Dalbeider
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Posts posted by Dalbeider
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Dec 11th 2029
We're almost in January, which means another transfer window and another round of the fun fun "how many starters will we have to replace this time" game. The two obvious names that come to mind are Rodríguez (still only followed by Atlético) and Caraballo (PSG, Ajax, Porto, and Benfica are willing to pay his €24M release clause), but Rijkhoff might be about to join this list after a report about Monaco's interest came up. Apparently he'd be very keen on the move, unsurprisingly, but thankfully his release clause is set at €48.5M and I'm not willing to sell him for much less than that, so we'd have quite the buck to replace him with. There are many other big teams chasing the striker, including but not limited to Bayern, Ajax, Inter, and Juventus.
Dec 13th 2029
TSV 1860 München vs. Valencia C.F. (Europa League group E, 6/6)
The most shocking part of this Europa League group is seeing Valencia dead last with only one point out of fifteen and without any hopes of improving on that position. We could've seen it coming after beating them in Mestalla, but still... They have nothing to play for, so we should secure the win and keep an eye on Leicester to see if Celtic manage to steal a point from there. If we win by two goals or more and Leicester fail to win we'll be first.
* * *
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Alex Ball (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Matías Miranda (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)
VALENCIA (4-2-3-1): Yoann Santiago (GK); Meddi Delmas (DR), Christian Mosquera (DCr), Casimiro Gil (DCl), Jayden Candelaria (DL); Daniel Amartey (MCr), Bartosz Slisz (MCl); Bernardo Mineiro (AMR), Lovro Zvonarek (AMC), Gonçalo Guedes (AML), Kayky (ST)* * *
With a difficult trip to Nürnberg coming and this game being potentially worthless if Leicester win theirs, we can afford to keep some starters in the bench today, and we even put young left back Althoff on the bench to perhaps give him his senior debut if the game goes as it should. Valencia also change their squad around from our previous meeting, with club legend Guedes starting today. It's a rainy afternoon in Munich, but the pitch of our new stadium seems to be holding up pretty well, and our players also seem to enjoy the rain; twenty-five seconds in Miranda steals the ball from Amartey, runs down the left, and crosses towards Caraballo, whose volley almost turns into the 1-0 but instead goes behind for a corner kick after Santiago's save.
We take a bit longer for our next approach, generated by Neves with a high pass towards Palomeque inside the box for a soft header and an easy save for the keeper. We're looking good in attack, but Valencia are having much more possession than us, and eventually get their first chance in a set piece that Mineiro heads over the bar in the 16th minute. More dangerous is Zvonarek's header in the 23rd, well aimed and with enough power but deflected away in the end by Rexhepi in a great show of reflexes. We're losing control of the game by the second, though, a feeling we haven't experienced in a long while.
Eventually we manage to regain a bit of possession and at least slow the game down enough to stop Valencia's approaches, but they still give us another scare in the 37th in a corner kick, headed narrowly over by Candelaria. Six minutes later, though, we finally manage to create something in our usual vertical style: ball forward to Rijkhoff, who touches it back for Caraballo and runs forward to gather the return pass, leaves Gil behind in a burst of speed, and shoots past Santiago to score the 1-0. Valencia have the chance to pull level immediately when Kayky gathers a long ball into space and runs alone against Rexhepi, but the striker wastes a clear-cut chance with a bad shot and the ball rolls harmlessly wide to the right. Ahead at half time, somehow, and Leicester and Celtic are still goalless.
HALF TIME - 1-0
We look more in control in the early second half, not exactly brilliant in our attacking movement but at least having the ball and keeping Valencia at bay. After fifteen minutes with no chances we start rotating our players around, bringing Rodríguez in for Neves and Javorcic for Ball. Rodríguez's first action is a shot from just outside the box that Santiago catches well, and in the 65th Touré enters the box from the left and crosses low towards Rijkhoff, whose finish is deflected by a defender into the keeper's hands. Not much later Basualdo comes in for the striker as our final substitution. Althoff will have to wait a bit longer for his debut.
Things slow down again until the 76th, when Caraballo controls a long pass by Miranda and dribbles past Mosquera only to blast his finish over the bar when the most difficult part was already done with. Five minutes later Basualdo receives a pass from Rodríguez, crosses back from the left side of the box, and Caraballo smashes his shot into the crossbar. Unlucky, but at least Valencia haven't shown any attacking intent in the whole second half so far.
Santiago soon has more work to do, parrying a good-looking shot by Rodríguez for another corner kick, then Casas heads the ball on top of the net after a good cross by Javorcic in the 85th minute. News of Leicester's first goal reach us then, and that means we no longer have any reason to push for a second goal. But then O'Riley draws the game for Celtic almost immediately and the game is back on. Sadly we don't have enough time to create any more danger, so we have to do with a minimal win.
* * *
TSV 1860 München 1 (Julian Rijkhoff 43)
Valencia C.F. 0- - -
Not the most brilliant of games by any means, and in the first half we actually suffered quite a bit to gain the upper hand against a very controlling Valencia side, but the second half was all ours and more than enough to make us deserving of the result. In the end Leicester and us finished tied on points, goal difference, and goals scored, so the deciding tie breaker was away goals scored, in which Leicester beat us six to five. As a result we'll have to go through the first knockout stage if we want to reach the board's goal in this competition, and against a third-placed Champions League team.
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Dec 8th 2029
TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (13th) (Bundesliga, 15/34)
The other just-promoted team together with Augsburg, Hoffenheim have been playing reasonably well so far, keeping themselves a step or two above the drop zone most of the time and scoring some notable results. They come into this match after one draw and two wins in their last three games, but after the high from the draw in the Allianz we should be winning this with relative ease.
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1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Alex Ball (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Ernesto (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Aymeric Meunier (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Jonatan Basualdo (STl)
HOFFENHEIM (4-4-1-1): Lukas Schneller (GK); José Hurtado (DR), Stefan Posch (DCr), Lee Jae-won (DCl), Hannes Lippold (DL); Martin Baturina (MR), Roméo Lavia (MCr), Jean-Manuel Mbom (MCl), Chaka Traoré (ML); Ayman Benarous (AMC); Armindo Sieb (ST)* * *
We have one problem today, though: suspensions. Our new, much more aggressive style means we pick yellow cards at an accelerated pace, and Amador has to serve our first suspension today, with Javorcic, Ernesto, and Ball one card away from being next. Add Rodríguez's red against Bayern and our two injured players and our pickings for today are quite slim, forcing us to bring a couple youngsters just to have enough players on the bench. Ernesto takes the anchor today since Meunier has to fill in midfield, and having played the whole game against Bayern it's likely he'll need to rest at some point.
Hoffenheim start a defensive-looking 4-4-1-1 today, and we start pushing forward form the first minute looking for an early lead. We gets things started five minutes in with a cross by Ball that Neves heads very narrowly over the bar, but after that Hoffenheim tighten their lines to make things more difficult for us. A triangle pass between Neves, Meunier, and Palomeque ends with a low shot by the latter that Schneller catches well, but that's already ten minutes later. Soon after the keeper saves another low shot by Neves with little danger, but afterwards it's back to the midfield mines to grind hard and hope to find diamonds in the middle of all this rough.
In the 27th minute we get a rare chance in which Hoffenheim's defense is caught out of position, but Basualdo wastes it with a wide finish when he had all the space and time in the world to get a better shot. Luck is not on our side either, as Stjepanovic notices when his header on a corner kick two minutes later bounces off the crossbar and behind for a goal kick. In the 32nd a great combination through the center led by Neves ends in another horrible finish by Basualdo, blasted over the target. We've been deserving a goal for a while now, though, and we finally get it in the 35th with another quick passing movement through the center, this time with Basualdo taking a step back and assisting Caraballo so his partner in crime can continue his goalscoring streak with a clean finish.
Hoffenheim's bus finally moves out from in front of their goal as they try to push forward a bit more, but that just gives us a bit more space to create danger, and soon Palomeque sets Basualdo up with a great cross that the forward volleys wide. There's very little else going in the remaining minutes, though, and our minimal lead holds until half time.
HALF TIME - 1-0
Things seem to change a bit in the second half, which starts with a cross by Lippold that Baturina heads well over the bar only thirty seconds after kick-off. We still keep the ball, but we fail to generate anything worthwhile after ten minutes while Traoré tests Kretzschmar for the first time with a powerful effort from the edge of the box the keeper has to work hard to tip wide. After fifteen minutes Thiago replaces the exhausted Ernesto, but our play doesn't improve much, so soon it's Miranda replacing Palomeque and Rijkhoff coming in Basualdo's place.
That seems to do the trick, as our re-energized midfield starts once again laying siege to Hoffenheim's goal. In the 68th minute Miranda gathers a loose ball inside the box after a blocked shot by Meunier and dribbles towards goal, only to be brought down by Mbom for a penalty. Miranda himself blasts it home from the spot, and suddenly the game looks much under control. The midfielder almost gets a third not much later with a powerful right-footed effort from the edge of the box that Schneller manages to push away, while on the other end Kretzschmar saves and holds a moderately dangerous finish by Sieb after a cross from the right.
The game slows down afterwards, with us finally using our possession to try and kill things down before Hoffenheim could get lucky and find a way back into the game. We still find time to create another chance for Miranda, who profits from another loose ball to shoot left-footed this time into Schneller's fingertip save. With three minutes left on the clock Neves sends a good-looking finish into the sidenetting following a nice ball from, who else, Miranda, but afterwards we return to our controlling selves and hide the ball away until full time. Solid win, once again.
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TSV 1860 München 2 (Rodrigo Caraballo 36, Matías Miranda 69p)
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 0- - -
Not much to say here. Just another day at the office in a game in which we were clearly superior except for maaaaybe the first ten minutes of the second half, perhaps? We had to be patient and endure Basualdo's multiple misses, but Caraballo showed him how it's done and then Miranda came in in the second half to seal the deal. Par for the course, really. Leipzig beat Dortmund in the high-profile duel of the day, while Bayern win more easily than expected in Mainz. Everything stays the same, only Dortmund fall further behind us. No complaints there.
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Dec 4th 2029
Amador and Neves feature in the Team of the Week.
Dec 5th 2029
FC Bayern München (2nd) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 14/34)
Here we are once again. Something smells different this year, though. For one it's us and not them who are still unbeaten in all competitions this season, and for two I don't think we've ever been this close to Bayern before a Münchner Derby unless it was played in, like, the first four weeks of the season. We're still clear underdogs here, but we might actually have a chance today.
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BAYERN (4-2-3-1): Aaron Ramsdale (GK); Joshua Kimmich (DR), Dayot Upamecano (DCr), Brendan De Decker (DCl), Alphonso Davies (DL); Aarao (MCr), Sandro Tonali (MCl); Luka Romero (AMR), Kai Havertz (AMC), Deivid (AML); Yousouffa Moukoko (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Tomislav Javorcic (DL); Thiago (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)* * *
Palomeque finally takes Schulze's place in the starting eleven, with Javorcic playing as our left back today as a more reliable defensive option than either Ball or Touré. Bayern eventually got off their collective rearsides and spent a metric ton in the summer window, including bringing in Aarao (€47M) and Herlan Gomes (€46M) from Gladbach, last year's Kopa trophy winner Deivid (€106M) from Barcelona, Luka Romero (€88M) from Atlético, and Brendan De Decker (€67M) from Porto. Sure, they had to sell players like Szoboszlai, Papetti, Sané, Saliba, and Wijndal, so I'm not sure if their depth is actually better or worse than before, but at the very least they remain a force to be reckoned with.
The first chance of the game is ours in a direct free kick only two minutes after kick off, sent narrowly wide by Rodríguez. Bayern take their time at first, letting us play our game for a bit, but it doesn't take long for Havertz to dribble his way into the box from the left and shoot low to give Kretzschmar his first scare of the evening. A header by Moukoko in the 12th flies narrowly over the bar, then Deivid shoots wide in a clear-cut chance created by Moukoko with a fantastic through ball. Very much the usual so far, although we do manage to keep them away from our goal for the next few minutes.
In the 21st a corner kick taken by usual suspect Kimmich finds its way to the far post, where Havertz gets a header in and sends the ball into the post. Two minutes later Romero sends another cross into the box and De Decker, who was still hanging around after a set piece, heads it onto the top of the crossbar and over and makes it two quick woodwork hits for Bayern. We are lucky to escape from that still unhurt, and happily see how the game slows down again, this time for a much longer period. It isn't until the 45th minute that something else happens, but that "something else" is Moukoko dribbling past Casas inside the box on his way towards a goal and the center-back bringing him down with a trip. No complaints about the penalty, even less when Kretzschmar does it again, guessing Moukoko's kick from the spot perfectly and saving, then holding Upamecano's header in the corner kick that marks the end of the first half. Still alive.
HALF TIME - 0-0
The second half is still not particularly brilliant when it comes to attacking football, and Deivid needs eight minutes to set up another chance with a movement towards the center and a pass forward to Moukoko, who sees his finish deflected away by Casas's timely tackle. Moukoko tries again with a very wide direct free kick, but in the 55th Romero sends a cross towards Moukoko, Casas blocks his finish once again, but this time the rebound is unlucky and falls to Deivid for a very easy finish that becomes the 1-0.
We now need a bit of extra creativity, so in comes Neves in Palomeque's place, while Ball replaces a surprisingly poor Amador. We get right to it, and soon Rijkhoff receives from Rodríguez inside the box and tries to get a shot in, but De Decker denies him with a great block. The two trade roles immediately after, with Rijkhoff assisting Rodríguez on the run and the midfielder shooting low into Ramsdale's first save of the game. In the 63rd arrives our best chance so far, a set piece Rodríguez whips into the box and Ernesto heads very narrowly over the bar. Then we bring Caraballo in Basualdo's place as our final substitution, while Bayern seem to be happy with defending now, only testing their luck with a free kick that Moukoko smashes into the fence.
We might have turned it up a bit too much, though, and in the 73rd a very fired up Rodríguez goes one step too far with a strong challenge from behind on Tonali, resulting in a red card from the referee and the death of any hopes of a comeback we might've had. Yet, somehow, two minutes later Neves has the ball in midfield and spots Caraballo's movement behind the defense, and the Portuguese times his pass perfectly to break the offside trap and allow the forward an easy placed finish past a very static Ramsdale to pull level.
It's time to defend, and we do it really well for the next few minutes, only allowing a header by Mukiele in a set piece that Kretzschmar holds with little effort. In the 82nd Caraballo wears his best Messi mask and runs across the whole field into the right side of the box, first trying a shot from a tight angle that Ramsdale blocks, then gathering the rebound and crossing for Rijkhoff's volley, once again stopped by the keeper. We remain firmly focused in defensive duties, though, and somehow manage to deny Bayern any other chances until we reach injury time. Then it's Javorcic who sends a ball forward to Rijkhoff, his shot deflected behind by Mukiele for a corner kick that Miranda takes and Casas heads over. Kretzschmar has no more work to do afterwards and we manage to steal our first point away from Bayern in the most unlikely of circumstances.
* * *
FC Bayern München 1 (Deivid 55)
TSV 1860 München 1 (Rodrigo Caraballo 75, Jair Rodríguez sent off 73)- - -
Well then. That worked out somehow. Caraballo is die Löwen's new hero after that goal, and we sure left the Allianz as the happier team, by far. Rodríguez's gonna get a bit of a slap on the wrist for that red, though, that's two derbies in a row in which someone has lost their nerves at the worst possible moment. Still, absolutely brilliant point in a game we should've lost clearly, Kretzschmar's heroics on goal are now the stuff of legends (how many stopped penalties in a row is that already?!), and we keep our distance with our dear rivals, even though Leipzig escape a bit farther away and Dortmund creep a bit closer.
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Dec 2nd 2029
TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. Eintracht Frankfurt (16th) (Bundesliga, 13/34)
Another year of struggles for Eintracht, constantly coming in and out of the relegation zone until now. They're only a couple of good results away from escaping that battle for good, though, at least for a short while, and last week they got an important win over Köln which brought them to the playoff position. We're heavy favorites, but we'll have to rotate a lot today and we come into this after two pretty bad draws. We need to improve.
* * *
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Juan David Palomeque (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Jonatan Basualdo (STl)
EINTRACHT (4-4-2): André Gomes (GK); Nico Elvedi (DR), Marvin Friedrich (DCr), Jackson Porozo (DCl), Noah Katterbach (DL); André Franco (MR), Idrus Abdulahi (MCr), Toma Basic (MCl), Bryan Mbeumo (ML); Datro Fofana (STr), Joe Gelhardt (STl)* * *
Rest for Rijkhoff today, since we want him as fresh as possible for our next fixture in just three days. Eintracht opt for a flat 4-4-2 today, and we start the game with less possession than them (somehow) but with the first shots being all ours, two into defenders' legs or backs by Caraballo and one from distance over the bar by Meunier. Another shot from far away by Schulze in the 12th minute also flies into the stands behind Gomes's goal, but one minute later Neves runs through a acres of space in the center and Meunier sends a vertical pass towards him so the midfielder can score with his trademark placed shot and give us the lead.
Basualdo almost gets a second in the 21st after a nice little touch from Schulze inside the box, but the forward's finish is met by Gomes with a good dive and all we get is an inconsequential corner kick. In the meantime we've managed to regain control of possession too, and now Eintracht don't really have many weapons left to hurt us with. Schulze keeps the pressure up with a wide shot in the 26th, and six minutes later Palomeque tests Gomes with a low and placed twenty-yarder that the keeper holds without much trouble. In the 33th, finally, Schulze sees Amador's run on the wing and sends the ball there so the full back can cross low into the heart of the box, allowing Basualdo an easy tap-in for the 2-0.
Still under no pressure whatsoever from Eintracht, we keep looking for gaps to send the ball through and find one in the 37th, allowing Neves to pass it across the box towards Caraballo in a dangerous position, although in the end the ball is deflected into Gomes's hands. With one minute left on the clock Schulze sets up another run into the box by Basualdo, and this time it's the keeper who has to work hard to block his finish and prevent a third. The play continues until a clash between Schulze and Basic ends with both players writhing with pain on the ground, with our midfielder not even able to finish the half, being immediately replaced by Ernesto. Injury time still brings a rare shot from outside the box by Stjepanovic that Gomes barely manages to deflect into the post, mere seconds before the referee calls for half time.
HALF TIME - 2-0
Nothing much changes early in the second half, and in fact we need only seven minutes to hit wood again, this time with a first-touch finish by Basualdo after a great cross by Palomeque, now playing on the right side of our midfield with Meunier on the left and Ernesto in the anchor. We take things a bit easier now, though, trying to keep the ball and preventing Eintracht from ever realizing their game plan, whatever it happens to be.
After a while Rodríguez comes in to give Palomeque some rest, and Touré replaces an excellent Amador and trades sides with Ball. The Mexican soon has a chance to score the third after a loose ball inside the box falls practically on his lap, but Gomes dives well to turn the ball behind. The game then goes to sleep until the 81st, when a cross by Ball creates a double chance for Neves and Meunier that the keeper denies with two excellent saves, with some help from his defense making our finishes as awkward as possible.
A shot from distance by Rodríguez five minutes later is deflected wide by Gomes, and Eintracht finally create their first real chance in a corner kick that Arrey-Mbi heads over three minutes before full time. Rodríguez keeps monopolizing our attack, now with a direct free kick that Gomes barely manages to stop from going into the top corner, but after that we finally pull back for good and let what little remains of the game pass by without incident. Solid and very comfortable win.
* * *
TSV 1860 München 2 (Joao Neves 13, Jonatan Basualdo 33)
Eintracht Frankfurt 0- - -
Good show, never giving Eintracht a chance to wake up and realize they were supposed to be playing a game today. Our "backups" did well to seal the game early then dominate the rest, and we probably should've scored at least one more today, but that'll do. That makes twenty games without losing, just in time for the Big One.
Bad news come in the shape of Schulze's groin strain, which will keep him out for what remains of 2029. We'll need someone else to play the role of a midfield annoyance against Bayern...
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Nov 27th 2029
Miranda's goal against Mainz brings him into the Team of the Week.
Nov 29th 2029
Celtic vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League group E, 5/6)
Second trip to the UK in a row, now with the always lively Celtic Park in Glasgow as our destination. Celtic have an outside chance of qualifying from the group with a win today, but considering how the first leg went, well... Meanwhile we should win here and keep half an eye on Valencia, where Leicester might drop a point or two with some luck.
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CELTIC (4-4-1-1): Fabio Mojica (GK); Sean Jones (DR), Bruno Eduardo (DCr), Luke Mbete (DCl), Ben Davies (DL); Uriel Antuna (MR), Matt O'Riley (MCr), Callum McGregor (MCl), Josip Brekalo (ML); Dedé (AMC); Eddie Salcedo (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)* * *
Celtic alter their shape slightly, moving from their previous flat 4-4-2 to a somewhat less aggressive 4-4-1-1 with Dedé taking a deeper role today. We rotate the squad both for fitness reasons and looking six days into the future, and start the game looking sharp in possession and trying our luck with an early shot from outside the box by Schulze, well above the bar. In the seventh minute Javorcic intercepts a pass in midfield and immediately looks forward towards Rijkhoff, who makes some space for himself to shoot and beats Mojica first try, scoring the 0-1. Perfect.
Three minutes later we return through Rodríguez and Rijkhoff, although the striker's finish is deflected wide by Bruno Eduardo this time. Rijkhoff and Rodríguez trade roles a while later, with the midfielder shooting this time although not giving it enough power to put Mojica into any kind of trouble. Celtic start trying to push forward a bit more then, although without much to show in the final third and exposing themselves to counterattacks in exchange. A dangerous one comes in the 29th with Schulze making the final pass towards Rijkhoff, who tries a lob over Mojica but can't bring the ball high enough to beat the keeper, who just swats it away.
The usually very defensive Javorcic joins the attack one minute later, gathering a pass from Schulze inside the box and shooting from a tight angle into Mojica's block for a corner kick. We take a bit of a break then, just holding the ball and moving it around with impunity for over ten minutes until in the 42nd minute Celtic finally give us the first scare of the evening with a good cross from very deep by Brekalo towards O'Riley, who shoots wide on the half-volley. Three minutes later O'Riley breaks into the box again, this time catching a great pass by Dedé, but once again fails to find the target with his finish and sends it well over. A knock to Thiago after a collision with Salcedo and a free kick by Miranda that Mojica catches with relative ease are the last two big events of the first half.
HALF TIME - 0-1
Thiago complains about pain in his thigh during half time, so he's immediately replaced by Stjepanovic and Ernesto moves up to the anchor. Celtic start the second half like they ended the first: generating danger through O'Riley, this time with a bending shot from just inside the box that Rexhepi has to tip wide. We soon regain control, though, and start pushing them into their own half to keep them away from our goal as much as possible. There's very little to report chances-wise, though, and soon it's time to bring some refreshments to our eternally overworked midfield by replacing Rodríguez and Schulze with Neves and Palomeque.
Things remain calm until the 70th minute, when Stjepanovic charges into midfield in one of his semi-frequent runs forward before sending a great pass ahead of Neves, who runs all the way into the box and tries a shot, but McGregor chases him all the way there to block the finish. Three minutes later Celtic give us another scare through two of their subs, first with Sahraoui stealing the ball from Touré, and then with Emersonn escaping from Stjepanovic's mark and shooting into another good save by Rexhepi. That corner kick becomes a bit of a pinball inside our box, with Rexhepi saving at least one very dangerous finish and Jones finally shooting into Casas and wide.
Too much danger for my tastes, so we try and score a second before Celtic get lucky. Rijkhoff goes close with a good header after a cross by Palomeque, but Mojica answers perfectly with a great save. The keeper does it again in the 82nd in another chance generated by Palomeque's crossing and finished this time by Miranda, while on the other goal Rexhepi saves with ease a soft header by Emersonn three minutes later. In the 87th, however, we leave ourselves completely exposed to a counterattack when we push way too many players forward in a throw-in, and Celtic punish us: Brekalo leads the counterattack and Emersonn finishes it, beating Rexhepi in the one-on-one to score the 1-1.
We try to regain our lead immediately through Caraballo, who tries luck from just outside the box but finds only the stands behind the goal. We lay siege to Mojica's goal, and in the last minute of injury time we manage to find Rijkhoff inside the box after a series of rebounds and missed passes just outside, but the striker's accuracy isn't good enough in this critical moment and he shoots narrowly wide. There's no time for more, and we return to Munich with a smaller reward than expected.
* * *
Celtic 1 (Emersonn 87)
TSV 1860 München 1 (Julian Rijkhoff 7)- - -
Bottled it. We had the game in our hands but gave Celtic way too much leeway in the second half, and they eventually profited from that and took a draw they probably deserved. A huge waste, particularly because Leicester didn't do the same in Valencia and defended an early goal by Pedro Porro all the way until the end. We're qualified for the next round now, at least, but if we want the first place we'll have to hope that Celtic steal at least a point from Leicester in the last fixture, something I'm not gonna be holding my breath for. Guess we'll have to reach the second knockout round the hard way...
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@dtown1414: good question, and one the AI has been struggling with for a while now. Not sure about newer versions, but in FM22 it usually takes some catastrophic levels of fitness for a starter to be dropped. Something else to profit from, I guess?
* * *
Nov 12th 2029
Youth facilities upgrade finally finished. I think that'll be it for upgrades this season, we spent quite a bit in the summer and we'll want to play it a bit safer until the next big paycheck comes in. Which might happen in January if Atlético's interest in Rodríguez finally materializes, of course...
Nov 13th 2029
Basualdo's brace against Stuttgart earns him a place in the Team of the Week.
Nov 15th 2029
Ah yes, we hadn't had an international injury in a while. Caraballo is the victim this time, and thankfully it's a pretty minor one, just a bruise in his thigh that'll heal with a week of rest. Performances-wise it was a decent round, with Rodríguez getting his customary assist in Mexico's 1-2 defeat against Norway, Özcan adding another in Turkey's remarkable 2-2 draw against Italy, and Rijkhoff scoring for the Netherlands in a 1-1 draw with Romania. The U21 contingent also had a good day, particularly the three young Germans with Touré even scoring his first international goal against Latvia.
Nov 19th 2029
And just when I thought we'd dodged the worst case scenario with Caraballo's injury, Özcan strains his thigh while playing his second game with Turkey and now will be out for over a month, which basically translates to "until 2030". He'll miss the two remaining Europa League games and, most importantly, the Münchner Derby in three weeks. Wonderful. Not much to report about the second round of fixtures otherwise, a few solid performances but nothing too remarkable. No minutes for Kretzschmar, though. Sad.
Nov 24th 2029
1.FSV Mainz 05 (7th) vs. TSV 1860 München (2nd) (Bundesliga, 12/34)
This season's surprise package are in a bit of a low after eating four from last-placed Köln just before the international break. They're also without one of their best player, young defensive midfielder Frank Hennig, due to suspension, which is good news for us. Then again they've managed to achieve critical mass of ex-1860 players by signing Maldini and Da Silva this summer, and they've been impressive enough so far to be handled with care.
* * *
MAINZ (4-2-3-1): Senne Lammens (GK); Joao Conceiçao (DR), Omar Rekik (DCr), Márton Dárdai (DCl), Mathias Farnes Gabrielsen (DL); Bledian Krasniqi (MCr), Syver Aas (MCl); Ben Bobzien (AMR), Joni Zakashvili (AMC), Noel López (AML); Alessio Besio (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)* * *
There's a key game in Celtic Park in just five days, so we need to keep at least some legs fresh for then, therefore Caraballo and Miranda rest today, the former still a bit tired after travelling with Venezuela. Da Silva is in the bench and Maldini doesn't even make the match squad, which is a huge shame. The early game is a midfield battle, first for possession which we win clearly, and then to actually bring the ball to dangerous areas, which neither team seems to manage as easily as that. The dearth of goalscoring chances lasts until the 23rd minute, when Besio finally finds a gap and shoots from the front of the area, sending the ball very narrowly wide.
It takes even longer for our first shot at goal, and it has to come from a direct free kick from almost thirty feet away that Rodríguez curls with his usual precision, forcing Lammens into a surprisingly difficult save to deflect it wide. That finally wakes us up, and in the 38th a long kick by Kretzschmar is nodded by Basualdo towards Rijkhoff, who breaks into the box, sidesteps the keeper to find space, and passes it into the back of the net. VAR has to double-check the striker's position, but it's all good and the 0-1 goes into the scoreboard. After that, back into the void until the end of the half.
HALF TIME - 0-1
The second half is more of the same, with Mainz now showing more attacking intent but generating only long shots and very minor chances that never even require Kretzschmar's intervention. We take it slow in attack until the 62nd, when Amador sends a ball towards Rodríguez and the midfielder finds himself with space to advance and shoot, prompting a good fingertip save by Lammens to keep things close. Miranda and Palomeque soon come into the game to refresh our midfield, replacing Rodríguez and Schulze, while Caraballo takes Rijkhoff's place to keep our only striker healthy and fresh for the Europa League.
With Basualdo now as our more advanced forward, our next chance comes through Amador's cross into the center that Miranda nods into Lammens's hands. Meanwhile Mainz only manage to generate danger in a direct free kick that Dárdai smashes into the fence, then another a bit farther away and that actually makes its way to Kretzschmar, who punches it away from goal. Besio then heads a corner kick very narrowly over the bar, probably their best chance so far, but it's still only set pieces that bring us any kind of trouble.
That changes in the 73rd minute, when a quick attack by Mainz reaches Farnes Gabrielsen in midfield and he sends a pass towards the right side of the box for Bobzien. Ball intercepts it, but the ball ends up dead in the middle of the box and Bobzien has all the time and space in the world to gather it, blast it past Kretzschmar, and score the 1-1. And it gets worse: 79th minute, cross from Conceiçao towards the left, where Noel López is completely unmarked and controls the ball and shoots between the near post and Kretzschmar to make it 2-1.
We have a bit over ten minutes to prevent our first defeat of the season, and we almost do it in two when Palomeque finds Basualdo with a pass over the defense and the forward shoots into the outside of the post and wide. Amador then blocks a very dangerous finish by Besio in a set piece to keep our hopes alive, and in the 86th Ball finds Neves down the left flank and the midfielder enters the box and curls another shot that ends up hitting the post and deflecting away. Luck is not with us today, it seems.
A weak shot by Conceiçao is an easy catch for Kretzschmar one minute later, and in the 88th we finally hit jackpot: vertical play through the center that reaches Caraballo, who taps it into space for Miranda's run into the box so the midfielder can finish with a beautiful lob over Lammens, drawing the game once again. A blocked shot by Bobzen in injury time is the only threat to the status quo in what little remains, and in the end we happily split the points with a very good Mainz side.
* * *
1.FSC Mainz 05 2 (Ben Bobzien 73, Noel López 79)
TSV 1860 München 2 (Julian Rijkhoff 38, Matías Miranda 88)- - -
That was a close shave. We almost threw away a pretty good first sixty minutes by allowing Mainz to get back on top, but usual hero Miranda performed another of his wonders to keep us unbeaten for a bit longer. Not the best result, but considering how the game went we have to be happy with it, and it's probably a fair result with the whole game in mind. Still, two wasted points, a chance Bayern take to regain their rightful (?) place ahead of us in the table after a 3-1 win over Hertha. This is also our eighteenth unbeaten game in a row, a new club record, and the first time we concede more than once in the whole season.
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Nov 9th 2029
More international callups, and this time there's something new to add to the mix: Kretzschmar gets another chance for a debut with Germany. He's most likely still behind ter Stegen and Nübel in the picking order, but considering their first game is a theoretically easy one against Azerbaijan he could have a chance.
Nov 10th 2029
Bayern rescue a late 2-2 draw in Augsburg and open the door for us. A win against Stuttgart tomorrow would mean we leapfrog our neighbors and steal the second place from them. Now that would feel good.
Nov 11th 2029
TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. VfB Stuttgart (6th) (Bundesliga, 11/34)
A quick rematch against our recent cup rivals, only this time in our stadium. Little has changed for both teams since, with only one league match and one European game (which they lost against LASK, incidentally) in between, so everything that applied back then still applies now: strong team, should give us trouble, but we're still better.
* * *
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Juan David Palomeque (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)
STUTTGART (4-2-3-1): Finn Dahmen (GK); Bafodé Diakité (DR), Waldemar Anton (DCr), Ronny Klotke (DCl), Fabian Nürnberger (DL); Filip Ronningen Jorgensen (MCr), Shinta Appelkamp (MCl); Aleksander Andresen (AMR), Ismaël Gharbi (AMC), Isaac Tshibangu (AML); Borja Mayoral (ST)* * *
Our "league team" returns to the starting eleven today, with only Schulze and Rexhepi (first league start for the youngster) repeating from the Leicester game. Stuttgart change a few pieces from our cup match, which means among other things that Manu Sánchez returns to his usual place in the bench. Unlike then, though, they start the game pressing us hard and high, and we find it hard to get anywhere near Dahmen's goal until the 14th minute, when a good run by Touré creates a double chance, first with a blocked shot by Rijkhoff and then with a low finish by Schulze that Dahmen deflects away.
We slowly regain our territory and start pushing Stuttgart back into their own half, but we still can't find a clear path towards their goal. With Rodríguez and Miranda resting it's Basualdo's turn to take direct free kicks, and he shows why he's third choice in the 25th minute with a clearly high effort from a pretty good position. One minute later Andresen manages to escape from Touré's mark and gathers a pass from Ronningen Jorgensen inside the box, shooting without much power and making it easy for Rexhepi. In the 29th it's our turn, and after trading passes all over the midfield for a bit the ball reaches Rijkhoff on the edge of the box, he passes it back towards Basualdo, and the forward bends a shot that leaves Dahmen flabbergasted and slots into the back of the net for the 1-0, also his first goal of the season.
Stuttgart are starting to look exhausted already, probably because most of their starting eleven also played midweek. We profit from this by laying siege to their goal, quickly passing the ball around until Rijkhoff finds a gap to shoot through and provokes a good save by Dahmen for a corner kick that Casas also heads into the keeper's hands. The visitors find the energy to create some danger through a long shot by Nürnberger in the 35th minute that goes wide, but not by too much. Another play through the center five minutes later leaves Schulze with lots of space to run into the box, but instead he gets nervous and shoots too early, blasting it over. The final minutes bring no further action, and our short win stays until half time.
HALF TIME - 1-0
Things slow down dramatically after the break, with us unwilling to take too many risks and Stuttgart not quite able to put us under any serious pressure. Things finally liven up in the 59th when Javorcic steals the ball in midfield, then assists Schulze down the right flank so the midfielder can then cross low towards Basualdo, who places a perfect little left-footed finish past Dahmen to make it two. And we have the chance to make it three only four minutes later when Touré finds Palomeque's head with a great cross from the left, but the midfielder's finish goes straight into the keeper's hands.
Schulze is once again the first player to leave the field, understandable given he started on Thursday too, with Miranda taking his place. Soon after it's Özcan and Thiago replacing Rijkhoff and Neves, as the game enters a calm phase once again. Thiago plays in a more advanced role today, which gives him a rare chance to gather a cross from Miranda inside the box and face Dahmen to try and score, although his finish ends up going wide in the end. Miranda also takes free kick duties over from Basualdo, and soon shows he's the superior choice with a 30-yard attempt that the keeper has to work hard to tip over the bar.
Stuttgart look completely out of the game now, and we let time pass until the 83rd, which is when Thiago sees Özcan's movement towards the inside of the box and sends the ball to him, allowing the striker a comfortable placed finish to score the 3-0. A steal by Touré creates another chance for Basualdo, who tries a shot without thinking too much and forces Dahmen to push it over. Lang does well in the 90th to block Bätzner's finish after a good run into the box by the substitute striker, then Mayoral heads a corner kick over the bar in Stuttgart's only real chances of the whole second half. The game ends shortly after in an even more comfortable win than last time.
* * *
TSV 1860 München 3 (Jonatan Basualdo 29 59, Vedat Özcan 83)
VfB Stuttgart 0- - -
Easy. Or well, it was easy once we managed to get through their early pressure, at least. Not like it translated into much, but at least they managed to keep us locked inside our own half for a good while. After Basualdo scored the first it was all downhill, though, and their extra tired legs did the rest. See, this is why rotating the squad is important! Very comfortable result, and now the second place is ours! Oh, and good to see Basualdo finally bagging a couple, he'd been struggling with his finishing until now, even though he was playing well. Good to have multiple sources of goals in the team for when our main strikers lose their current accuracy. It'll happen eventually, and we all know it...
1 -
Nov 6th 2029
One player per line in the Team of the Week, except for goal because Kretzschmar didn't have much work to do against Köln: Casas in defense, Palomeque in midfield, and Rijkhoff in attack.
Nov 8th 2029
Leicester City vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League group E, 4/6)
First of two trips to the UK in the coming weeks, this match could very well decide who's first and who's second in this group, as it looks quite clear now that we are both a level or two above both Valencia and Celtic. Leicester is probably the second most difficult team we've played so far this season only behind Leipzig, but we still should have a decent chance at stealing a result from their stadium and secure the top seed.
* * *
LEICESTER (4-2-3-1): Justin Bijlow (GK); James Justin (DR), Wesley Fofana (DCr), Mads Bech Sorensen (DCl), Luke Thomas (DL); Boubakary Soumaré (MCr), James Maddison (MCl); Pedro Porro (AMR), Lovro Majer (AMC), Harvey Barnes (AML); Dane Scarlett (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alan Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)* * *
One change per line from the lineup of our home game against Leicester, with Ball, Miranda, and Caraballo in the team this time. The home team also tweak their defense and midfield a bit, but otherwise keep the same core that made us sweat bullets in our stadium. And we can't start the game any better: three minutes in, Amador intercepts a pass forward and with just three passes the ball reaches Rodríguez with space, and he adds a fourth towards Özcan to leave him alone against Bijlow so the striker can place the ball perfectly in off the post. A beautiful counterattack.
Leicester now need to go forward, and soon Barnes is heading a cross by Justin over the bar to give us something to worry about. We manage to keep them at bay for a long while after, though, and even enjoy a couple of chances to hit them back which in the end don't quite pan out. We reach the halfway point of the first half with only a free kick Majer smashes into the fence as a semi-remarkable chance, but in the 32nd minute we let Leicester too much space to think and Barnes punshies us with a clever long pass towards the right wing, where Porro outspeeds Ball and shoots past Rexhepi to draw the game.
A scary volley by Justin in a long throw in four minutes later gives us a bit of a scare, but the ball ends up flying across the whole goal before going wide. Ball and Stjepanovic block two consecutive finishes by Scarlett that could've brough some serious danger to our goal, then Sorensen heads a corner kick over the bar with only one minute remaining on the clock. We survive what little remains without any more suffering and keep the draw when the referee calls for half time.
HALF TIME - 1-1
Things slow down dramatically in the second half, with Leicester still in charge but chances not coming on either end of the pitch. Palomeque replaces the underperforming Schulze after a bit over ten minutes, and a short while later it's Basualdo who replaces Caraballo. There are no real goalscoring opportunities until the 66th, when Rodríguez recovers a ball he'd just lost near Leicester's box and passes towards Miranda, who shoots with his "bad" right foot and smashes a cannonball into the frame of Bijlow's goal. Soon after he's replaced by Neves, once again out of breath way before the end of the game.
Neves enters the game all guns blazing as always, and within a couple of minutes he's already sending a cross towards Rodríguez, who tries to tap it into the net but finds Bijlow in the way and ready to deflect it wide. That corner kick reaches Stjepanovic, but his header once again is met by the keeper with a confident save. Another cross by Neves ends in a high header by Palomeque in the 73rd, and it looks like we're finally turning the tide and starting to dominate the game. Yet Leicester get a corner kick five minutes later and Fofana's header ends up hitting the post, leading to a bit of a scramble inside the box before the ball is finally cleared behind. That other corner kick leads to another header by Fofana, but this time it's an easy one for Rexhepi.
We enter the final ten minutes with the game still completely up in the air, and Rodríguez's high ball from distance in the 83rd won't help change that one bit. One minute later Sorensen tries another of his bullet throws, Maddison nods it towards the box, and Scarlett volleys it with power, but centered and straight at Rexhepi. Another attempt from distance by Rodríguez meets Bijlow's gloves in the 88th for another corner kick that Ernesto heads over, and injury time brings no last second scares for either keeper, so the draw holds until the end.
* * *
Leicester City 1 (Pedro Porro 32)
TSV 1860 München 1 (Vedat Özcan 3)- - -
Fair result for a very even game, in which both teams were unlucky not to score more. Leicester had the initiative for most of the game, but our chances were really good when they came, so in the end I don't think any of us can complain about the draw. Celtic's easy 2-0 win over Valencia makes sure the Spaniards are eliminated from contention and gives them an outside chance at putting some pressure on us for the top two. Assuming Leicester and us win both remaining games, though, goal difference will end up being the deciding factor. Or goals scored, if that fails. Fun.
1 -
Nov 2nd 2029
Interesting draw for the DFB Pokal third round: at home against Augsburg. The last time we met them in the cup we destroyed them to reach the semifinals, although our most recent meeting in the league ended in a goalless draw. Lots of fun ties this time, including a guaranteed 2.Bundesliga team in the quarterfinals thanks to Hannover and Fürth being drawn together, Leipzig travelling to Berlin to play Hertha, and a Borussia "derby" in Mönchengladbach. Bayern, you ask? At home against Dynamo. Lucky bastards.
Nov 4th 2029
TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. 1.FC Köln (18th) (Bundesliga, 10/34)
Yes, yes, dead last and only four points, whatever you say. All I know is that this Köln isn't all that different from the Köln we struggled a lot to beat last year and that actually stole points from us with their ultradefensive 4-1-4-1, which they're still using nowadays. Their problem is on attack, of course, they've only scored five in nine so far, worst in the league, but we'll have to be creative to find a way through their defensive lines.
* * *
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)
KÖLN (4-1-4-1): Ersin Destanoglu (GK); Lukas Klostermann (DR), Stephan Ambrosius (DCr), Luca Kilian (DCl), Philipp Max (DL); Anton Stach (DM); Suat Serdar (MR), Dominik Yankov (MCr), Elvis Rexhbecaj (MCl), Talles Magno (ML); Joao Resende (ST)* * *
Schulze gets some rest today, he's been playing almost every game lately and was starting to run out of gas early in the second halves. Köln's eleven is basically the same one they used last season, which reinforce my fears of a difficult game when it comes to creating chances. Much as expected the early game turns into a plodding mess with too many fouls and too little football, and there are no shots whatsover until the 14th minute, when Rodríguez catches a long pass from Ball and finds space to run into and shoot with power, smashing it into the crossbar and over. One minute later Kilian heads wide a set piece for Köln's first approach, and it looks like things might be livening up a bit.
They do, even if it's from set pieces again, a direct free kick this time that Rodríguez bends slighlty wide to Destanoglu's right. In the 20th minute a shot by Neves is deflected by Stach and the ball bubbles very narrowly over the bar and falls on top of the net, almost giving the keeper a scare. Another direct free kick by Rodríguez is held by Destanoglu soon after, then he's needed again only seconds later to stop a header by Rijkhoff after a cross by Caraballo. We slowly but steadily increase the pressure on Köln's defense, adding a very narrowly high header by Rijkhoff in a set piece in the 26th to the growing pile of chances.
In the 33rd minute comes our best chance to date, with Caraballo dribbling his way through the center before assisting Rijkhoff, who runs into Destanoglu once again with his finish. A wide shot from distance by Meunier follows, then Rijkhoff returns Caraballo's favor with a great through ball, but the finish doesn't make it past Kilian's legs, then Casas heads the corner kick into Destanoglu's hands. We're getting closer and closer, but in the end we run out of time in the first half before we can finally get the opener.
HALF TIME - 0-0
Rijkhoff continues with his wasteful current form in our first approach of the second half, blasting over the bar a one-on-one after a fantastic ball from deep by Palomeque. His aim can only be so bad, though, and when Meunier repeats the action with another long pass from the halfway line towards the striker, Rijkhoff finally finds the gap between the keeper and the post and scores the long overdue 1-0. We keep looking for more, though, because we deserve it and because we might need it, and Neves gets unlucky for once with one of his bending shots that hits the outside of the post and goes wide in the 59th.
It's only one minute later that Rodríguez swings a corner kick towards the near post and Casas outjumps his marker to head the ball into the net, doubling our lead and putting us in a much more comfortable position. Now we can give the midfielder some rest and bring Miranda in his place, while Schulze gets to play thirty minutes in Neves' place and Ernesto does the same with Meunier. After a short break we get another corner kick, and this time it's Miranda who takes the cross to the exact same place and with the exact same result: Casas scoring with a great jump and header with Destanoglu unable to do anything to stop it.
With the game in the bag we relax and let minutes pass by, and Köln get the chance to test Kretzschmar for the first time today with a weak finish by Kessou that the keeper has zero trouble catching. In the 82nd we return the favor with a great pass by Schulze towards the right, where Palomeque taps it towards the center first time so Rijkhoff can gather it and score the 4-0 with ease, his early misses already forgotten. Kretzschmar holds an easy header by Kessou two minutes later, but that's the last we hear of Köln's attack today and we just keep the ball out of any dangerous zone for what little remains of the match.
* * *
TSV 1860 München 4 (Julian Rijkhoff 52 82, Arnau Casas 60 69)
1.FC Köln 0- - -
Yeeeah, I don't see this Köln team surviving. You can only park the bus for so long before the cracks start showing, and once they do it's game over because you don't have any alternatives once you start losing. In our case it took until Rijkhoff decided he'd had enough with missing sitters, and the snowball only got bigger afterwards. Easy win, and Leipzig's 0-2 victory in the Allianz-Arena only makes it sweeter, since now we're only one point behind the two leaders and five ahead of fourth-placed Dortmund.
Rijkhoff ended the game with a brace and a bruised thigh. I'm sure he could've done without the latter of those two... He'll be recovering for a bit under a week and should be back for our next Bundesliga game against Stuttgart.
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Oct 30th 2029
Triple presence in the Team of the Week this time: Neves, Schulze, and Caraballo all feature in it.
Oct 31st 2029
VfB Stuttgart vs. TSV 1860 München (DFB Pokal 2nd round)
And into what's probably the most difficult second round tie we've had recently. Stuttgart are currently sixth in the Bundesliga, come into this game after a three-match winning streak in the league, and are looking really dangerous. We are doing well too, of course, so I'm still confident in getting a win here, but it won't be easy at all.
* * *
STUTTGART (4-2-3-1): Finn Dahmen (GK); Bafodé Diakité (DR), Waldemar Anton (DCr), Ronny Klotke (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Filip Ronningen Jorgensen (MCr), Fabian Nürnberger (MCl); Isaac Tshibangu (AMR), Ismaël Gharbi (AMC), Jesper Hilstrup (AML); Nick Bätzner (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)* * *
Mandatory rotation once again, with Miranda returning to action and Özcan trying to capitalize on his current good goalscoring form. In Stuttgart our ex-left back Manu Sánchez gets a rare start, and I think it's actually the first time we play against him since his transfer. He seems to miss us, too, and he shows by allowing Schulze a free finish in the very first minute following a cross from the left by Özcan, the goal only prevented by Dahmen's fine save. Stuttgart soon show their teeth with a quick long ball towards Bätzner, who uses his pace to get into a shooting position but ends up blasting it over the bar.
In the 11th minute a bad pass by Thiago spawns a chance for Stuttgart, ending in a cross by Hilstrup that Tshibangu heads harmlessly over. We still have the upper hand in possession and momentum, though, and only their last-ditch defensive efforts prevent us from generating any more clear chances. In the 29th we get really close in a corner kick that Stjepanovic nods, Özcan heads back, and Basualdo finishes with a shot into the sidenetting. Stuttgart keep defending really well, though, and despite our overwhelming advantage in midfield we struggle to generate more danger.
A good run down the left by Miranda in the 40th is our next best bet, ending in a cross by Touré towards Schulze and a header that Dahmen catches with little difficulty. We immediately recover possession after their goal kick, and once again Miranda spots Rodríguez running through the center and assists him for an apparently easy finish that Dahmen manages to block in the end. And it's the corner kick that comes from that save that finally does it: Rodríguez takes it towards the near post and Ernesto heads it in a perfect parabola over the keeper and into the back of the net on the far side. And just in time, too, because the first half ends without any further incidents.
HALF TIME - 0-1
Rexhepi's first save of the game comes early in the second half, although it's an easy one to Tshibangu's cushioned and not particularly threatening header. We respond from long range through Touré, who tries his luck after gathering a cleared ball and almost puts the ball in the top right corner, only stopped by Dahmen's glove. The left back generates danger again in the 53rd with a cross towards Schulze, who controls and shoots without letting it drop prompting another great save by the keeper and another corner kick that Stjepanovic heads over. Next up it's Özcan trying a low cross towards Miranda, who shoots low but with little power and makes it easy for Dahmen to add another save to his collection.
Our second looks much closer than Stuttgart's first right now, but two of our main danger generators, Miranda and Schulze, need to be replaced due to tiredness. In come Neves and Meunier, and while our attack does slow down somewhat, Stuttgart's doesn't get any better either. Javorcic soon takes Amador's place in the right back as we enter the final twenty minutes of the game, while Stuttgart change their whole attacking midfielders line in one go. In the 77th we finally end our break in attack and we do it in style: Rodríguez sends a pass through the center ahead of Özcan, and the striker dodges Dahmen's rush with a subtle chip over the keeper to double our lead, practically sealing the deal.
Stuttgart still try their best, and substitute Gürkan Türkoglu sends a 20-yarder into the outside of the post in the 80th minute just to keep us on our toes. In the 88th Touré blocks another dangerous finish by Bang, while Özcan miskicks his finish in a quick counterattack in injury time and fails to beat Dahmen for a second time. A final direct free kick that Rodríguez sends straight at the keeper is the last shot in a surprisingly comfortable win. One more round for us.
* * *
VfB Stuttgart 0
TSV 1860 München 2 (Ernesto 40, Vedat Özcan 77)- - -
Rock solid. Stuttgart barely had a sniff of the ball all game long, probably by design since they seemed to want to counterattack us, but we didn't even allow them to do that very often. We took our time, grabbed the opener in a corner kick, and then completely dominated the second half until the second goal came basically on its own. Rodríguez was our best player today, with two assists and generating danger whenever he had the ball in open play. It didn't look like a game against the sixth-placed team in the Bundesliga, honestly. Looking good, and one step closer to our goal in the competition.
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Oct 28th 2029
Hertha BSC (9th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 9/34)
First fourth of the season done with a trip to Berlin. Hertha have been doing pretty well so far, holding onto a top half position and actually quite close to the European places point-wise. Then again the whole middle of the table is incredibly tight right now, with only four points separating Europe from relegation, so that doesn't really say much about how good they are relative to the rest of the field. Regardless, they should be a step below us now, so we should expect a win here.
* * *
HERTHA (4-4-2): Marco Carnesecchi (GK); Erik Warner (DR), Omar Alderete (DCr), Nico Schlotterbeck (DCl), Amar Dedic (DL); Charles De Ketelaere (MR), Miguel Carvalho (MCr); Fabian Rieder (MCl), Fredrik Bjorkan (Ml); Laureano Laconi (STr), Delyan Atanasov (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Juan David Palomeque (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)* * *
Still with the same counterattacking 4-4-2 Hertha debuted last season and with very few personnel changes, it should be a pretty decent matchup for us. We once again have to rotate most of our squad, something made a bit more difficult due to Miranda's injury. There's an important cup match in three more days, too, so we can't go all in today either. Hertha start looking aggressive, soon sending a cross for De Ketelaere to head over the bar, but soon we reply through Javorcic, who finishes a play down the right by Schulze with a shot that Carnesecchi can only parry. Atanasov then outruns Lang and gathers a pass into space to face Kretzschmar one-on-one, to which the keeper replies with his usual coolness and a great save to go with it. Fun game so far.
Both teams keep trading blows for a while longer, but in the 13th minute we finally manage to land the final pass when Caraballo assists Neves as the midfielder reaches the edge of the box, then shoots low and placed beyond Carnesecchi's reach to score the 0-1, and his fourth goal of the season already. We hold the ball after that, while Hertha stick to the plan and wait for their chance to hit us on the break. Things remain calm until the 30th, but then Hertha win a free kick on the left side of their attack, Rieder sends it in, and De Ketelaere finds himself unmarked and able to hit it first-time to pull level for the home team.
Five minutes later De Ketelaere escapes our defense's attention once again in a corner kick and manages to get a header in, although thankfully he sends it narrowly over. In the 37th Palomeque tries a placed shot from the edge of the box, to which Carnesecchi responds with a great fingertip deflection to a corner kick, in which Meunier manages to get a shot in but Alderete blocks it and the ball bubbles harmlessly into the keeper's hands. Another set piece near our box ends with Carvalho gathering a loose ball inside the box and shooting into Kretzschmar's save, then it's our turn with Caraballo once again generating danger with a through ball and Palomeque wasting it with a wide finish. A very wide shot from distance by Caraballo in the 43rd and a high header by Casas in a corner kick in injury time are the final chances of a very entertaining first half.
HALF TIME - 1-1
Somewhat surprisingly, there are no chances in the first ten minutes of the second half, and not for lack of trying. The first one comes in the 55th with another deflection wide by Alderete to a finish by Rijkhoff, very invisible until now. One minute later he appears again, but only to pass it short to Neves so the midfielder can cross towards the far post, where Schulze gets ahead of Dedic and heads it into the net. Advantage regained, now to keep it.
We very nearly fail completely at the task in just five minutes, which is what Hertha need to generate danger in yet another corner kick taken by Rieder, this time with Schlotterbeck heading it into the crossbar. Özcan, Ernesto, and Touré then come into the game, replacing Rijkhoff, Schulze, and Ball. Meunier now moves forward to better keep track of Hertha's danger man De Ketelaere, and even finds time to try a dangerous shot from the edge of the box in the 67th that Carnesecchi barely manages to turn around the post. Özcan also gets really close with a header to Touré's perfect cross two minutes later, but the ball ends up going wide by a couple of inches.
Özcan doesn't miss twice in a row, though, and in the 73th he manages to shake free of his marker and collect a pass from Caraballo just inside the box, then quickly turns around and shoots low and with power to surprise Carnesecchi and bag the 1-3. After that we play the waiting game, careful not to concede any more free kicks in problematic positions, as it seems obvious by now that that's Hertha's main source of danger. A shot into the second stand by Ernesto in the 86th ends a long period with little to report on the attacking front, and three minutes later Hertha finally manage to create danger from open play with a good pass towards Duessel, who tries to score with a placed finish but finds Kretzschmar ready to tip it wide. They don't get another, though, and with a final chance for Caraballo in a counterattack that Carnesecchi saves, we round up a pleasant performance and a good result to keep us firmly entrenched in the top three.
* * *
Hertha BSC 1 (Charles De Ketelaere 30)
TSV 1860 München 3 (Joao Neves 13, Maximilian Schulze 56, Vedat Özcan 73)- - -
Solid job and great result, no complaints at all today. The first half was very even, but in the second we took over completely and clearly deserved our win. Neves and Caraballo were fantastic today, generating most of our chances, with our defensive unit also having a pretty good day, some marking decisions in set pieces notwithstanding.
* * *
| Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | GD | Pts | Form | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | FC Bayern | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 5 | 18 | 23 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | RB Leipzig | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 20 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | 1860 München | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 19 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Borussia Dortmund | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 16 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Mainz | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 12 | 3 | 15 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Stuttgart | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 14 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | Borussia M'gladbach | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 12 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | Nürnberg | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 13 | -1 | 12 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | Union Berlin | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 12 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | Wolfsburg | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 11 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | Hamburg | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 11 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | Hertha BSC | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 11 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | Freiburg | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 10 | -3 | 10 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | Bayer Leverkusen | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 22 | -8 | 10 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | Augsburg | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 17 | -8 | 10 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | Hoffenheim | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 17 | -9 | 8 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | Frankfurt | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 7 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | Köln | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 14 | -9 | 4 | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|* * *
Chuffed with our position after nine games, really. This initial run of games was anything but easy, but we managed to stay unbeaten through the whole thing, and nineteen points and a third place are a great place to start our campaign from. Best part is that this is after having already played (and beaten) two of the main title candidates in Leipzig and Dortmund. Only Bayern left, and if we can manage to steal a result against them, well, who knows, we might have what it takes to actually challenge for the league title. Too soon for that, though, for now we must be happy that we have a solid lead in the Champions League positions and that our place in Europe is under no threat whatsoever.
The rest of the league outside of the top three is surprisingly tight, which has led to some incredible jumps after only a couple of good results. Mainz have been consistently in the top six, though, which makes them the positive surprise of the season so far together with a surprisingly solid Union. HSV, Freiburg, and Leverkusen have had some tough results, on the other hand, and it's weird to see them all in the bottom half, although only three or four points away from the sixth place. Then there's Köln, dead last, although at least they are not completely winless. The fact that even the worst teams don't have a two-digit negative goal difference just yet says a lot, though, everything is still up in the air.
* * *
PLAYER STATS ============ Average rating (min. 3 games played): Vedat Özcan 7.36 (6(2) apps) Rodrigo Caraballo 7.34 (6(2) apps) Matías Miranda 7.33 (8(1) apps) Mateja Stjepanovic 7.33 (6(1) apps) Jair Rodríguez 7.30 (7(4) apps) Goals: Vedat Özcan 5 goals Jair Rodríguez 4 Joao Neves 4 Rodrigo Caraballo 3 Julian Rijkhoff 3 Assists: Matías Miranda 4 assists Julian Rijkhoff 3 Jair Rodríguez 2 Rodrigo Caraballo 2 Thiago 2 Jonatan Basualdo 2 Vedat Özcan 2 Joao Neves 20 -
Oct 23rd 2029
Lang makes the Team of the Week after a few somewhat suspect performances in previous matches, good turnaround here.
Oct 25th 2029
TSV 1860 München vs. Leicester City (Europa League group E, 3/6)
A team very much like ourselves, only their success was much more sudden, but they've managed to build upon that one miracle season and turned themselves into European competition regulars since. If anything they've also reached new heights this year, remaining unbeaten so far in the Premier League and in the Europa League. Just like us, actually! This game could decide who finishes top of the group, so we'll have to be at our best, ie very different from last Saturday.
* * *
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)
LEICESTER (4-2-3-1): Justin Bijlow (GK); Joakim Maehle (DR), Wesley Fofana (DCr), Dan-Axel Zagadou (DCl), James Justin (DL); Joey Veerman (MCr), James Maddison (MCl); Pedro Porro (AMR), Lovro Majer (AMC), Harvey Barnes (AML); Dane Scarlett (ST)* * *
Today's starting eleven is very likely to be the same that faces against Stuttgart in the cup in six days, so they'd better do well. Leicester present their best eleven starring former Dortmund midfielder Veerman and absolute stud of a striker in Scarlett. We start the game looking forward, trying to trap Leicester inside their own half but with little intent to score. Meanwhile they seem happy to run on the counter and get the first dangerous approach through Porro, who blasts it over the bar after a good run down the right by Majer.
After fifteen minutes we still haven't got a single shot at goal, and we need four more and a rare chance to run on the break ourselves for Schulze to set Özcan up for a great chance to score that Bijlow denies with a great block, and the referee makes moot when he calls for offside anyway. Meanwhile Leicester are growing more and more comfortable in play, with Majer being the next one to try luck from distance with a pretty badly wide shot.
Time passes with the keepers still as pure spectators, until in the 40th Schulze finds a way to get the ball to Rodríguez inside the box, the Mexican drops to the right, then quickly crosses it towards the center so Özcan can head it into the net from point-blank range in our very first legal approach of the game. Talk about effective... Soon Rexhepi has to do some serious work to keep us ahead, first coming out to prevent Barnes from even taking a shot when he broke into the box from the center, then deflecting away a volley by Scarlett when the winger instead decided to cross. The first half runs out of time before Leicester can put us under any more duress.
HALF TIME - 1-0
The second half starts without any clear attacking ideas for either side, with only a couple of long shots the keepers deal with without any trouble during the first fifteen minutes. Caraballo for Basualdo is our first substitution, and in the 65th Leicester finally create something good-looking in attack through Maddison, Barnes, and Scarlett, who shoots into Rexhepi's save for a corner kick. Meunier comes in Schulze's place then, only for Scarlett to blast over another good chance for the visitors, who keep pressing us high and making it hard for us to get the ball forward.
Palomeque for Neves is our final substitution for the evening, and we try the most obvious solution to get past Leicester's advanced lines: a long ball towards Özcan, who nods it towards Caraballo, gathers the return pass, and shoots into Bijlow's strong block. Leicester get an even better one in the 78th, when Scarlett's finish after a cross by Justin is stopped by Stjepanovic, but the rebound falls to Porro and the winger smashes it into the woodwork thanks to Rexhepi's fingertip deflection. Our luck runs out two minutes later, though, when Porro runs into the box and crosses low past Ernesto's failed interception and towards Scarlett, who has it easy to score the 1-1.
We have ten minutes to fix this, but the first eight go by without even a sniff of a chance. Rodríguez finally gets a shot in the 88th but his finish isn't good enough and sails well over the bar. Leicester are happy to defend their hard-earned point, and injury time comes and goes without any other looks at Bijlow's goal. One point for each in the end.
* * *
TSV 1860 München 1 (Vedat Özcan 40)
Leicester City 1 (Dane Scarlett 80)- - -
Not ideal, but I'll take it given how the game went. Leicester were one step ahead most of the game, and we were quite lucky to score in our first arrival at their box, clear-cut chance or not. They kept peppering us with shots and dangerous runs all game until they finally scored the goal they deserved, and in the end I could call the result fair, maybe even a little lucky. This keeps both teams tied at everything at the top of the group, so our visit to the East Midlands in a couple of weeks should be the real decider. Celtic and Valencia also draw 1-1 today, practically removing them both from contention. We're mostly qualified already, now it's a matter of trying to get the first place of the group to dodge the first knockout round.
0 -
Oct 11th 2029
Not the best news for Caraballo in the international scene, as he got sent off in Venezuela's home defeat to Brazil and will now miss their next qualifier match. The South American group has already been completely decided, though, and Venezuela are out, so it won't matter much in the grand scheme of things. The rest of internationals have mixed performances, with Rodríguez once again as the standout with an assist against Suriname. That is, until Turkey play Gibraltar and Özcan gets a hattrick plus one assist. Bullies...
Oct 16th 2029
The second round of international matches starts with a bang: Rijkhoff scores a brace in the Netherlands' 6-1 walkover against Finland, while all the youngsters do fine today with the exception of Karlsen, who has a tough time in Norway's defeat against Slovakia. Rodríguez then adds another assist to his ever growing stats with Mexico in a win over Nicaragua.
Oct 20th 2029
TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. FC Augsburg (13th) (Bundesliga, 8/34)
Our dear mini-rivals are finally back in the Bundesliga after three seasons in the second tier, and they seem to want to defy their tag as relegation favorites. They've had a solid start with two wins and two draws already, taking points from tough teams like Hertha, Köln, and Stuttgart, and will prove to be quite the challenge to overcome today. Let's take this seriously.
* * *
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Juan David Palomeque (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)
AUGSBURG (4-2-3-1): Adam Stejskal (GK); Ridha Benzarti (DR), Yerson Mosquera (DCr), Niklas Stark (DCl), Vicente Báez (DL); Adrian Fein (MCr), Diyar Yilmaz (MCl); Randal Kolo Muani (AMR), Tomás Muro (AMC), Rubén Vargas (AML); Stefan Tol (ST)* * *
We start a healthy mix of starters and backups today, both as a recovery measure from the international games (Rodríguez came back quite exhausted, for starters) and as a way to have a competitive eleven for our midweek game against Leicester, which might prove decisive. Thomas Reis' Augsburg play a new 4-2-3-1 formation they've never used against us before, and obviously there are many new faces in their starting eleven since our last meeting over three years ago.
The players look extra motivated today, it's not every day you play a derby with real hopes of winning it after all... We only need a bit over a minute to create our first real chance thanks to Palomeque's through ball towards Caraballo, who is stopped in the end by Stejskal. We still get a corner kick out of it, though, and Casas nods Miranda's cross towards the far post where Schulze jumps and heads it into the crossbar. Augsburg look a bit overwhelmed, and soon it's once again Palomeque who assists Rijkhoff for a wide finish.
We keep the pressure up in the following minutes, although our attack slows down a bit and we need until the 19th minute for Miranda to send a low cross into the box that Rijkhoff shoots into Stejskal's excellent fingertip save. Another cross by Meunier is headed by the striker into another great save by the keeper, while in the 24th Augsburg have their first chance in a corner kick that Fein heads with power, but just a tad too high. The visitors then enjoy a few minutes in which they get to keep the ball and breathe a bit easier, until Miranda says that's enough and assists Rijkhoff once again, with Benzarti providing a timely block this time to deny us again.
The final fifteen minutes of the half pass by quickly with little action on either goal, our early game attacking palooza now gone and forgotten. The last chance of the half comes late in injury time when Kolo Muani controls a cross from the left with some help from Ball's lack of attention and tries a low shot that goes a few inches wide. We've been the better team so far, but the result remains unchanged.
HALF TIME - 0-0
Meunier starts the second half with a surprising thirty-yarder that almost gets past Stejskal, but the keeper reacts in time to deflect it wide. Casas then heads the corner kick over the bar, and we seem to have regained some momentum after the break. Palomeque gets a dangerous shot blocked by Mosquera in the 56th, but the corner kick turns into a counterattack for Augsburg that Javorcic has to solve with a well-timed tackle to prevent an almost certain goal by Vargas. Amador and Neves come in then, replacing Javorcic himself and a tired and surprisingly mediocre Schulze.
The game enters another lull then, and we reach the final twenty minutes without any changes. Rodríguez comes in for Palomeque then as our last-ditch option, but five minutes later Miranda injures his knee and has to abandon the match, leaving us in a difficult situation with no substitutions available. We pull Caraballo back a bit to help some more in midfield duties and try to keep our so far ineffective attack going, but Augsburg are now more dangerous on the break, and Lang and Kretzschmar have to combine to avoid a goal from Tol in the 79th in one of those counterattacks. Time keeps flowing fast, with Augsburg apparently happy to wait at the back and hit us on counters and us suffering due to our numerical inferiority, and in the end neither team can break through, leaving the result unchanged from the start.
* * *
TSV 1860 München 0
FC Augsburg 0- - -
Poor result and poor performance, no questions asked. Even before losing Miranda at the worst possible moment we were already stuck in the mud and not really generating anything worthwhile in attack. We still had more and better chances and if someone had to score today it should've been us, but we didn't deserve it enough. We have to do better, and four draws already in the league are probably at least a couple too many.
Miranda's knee injury ends up being just a twist, which should heal within a week. He's still out for the Leicester game, though.
0 -
Oct 5th 2029
Our good start of the season has prompted the board to call me to offer me a new contract, since my current one was expiring next June. I'm really happy to hear that, since at the expectation level we are now we are no longer guaranteed to achieve the goals the board set with ease as we've done in the past, so sealing a long term deal before things go awry in the future is always very welcome. The new deal is worth €29.5k per week until June of 2033. Let's win some trophies in these four years.
Second round of international fixtures incoming, with the usual suspects earning callups.
Oct 7th 2029
RasenBallsport Leipzig (2nd) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 7/34)
In normal circumstances this would be the end of our unbeaten run almost automatically, but this year has been anything but normal so far, including outplaying and outscoring a perennial title contender like Dortmund not that long ago. I don't think Leipzig are that far ahead of Dortmund currently, even with them being the defending champions, so I won't be calling this a lost cause just yet. Let's give it a shot.
* * *
RB LEIPZIG (4-2-3-1): Alexander Nübel (GK); Wilfried Singo (DR), Kamil Piatkowski (DCr), Felix Uduokhai (DCl), Luca Netz (DL); Paulo Bernardo (MCr), Jakub Moder (MCl); Alan Velasco (AMR), Nedim Bajrami (AMC), Rayan Cherki (AML); Fábio Carvalho (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Tomislav Javorcic (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)* * *
Rotation once again, back to the squad that drew against HSV with Amador in Ball's place as our only personnel change, although we do move our defense around a bit with Javorcic on the left this time. Leipzig maintain their main core from the Bundesliga championship, and most of the signings they've made this summer have been with an eye on increasing depth in some key positions. Daka and Bajrami have been on absolute fire so far, with eight goals apiece, and they'll need some very special attention today.
The match starts spicy, with Schulze and Velasco having two dangerous shots blocked by the opposing defenders in the early minutes and possession almost equally split between both teams. Leipzig slowly gain the upper hand in the midfield battle, though, and soon Bajrami breaks into the box after a pass from Singo and shoots into Kretzschmar's hands to give us our first real scare. The attacking midfielder tries again in the 18th minute with a direct free kick that the keeper holds with little trouble, but while Leipzig are clearly taking the initiative we're holding them back decently well for now.
There are no more chances until the 33rd minute, when we generate a free kick on the left side of our attack and Miranda's cross is headed very narrowly over by Ernesto. Three minutes later a good interception by Amador triggers a counterattack, and we chain passes through the center until Schulze sees a gap for Rodríguez to run into and sends the ball there, allowing the Mexican to place his finish past Nübel and score the 0-1. A wide header by Cherki after a cross by Singo is Leipzig's only response, and it comes with the first half already in its last moments.
HALF TIME - 0-1
The second half starts slow, just as we want it, and with Velasco picking a minor knock that prompts his replacement by Joao Mário. In the 54th Leipzig try to hit us back with our own medicine with a set piece that Uduokhai volleys with power, but which Kretzschmar saves in a fantastic show of reflexes. Meunier replaces a tired Miranda a bit later as we get ready to endure a constant siege for what remains of the game.
Netz is the next one to test Kretzschmar with a powerful effort from distance in the 65th, but the keeper answers admirably once again and tips the ball around the post. Neves and Rijkhoff replace Schulze and Özcan to keep our pressing unit fresh, and that freshness of legs almost turns into the 0-2 in the 70th when Meunier sends a long ball forward and Rijkhoff runs ahead of Piatkowski towards the goal, only for the center-back to catch up to him just in time to prevent his finish.
After that comes a long period in which neither team manages to get through the other's defensive setup, and only a set piece in the 87th gives Uduokhai another chance to draw the game that he heads wide despite being free from mark. In the 90th it's Bernardo's turn to head a cross by Singo, soft and easy for Kretzschmar, then Thiago hits a good-looking shot from outside the box that a defender deflects away from danger. A last-ditch effort by Leipzig in injury time ends in a dangerous cross by Moran towards Bernardo, but Amador gets there in time to nick the ball away from the midfielder before he can tap it into the net, and with that our win is secured. Fantastic result.
* * *
RasenBallsport Leipzig 0
TSV 1860 München 1 (Jair Rodríguez 36)- - -
Some may call it luck. I call it defensive masterclass. We limited Leipzig's chances to the bare minimum a team of their quality is going to produce no matter what, and when those inevitably came there was always a defender ready for a final block or tackle, or Kretzschmar's magic if everything else failed. And then we just took our first good chance to score on the break thanks to Rodríguez and here we are, a famous win that pulls us a bit closer to the top. We remain third, but only one point behind Leipzig and two behind Bayern, who dropped points in a draw away to Wolfsburg. Dream on...
0 -
Oct 4th 2029
TSV 1860 München vs. Celtic (Europa League group E, 2/6)
First of two consecutive home games against the British teams in our group, starting with the theoretically easier one. Celtic have become perennial second to Rangers in the last nine seasons of the Scottish Premiership, but this year they've started wonderfully under Lionel Scaloni's lead, with seven wins out of seven and a comfy lead on top of the table. Might be the weakest team in the group by a small margin, sure, but they still can give us lots of trouble.
* * *
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)
CELTIC (4-4-2): Fabio Mojica (GK); Sean Jones (DR), Noureddine Saidi (DCr), Luke Mbete (DCl), Ben Davies (DL); Uriel Antuna (MR), Matt O'Riley (MCr), Callum McGregor (MCl), Osame Sahraoui (ML); Eddie Salcedo (STr), Dedé (STl)* * *
Heavy rotation today as expected, with only Miranda repeating from our league match. Celtic play a flat 4-4-2 with some interesting players like Liverpool loanee Dedé, who's been in our radar for a while. We dominate possession easily in the early game thanks to our central superiority, and the first chance basically comes on its own after a long passing play and an assist from Neves to Palomeque, who sees his finish stopped by Mojica. In the ninth minute Miranda passes it short to Neves near the edge of the box and the Portuguese, feeling free of any defensive pressure, has all the time in the world to turn around, aim, and send a wonderful curler into the top left corner to score the 1-0. His first goal outside of injury time, too!
Things slow down a bit after the goal, mostly thanks to Celtic finally getting it together and challenging us for possession, although still not giving Rexhepi anything to worry about. The game continues in this trend for a while, with only a few minor chances on both goals and a blocked shot by Miranda in the 31st being worth a mention. Two minutes later, though, Caraballo fights to recover a ball he'd just lost, gives it to Rijkhoff, and runs into the box to gather the return pass before rifling it past a static Mojica to make it 2-0.
After that it's back to the trenches with a few shots without consequence here and there, until in the 42nd, after the ball goes from one team to the other a few times in quick succession, Miranda decides enough is enough and sends a long ball into the box towards Rijkhoff, who controls it and chips it over the keeper to score the third with a touch of quality. Maximum efficiency, and a very comfortable lead at half time.
HALF TIME - 3-0
Things remain pleasant in the second half, and after ten minutes of just controlling the game as best as we can, Miranda once again breaks the deadlock by dribbling his way into the box and forcing a trip by O'Reily for a penalty the referee gives, VAR confirms, and Miranda himself turns into the 4-0. O'Reily tries to compensate with a close-range finish after a cross by Dedé from the left, but Stjepanovic is there to block and deny Celtic's first real chance of the match. The second strikes true, though, as another cross from the left, this time by Sahraoui, reaches Salcedo completely unmarked in the heart of the box and the striker has it really easy to put it past Rexhepi and get one back for the Scots.
Soon Miranda goes to rest and get ready for Leipzig's game in the weekend, with Schulze taking his place, and a bit later it's Ernesto and Javorcic doing the same with Neves and Amador. Celtic try to push forward looking for a way back into the game, but a good steal by Palomeque kickstarts a counterattack in the 68th minute that ends with Rijkhoff assisting Caraballo and the forward once again not hesitating to blast it past Mojica to get himself a brace.
Nine minutes later Stjepanovic shows amazing pace to be able to track back after Salcedo in a runaway break, getting there in time to go down and block his finish, saving Rexhepi a headache. We hit them back quickly with a counter of our own, with Palomeque's finish tipped wide by Mojica, then Schulze hits the post from distance as we keep pushing to try and get the best goal difference possible. We take it easy, afterwards, though, and after a relaxing final ten minutes we confirm a big win in Europe to add to our resume.
* * *
TSV 1860 München 5 (Joao Neves 9, Rodrigo Caraballo 33 68, Julian Rijkhoff 42, Matías Miranda 55p)
Celtic 1 (Eddie Salcedo 57)- - -
Nice. The Europa League feels like the "correct" European competition for us at the moment, at least when it comes to group stages. Celtic were no match today despite actually winning possession in the end, and our center beat their wings handily. Miranda, Caraballo, and Rijkhoff were stellar today, and young Touré had a very good-looking match on the left back. Leicester did one better, though, absolutely destroying group favorites Valencia five to nil and tying us in both goal difference and goals scored. The next game might be decisive.
0 -
Sep 25th 2029
Kretzschmar earns himself a place in the Team of the Week after one of his better performances, and that's saying something.
Sep 26th 2029
Our youth team seems to have started the season in fine form, what with winning their *ten* first league games and leading the table with six points over second-place Nürnberg and *ten* over Bayern. Last year's batch has really pumped them up, since they come from two consecutive years of midtable obscurity. You might have noticed I haven't talked about them for a while now? Yeah, that'd be why... Katic in particularly is having an absolute stormer of a debut season, already with eleven goals and six assists to his name.
Sep 29th 2029
TSV 1860 München (3rd) vs. Hamburger SV (6th) (Bundesliga, 6/34)
If Wolfsburg were a team we're used to beating, HSV are the complete opposite, always giving us problems even on the rare occassion that we manage to end on top. They're recovering from a bit of a shaky start and are among a group of teams pushing for entry into the top four, and our job today is to close and bar that door for the time being.
* * *
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Arnau Casas (DCr), Ernesto (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)
HSV (4-2-3-1): Bekir Dereli (GK); Marcel Neigenfink (DR), Jamie Lawrence (DCr), Justin Janitzek (DCl), Andrii Buleza (DL); Burak Ince (MCr), Ludovic Reis (MCl); Faride Alidou (AMR), Tin Vrljicak (AMC), Dimitris Paligeorgos (AML); Mazinho (ST)* * *
Amador is back on the bench today, and we line up our best eleven since our midweek game is at home against Celtic, in theory the easiest game of the group stage, plus next week we're traveling to Leipzig and I want my starters well rested for that one. HSV are without Amaechi today due to injury, but otherwise look very much the same as they did last year, ie dangerous as heck. They show it quickly in a set piece that Mazinho whips into the box and Lawrence heads with power past Kretzschmar to score the 0-1 just four minutes into the game. Not ideal, for sure.
We aren't looking too sharp in possession today, most certainly not helped by HSV's usual high pressing. We don't need many chances to score, though, and in the 18th a throw-in on the left side of our attack leads to Miranda assisting Özcan inside the box, and the Turk striker curls a beautiful finish around Dereli and into the back of the net for a semi-quick draw. One minute later midfielder and striker connect again in a quick break through the center, but this time Dereli manages to get enough of the ball to tip it over the bar and prevent a quickfire double. Another quick passing movement ends with Schulze shooting wide from just inside the box, and now it's us putting HSV under some heavy pressure.
Reis manages to break them free for a bit with a low shot from afar that Kretzschmar has to deflect wide in an emergency dive, only for Lawrence to win the header again in the corner kick, sending it wide this time. Ernesto then does well to block Alidou's run into the box from the right, and in the 27th Javorcic tries an early cross towards Özcan, who gets the tip of the boot to it but it's not enough to beat Dereli. Another ball towards Özcan, this one coming from Basualdo, ends in a wide shot from a tight angle by the striker, who's being the focus of most of our attacks today.
Schulze is having a good game stealing balls back in midfield, although his finishing in the 37th is anything but pretty, sending the ball into the stands when he had a clean run into the box available. A blocked shot by Basualdo three minutes later gives way to a corner kick that Casas heads narrowly over, and in the 42nd Ernesto gets a goal disallowed for offside in a set piece that Miranda sent into the box from very deep with pinpoint precision. Injury time brings a great dribble and cross by Özcan towards Schulze, who heads it narrowly over in the last chance of a half we should've won, but sees the result still tied.
HALF TIME - 1-1
With a clear message to the players to keep doing what they've been doing (except maybe marking Lawrence a bit better in set pieces, y'know, just in case), we start the second half doing exactly that, with Schulze trying a volley from the edge of the box that Dereli barely blocks and the defense clears before Ball can put the rebound in. The game then turns into a bit of a slow grind, with HSV now doing their best to survive and Dereli keeping them alive with good saves, like a flight to swat away an almost perfect direct free kick by Rodríguez in the 57th minute.
Caraballo and Neves replace Basualdo and Schulze a few minutes later, looking for more creativity and finishing. We get another corner kick that almost but not quite turns into a goal, with Casas once again heading it narrowly over, and then it's Meunier's turn to come in Thiago's place. Time ticks away faster now, with HSV completely on the defensive and only getting close to our goal in set pieces, like a direct one Omer Beyaz takes in the 79th and Kretzschmar saves with ease. We keep trying all we can to break them down, until in injury time Caraballo crosses low towards Neves just inside the box and the Portuguese shoots... into Dereli's deflection over the bar. No Neves miracle this time, and Ernesto heads the corner kick over the bar again to close a game in which we were the better team by far, but still failed to get the win we deserved.
* * *
TSV 1860 München 1 (Vedat Özcan 18)
Hamburger SV 1 (Jamie Lawrence 4)- - -
And that's three 1-1 draws in a row in the league now, sigh. Unlike the other ones, which were actually close or maybe even in the opposition's favor, this one we should've won clearly. Double the shots, more than double the clear-cut chances, and complete domination particularly in the second half, yet their defensive effort took the point away in the end. Kinda like what we did last week against Gladbach, actually... Good game by Özcan, but I wish he could've scored just one more of his many chances today. A shame, but HSV will remain our junior boogeyman for a little longer.
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Sep 23rd 2029
Borussia Mönchengladbach (12th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 5/34)
Back to the league with a trip to visit Gladbach, who have started the season slightly better than they ended the previous one, but still hanging around the bottom half of the table. Another team with lots of personnel changes throughout the summer, not the least of which was losing Herlan Gomes and Aarao to Bayern, then spending part of that money to rid us of Magaña. With some luck the Mexican won't have it out for us today...
* * *
GLADBACH (3-2-2-2-1): Nico Mantl (GK); Marco Katinic (DCr), Igor Diveev (DC), Nicola Bartolini (DCl); Horst Billesfeld (WBR), César Magaña (WBL); Cheick Doucouré (MCr), Mike Kleijn (MCl); Tore Os (AMR), Andreas Schelderup (AML); Jonas Wind (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Ernesto (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Juan David Palomeque (MC), Joao Neves (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)* * *
Still with that strange 3-6-1 with both wingbacks and wingers, we face it with a very rotated squad after our game in Valencia, with another start for Touré and a first in the league for Neves. The game gets to another slow start, as seems to be tradition in our recent matches, and it takes thirteen minutes for Wind to head wide a cross by Billesfeld to give us our first fair warning. We take our time building our plays, with obvious trouble trying to get through the center of their three-men defense, and in the 18th Kretzschmar is called upon to touch a header by Bartolini in a corner kick just enough so Javorcic can clear it off the line.
Our keeper has more work soon, saving a shot from the edge of the box by Os, but in the 27th he finds himself double teamed when Katinic heads a cross from the right by Schelderup, Kretzschmar manages to parry it, but Os escapes everyone's attention to get first to the rebound and just push it over the line for the 1-0. We finally find a way through in the 32nd when Schulze breaks into the box unmarked and catches a great pass by Neves, but he takes too long to finish the job and Mantl ends up covering all the gaps and deflecting it wide.
Another way to attack them is not to allow them to form their defensive line: a clearance in a corner kick against us allows Rijkhoff to launch a counterattack, pass towards the right wing for Basualdo, then move into the box to head the cross into the net to draw the game. A few minutes later we get to do it again in another set piece against, this time with Meunier sending the ball forward to Basualdo, who lacks the composure to finish the job properly and shoots well over. A shot from distance by Palomeque meets the same fate in the 41st minute, but in our best minutes an apparently harmless cross into the box ends with Wind on the ground after a push by Ernesto, and it's a penalty kick. Wind himself takes it, but Kretzschmar continues with his incredible streak of stopped penalties and manages to block it, allowing us to keep the draw until half time.
HALF TIME - 1-1
Once again it's a slow start to the second half, with only Schulze trying luck from distance in the 57th and sending it narrowly over. One minute later Kretzschmar does well to block a point-blank header by Wind after a nod by Os, who also tries a more direct header in their next attack that's an even easier catch for the keeper. Stjepanovic and Rodríguez then come in for Lang, very lost today, and a tired Schulze, and the two soon connect for our first attacking play in a while, with the center-back charging into midfield and assisting Rodríguez, who shoots into Mantl's fingertips and wide. Ernesto heads that corner kick wide.
Doucouré hits back with a shot from just inside the box that an excellent Kretzschmar manages to turn around the post, and soon afterwards Ball comes in Javorcic's place, since the full back is exhausted. Another save by Kretzschmar stops a shot by Schelderup from a tight angle in the 75th minute, then Wind smashes a volley into Stjepanovic's back after a cross from the right by Os. We're holding on by a thread here, but we manage to survive and slow the game back down before heading into the final stretch.
Basualdo has our first shot in a long while tipped over the bar by Mantl in the 87th after a nice pass from deep by Meunier, and one minute later a long ball forward by Santacruz leaves Wind alone against Kretzschmar, who pulls off his second miracle of the day with a wonderful save to tip the striker's shot wide. In the 90th it's a quick passing combination through the center that brings the ball to Rijkhoff inside the box, but he finds himself too far to the left side of the box and has no space left to beat Mantl, who holds the ball well. That turns out to be the last chance of the game, and the points are split in a tense and entertaining match.
* * *
Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 (Tore Os 27)
TSV 1860 München 1 (Julian Rijkhoff 35)- - -
Lucky draw, all things considered. Gladbach had many more shots and a penalty with which to grab the winner, but Kretzschmar was in god mode today and he carried us all the way to the end. We also had our chances, and Rijkhoff did well to put one of them in, but this kind of formation is a bad matchup for our center-focused tactic: we struggle to break through three at the back, and in return they double team us in the wings with excessive ease. We might have to recover our 4-3-3 for other matches like this one. Still, we remain unbeaten even if we drop off the top two a bit, but the teams behind us also fail to win today so we keep our third place for now.
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Sep 18th 2029
Schulze scores his first appearance in the Team of the Week.
Sep 19th 2029
Amador will miss out on our Europa League debut after pulling his ankle ligaments in training today. Eight to twelve days should be the recovery time, so he'll be also out of our next league game at the very least.
Sep 20th 2029
Valencia C.F. vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League group E, 1/6)
We ended our last European tour with a trip to Madrid, and we start our new one with a short stay in sunny Valencia, and it's still technically summer! We're not here to sunbathe and eat paella, though: Valencia might as well be the toughest opposition in the group, slightly ahead of Leicester, so we'll need to get results against them if we want to top the group and skip ahead to the second knockout round as the board wants. They're a tough team, but we've faced tougher.
* * *
VALENCIA (4-2-3-1): Pierluigi Gollini (GK); Meddi Delmas (DR), Christian Mosquera (DCr), Aymeric Laporte (DCl), Jayden Candelaria (DL); Alex Král (MCr), Bartosz Slisz (MCl); Bernardo Mineiro (AMR), Piotr Zielinski (AMC), Luis Sinisterra (AML), Filip Stojilkovic (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Arnau Casas (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)* * *
As mentioned in last season's review, Rexhepi needs more playing time and the group stage of the Europa League is a good place to see how he does against strong opposition. Valencia feature a just-signed veteran like Laporte in defense and a known face in Sinisterra, former Leverkusen player. We don't look bad at all in the early game, although the first chance falls to Král in a counterattack with Stjepanovic blocking his attempt at a shot before it becomes a problem. The game is not particularly brilliant, though, and minutes pass without the keepers getting involved other than to help move the ball around in defense.
Things remain almost perfectly even for a long while, with our only approach being a header by Caraballo from an offside position in the 24th minute. Nine minutes later a corner taken by Rodríguez is headed by Stjepanovic, Gollini blocks, and the loose ball falls to Thiago on the far post, but he can't get the shot through the tiny space he had available and ends up sending it into the sidenetting. It's still the best chance of the game by far, and remains so until the end of the first half, mostly due to there not being any others.
HALF TIME - 0-0
Forty seconds into the second half and we generate the new best chance of the game, with Rodríguez assisting Caraballo through the center and the Venezuelan failing to find the target with his wide finish when he only had the keeper between him and the goal. A counterattack in the 54th minute ends in a header by Schulze that Gollini saves easily, but it could've been much better if Miranda had spotted Rodríguez running completely unmarked through the middle seconds earlier. Finally, in the 59th, Miranda finds Özcan inside the box and the striker dribbles his way past Gollini's rush before passing it into the back of the net, scoring the 0-1 we'd been deserving for a while now.
Ernesto and Neves enter the game a bit later, replacing Thiago and Schulze to protect them from a possible second yellow card. Valencia seem to take the goal hard and don't have any quick reaction, while good pressure by Miranda allows him to steal the ball on the left wing and enter the box before shooting into Gollini's solid save. Palomeque gives Miranda some well-deserved rest shortly afterwards, and we let time do its job for a while before Neves runs down the right flank in the 80th and assists Javorcic, who tries a left-footed shot from outside the box but ends up sending the ball halfway towards Mallorca.
Valencia's first shot in the whole second half arrives in the 81st and it's a pretty terrible attempt by Zielinski from the edge of the area, nowhere near Rexhepi's goal. Ernesto intercepts a dangerous pass towards veteran Guedes in the 87th but it turns out the Portuguese forward was offside anyway, and after that we play hide-and-seek with the ball until the very end of injury time, when Ball decides it's time for more fun and sends a pass over the defense towards Neves, who runs into space and hits it first-time past Gollini, sealing our win in style.
* * *
Valencia C.F. 0
TSV 1860 München 2 (Vedat Özcan 59, Joao Neves 90+4)- - -
Neves is now officially our injury time goal specialist, heh. At least this time it wasn't needed for the win, because we played an excellent match throughout. Professional win, never allowing Valencia anywhere near Rexhepi, who had a placid European debut. Good team effort, and fantastic result that puts us in the pole position for the group. Leicester won 1-2 in Glasgow and, as expected, will be our main opposition for the top spot.
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Sep 3rd 2029
Hamburg sell Schade to Grasshopers for €8M with the window closed and no chance to replace him, huh. That's one nightmare I won't have to worry about anymore, I guess.
Sep 4th 2029
Rodríguez with his second appearance in the Team of the Week already. We're gonna miss him when he finds someone willing to take him, for sure. On that note, Atlético seem to be keeping tabs on him already.
Sep 7th 2029
Not much to report in the first round of international fixtures, with Özcan scoring one against Liechtenstein as the standout performance. Rodríguez then comes one day later with two assists in Mexico's win over Nicaragua to upstage him.
Sep 12th 2029
More goals for our South Americans in the second round of international games, with Caraballo scoring for Venezuela in a 6-1 destruction of Bolivia and Rodríguez, once again the attention grabber, bagging two for Mexico against Antigua and Barbuda. And yes, this was a World Cup qualifier. The Europeans were more discreet, although there were some good defensive performances for Ball and Englisch at the U21 level and Javorcic at the senior level.
Sep 15th 2029
TSV 1860 München (1st) vs. VfL Wolfsburg (6th) (Bundesliga, 4/34)
Ah yes, Wolfsburg. A team we've beaten eight out of the last eight times we've met. Of course this year might be different since they've made a few interesting signings, and so far they've had a quite good start to the season for their standards, but they've also sold Vidovic to Dortmund so who knows. With our current form, though, I can't help but feel really confident. Let's see if the international bug doesn't bite us.
* * *
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Mahamadou Touré (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Juan David Palomeque (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)
WOLFSBURG (4-2-3-1): Vladislav Torop (GK); Felix Passlack (DR), Ozan Kabak (DCr), Moritz Jenz (DCl), Gianluca Frabotta (DL); Yaw Karikari (MCr), Gianluca Busio (MCl); Yaser Asprilla (AMR), Rodrigo Quiroz (AMC), Jovane Cabral (AML), Elias Havel (ST)* * *
Lots of changes in the lineup today, both to rest some of our internationals after their midweek fixtures and to preserve some starters for our Europa League debut in Valencia. This includes Touré's debut as our starting left back. Quite a few new names in Wolfsburg's lineup, as expected, and an ex-player of ours called Tjark Rung on the bench. They try to surprise us in the first few minutes with high pressing and a very attacking outlook, but soon we regain control without having to survive any real chances and start pushing them back into their own half. Then they push back and suddenly it's the fifteenth minute and no one's even tried a single shot at goal yet.
It takes four more minutes for Rijkhoff to connect with Basualdo on the run and the forward to enter the box and shoot into Jenz's legs, technically the first chance of the game. It also spawns a corner kick that Stjepanovic heads just over, so at least it looks like the game is becoming a bit more lively now. Meunier follows it up with a wide attempt from outside the box in the 21st minute, and in the 26th it's Kretzschmar's turn to show up with a great block to Busio's finish in a woefully defended set piece. That also results in a corner kick taken by Cabral towards the near post, and there's Jenz to surprise Meunier and head the ball into the net. Advantage Wolfsburg.
The following minutes see us try and fail to get our attacking game in order, with our midfielders looking a bit out of sorts today. The solution comes in the 42nd minute after a long time without chances: Basualdo passes into the right side of the box towards Rijkhoff, who gathers the ball and turns around before sending it low into the center for Schulze to hit it first time and draw the game with his first goal for 1860. Neither team risks going all-out in what little remains of the first half, so the draw stands until the end.
HALF TIME - 1-1
Slow start to the second half, with little going on in attack on either side except for a long-distance attempt by Basualdo that goes clearly over. The forward has a much better chance in the 58th after Schulze controls a good pass by Palomeque and passes it shot to him inside the box, but this time it's Torop who does well to deflect the ball wide, and then again in the corner kick by saving Stjepanovic's header. A much easier save comes one minute later in a weak and centered finish by Rijkhoff, then Schulze shoots wide in a great chance created by himself with a key steal, with some help from Palomeque and Basualdo to set up the finish.
Palomeque is our first substituted player, with Rodríguez coming in his place to try and solve this conundrum, while Javorcic takes the right back position from Amador. Not much happens between that and our final substitution, Thiago for Meunier, but in the 71st another corner kick headed by Stjepanovic ends up with the ball bouncing off the post and running all over the goal line before being cleared. Wolfsburg finally show up in attack in the 79th with a header by substitute Jukic that Kretzschmar holds without too much issue, and we head into the final stretch with the game still undecided. Then, nothing once again until injury time, when Stjepanovic's fourth header in a corner kick in a corner kick goes very wide, and that's it. Poor result and a performance to match.
* * *
TSV 1860 München 1 (Maximilian Schulze 42)
VfL Wolfsburg 1 (Moritz Jenz 26)- - -
Eh. Not our best moment, that's for sure. We had the upper hand for most of the game, but we couldn't translate that into actual chances. One of those days, really, although Wolfsburg really had something to do with that, making it difficult for us to play our game. Good game for Stjepanovic, Schulze, and debutant Touré, decent show for Miranda and Rijkhoff, and the rest were unremarkable at best. We were due for a stinker sooner or later, I suppose... Down to third, with Bayern and Leipzig (of course) getting ahead of us on goal difference.
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Aug 28th 2029
Ernesto makes the Team of the Week thanks to his winning goal against Dortmund.
Three days left in the transfer window and still no offers coming for Rodríguez. Interest from Liverpool and Porto seems to have vanished, and now our main worry is Freiburg wanting basically half of our squad, particularly our keepers. Their last offer for Rexhepi (rejected, of course) went up to over €15M. They're really desperate to sign a keeper, huh...
Aug 29th 2029
We've got the traditional early September international window coming, and there's the usual callups, but also a few new ones, like Ball and loanee Leacock being part of the England U21 squad. Schulze also joins Englisch in the Germany U21s, while youth prodigy Althoff, who just turned sixteen yesterday, is included in the Germany U20 squad.
Aug 31st 2029
Busy day at the office today. Not only does the transfer window close today at 6PM, but we have a game against Freiburg just two hours later, and sometime during the day we're supposed to know our group in the Europa League, too, which by the way comes with a nice prize worth €3.4M attached. Transfers-wise we won't be signing anyone except replacements for anyone we're forced to sell, so ideally nothing will change today.
Things are calm for the first few hours, but then Gladbach come out of almost nowhere with a €19M bid for Magaña. As mentioned before, his performances so far have been atrocious and I'm not holding my breath for him to get much better than this, so I'm happy to sell and look elsewhere, particularly when we have the position acceptably well covered already with Ball, Amador, and Javorcic all perfectly capable of playing there. We negotiate the bid a bit, though, because extra money is always good, and we settle on €22.5M and a 30% of future profits, of which about €4M go to Chivas as a percentage of the profit made. Now let's see what's available on short notice...
Not much, it turns out. The only players with enough quality to improve on Magaña are extremely expensive in either transfer or wages, and even veterans aren't worth the money their clubs are asking for them. There is one exception, though, still expensive as heck because Mainz value him quite highly due to his potential, but if everything works right he should be worth it. It's a huge risk, though...
While we're at it, even more news come in: Freiburg trigger Caraballo's release clause of €24M. A last-ditch attempt to extend his contract ends in failure because his demands are ridiculous, so that's someone else that'll need replacing today. Fun.
In the meantime, the Europa League draw happens. We're barely paying attention, what with having to sign two players within three hours and with limited funds, but we're once again fourth seeds, and once again we get a pretty tough group: Leicester (current Conference League champions, mind), Valencia (who also won the same competition a couple of years ago), and Celtic. We'll have to be at our best to reach our goal of the second knockout round with this opposition.
Back to transfers, and here's Magaña's replacement. Coming from Mainz in a club record transfer is eighteen-year-old German left back Mahamadou Touré, one of the best young players in the nation as of now. An attacking-minded full back, two-footed like all our other senior full backs but most used to playing on the left, he's still a work in progress but already shows signs of being a fantastic player in the future, particularly thanks to his very strong physical attributes. His transfer fee is eye-watering for those of us who remember our situation only eight years ago, though: €29M upfront including €11M in installments, €275k for each of his first ten league appearances, €7.25M after 50 league appearances, €6.5M more after five senior international caps, and a 40% of future profits. This is why I said it was a huge risk: we're spending a lot on someone who might or might not turn out to be worth it. A risky bet, but one I'm willing to make. With him and Althoff we should have a bright future with two of the best young left backs in the nation. His wages start low at €19k per week but will get noticeable increases after ten and fifteen league games, and he'll have a €60M release clause that we'll work on removing as soon as we get the chance.
As for Caraballo, turns out we didn't need to worry: he isn't interested in moving to Freiburg, or at least not with the deal they're offering, so he decides to stay with us. Good for him, and for us.
Our last move of the window is moving Englisch on loan to our affiliates Hansa Rostock. They relegated from the 3.Liga last year and therefore all he can get there is Regionalliga level play, but at least it's better than the nothing he'll get here, and to be honest it isn't too far from his actual level. We'll see how it goes.
With that the window closes, and we can finally move on to actual football!
* * *
Sport-Club Freiburg vs. TSV 1860 München (Bundesliga, 3/34)
No better way to end a stressing day at the office than a trip to Freiburg. To be fair, they haven't been exactly setting the Bundesliga alight so far, with only one point in their two initial fixtures, but they're still among the toughest teams to beat in this league, so we'd better keep our current level if we want to make it three out of three.
* * *
FREIBURG (4-2-3-1): Bart Verbruggen (GK); Hugo Siquet (DR), Laurin Moser (DCr), Eric Martel (DCl), Julio Ayala (DL); Maximilian Eggstein (MCr), Peter Jano (MCl); Almeida (AMR), Lazar Samardzic (AMC), Filip Ristanic (AML), Nicolai Skoglund (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Thiago (DM); Juan David Palomeque (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)* * *
We keep rotating the squad, trying to get a feel for all our new players and see which combinations work best. Schulze rests today after two good games, as do Lang and Javorcic, and new kid Touré is awaiting his chance to debut in the bench. Freiburg don't seem to have found a new keeper in this window despite their best attempts and start a very average-looking Verbruggen, who only played once last season. They've also lost Gechter, Amoo, and Haksabanovic, so they're still trying to find their new selves, too.
With our 3-0 defeat from last season as extra motivation we start the game looking to attack as almost always, and a good recovery by Amador leads to a quick and early counterattack that Basualdo finishes and Verbruggen stops. The keeper also holds an attempt from the edge of the box by Ball seconds later, while Freiburg have to wait until a corner kick in the ninth minute to get their first chance through Martel's header, narrowly over the bar. They get a bit closer one minute later through a twenty-yarder by Eggstein that clips the upside of the bar before going over.
Still in the tenth minute, a patient passing play ends with Palomeque assisting Rodríguez inside the box so the Mexican can shoot it into the stands. Both attacks take a step back then, and the following ten minutes are played almost exclusively in the midfield zone, until Almeida heads a cross from Ayala meekly into Kretzschmar's hands in the 21st. Rijkhoff answers with another blast over the bar in the 26th after a good pass from Basualdo, but possession is evening out and Freiburg are now more daring, pushing farther up in the field and making things difficult for our defense.
After a long period of calm for both keepers Palomeque tries to break into the box in the 38th minute, but his finish is blocked by Ayala and it ends up behind for a corner kick, taken by Miranda and headed over by Ernesto. One minute later it's Basualdo's turn to receive a through ball from Rodríguez and shoot into Verbruggen's save, but the best chance falls to Skoglund in the last minute of regulation after a very badly timed jump by Ayala leaves him alone against Kretzschmar, yet the keeper manages to keep himself between the striker and the goal and deflects the shot wide in the end. With a high header by Martel in the resulting corner kick both teams head to the dressing rooms with things still wide open.
HALF TIME - 0-0
The second half starts almost exactly like the first ended: a high header over the bar by a Freiburg center-back in a set piece, Moser this time. Rijkhoff then wastes a great chance after Rodríguez intercepts a clearance and gets the ball to the striker inside the box, but to be fair Martel did well to deny him the space to shoot. Kretzschmar catches a weak header by Ristanic in the 52nd, and six minutes later Siquet gets a direct free kick completely wrong, sending it quite far away from the target. Not much later it's time for our first two substitutions, with Miranda and Rijkhoff leaving their places to Neves and Özcan.
In the 63rd Freiburg hit wood for the second time in another set piece headed by a completely unmarked Moser. Meunier replaces Thiago then, who has been quite poor overall today, but Freiburg are now on a high and Siquet tests Kretzschmar with another direct free kick, this one much better taken and actually quite hard for the keeper to stop. We finally try something in the 70th with a shot by Palomeque that doesn't make it past the defensive line, but then the game enteres another ten-minute long lull that's only broken in the 82nd when we launch a quick counterattack, Basualdo assists Özcan on the run, and the striker tries and fails to sidestep Verbruggen, who tips the ball wide in our best chance of the game so far.
A cross by Amador reaches Rodríguez inside the box in the 87th minute, but the midfielder can't get his shot out and the ball ends up being cleared by the defense. Momentum seems to be with us in this final stretch, but two minutes later Günter runs the left flank and crosses towards Almeida, who wins the jump with Ball and sends the ball bouncing on top of the crossbar and over. In the first minute of injury time Rodríguez takes a corner kick, Casas nods it towards Palomeque, and the midfielder tries to head it into the net from literally two meters away but ends up sending it high somehow. But one minute later Rodríguez finds Neves in midfield, the Portuguese is allowed miles of space as the defense focuses on Özcan, and Neves says thank you very much, runs into the box unopposed and curls it past Verbruggen to score his first goal for die Löwen and a dramatic winner.
* * *
Sport-Club Freiburg 0
TSV 1860 München 1 (Joao Neves 90+2)- - -
If you look at the fancy advanced metrics for today's game and see our xG of 3.06 against Freiburg's 0.63 you'd think we walked all over them and were unlucky to win by such a short margin. Truth is, Freiburg were more than our match for a good portion of the game, and actually hit the woodwork three times from those "low xG" chances. Granted, we had great chances to score too, but the game could have gone either way and we can be really happy with the result. At the very least it shows we keep trying until the very end, which is always nice to see. Great game by Rodríguez once again, providing an accidental assist, and helped along by Neves off the bench with his goal and Amador being great in defense and a constant threat down the right.
And the best news: nine out of nine! And we're the only team to have won all three initial fixtures after Bayern draw 0-0 in Berlin against ten-men Union, so we're top of the Bundesliga!
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Aug 19th 2029
Well, looks like we still have some room to grow: the season tickets sale ended with 16,819 sold, a noticeable increase from the 15,982 we had last year, but not that big of a jump. Still a pretty large percentage of our stadium's capacity, but there's enough space for casual fans to buy match day tickets. For now.
Aug 20th 2029
Ah yes, this was coming sooner or later... Rodríguez wants to leave for a bigger club, because as much as we've grown we're still not in a position to be winning titles consistently, and that's exactly what a player of his quality should be doing. In the end all I can do is promise to sell him if someone comes offering a fair value for him. Said fair value being his €82M release clause, of course... Obviously bad news travel fast and Liverpool and Porto are already tracking him, so I wouldn't be surprised to find myself in another last-day rush to replace our best midfielder. That feels familiar somehow...
Aug 21st 2029
Rodríguez and Rijkhoff make the first Team of the Week. Hopefully it won't be Rodríguez's last...
Aug 26th 2029
TSV 1860 München vs. Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga, 2/34)
Just in case we thought this competition was getting too easy after last week's result, here's Dortmund! Honestly, we couldn't ask for a better opposition for our first official match in our new stadium, and the stands are going to be full to the brim today for sure. Also the immediately preceding meeting with Dortmund ended in our favor, so we'll see if we can do the same with Emery's version of der BVB.
* * *
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Ian Amador (DL); Ernesto (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Aymeric Meunier (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)
DORTMUND (4-3-3): Gregor Kobel (GK); Mohamed Simakan (DR), Linus Gechter (DCr), Niklas Süle (DCl), Arthur Theate (DL); Angelo Stiller (DM), Hannibal (MCr), Kacper Kozlowski (MCl); Samuel Chukwueze (AMR), Adam Hlozek (AML), Luka Jovic (ST)* * *
Emery has moved Dortmund away from their usual 4-2-3-1 into a more defensively secure 4-3-3, something I don't particularly mind, and it's nice seeing Gechter as a starter for such a big club. We take the perhaps bold move of benching Miranda today in favor of starting Ernesto at the anchor and Meunier further forward, with likely transfer out Rodríguez having the chance to say goodbye to the fans with another good performance.
The first minutes of the game see us holding the ball while Dortmund have a few semi-dangerous approaches that never quite generate an actual chance. There are, in fact, no shots at either goal until in the 14th minute Schulze backs into the box looking for a high pass from the left by Meunier and is pushed into the ground by Theate for a clear penalty. With Miranda out our best taker out is Stjepanovic, and the center-back buries it into the net to give us the first lead of the game.
Dortmund's first shot comes only two minutes later, with Kozlowski shooting over the bar from the edge of the penalty area. A corner kick in the 22nd minute ends in a shot by Hlozek straight at Kretzschmar's position for an easy save, but after a quick recovery Hlozek and Jovic mount a quick attack down the left flank, the striker sends the ball into the box, and Hlozek passes it past Kretzschmar and into the net to quickly draw the game. They keep the pressure up afterwards, and a set piece headed by Gechter with all his strength soon forces Kretzschmar into a great reflex save to prevent the 1-2.
Things calm down immediately afterwards, though, and after a few minutes catching our breath we go back into attack mode with Amador shooting into the legs of a defender in the 33rd minute. A set piece one minute later reaches Schulze unmarked inside the box, but his first-time finish is well parried by Kobel and an almost certain goal is prevented. In the 39th Rodríguez takes a corner kick towards the near post, Stjepanovic nods it farther along, and Ernesto pops up near the far post to smash it in and score the 2-1, his first goal in only two appearances. We keep things tied down for what remains of the first half and secure our lead until half time.
HALF TIME - 2-1
We start the second half in style, creating a quick attack down the center with Schulze leaving the finish to Rodríguez, who finds Kobel in place to tip the ball wide. That corner kick almost ends as the 3-1, too, as Lang misses the crossbar only by a few inches with his header. Dortmund's first approach in a long while comes in the 52nd, with Simakan assisting Chukwueze inside the box but Kretzschmar coming out to close the gap and forcing the winger to shoot into the sidenetting. The same happens seconds later on the other goal with Meunier sending a pass ahead of Özcan, who runs into the box but is left without space to shoot comfortably and ends up sending it well wide.
A wide shot from distance by Hannibal follows, nothing too worrying, and in the 58th it's Özcan on the run again, chasing a pass into space by Rodríguez and trying to curl his finish around Kobel, only for the keeper to tip it wide. A while later Ball comes in for Javorcic, surprisingly bad today, and trades sides with Amador, while Basualdo replaces Caraballo. Not much later it's Schulze's turn to rest, replaced by Neves.
Dortmund keep trying to put us under pressure, but their formation isn't particularly good for high pressing and we don't feel threatened when playing from the back and just holding possession waiting for our forwards' movements. One of those movements comes in the 76th, with Meunier breaking in through the left and crossing for Özcan's header, well saved by Kobel. Five minutes later a divided ball just inside the ball is picked up by Rodríguez, who tries a lob over Kobel and almost gets away with it, although in the end the keeper gets enough of it to prevent the goal. The corner kick is once again headed by Lang, wide this time, and one minute later it's Dortmund on the break through Hlozek, who also shoots wide.
With five minutes remaining Dortmund switch to a 4-2-3-1, just like in the good ol' days, but the best chance is, accidentally, for us as Kobel tries to clear the ball from his area and hits center-back Boller in the back, almost putting it inside his own goal. The keeper does much better flying to block Stjepanovic's header in that corner kick, a set piece that has given us lots of opportunities today. Lang heads another one wide early in injury time, and in the third extra minute Kobel does it again, deflecting over the bar a great chance for Basualdo after a quick counterattack by Özcan. We keep the ball inside their own half for the rest of the game, thus making sure our win is never threatened.
* * *
TSV 1860 München 2 (Mateja Stjepanovic 15p, Ernesto 39)
Borussia Dortmund 1 (Adam Hlozek 22)- - -
Great result, and not just the result; we actually outplayed Dortmund today in almost every department. Sure, they had their chances, and we had to get lucky with that early penalty kick to get things rolling, but we more than deserved our win and should probably have scored at least one more. We are looking really good right now against very strong teams, and that's making me feel quite optimistic for what this season could bring.
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Aug 13th 2029
Maldini agrees to a €5.5M move to Mainz, of which we'll be paying Milan €1.76M due to his sell-on clause. A key signing in our second year in the Bundesliga, he came to give us some quality on the right wing and performed exactly as expected when we brought him in, lifting us from relegation candidates to Europe hopefuls. He was never the best player in the squad and his lack of consistency made him not even a sure starter for most of his stay here, always under pressure from Sapmaz for that spot in the right wing, yet in the end he was a good performer in his four years with us, and only a change in tactics made him redundant. Hopefully he'll have an equally good time with Mainz, where he'll rejoin with Da Silva.
Aug 18th 2029
Just before our debut in the league we are informed of the results of the second round draw for the DFB Pokal. It's not pretty: Stuttgart away. A game that can go either way, but at least we have a chance. There's a very fun-looking Nürnberg-Bayern in this round, too.
* * *
Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. TSV 1860 München (Bundesliga, 1/34)
And here's the Bundesliga once again, and what better way to start it than facing against our old foe Leverkusen, now under the rule of Niko Kovac after Simeone was relieved from his duties last season as a result of his failure to qualify for any European competition. This will be a very different Leverkusen from our last handful of meetings, but I'll still trust my lads to do the job and start the year with a win.
* * *
LEVERKUSEN (4-4-2): Tomás Serrano (GK); Gonçalo Esteves (DR), Maximilian Blücher (DCr), Pascual Piera (DCl), Adnan Ismail (DL); António Farfus (MR), Florian Wirtz (MCr), Eyüp Aydin (MCl), Moussa Diaby (ML); Tunay Can (STr), Nedeljko Pavisic (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)* * *
Complete rotation from our cup game with the exception of Schulze, who really gives our midfield some extra balance we've needed in the past. Leverkusen go with a flat 4-4-2 similar to the one Simeone used only once against us last season, although with a lot of personnel changes since then. We seem to have the upper hand in the early game, with possession clearly on our side but a certain lack of creativity in the business end. Leverkusen seem to rely on counterattacking even with Simeone gone, although their first chance comes in a direct free kick that Wirtz smashes into the woodwork of Kretzschmar's goal.
We finally get something going in attack in the 17th minute with a run into the right side of the box by Schulze and a cross towards Rijkhoff that the striker heads downwards, but wide. Another cross by Schulze leads to a header by Rodríguez, well directed this time but an easy save for Serrano nonetheless. The game isn't exactly free-flowing, though, and by the time we reach the half hour the only other remarkable chance was a blocked shot by Schulze, very active today. Twelve minutes later the midfielder tries again breaking through the center, but his shot is weak and centered, once again easy for Serrano.
The game looks set for a goalless draw at the end of the first half, but in injury time a foul near the edge of the box gives Rodríguez a good chance to score, and the Mexican doesn't miss, burying his direct free kick into the back of the net and putting us ahead at the perfect moment.
HALF TIME - 0-1
Leverkusen look a bit more attacking-minded in the second half, but we don't give them the time to put us under real pressure: four minutes into the half Thiago controls the ball in midfield, looks up, and sends the ball long ahead of Miranda's rush into the box so the Argentinian can beat Serrano and score the 0-2, starting this year in good form once again. And only one minute later Basualdo drops towards the right side of the box, turns around, and crosses low into the heart of the box so Rodríguez can pop up out of nowhere to tap it in and make it three. Game, set, and match.
And we're not done yet: Thiago controls a cleared ball in midfield and once again sends a pinpoint pass ahead to Rijkhoff, who breaks the offside trap by inches and finishes the one-on-one with his usual quality to make it 0-4, a quite familiar result by now. But if our games against Leverkusen have something is unpredictability, and just when they seemed to be dead in the water a ball stolen from Schulze in midfield allows a quick counterattack, Tunay Can assists Reinaldo Junio, and the striker beats Kretzschmar to get one back for the home team. And we're still in the 54th minute!
Riding the high from their goal Leverkusen try to mount a comeback, and soon Diaby is testing Kretzschmar from distance and forcing the keeper to tip the ball wide for a corner kick that Aydin heads into the Kretzschmar's block. We make some changes then, removing Miranda and the once again irrelevant Magaña and bringing Palomeque and Amador in. Things finally calm down a bit then, and only a blocked finish by Basualdo after a break through the center and then another in a corner kick keep the attacking momentum going. Meunier replaces Schulze as our final substitution with a bit over twenty minutes left on the clock.
Leverkusen return to our area with a cross from the right by Farfus that Diaby volleys into Kretzschmar's hands, but after that they disappear again, and we hit back in a counterattack in the 78th, led by Rijkhoff and finished by Basualdo with a wide header. The rest of the game is uncharacteristically calm, with only Tunay Can having a good chance in a corner kick he heads well in the 87th, but the ball is cleared off the line by a well-positioned Javorcic. There are no more chances afterwards, and we start the season with a huge away win.
* * *
Bayer 04 Leverkusen 1 (Reinaldo Junio 54)
TSV 1860 München 4 (Jair Rodríguez 45+1 50, Matías Miranda 49, Julian Rijkhoff 52)- - -
Just what the doctor ordered. Looks like we'll still have fun with Leverkusen even with Simeone gone, at least if we keep managing to score three goals in three minutes like we did today. We were the better team throughout the match, and only a certain degree of relaxation after our fourth gave Leverkusen something faintly resembling hope, but by then we were too far away to be caught. Rodríguez starts the year in great form, as do Miranda and Thiago. Meanwhile Magaña was once again the worst player on the pitch by a large margin. Seriously considering just selling him and calling him a bust at this point...
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Aug 6th 2029
The Gold Cup might've been a bit of a disaster for Mexico, but Rodríguez had a great run and now that the tournament is over (Honduras beat the USA in the final) he's collecting awards left and right: Best Player, Best Young Player, finished third in the Goal of the Tournament, and got himself a place in the Dream Team. Not bad.
Aug 7th 2029
Seeing it isn't working with Kretzschmar, Freiburg try their luck with Rexhepi. €6.5M won't be enough in any case, so nope, sorry.
Aug 10th 2029
Finally, an offer we can accept: Mainz come asking for Maldini, who currently has no real place in our rotation with Caraballo and Basualdo both ahead of him as choices for our second striker, and we quickly reach an agreement worth €5.5M. The player seems keen on the move, so he'll probably finalize the transfer in a few days.
Young keeper Englisch twists an ankle in training and will be out for three to four weeks. I'm seriously considering loaning him out, but finding suitable places for keepers to play regularly is not easy. We'll see how it goes.
Aug 12th 2029
SC Preussen Münster vs. TSV 1860 München (DFB Pokal 1st round)
Aaand action! The season starts once again with the DFB Pokal first round, this time with a slightly more difficult opposition than usual. Münster spent the last two seasons in the 2.Bundesliga, and before that were consistently among the promotion favorites in the 3.Liga, so they're basically where we were when we started this journey eight years ago. They have to be respected, but we should have more than enough to beat them even with our second unit starting today.
* * *
MÜNSTER (3-3-2-2): Jeroen Houwen (GK); Marcel Hoffmeier (DCr), Thomas Keller (DC), Amara Tapé-Gnolu (DCl); Agyemang Diawusie (WBR), Ian Landy (DM), Sascha Härtel (WBL); Nicolai Remberg (MCr), Elias Abouchabaka (MCl); Maximilian Köhler (STr), David Jonathans (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Ian Amador (DR), Ernesto (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Alex Ball (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Maximilian Schulze (MCr), Joao Neves (MC), Juan David Palomeque (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)* * *
Debuts for all our new signings today, and they get to enjoy the pleasures of playing against a 3-5-2 variant on their debut, isn't it great? Things don't start quite brilliantly for us, as Neves's first pass in a 1860 shirt goes to the opposition and allows Köhler to get the first shot of the game in a dangerous counterattack, thankfully over the bar. He soon corrects his mistake, though, and in the 8th minute he sends a quick pass ahead towards Özcan, who nods it back to Caraballo and allows the Venezuelan to unleash an unstoppable bullet from distance that beats Houwen and becomes the 0-1.
With the critical first goal in the bag we can now relax a bit and play our game with more freedom. Neves soon starts pulling the strings in midfield, and just five minutes after our first goal he sends a great pass ahead to Özcan, who dribbles his way into the box and blasts it in for the second. We like making things difficult for ourselves, though, and in the 17th Stjepanovic commits an unnecessary penalty by pushing Diawusie inside the box during a set piece. Abouchabaka sends Rexhepi the wrong way to cut our lead in half and restore the home team's faith in pulling an upset today.
We go right back at it, with Özcan trying a direct free kick that Houwen has to tip wide to prevent the third, then getting a finish blocked by Keller after a nice low cross by Amador. Ernesto keeps the pressure up with a good header in a corner kick that the keeper catches with relative ease, then Özcan misses the post by mere inches with a somewhat forced finish inside the box. Münster try long balls towards their strikers from time to time, and in the 41st one of those turns into a good chance for Remberg but Stjepanovic's timely block prevents a scare. With the first half almost at the end, Schulze sends a good pass ahead to Neves, who shoots from just inside the box into the crossbar in what becomes the final chance before half time.
HALF TIME - 1-2
Twenty seconds into the second half and we're already missing more chances, this time with Caraballo's narrowly wide finish after a great through ball from Schulze. Next up is Özcan, who misses another chance at a brace by getting his finish saved by Houwen, thus wasting another good pass by Palomeque, who follows this up with a curler from distance that the keeper palms away from goal and behind. With fifteen minutes played we start rotating our most tired players, and Casas, Rodríguez, and Miranda come into the game replacing Ernesto, Schulze, and Palomeque, all of them after quite solid debuts.
Rodríguez soon starts impacting the game, although his first shot ends up in a mishit that goes clearly wide. Ball joins in the attack then, trading passes with Miranda and shooting into Houwen's hands in the 68th minute. Two minutes later a quick combination through the center ends with Özcan sending the ball towards the right so Rodríguez can control it, run into the box, and shoot past Houwen to finally score the 1-3.
Münster keep relying on long balls to create danger, and Köhler finds himself once again behind Stjepanovic and with space to run, with Rexhepi having to push his finish over the bar to prevent the 2-3. Amador replies with a dribble into the box and a powerful shot that Houwen also deflects over, then tries again from further away and forces the keeper into another fingertip save, the corner kick then being headed over by Stjepanovic. That's more than enough chances to score a fourth, but sadly it doesn't come in the end, and the game ends with a short but well-deserved victory.
* * *
SC Preussen Münster 1 (Elias Abouchabaka 18p)
TSV 1860 München 3 (Rodrigo Caraballo 8, Vedat Özcan 13, Jair Rodríguez 70)- - -
That'll do. It's funny that we had more trouble beating Münster than with teams like Cagliari or West Ham, but in the end the result was the same. We could only miss so many chances, and although we did make some unwanted gaffs in defense they weren't enough to put us in any real trouble. Freebie round passed, and now to see what awaits further down the road. Solid debuts for all the new lads, too, with Neves and Amador as the stand-outs, and first goal for Caraballo after fifteen hours played. Geez.
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Jul 16th 2029
Training camp underway, just as rumors start talking about Celta wanting to buy Kretzschmar, who's also quoted as having no interest in the move. The usual non-story, then.
Jul 17th 2029
Rodríguez exchanges assists for goals for once, scoring two in Mexico's trivial 5-1 beating of the Dominican Republic. Magaña also played the whole game, but somehow managed to be poor despite taking part in such an easy win.
Jul 18th 2029
Vázquez confirms his €4.5M move to Sevilla and returns to Spain after three years abroad. Never a sure starter no matter where he played, he also played a rotation role with us but eventually turned out to be the better option on the left due to Magaña underperforming, rather than him doing anything particularly excellent. He was solid, had a couple good games, but nothing to write home about. Happy to make a small profit on him, and now we await the arrival of yet another full back at the club.
And here he comes, just a couple of hours after Vázquez's departure to add another chapter to our growing list of Spanish full backs: 23yo right back Ian Amador joins from Espanyol in exchange for €16M upfront, €3M after 50 league appearances, and a 30% of future profits. Another versatile two-footed wing defender who can play as a right back, a left back, or even a right winger should the need arise, Amador will become the most attacking-minded of our full backs, sure to provide some width and a few assists from the wing on top of solid defense and a tireless source of pressure on opposing wingers. Expensive, yes, and his €30M release clause isn't ideal, but he's a very good player currently and has a lot of room for improvement if he works hard on his game.
When it rains it pours, and minutes later we confirm a second signing for today: Maximilian Schulze, 21yo midfielder, joins on a €2M transfer from Liverpool, with an extra €300k to be paid after his 50th league game and a 30% of future profits going their way. A bit of a blind buy, we didn't have time to scout him properly before Wolfsburg forced our hand with an early bid, and thankfully we secured his signing in the end. A physical powerhouse for our midfield, he still has great technique and vision and can provide some danger from distance, but his main role is as a midfield workhorse, just what we needed. A very cheap purchase given his estimated value, he's a Liverpool homegrown player despite being German, so he probably won't count as homegrown in the nation either. Regardless, a very solid player for both present and future, and another fine piece of business on top.
In other news, our ex-center back Linus Gechter moves from Freiburg to Dortmund for €31M. He's been doing fine after leaving Leverkusen, and this move confirms the good vibes we had with him when we signed him back in the day. Hope he does well there, only not against us.
Jul 19th 2029
Empoli F.C. vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly)
Our little trip to Italy starts with a (relative) bang, facing a mid-table Serie A team like Empoli (featuring none other than ex-Löwe Erik Majetschak) instead of the usual amateurs. Debuts for Amador and Schulze from the start, and we get off to a dominating start with many early chances, culminating in Palomeque's goal after a neat assist from new kid Schulze. We take a more controlling approach afterwards, passing Empoli out of the game and sending a great chance into the post thanks to Rijkhoff's not quite accurate finish. Three minutes before half time Miranda hits a pass from deep by Thiago and puts it into the net for the 0-2, a result that holds until the break. The second half starts with Amador barging into the box and passing low towards Meunier, who finishes the job in style to score the third. Özcan joins the party with an unstoppable 25-yarder 61 minutes into the game, then finishes a great through ball by Karlsen to score his second and our fifth. Bonazzoli gets one back for Empoli in a corner kick with only five minutes to go, but that doesn't change our great display today.
Empoli F.C. 1 (Federico Bonazzoli 85)
TSV 1860 München 5 (Juan David Palomeque 9, Matías Miranda 42, Aymeric Meunier 47, Vedat Özcan 61 78)Jul 21st 2029
U.S.D. Lavagnese 1919 vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly)
Only two days later we take on Lavagnese, a Serie D semi-pro side much closer to what one usually expects from training camp opposition. We only need three minutes for Miranda to send the ball ahead of Schulze so the new guy can score the 0-1, and twelve minutes later it's Rijkhoff who volleys into the net a cross by Caraballo. The third takes a while longer and it requires a penalty on Palomeque that Miranda converts into the 0-3 from the spot. The pace drops a bit further in the second half, but we still have more than enough chances to score more. The one to score, however, is Mores for Lavagnese, controlling a long goal kick and shooting from distance to surprise Rexhepi. Karlsen soon fixes things with a great finish after a beautiful pass into the box by Meunier, who also assists Özcan for the easiest tap-in of his life in the 69th minute. Then Rovido beats Rexhepi again with a powerful effort from twenty-five yards away, which puts into question our lack of defensive intensity. Maldini restores a four-goal lead in the 78th, well assisted by Amador, then whips a free kick into the box so Casas can score the final 2-7. Entertaining game for sure.
U.S.D. Lavagnese 1919 2 (Giovanni Mores 67, Davide Rovido 75)
TSV 1860 München 7 (Maximilian Schulze 3, Julian Rijkhoff 15, Matías Miranda 39p, Martin Karlsen 68, Vedat Özcan 69, Daniel Maldini 78, Arnau Casas 90)* * *
Third win in three games for Mexico in the Gold Cup, once again with Rodríguez scoring one of the four they put past El Salvador, and with Magaña looking good in defense for once.
Jul 22nd 2029
We can't have a transfer window without Kretzschmar being someone's target, and this time it's Freiburg who try their luck with a €12M offer we reject outright, with the player having zero interest in moving there.
Jul 23rd 2029
One day later it's West Ham with an insufficient €11.25M offer for our starting keeper. Also rejected, although Kretzschmar wouldn't have minded this move too much. Celta and Sevilla are also tailing him, so there might be some movement in coming days if they decide to get serious.
We also receive a loan offer for Karlsen from Arminia Bielefeld, still in the 2.Bundesliga. Now this is something I might consider, the problem with this bid in particular is that they only want him as a squad player, and the one reason I'd like him loaned out is so he gets more playing time than with us, so that's out. If some other team want him as a sure starter I might have to think about it, letting him go would force us to sign another midfielder, but we still have about €20M available and Maldini is expendable now that Amador can also play as a right winger if we ever need him to, so that wouldn't be too much of a problem.
On the topic of loans, young Beltramone moves to Karlsruhe, also in the 2.Bundesliga, as an important player. He'll benefit a lot from that playing time at a reasonably high level.
Jul 24th 2029
Oho, Barcelona want to buy Vuskovic from Manchester City. Their offer is "only" worth €47.5M, which would only bring about €4M to us, but it's still a decent haul. The kid's been playing semi-regularly with the Premier League and Champions League winners, so they might want to hold onto him anyway. We'll see how it goes.
* * *
Cagliari Calcio vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly)
Another Serie A team for our preseason, Cagliari have even cracked the top half a couple of times in the last few years, so they should be a more difficult test than Empoli were. Once again we dominate them completely from the start, though, and in the 20th minute Palomeque scores the 0-1 after a cross from the left by Miranda and a pass back towards the penalty spot by Rijkhoff. Cagliari start pushing back a bit in the final minutes of the first half, but in the second half we regain complete control and in the 65th Özcan heads in a cross by Meunier to double our lead. We keep bombarding Cragno's goal until the end, and two minutes before full time Özcan scores again with a placed shot, finishing a good play through the center and making Maldini's assist good. Another surprisingly easy win.
Cagliari Calcio 0
TSV 1860 München 3 (Juan David Palomeque 20, Vedat Özcan 65 88)Jul 25th 2029
Here I was happy with my squad and not thinking of doing any more business unless forced to, and then Leipzig want to buy Caraballo and offer €20.5M plus a 30% of future profits for him. Thing is, he has a €24M release clause, so the best we can do here is negotiate it to €23.5M plus 40% of future profits. Then, somewhat surprisingly, they withdraw their offer. Huh.
Jul 26th 2029
Well, that was unexpected: Mexico are out of the Gold Cup in the quarterfinals after a 0-1 loss to Jamaica. Neither Magaña nor Rodríguez had a great game, obviously, and now they'll be returning to Munich with nothing to show for a tournament they were supposed to win easily.
* * *
Brianza Olginatese vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly)
We say goodbye to Italy with another relaxing game against serie D semi-pros Olginatese. It takes us way longer than expected to get our first goal, twenty-two minutes to be precise, and it falls to Miranda to score with an easy finish after a nod by Rijkhoff. Fourteen minutes later Miranda strikes again, finishing a great through ball by Caraballo, and in the 43rd Caraballo himself scores assisted by Schulze, who's looking like a great purchase already judging from his friendly performances so far. There's still time for Caraballo to score his second and our fourth with a great dribble into the box and an equally good finish, and even for Olginatese to claw one back with a great passing play straight out of kick-off just before the first half ends. The second half is much less exciting, though, and despite quite a few shots we don't get any more goals today.
Brianza Olginatese 1 (Samuele Ruggeri 45+3)
TSV 1860 München 4 (Matías Miranda 22 36, Rodrigo Caraballo 43 45+2)Jul 28th 2029
West Ham again. I really shouldn't have invited them to our stadium's inauguration friendly... Now they try to buy Rijkhoff for €17.25M, clearly not enough for a player valued around €25M. Not to mention he doesn't want to go there anyway. Rejected.
The next offer is more tempting, though: associates Dynamo Dresden want Karlsen on loan. They offer to pay most of their wages, a small extra fee on top, want him as an important player, and plan to play him as a central midfielder. All perfect for my purposes, and in a team with good facilities and aiming towards the top half of the 2.Bundesliga and maybe a cheeky promotion challenge if things go well. It's the perfect oportunity to see how Karlsen performs when given more playtime without hampering our midfield in the process, even if it means spending some money on a replacement. Accepted.
Jul 29th 2029
Things are heating up with Rijkhoff, now with Southampton offering €25M for him. He's still not interested in a move to a team not playing in Europe, though, so we'll have to pass on this one too. Villarreal are also trailing him and they might have a better chance at attracting his interest, though. They'll have to do better than €25M in any case.
Maldini goes down with an abdominal strain. Again. That's the third time he's lost training and playing time with that particular injury and it doesn't seem to be healing properly at all. One more point against his short-term future in the squad, I think...
We've already sold over fourteen thousand season tickets, and there's still a long while until the sale ends. We might run out of space in our new stadium sooner than expected...
Time for our favorite competition: the DFB Pokal first round draw will bring us to Münster, currently in the 3.Liga after relegating last year and a team we've dealt with a few times in the past through various loans, the latest Franzke's just last season. Not as easy as we're used to, but we should be winning without too much trouble regardless.
Jul 31st 2029
Kickers Offenbach vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly)
Back in Germany and with our Mexican duo finally with the squad, we pay a visit to Regionalliga side Offenbach for our second-to-last friendly of the preseason. We expect goals today, and Rijkhoff soon delivers with a placed finish after the classic through ball from Miranda. We seem to run dry afterwards, though, and we spend the rest of the first half trying and failing to score again. Fifteen-year-old starlet Althoff gets to play with the big boys in the second half, and only thirdy seconds in Ernesto, playing in a more offensive role in midfield than usual, assists Özcan for the long overdue 0-2. The striker adds another in the 62nd after a great ball through the center by Palomeque, then collects Basualdo's assist five minutes later to complete his hattrick. Then Offenbach profit from a good counterattack to score the 1-4 thanks to striker Fuzaylov, but in injury time it's our turn to counter and Meunier finishes it with a great touch to round up another comfortable win.
Kickers Offenbach 1 (Alisher Fuzaylov 74)
TSV 1860 München 5 (Julian Rijkhoff 10, Vedat Özcan 46 62 67, Aymeric Meunier 90+1)Aug 3rd 2029
Freiburg keep insisting with Kretzschmar, their latest offer climbing up to €27.5M, which is insane. Kretzschmar himself still doesn't care. Rejected.
Our new midfielder is here, in an extremely cheap €1M deal that brings Portuguese 24yo midfielder Joao Neves from Vizela to 1860 München. A like-for-like replacement for Karlsen in our rotation, he's a very technically gifted midfielder with fantastic vision, a credible long distance shot, and lots of flair coupled with a strong set of mental and physical abilities. He'll bring that spark of creativity we need in our midfield from time to time, both off the bench and as a solid rotation option for all those midweek games we'll be playing this season. Can also play deeper or even as an attacking midfielder, which is always a plus. A bargain deal for sure, and his €31k weekly wages are quite reasonable, as is his €12.5M release clause given how little he costed us. He even has a small window for improving even further, which might make this a very profitable signing in the long term.
Miranda has been attracting some offers from PSV lately and his contract was running out next summer, so we went ahead and offered him a one-year extension with an improved weekly wage of €38.5k. We can afford it to keep our best player from the last few years in the club for a bit longer and to keep any suitors at bay for the time being. He's already twenty-nine, though, so a longer-term deal was out of the question, and we'll probably have to revisit his status a year from now.
Vuskovic finally confirms his €47.5M move to Barcelona, and that brings some money our way: €1.7M upfront, €2.5M in installments, and an extra €475k as a solidarity fee since we were his second formative club after Hajduk. Not bad.
Aug 4th 2029
TSV 1860 München vs. West Ham United (Friendly)
And here it is, the first match to ever be played at our new and shiny stadium, which is full to the brim to see us face Premier League side and common transfer annoyance West Ham. We look good in the first minutes, with Stjepanovic heading a corner kick into the crossbar in the 10th, and in the 21st Rijkhoff puts us ahead with a short-range finish after a good low cross by Rodríguez. Lang almost gifts West Ham the draw with a terrible horizontal pass intercepted by Fornals, but the midfielder thankfully shoots into the post and we're allowed to keep our lead into the second half. The second unit, again with young Althoff on left back, keep the game under control although with less attacking intent, even though Meunier hits wood once again in the 86th with a tremendous missile from distance. West Ham don't give us much to worry about either, and we put a lid on the preseason with another good display to say hello to our new home.
TSV 1860 München 1 (Julian Rijkhoff 21)
West Ham United 00
Einmal Löwe, immer Löwe - a(nother) 1860 story
in FM Stories
Posted · Edited by Dalbeider
Dec 16th 2029
1.FC Nürnberg (10th) vs. TSV 1860 München (3rd) (Bundesliga, 16/34)
Last year's surprise package aren't reaching the same heights this season for sure, but they're still doing quite well for what could be expected from a bottom half team suddenly thrust into European contention. They've been hanging around the middle of the pack for most of the season so far, but are actually quite close in points to the seventh place, so they could very well repeat last year's final place and return to the Conference League with some luck. Both teams come into this tired after a midweek fixture, so we should have a slight advantage, but it's still a very tough fixture for us today.
* * *
NÜRNBERG (4-4-2): Steven Benda (GK); Nicholas Mickelson (DR), Lee Han-Bum (DCr), Maksim Paskotsi (DCl), Franck Yoan (DL); Bénie Traoré (MR), Niklas Dorsch (MCr), Ilai Madmon (MCl), Facundo Farías (ML); Miguel de la Fuente (STr), Manuel Wintzheimer (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Ian Amador (DL); Ernesto (DM); Joao Neves (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Aymeric Meunier (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)
* * *
Nürnberg are still doing fine with their 4-4-2, while we rotate as much as we can to keep ourselves fresh and give us a bit of a physical edge today. The home team start pushing forward and soon generate a shot for Yoan that licks the outside of the net on its way behind, but soon their momentum suffers a serious setback when Mickelson is forced to leave the field due to injury, replaced by Pfeil. We start moving the ball around with more attacking intent then, and after a couple minor chances we find a way through the very center, with Rodríguez sending a pass through the gap towards Rijkhoff so the striker can do his usual run into the box and placed finish to score the 0-1 in the 13th minute.
Both teams take some time to adapt to the new scenario, and eventually Nürnberg start looking forward once again and Javorcic has to perform a key tackle to knock the ball away from Farías's feet inside the box, preventing what looked like a certain goal. Even more dangerous is a run alongside the goal line and into the box by Traoré in the 25th, sending a death pass towards de la Fuente that the striker somehow manages to shoot wide. After that quick burst of attacking intent, though, we manage to get things back under control and hold the ball for a while, with Rodríguez sending a very distant direct free kick over the bar in the 35th minute.
In the 41st we find our usual path towards goal through the center, this time with Basualdo providing the final pass into space towards Rijkhoff and the striker trying to bend his finish around Benda, who reacts perfectly and tips the ball wide. That corner kick ends with a narrowly high header by Stjepanovic, then one minute later it's Neves assisting Rijkhoff for another run at goal, once again deflected wide by the keeper.
We reach the 45th minute then, and we earn a free kick really close to the edge of the box that Rodríguez takes with his usual confidence, dodging the fence and burying it into the back of the net to make it 0-2 in a critical moment. A high ball from distance by Farías should've been the last chance of the half, but deep in injury time a cross from the left by Farías reaches Traoré, who nods it back towards the center. Amador and Stjepanovic both fail to clear the ball in time, and de la Fuente gathers it in a perfect position to just blast it in and get one back for Nürnberg just as the first half ends.
HALF TIME - 1-2
The second half starts with a daring volley by Neves in a set piece taken by Rodríguez, very clearly over the bar but pretty to watch nonetheless. One minute later a quick combination between Javorcic and Neves ends in a great assist towards Rodríguez, who runs into the box but can't hit the ball cleanly enough to seriously threaten Benda. Ernesto and Traoré have a minor collision that ends with the Brazilian somewhat knackered, so ten minutes into the half we're forced into our first substitution, bringing Thiago in. Nürnberg then generate their first chance with a long ball towards Farías, who receives it in a very doubtful position before assisting Wintzheimer for a pretty badly high finish.
Yet another collision in midfield ends with both Madmon and Neves a bit worse for wear. The Portuguese was next in line for a replacement anyway, so Miranda takes the chance to come into the game together with Casas, who replaces a tired by very solid Lang. In the 68th Rijkhoff has another chance with his head after a cross by Javorcic, but it's an easy one for Benda. On the other end Thiago tackles the ball away from Farías just before the forward manages to get a dangerous shot off, then he tries a thirty-yarder that goes nowhere close Kretzschmar's goal. Fifteen minutes remaining and the game is still on the wire.
Miranda comes next, shooting narrowly wide after a good touch from Rodríguez allows him the space he needs, and in the 80th Rijkhoff turns provider with a great ball towards Basualdo, who tries a lob over a very advanced Benda, but the keeper gets just a small touch of the ball with his fingers, enough to deflect it into the crossbar. Another great save by the keeper stops Rijkhoff from scoring in the 84th following a fantastic assist from Meunier, then Benda continues with his rampage with a miracle block to Casas's point-blank header in the corner kick that comes from his previous save, and then does it again with Stjepanovic's header in the next one.
Another stop by the keeper comes in the 89th, deflecting wide a not too confident finish by Basualdo, and then Casas once again gets really close in that corner kick, although this time the ball goes narrowly over without any intervention from Benda. Somewhat surprisingly, there are no more chances in injury time, and in the end the 1-2 both teams had been trying to break since half time stands until the very end.
* * *
1.FC Nürnberg 1 (Miguel de la Fuente 45+4)
TSV 1860 München 2 (Julian Rijkhoff 13, Jair Rodríguez 45)
- - -
Very entertaining game for sure, and a good result to match. Both teams did enough to deserve a result today, but in the end we had just enough of an edge to grab the three points, even with Benda in absolute god mode during the whole second half. Great game for both Rodríguez and Rijkhoff, finishing aside, showing we're really gonna miss them if they do end up leaving this coming window.