draw at home before succumbing to the inevitable defeat at Anfield. We managed the first part, although it took a late, late goal from Monchu to square the tie. At Anfield, though, we produced something remarkable:

We got off to a fantastic start as Allende bagged a brace in the first 10 minutes, before the inevitable Liverpool fightback. And things took a turn for the worse after the interval as the Reds grabbed two goals in quick succession. As they dominated possession and created the better chances the result seemed a foregone conclusion. Until, inside the final 15 minutes, fullback Mendy ran the right flank before playing a simple square ball into the box where Swedberg was lurking with only one defender and the 'keeper to beat. He duly converted the chance. 

Then with just four minutes of normal time remaining, we won a corner on our left side. Monchu swung in the kick and Igoh Ogbu rose at the near post to power his header home. Scenes of joy among the away fans as Vigo recorded an historic victory.

We had barely recovered from that high when Barcelona came to Vigo. Could we despatch a third world-class opponent? Yes we could:

We took an early lead, they equalised. We scored again to take a 2-1 advantage into the break, but they came back and found another equaliser 8 minutes into the second half. I was more than happy to take a draw and had already told the team to slow it down, play for set pieces and waste a little time, but when an opportunity arose in the last minute of added time the lads grabbed it. Barrenechea intercepted a loose pass on the left of midfield, surged forward to the edge of the Barcelona area, and then laid it off to Joveljic cutting in off the left wing. He burst past two defenders and then drilled a shot past Ter Stegen to give us another outstanding victory.

Finally, we wrapped up the month with two high-scoring wins in the league:

An incredible month that takes Vigo to the quarter-final of the Champions League - where we'll face Manchester United - and almost cements our hold on third place in LaLiga:

There's a theoretical chance of overhauling Barca in second but that relies on them losing their game in hand so I don't rate our chances, but I'm increasingly confident that we can hold off any challenge from Atletico Madrid and Athletic of Bilbao. We do need to tighten up in defence, though - we shipped a boat-load of goals this month and it's a problem that could easily become a disaster.

[Carambau]

WTF? Defeating Liverpool away? I´d say you will go very far in the competition now  

[AlfieLucas]

Great month man, bodes well for next season if anything. Shows you can beat those big super powers.

[warlock]

April 2026

The main event this month was our Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United. Having seen off Real Madrid and Liverpool in the preceding rounds, could we add another giant to our list of unlikely triumphs?

Sadly not, but we came oh so close!

The home leg was a tight affair with neither side able to create much and the best performances coming from both sets of defenders. But we were confident we could get it done at Old Trafford. It was another close-fought game but we took the lead 10 minutes into the second half. Unfortunately, some sloppy defending allowed United to waltz into our area and equalise soon after. We went to extra time and still couldn't be separated, and so to penalties. Even then, there wasn't much to choose between us before United eventually won the shootout 7-6.

Beyond that drama, we maintained our unbeaten league run which now stretches to 22 games since our loss to Real Madrid at the end of November. We also managed to concede just two goals across 6 games this month. The draw against Atletico was also important as it denied two vital points to our nearest rivals, and we clinched third place with the win over Betis:

That also confirms another season of Champions League football. The board have given us a transfer budget of £41m and a much-increased wage budget of £1.3m a week. I'm not planning a wholesale rebuild but I do want to bring in four or five players to strengthen the squad - I currently have four earmarked for transfers out.

Before that we have the final four games of the season, starting with an away visit to Real Madrid, and then three winnable games against Vallecano, Valencia and Villareal.

[Fantasista10]

Unbelievable run in the UCL mate, very unfortunate to lose on penalties. Perhaps it was just one big team too many. But can take a lot of confidence and belief from those results and performances though, certainly something to build on! 

Congrats on sealing another top 3 finish too. For a club like Vigo, it’s a huge achievement. And a decent size transfer budget for next year, I’m interested to see who you bring in! 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Fantasista10 said:

I’m interested to see who you bring in! 

Me too! 

Champions League football has completely transformed the club:

[Carambau]

Oh no! Man Utd of all teams  

Looking forward to next season