Dalbeider

May 10th 2030 Bad news coming from Dresden, who call up to inform us of Karlsen going down with a slipped disc. That means over a month of recovery, so considering he won't be playing for them again this season we recall him to take care of his healing ourselves. He's had a decent year there, helping them along into a promotion run that might actually prove successful in the end, but still quite far from the level we'd expect from a first team midfielder at this point. May 11th 2030 The kids obviously relaxed a bit too much in the second leg against Köln, but still got through with an 8-3 aggregate win. The final will be against a surprising Werder Bremen U19 side, who also ended top of their group ahead of teams like HSV and Wolfsburg. May 12th 2030 Marc-André Ter Stegen announces his retirement at the end of the season. Barcelona legend and only stopped from being the same at a national level by Manuel Neuer's existence. This also means one less player ahead of Kretzschmar in the picking order for Germany, so yay? May 13th 2030 Very early callups for the summer international window, which includes the World Cup to be held in Spain, and Klopp gives us not one but two pleasant surprises: both Kretzschmar and Schulze make the German preliminary team! They might get cut before the main event, but still. Palomeque also gets a chance for a senior debut with Colombia right after recovering from his current injury (he could possibly play against either Union or Arsenal, too), while other frequent internationals like Rodríguez, Rijkhoff, Stjepanovic, and Javorcic also get their customary callups. Let's see how many of them make it to the World Cup proper. May 18th 2030 Absolutely no contest in the A-Junioren-Miesterschaft final between our U19s and Werder's, with Katic scoring half the goals in a 4-0 demolition. A great end to a fantastic season for our youngsters, in which Althoff featured to a high level and even earnt himself a second place in the Fritz-Walter-Medaille U17, awarded to the best U17 players in the nation, only behind Kaiserslautern's midfielder Daniel Reiter * * * 1.FC Union Berlin (12th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 34/34) And it's curtains for the Bundesliga with the title and two relegation places still left to be decided. This match won't be one of those must-watch fixtures today, though, since Union have already done the job of staying up and we only need a draw to guarantee the third place, and even a defeat could be enough if Dortmund don't absolutely destroy Hertha today. A relaxing fixture in which we won't risk too many starters before the Europa League final, but which we still expect to win. * * * UNION BERLIN (4-2-3-1): Florian Kastenmeier (GK); Nathan Phillips (DR), Reece Oxford (DCr), Jarrad Branthwaite (DCl), Maximilian Mittelstädt (DL); Kristoffer Askildsen (MCr), Rani Khedira (MCl); Linton Maina (AMR), Aymen Barkok (AMC), Andreas Skov Olsen (AML), Iker Bravo (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Alex Ball (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) * * * Rexhepi gets a league start to compensate for his absence against Atlético and, most likely, against Arsenal, while we produce a mix of starters and rotation players to fill our starting eleven today. Union return to their usual 4-2-3-1 after a somewhat surprising 4-4-2 diamond interlude in our previous meeting, and we start the game under Berlin's overcast and overflowing sky. We start well once again, soon creating our first chance through Neves' pass into space and Schulze's run into the box and somewhat poor finish, not too hard for Kastenmeier. Neves himself is the next to try in a counterattack come the 11th minute, trying a lob over the keeper from afar but kicking it a bit too hard and high in the end. Union's gegenpress isn't trivial to break, though, and in the 14th they get their first chance with a cross from the left that Askildsen heads into the troposphere. Our answer comes, as almost always, through the center in a combination between Neves, Basualdo, and Özcan that the latter sends wide with a defective shot. Much better is Neves' chance in the 26th, shooting first time from close after a nice low cross by Schulze but being blocked by Kastenmeier's show of reflexes. One minute later a bad pass by Casas gifts Bravo a great opportunity to score out of nowhere, but thankfully his finish isn't good enough to beat a well-positioned Rexhepi. A long period of tranquillity follows, and it takes until the 41st minute for Union to generate danger again, this time from a corner kick that Branthwaite heads clearly over the bar. Three minutes later it's our turn with a quick break through the center led by Schulze and completed by Miranda with a subtle touch towards Özcan, who tries a powerful finish but finds Kastenmeier in the way. With that, a competitive but not particularly thrilling first half comes to an end. HALF TIME - 0-0 We need a bit more to really take control of this match, and the players are told as much during the half time break. The results aren't exactly scintillating, though, and the first fifteen minutes pass us by without a single chance worth mentioning on either goal. That's when we finally see a way through and Schulze assists Miranda through it, only for Kastenmeier to dive once again and tip his finish wide. Two minutes later Touré intercepts and clears a dangerous finish by Mittlestädt in a corner kick, and soon after we bring our first two pairs of fresh legs into the game, Meunier and Rodríguez taking Schulze and Miranda's places. Neves has our first try with a shot from twenty yards away that Kastenmeier pushes behind, but come the 70th minute we're still waiting for the first goal. Rijkhoff then replaces Özcan, very imprecise today, and soon he's trying a curler from distance that goes wide by a foot or two. We soon need to work in defense, too, as a counterattack by Union ends with a pass from Bravo towards the unmarked Skov Olsen, but Touré rushes back just in time to tackle the ball away from the forward before he finishes the job. Not much happens from then until the 90th minute, when Touré goes on the offensive with another long shot, this one a bit too high. Injury time brings a clearly illegal goal headed in by a very advanced Mittlestädt and very little else, and both teams look happy to share the points in the end. Objective achieved. * * * 1.FC Union Berlin 0 TSV 1860 München 0 - - - That'll do. We got the point we needed (only not really, because Dortmund failed to win against Hertha anyway), and we probably should've got all three given we had the best chances, but once again we came across a great keeper. Oh well, still third, no injuries, and everything ready for the big game in twelve days. Our final place also comes with the usual prize attached, which in this case amounts to exactly €100M. I love this league. * * * | Pos | Inf | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | GD | Pts | Form | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | RB Leipzig | 34 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 83 | 28 | 55 | 83 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | CL | FC Bayern | 34 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 83 | 23 | 60 | 80 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | CL | 1860 München | 34 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 55 | 29 | 26 | 66 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | CL | Borussia Dortmund | 34 | 18 | 9 | 7 | 46 | 26 | 20 | 63 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | EL | Mainz | 34 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 47 | 35 | 12 | 55 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | ECL | Wolfsburg | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 59 | 59 | 0 | 50 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Hamburg | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 58 | 43 | 15 | 49 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Freiburg | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 43 | 46 | -3 | 46 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Nürnberg | 34 | 14 | 2 | 18 | 43 | 48 | -5 | 44 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Borussia M'gladbach | 34 | 12 | 7 | 15 | 41 | 47 | -6 | 43 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Stuttgart | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 34 | 48 | -14 | 36 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Union Berlin | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 38 | 62 | -24 | 35 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Frankfurt | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 31 | 58 | -27 | 35 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Hertha BSC | 34 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 34 | 44 | -10 | 34 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Augsburg | 34 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 39 | 66 | -27 | 32 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | Pl | Hoffenheim | 34 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 33 | 60 | -27 | 32 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | R | Köln | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 30 | 49 | -19 | 30 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Bayer Leverkusen | 34 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 36 | 62 | -26 | 30 | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| * * * Leipzig finally didn't bottle it, although it was close for a while with Bayern winning clearly in Stuttgart and the leaders tied 3-3 against Wolfsburg. Thankfully two goals by veterans Daka and Moran in the final minutes sealed the deal for good, and that's two consecutive Bundesliga titles for Leipzig (and two years without winning the Bundesliga for Bayern, which is somehow even more amazing). Wolfsburg's defeat also meant there weren't any other changes in the top seven, and now the only question is whether HSV will win the cup (and qualify for the Europa League) or not (and play the Conference League instead), with Wolfsburg's status also depending on that result. Worth noting that Wolfsburg have managed European qualification despite a goal difference of zero. At the bottom, Köln fell at the last hurdle and couldn't complete what would've been a remarkable great escape, losing in their visit to fellow new 2.Bundesliga members Leverkusen. It wasn't that long ago that both of them were playing in Europe... The fight to avoid the playoff in the end came to a single match, and Eintracht managed a 0-1 win in Hoffenheim which propelled them upwards and the home team into a fight for survival against none other than our affiliates from Dynamo Dresden. In other 2.Bundesliga news, Werder Bremen finally return to the top tier after nine years, together with usual elevator riders Fortuna Düsseldorf.

May 7th 2030 How long has it been? Because I don't remember mentioning the Team of the Week even once since, like, mid March at best. Anyway, Miranda is in it. May 8th 2030 The U19s give the senior team a lesson on how to do things in knockout stages, putting *seven* past Köln's youngsters in the first leg of the league semifinals. Not bad. Hattrick for Katic, of course. May 9th 2030 TSV 1860 München vs. Club Atlético de Madrid (Europa League semifinals, 2nd leg) Match of the season, no competition (so far). Making it to an European final would be a huge and historic achievement for the club, no matter what the result there happens to be. We come into this reinforced by our first league win in forever, while Atleti... Well, they lost 5-0 to their city rivals, so not exactly stellar? We have a real chance here, now we only have to take it. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (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), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) ATLÉTICO (3-3-2-1-1): Nick Shinton (GK); Ibrahima Konaté (DCr), David Martínez (DC), Anselmo García McNulty (DCl); Denzel Dumfries (WBR), Giacomo Faticanti (DM), Rayan Aït-Nouri (WBL); Manuel Ugarte (MCr), Thomas Lemar (MCl); Aguibou Camara (AMC); Matheus Cunha (ST) * * * One big change today: Kretzschmar takes the gloves from Rexhepi after one too many poor performances by the younger keeper. Otherwise, roughly as expected. Meanwhile Simeone pulls a fast one on us with a 3-6-1 formation we hadn't seen since playing Kaiserslautern in the 3.Liga back in 2021! It's obvious from the start they've come to defend their lead, and we dominate possession from the get go as we try and look for a way to get through their defensive wall. We see possession rates near 80% in those early minutes, but somehow we fail to turn it into any kind of danger, and it's actually Cunha who has the first shot on target of the game in the 14th minute with a long-range attempt, well stopped by Kretzschmar. We finally find a way through thanks to Schulze's vertical pass towards Caraballo, but the false nine is denied by Martínez before he has a chance to get a good finish in. Immediately after, though, Ernesto barges into midfield and passes right to Amador, and the Spaniard sends a perfect cross into the heart of the box so Rijkhoff can nod it past Shinton and score the 1-0. In the 20th minute another passing play ends with the ball in the same place, and Amador once again looks up and crosses into the box, where Rijkhoff gets ahead of his marker and taps it in with his right foot to put us ahead on the tie... for the five seconds it takes VAR to disallow it due to a very narrow offside call. Almost there. Atlético keep defending despite the result and our domination, because they have built to do that and only that, and that ends up being their undoing: in the 27th minute we once again break through the right thanks to Schulze, who barely reaches a pass into space by Amador and crosses first time towards Rijkhoff. The striker doesn't finish, though, and instead nods it back to Miranda so the Argentinian can half-volley it with power into the back of the net, scoring the 2-0 for real this time. Now Atleti have no other option but to go forward, which allows us to start looking dangerous on the counterattack. Through that we get two more chances, but both end with blocked finishes for Caraballo and Rodríguez. In the 32nd Rijkhoff turns provider again dropping towards the left wing and crossing for Schulze, who heads it straight at Shinton. One minute later, though, Atlético catch us unaware for the first time today, Lemar runs and passes to the left for Aït-Nouri, and the left back crosses perfectly into the heart of the box ahead of Cunha for an easy volley. Back to the drawing board then. The rest of the first half passes by quickly, now with both teams taking more precautions to avoid being on the wrong end of a decisive goal just before half time. Miranda has the best chance in injury time, finishing well a great through ball from Caraballo but finding Shinton in the way in the end, and with that the first half ends. Everything still undecided. HALF TIME - 2-1 We make a rare half-time substitution, removing Touré from the picture after a poor first half and a dangerous-looking yellow card and bringing Javorcic in his place. We start well once again, creating a very good chance after a steal from Miranda leads to a quick cross towards Caraballo, but the forward can't shoot past Martínez and the ball is cleared away from danger. In the 52nd Rijkhoff gets another goal disallowed, this time for a clear offside position by Schulze at the play's start. We're once again clearly in command, though, and it feels like the deciding goal should be coming sooner rather than later. We reach the 60th minute before that happens, though, and it's time to replace another underperforming player under card threat. Casas is the chosen one this time, replaced by Stjepanovic. Nine more minutes pass us by before we manage to generate another chance, this time with Javorcic crossing into the box only for Rodríguez to blast his finish over the bar with half the stadium already celebrating. Our final substitution brings our injury time specialist Neves into the game in Schulze's place, as we quickly approach his favorite stage of the game with Atlético still completely focused on defending. In the end, though, it's not Neves who solves the game. In the 81st minute a throw-in on the right side of our attack reaches Rodríguez, and the Mexican looks up, spots Miranda running towards the box, and sends a perfect cross ahead of him so the small Argentinian can produce the best header of his life, the ball flying past Shinton and becoming the long-awaited 3-1. After that we do our best to keep the ball under control and keep Atlético away from Kretzschmar's goal, but a lost possession in the 89th quickly becomes a dangerous counterattack with Camara and Cunha running free, the latter gets the chance to finish the job one-on-one against Kretzschmar, and somehow sends the best chance of the whole match wide. Now it's our turn to defend for all we're worth, and we do exactly just that: Simeone's desperate gambit of switching to a 4-4-2 doesn't pay off and we secure our place in our first European final ever! * * * TSV 1860 München 3 (Julian Rijkhoff 15, Matías Miranda 27 81) Club Atlético de Madrid 1 (Matheus Cunha 33) - - - Matías Miranda, Löwe for life. Fantastic performance by our veteran attacking midfielder, once again proving decisive when the stakes get high, well seconded today by Rijkhoff and a great team performance overall. Simeone's ultra-defensive tactics ended up being his undoing, although they surely did make things difficult for us for a while. Still, a very deserved win considering both legs, and now we'll be facing none other than Arsenal, who needed penalties to get past Manchester United after drawing both games against them. Even better, the final is almost at home, as we'll be playing in Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park. A momentous occasion to bookmark a remarkable season, that's for sure.

May 4th 2030 Everyone but us (and Nürnberg) play today in the Bundesliga, and everyone was expecting Leipzig to get at least one point at home against a team with nothing to play for like Freiburg. No such luck, and the leaders lost their first league game since January to give Bayern a chance of pulling off the impossible. Our neighbors did their job with an easy 0-3 win in Frankfurt, and now have to win their last game away to Stuttgart (also with nothing to play for) and hope Leipzig lose again in Wolfsburg, who will need the points to guarantee the sixth place and have a chance at the fifth. As for what matters to us, Dortmund drew in Augsburg and catch up to us in points, but are still behind in goal difference by a meager four goals. At the bottom, Köln draw at home against Union, Hoffenheim lose in Mainz, and Hertha are defeated at home by the already relegated Leverkusen. The result is that there's no result: Köln are two points deep in the red but still can escape with a win in Leverkusen, assuming at least one of Augsburg, Hoffenheim, and Eintracht lose their games. Considering the latter two play each other there's a good chance for that, actually. Hertha could still be dragged down into trouble if they lose in Dortmund (likely), but it'd have to be an extremely unlikely combination of results. Union are now officially safe despite being only two points above the playoff position, since it's guaranteed that one of Hoffenheim and Eintracht won't win their last game, so they won't be needing the points when they play us. May 5th 2030 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. 1.FC Nürnberg (8th) (Bundesliga, 33/34) With all that taken into account, today's game could mean we guarantee the third place almost for good if we win against Nürnberg, a team that has had a pretty good season but that will most likely not qualify for Europe, given they'd need both a win today and another next week against Mainz, plus a defeat for Hamburg in Mönchengladbach. Still, they've solidified themselves as regular top half residents and frequent challengers for Europe in the last couple of years, which is quite remarkable. Tough game but, once again, we should win. Too bad we almost never do as of late... * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Ernesto (DM); Aymeric Meunier (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) NÜRNBERG (4-4-2): Steven Benda (GK); Leonhard Pfeil (DR), Maksim Paskotsi (DCr), Armel Bella-Kotchap (DCl), Lee Han-Bum (DL); Bénie Traoré (MR), Mads Bidstrup (MCr), Niklas Dorsch (MCl), Ján Hros (ML); Miguel de la Fuente (STr), Manuel Wintzheimer (STl) * * * Javorcic returns to the lineup after his injury, with Ernesto taking the anchor today to help us rotate our midfield as best as we can for the midweek game against Atlético. Nürnberg are without Farías today, which should help us at least a bit, and we start the game in an almost traditional way by now: direct free kick by Miranda that Benda saves. It's a good sign, though, and within one minute we're already striking again through a low cross by Meunier and a finish by Neves that the keeper has to tip around the post to prevent an early goal. Nürnberg answer with a cross by Traoré towards Hros, whose weak header is an easy catch for Kretzschmar, but we hit them back immediately with another great pass from Meunier towards Neves, who once again sees Benda saving his shot. The Portuguese keepes trying, bending a beautiful shot in the sixth minute that the keeper flies to tip wide, a corner kick that Stjepanovic then heads over the bar. Many chances in such a short time, but still no goals. We take a short break until the 13th then, and once again it's Neves on the run through the center, but once again Benda is there to save his finish, and once again Stjepanovic can't get his header on target in the resulting corner. Things finally slow down then, much to our dismay as we see yet another game start escaping from our grasp despite our absolute early domination. Sometimes all it takes is a striker, though: in the 29th minute, after a long period without danger, Ball gathers the ball on the left side of the box, switches it to his better right foot, and crosses towards Özcan for a perfectly placed header into the net. Six minutes later Nürnberg try to get back at us in a corner kick that Bella-Kotchap heads over, but in the 36th we run forward again, with all our attacking players combining until Neves sends a spot pass towards Miranda inside the box and the Argentinian sees a gap between Benda and the near post through which to send his finish, making it 2-0. Stjepanovic does well to deny Bidstrup a chance to finish in Nürnberg's only chance of what remains of the first half and, for once, we find ourselves comfortably and deservedly ahead at half time. HALF TIME - 2-0 We know we can't fall asleep too early, though, and we start the second half looking for a third and almost getting it instantly, but Miranda's finish after a nice pass back by Özcan is miraculously deflected over by Paskotsi, who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. As expected, though, Nürnberg try to be a bit more aggressive now, and soon we need to start moving the bench to rest our likely starters come Thursday, like Miranda, who is replaced by Schulze. Touré also replaces a very solid Ball, who is nonetheless struggling with a stubbed toe. Time passes quickly with little action on either goal, something that we're for once quite happy to see. In the 66th Hros gets another header in after a cross by Mickelson, but once again Kretzschmar doesn't have much trouble to save and hold it. Thiago replaces Ernesto soon after as our final substitution, and in the 72nd Schulze finally returns us to the attacking zone with a shot from the edge of the box that Benda has to push behind. Hros tries again next, but his third header of the night is even worse than the other two and sails high and wide. In the 78th Özcan has another chance to seal our win for good after a beautiful assist from Neves, still excellent, but the striker can't get his finish past Benda, also still excellent and ready to save Lang's header in the corner kick that follows. Nürnberg seem to have given up by now, not even pressing our defenders when we play from the back, and we comfortably cruise until the 86th minute, when a corner kick taken by Thiago is nodded along by Lang and smashed into the net by Schulze, making it three and confirming our win for real this time. And good thing he does, because in injury time Lang compensates for his assist by missing an apparently easy header after a goal kick by Benda, and thus allows Wintzheimer an unopposed run into the box to score the 3-1. Irrelevant by this point, but still annoying. There's still time for another save by Benda to a weak finish by Schulze before the game reaches its end. Finally, a league win. * * * TSV 1860 München 3 (Vedat Özcan 29, Matías Miranda 36, Maximilian Schulze 86) 1.FC Nürnberg 1 (Manuel Wintzheimer 90+2) - - - A good performance with a good result to match? Surely a dream, there's no way this could happen in reality. Sarcasm aside, exactly the kind of game I wanted out of this fixture: a mostly comfortable win to restore our morale before the really important fixture coming up in four days. And hey, if we can almost-secure the third place in the process all the better. Three points and six goals should be enough, although strangest things have happened in this world. Ball's stubbed toe means he's likely to miss the Atlético game, as he's expected to be out for at least six days. Not the end of the world, but still a problem we'll have to deal with.

Apr 28th 2030 Well, Bayern didn't lose, but their goalless draw against Mainz isn't gonna win them any titles. Now they're six points behind Leipzig with two games left, so if the leaders get a single point in their remaining fixtures they'll be the champions. In today's other fixture Köln win in Nürnberg and keep their hopes for survival alive for another week. Now they're two points behind the playoff position, currently occupied by Augsburg, and with four other teams within reach ahead of them. May 2nd 2030 Club Atlético de Madrid vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League semifinals, 1st leg) As bad as we've been lately, Atlético's season is still much worse. Simeone's lads are currently twelfth in LaLiga, out of the Copa del Rey after losing in penalties against Cultural Leonesa in the third round, and with only their surprisingly good European run to save an absolute disaster of a year. I don't know how long even a club legend like Simeone can sustain this, but I doubt it'll be long. That also means they'll cling to their one chance at both a title and European qualification for next season with all they have, so expect a tough match regardless. * * * ATLÉTICO (4-2-3-1 deep): Nick Shinton (GK); Juan Díaz (DR), Ibrahima Konaté (DCr), Anselmo García McNulty (DCl), Rayan Aït-Nouri (DL); Giacomo Faticanti (DMCr), Manuel Ugarte (DMCl); Edon Zhegrova (AMR), Aguibou Camara (AMC), Thomas Lemar (AML); Matheus Cunha (ST) 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) * * * Javorcic finally makes the bench today, which is good news because Ball is suspended and we'd have to rely on Althoff as our only other backup full back otherwise. Simeone sticks to his deep variation of the 4-2-3-1, with some aging but still quality players in his lineup, one former Leverkusen player under his reign (Faticanti) and at least another ex-Bundesliga (Zhegrova, formerly in Freiburg). Atleti start strong and pushing for an early goal, although their first attempt from distance through Faticanti isn't particularly dangerous and sails well wide. We recover quickly, though, and in the fourth minute Miranda runs alongside the edge of the box and passes towards Amador, who shoots into Shinton's fingertip save. Both teams continue trading blows for a while, including a clearly offside goal by Caraballo in a set piece taken by Rodríguez. Amador tries luck again in the 14th minute, once again with the same result: Shinton save and corner kick. We seem to be taking control of the game slowly, though, and Atlético's early attacking flair is nowhere to be seen now. The match goes into a calm period then, with the home team holding the ball more but well away from our box for the most part. In the 30th minute we finally create something after an interception by Miranda, with Rodríguez once again assisting and Schulze shooting low and without any power, making it very easy for the keeper to save. On the other goal Atlético get a corner kick that Konaté manages to head with danger, but Rexhepi does well and swats the ball away before it crosses the line. After that it's lots of midfield play with very few spaces to run into, and as a result the first half peters out without any goals to report. HALF TIME - 0-0 Things remain very even and not particularly eventful in the early minutes of the second half, and only a wide shot from outside the box by Schulze breaks the monotony eleven minutes after the restart. A while later it's time for subsitutions, with Neves and Rijkhoff coming in for Miranda and Özcan. In the 66th Atlético finally manage to generate some danger after a bad through in by Amador, but the combination between Lemar and Matheus Cunha ends with Rexhepi parrying the later's finish, in what's probably the best chance in the game so far. Stjepanovic then replaces a surprisingly poor Ernesto, and we enter the final twenty minutes with a positive result within reach. That soon changes, though, when Aït-Nouri floats a cross into the box, both Stjepanovic and Lemar fail to reach it, and substitute forward Ezekiel just happens to be passing by as the ball falls to his feet for an easy finish, scoring the 1-0 out of nowhere. After that we "enjoy" a long period of impotence as we try and fail to generate chances to get the draw back, while Atleti seem content to wait and run on the counter when allowed, like Díaz does in the 83rd only to send his finish into the side net. In the 86th we finally break through, with Caraballo providing his first key pass of the evening and Rijkhoff receiving it, then blasting the ball over the ball instead of doing the right thing. Konaté blocks another shot by the striker in the 90th minute, and injury time brings no further events worth discussing. A short defeat in a very even game. * * * Club Atlético de Madrid 1 (Dickson Ezekiel 73) TSV 1860 München 0 - - - Not that bad of a game, really, in fact the match was very even and a draw would've been a fairer result. It's just, this keeps happening. We play decently well, generate danger, don't score, and then we mess up at the back in some key moment and end up losing. Oh well, at least this is fixable in the return leg, but this trend needs to die a quick death.

Apr 26th 2030 Training injury for Javorcic, a pulled abdominal muscle that will keep him away from the training grounds for at least a week. He's almost certainly out of the first leg of the Europa League semis, which is far from ideal. Apr 27th 2030 TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (15th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 32/34) After the painful stretch of high-stakes games, finally some relaxation. In theory, at least. Hoffenheim sure won't feel too relaxed today, considering they lost to Köln last week and are currently tied with Eintracht and only ahead of the playoff position thanks to having scored two more goals than them. Before that defeat they'd chained two wins in a row, though, which already makes their league form much better than ours. We don't have much to play for other than keeping the third place, but a win would surely help our momentum before flying to Madrid. * * * HOFFENHEIM (4-2-3-1): Lukas Schneller (GK); José Hurtado (DR), Abnor Aliu (DCr), Lee Jae-won (DCl), Hannes Lippold (DL); Martín Baturina (MCr), Roméo Lavia (MCl); Armindo Sieb (AMR), Ayman Benarous (AMC), Lars Kehl (AML); Jorgen Strand Larsen (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Alex Ball (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Aymeric Meunier (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl) * * * To increase the uncertainty a bit further, Hoffenheim have just hired Stefan Leitl as their new manager, so our scouting department didn't have much to go off before the match. We know they play 4-2-3-1, but little else. Meanwhile we are forced to replay some tired legs given injuries and suspensions (Schulze, again), but still should have more than enough to win today. That's the theory, at least. In practice what happens is that the early minutes are quite even with both teams fighting for possession, and in Hoffenheim's first serious attack Hurtado sends a defective cross straight at a surprised Kretzschmar, who can only push it away, then watch as Lang and Stjepanovic fail to clear and Sieb gathers the loose ball to score the 1-0. In the 11th minute Kretzschmar almost gifts another goal after blocking a header by Kehl, but thankfully Ball manages to head it back for the keeper to hold before it becomes a real problem. The thing is, we are defending against Hoffenheim, and we seem completely unable to turn the game around. We need twenty-five minutes to get our first shot at goal, but at least we make it count: counterattack initiated with a long ball towards Rijkhoff, the striker holds it until reinforcements come from midfield, and after some passing around he runs behind the defense to gather the traditional pass into space by Rodríguez and then rounds the keeper for an easy finish, drawing the game and finally breaking his dud in front of goal. We don't deserve the result by any means, but at least we manage to hold onto it for a while, with Kretzschmar only having to work to deflect over the bar a direct free kick by Baturina in the 32nd minute. Seven minutes later Lang covers well a dangerous-looking movement by Kehl, and in the final minutes we even dare to approach Schneller's goal again with a long shot by Thiago, easy for the keeper. Half time finds us level, but after one of our worst performances of the season. HALF TIME - 1-1 Some mild screaming ensues in the dressing room, and the players seem to wake up in the second half, with Basualdo nodding a clearance by Kretzschmar into the box so Rijkhoff can shoot into Schneller's legs only two minutes in. Lang then heads the corner kick wide, but at least we're trying now. Of course that's exactly when Hoffenheim send a cross towards the right side of the box, Sieb nods it back towards the center, Kretzschmar tries to go for it but is half an hour late, and Strand Larsen just nods the ball into the net for the 2-1. Because of course. We keep trying at least, and in the 58th a good challenge by Ball recovers a ball in a dangerous position, Meunier crosses, and Rijkhoff's point-blank header is miraculously blocked by Schneller. Hoffenheim hit back with a run and cross by Lippold and another header by Strand Larsen, this one narrowly over. Time for substitutions, and today the difficult task was to decide who of the many deserving players would get to play the whole match despite their stinker. In the end Stjepanovic, Touré, and Neves leave the field replaced by Casas, Amador, and Miranda. Casas soon makes his presence felt when he heads a corner kick into the top of the crossbar and over, then Rijkhoff follows up with a 20-yard powerful effort after controlling a long clearance by Kretzschmar that forces Schneller into an acrobatic save. That's another corner kick and another high header, this time by Lang. We seem to finally be hitting our stride, but our lack of finishing is also returning, and now we really need goals. After a while even our attacks seem to dry off again, and we're back to desperately banging our head against their defense with little to show for it. We even have to be thankful that Hoffenheim don't take the chance to kill the game for good, because Kehl has a fantastic chance to do so in the 86th after a nice pass from Benarous that he somehow manages to send wide with Kretzschmar already thinking about picking the ball up from the back of the net. After that, a whole load of nothing. Deserved defeat, and a lot of questions unanswered. * * * TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 2 (Armindo Sieb 7, Jorgen Strand Larsen 51) TSV 1860 München 1 (Julian Rijkhoff 25) - - - I have no words, really. That first half was simply horrendous, and the second half was only a little better, and only for about twenty minutes. If we play like this in Madrid we'll get destroyed, plain and simple. The only good news today is that Rijkhoff finally scored, but that's only the end of a very long string of bad news. I don't know what happened to this team as soon as spring started, but I want it to end now. Please. At least our defeat is not the headliner for today's Bundesliga news: Leverkusen's draw against Augsburg and Eintracht's and Hoffenheim's wins mean they're officially a 2.Bundesliga team. How the mighty have fallen... In matters closer to home, we manage to somehow still retain the third place after Dortmund's 0-1 defeat against leaders Leipzig, and if Bayern lose against Mainz tomorrow the current champions will also be the new champions.

Apr 24th 2030 Hamburger SV vs. TSV 1860 München (DFB Pokal semifinals) And now for something completely different, and potentially much more important: cup semifinals! HSV are tough opposition just like they were last year, when they pushed us all the way to the penalty shootout, but there's one difference: we've had our best season to date, while they are struggling to even secure the seventh place in the league. Their form isn't all that brilliant either, so that factor is a tie from the start. Let's see what we can do. * * * HSV (4-2-3-1): Bekir Dereli (GK); Erik Trehkopf (DR), Jamie Lawrence (DCr), Justin Janitzek (DCl), Andrii Buleza (DL); Ludovic Reis (MCr), Burak Ince (MCl); Mazinho (AMR), Tin Vrljicak (AMC), Faride Alidou (AML); Dimitris Paligeorgos (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Joao Neves (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl) * * * Now, this is a game that requires our best efforts, and as such our most in-form players take the field, with some leeway given for the forced rotation in midfield (Neves in Schulze's place) and defense (Ball for Touré). HSV have had one more day of rest than us and thus can afford to basically run their usual starting eleven without issue, with only Trehkopf as a new face from our last meeting in the Bundesliga. We start really well, threading a perfect attacking play in the first twenty seconds that ends with Rodríguez assisting Miranda and the Argentinian trying a lob over Dereli that goes off target, then quickly recover the ball and do it again, this time with Neves crossing and Özcan heading it wide. HSV soon start pushing back, though, and things quickly even out as we keep possession but find it more difficult to do something useful with it. Our next shot takes until the 19th minute to arrive, and it's a wide direct free kick by Miranda. Meanwhile HSV try to press us high, but other than a couple of corner kicks without any real consequence they don't generate much in attack either. In the 22nd Miranda goes at it again, hitting first time a ball badly cleared by Trehkopf and finding Dereli's fingertips in the way. Ernesto then nods the corner kick wide as we try and increase our attacking pressure once again. It doesn't last, though, and the game enters a period of constant midfield struggles for both sides. Hamburg finally get something going in the 34th with a steal on Rodríguez, a cross by Vrljicak, and a wide header by Paligeorgos, but it's just another isolated chance that leads to nothing more. Another direct free kick by Miranda follows, this one narrowly high over the bar, and in the 43rd minute it's Özcan who cuts into the box from the left wing and tries to curl a shot around Dereli, who shows good reflexes to push it away from his goal. Not long after the referee calls for the end of the first half, with everything still up in the air. HALF TIME - 0-0 HSV start the second half giving us a great scare through Ince, who barges into the box almost unopposed but is closed down by Ernesto before he has the chance to finish the job. We soon get back in control, though, and Thiago has our first try from far away, a 30-yarder that sails well over the bar. The game is slower now, though, and we don't generate anything else until the 57th, when a great through ball by Neves reaches Miranda inside the box, but once again Dereli is there to tip his finish over the bar, which is also where Casas' header in the corner kick goes. After fifteen minutes Touré comes in Ball's place, with the English youngster having had a pretty terrible game overall. Another player with a pretty poor performance so far is Caraballo, but he redeems himself with a great assist towards Özcan in the 64th minute which sadly goes to waste as the striker blasts it into the third stand behind the goal. One minute later Özcan tries again, this time crossing towards Neves, who smashes his finish into a defender only for Caraballo to get the rebound and bicycle kick it into the post and wide. We're getting closer. And that's precisely the moment when HSV decide to attack again, Reis sends a long pass into the right side of the box, and Alidou escapes Touré's attention long enough to volley the cross into the back of the net. VAR validates his position after a few tense seconds, and now we are in trouble. Schulze has to replace an exhausted Rodríguez, too, which should hurt our creativity, but we still have Miranda, who in the 70th steals the ball from Trehkopf and quicly assists Özcan, who once again can't get past Dereli. Casas once again gets his head to the corner kick, but once again sends it over, although this time it's so close that it actually licks the upside of the crossbar on its way. Meunier for Neves is our last substitution, once again forced due to tiredness, and now time really starts running away from us as we try and fail to generate more chances. We go all in in the final minutes, but come the 90th we're still waiting for our chance to come, and instead what we find is a corner kick for HSV that Beyaz takes, Janitzek nods, and Paligeorgos smashes into the back of the net to score the 2-0 and officially kick us out of the DFB Pokal. * * * Hamburger SV 2 (Faride Alidou 66, Dimitris Paligeorgos 90) TSV 1860 München 0 - - - And there goes the cup, too. And once again, in a game where we should've won comfortably given how many chances we had and how good most of them where. Miranda was fantastic throughout except when it came to finishing, and Özcan wasted all the good feels his hattrick in Napoli had generated. HSV meanwhile had three shots on target and two of them went in, and that was that. A shame, but at least we won't have to endure another final against Bayern, I guess...

Apr 20th 2030 Leverkusen are one step away from relegation after losing 4-1 in Leipzig today. Meanwhile Köln might still escape the drop after beating direct relegation rivals Hoffenheim while Augsburg and Union share the points in a 2-2 draw and both step just a tiiiny bit farther away from the danger zone. Eintracht's loss in Mainz keeps them in the playoff position, and now Köln's rise should be worrying them quite a bit. At the top, obviously Leipzig's win brings them very close to winning their second title in a row, and if we happen to take any points from Bayern tomorrow they'll be just one win away. Dortmund draw in Hamburg, giving us some breathing room in the third place and complicating HSV's European prospects even more. Apr 21st 2030 TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. FC Bayern München (2nd) (Bundesliga, 31/34) It says something that the most difficult to predict Münchner Derby in recent memory is probably the least important game in this decisive week. Sure, we could have a shot at catching up to the second place if we manage to win, not to mention denying Bayern the chance to push for the title and put Leipzig under pressure until the end, but that's minor compared to what came before and will come after. It's still an important match, though, don't get me wrong, and we'll treat it as such. Because hey, when was the last time we actually had a chance at beating Bayern? * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (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) BAYERN (4-2-3-1): Aaron Ramsdale (GK); Joshua Kimmich (DR), Dayot Upamecano (DCr), Brendan De Decker (DCl), Alphonso Davies (DL); Sandro Tonali (MCr), Herlan Gomes (MCl); Deivid (AMR), Kai Havertz (AMC), Ansu Fati (AML); Yousouffa Moukoko (ST) * * * The first derby in our stadium sees us bringing out a very competitive eleven, although probably not the best we could produce if we were in a less difficult week fixtures-wise. Bayern have a very similar lineup to the one we drew against in the Allianz-Arena, with only Gomes and Fati as new faces, while we give Meunier a more defensive role than usual to better keep track of Havertz. As expected Bayern come roaring out of the gates, looking to dominate from the get go and pushing for an early goal, and soon Deivid is getting a header in after a cross from the left, easy for Kretzschmar nonetheless. Nine minutes in they got what they were looking for, and in the simplest of ways: Davies breaks into the midfield down the left flank, then sends a pass forward towards Moukoko, who outspeeds Lang and places his finish past Kretzschmar to score the 0-1. Deja-vu. It almost becomes worse five minutes later, too, when Kretzschmar fails to properly hit a dangerous pass and hands it to Deivid instead, although thankfully the winger shoots wide when a goal looked almost certain. Our first approach comes in the 15th in a corner kick taken by Miranda and headed over by Lang, but four minutes later our nerves show again in the worst way when Javorcic tries to dribble his way past Havertz inside his own box, loses the ball, then trips the attacking midfielder for a penalty kick. Moukoko doesn't miss, and it's 0-2 for Bayern. After a short break they go back at it, this time with Tonali assisting Moukoko through the center and the striker somehow sending his finish wide, thankfully. Next up is Kimmich, entering the box through the right and shooting low into Kretzschmar's good diving save. After that, though, they seem happy to just hold the ball and let the minutes pass until the end of a very one-sided first half. HALF TIME - 0-2 Ernesto comes in Lang's place at half time, hopefully to give us a better way to get the ball out of our defense. It seems to work, and in the early second half we get closer to Ramsdale's goal than we've ever been so far, even having a moderately dangerous shot by Schulze blocked by the defense. More dangerous is Rodríguez's run into space in the 55th, although his shot ends up being worse and sailing over the bar. After fifteen minutes without any clear chances, though, we start thinking about the upcoming cup game against HSV and replaced both Rodríguez and Miranda with Neves and Thiago, to keep them as fresh as possible. That doesn't stop us from trying, though, and in the 64th a ball from deep by Meunier towards Neves finds the Portuguese inside the box, but he takes too long to shoot and Davies gets there in time to block. After twenty surprisingly quiet minutes, though, Bayern return to the attack with a run and cross by Davies towards Deivid, who loops a surprising header over an out of position Kretzschmar to score the 0-3, silencing the still hopeful fans in the stands. Said fans get revived immediately after following a great pass by Schulze towards the rampaging Meunier, but then the midfielder blasts his finish well over the bar with a way too rushed shot and it's all for nothing. After that the game dies a slow death, with lots of possession play by both sides but little attacking intent, and in the end the keepers don't have any extra work to do. Another win for Bayern, as almost always. * * * TSV 1860 München 0 FC Bayern München 3 (Youssoufa Moukoko 9 19p, Deivid 67) - - - I still don't know what to do against Bayern, really. If you try to outplay them they just overrun you, and if you try to contain them, well, they overrun you all the same. I don't think the difference between both teams was that big today, though: we did get thoroughly trounced in the first half, but in the second we were at the very least their equals and had good chances to score at least once. They just can't miss, though, and Kretzschmar's subpar performance today certainly didn't help. Oh well, no second place for us, Leipzig will need to work a bit harder for their second silver plate, and now Dortmund are breathing down our necks.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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...

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.