Dalbeider

Mar 24th 2028 Very solid full-game performances for Hadzic and Vuskovic with their national sides, while Caraballo and Rodríguez had more discreet outings. This is also Vuskovic's fifth senior cap, which means he gets a wage hike up to €44k per week. Still more than worth it, although now offering him a new contract to get rid of his release clause is going to be even harder, even more considering the likes of Chelsea, Milan, and Bayern are apprently trailing him right now... The U21 kids also got their play time, with Karlsen as the stand-out with an assist against Armenia. Meanwhile, still no debut for Kretzschmar. Mar 31st 2028 Just before the game against Wolfsburg the NxGn 2028 list is announced, and we receive the very pleasant surprise of seeing Jair Rodríguez at the very top after his second place from last year. Once again the Mexican league dominates the award with two Mexican players in the top 2 and a third-placed Brazilian kid who's playing for Toluca. As always, our scouts will have some work to do with this list, and maybe it's time to consider sending one of them full time to Mexico... * * * VfL Wolfsburg (16th) vs. TSV 1860 München (5th) (Bundesliga, 29/34) Of the six fixtures remaining three of them are against bottom-half teams, and we should aim to take all the points from them if we want to challenge for the fourth place in the end, considering there's also two direct duels (HSV and Leverkusen themselves) and a final match against Leipzig to take into account. Wolfsburg are one of our favorite victims, and we come into this game after four consecutive wins against them, not to mention they've been stuck in the playoff position for basically half the season now. We should win this. * * * WOLFSBURG (4-2-3-1): Nico Mantl (GK); Pascal Stenzl (DR), Otan Kabak (DCr), Moritz Jenz (DCl), Gianluca Frabotta (DL); Gianluca Busio (MCr), Maximilian Arnold (MCl); Randal Kolo Muani (AMR), Luka Ivanusec (AMC), Jovane Cabral (AML), Gabriel Vidovic (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Thiago (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) * * * I'm actually glad Özcan didn't play any minutes with Turkey during this international break, so we have our one healthy striker at full fitness for once. Others weren't so lucky, though, so there's some rotation and starting positions for the likes of Thiago. Da Silva also returns to the bench after his injury, which gives us more options in midfield. Wolfsburg recover Mantl in time and start their new signing Vidovic upfront, a former Bayern product that we'd been tracking almost since my arrival but never had the chance to buy. We start the game in style: long pass by Svensson from the left into the space ahead of NxGn winner Rodríguez, who gets his first shot blocked by Jenz but is first to the loose ball and, with Mantl still struggling to stand up, calmly passes it into the back of the net for a quick third-minute opener. Wolfsburg try to hit us right back through Vidovic, but the striker meets Kretzschmar's hands with his finish and all they can get is a corner kick. Eight minutes in Maldini takes a deep free kick into the box and Özcan taps it into the net, but he was offside by a bit and the goal is called off. The game evens out, with Wolfsburg trying to push us back while we still do our best to try and find a second. We get three consecutive chances in three back-to-back-to-back corner kicks headed in by Özcan, Miranda, and Lang, and all of them saved by an excellent Mantl. Open play isn't generating much on either side of the pitch now, though, although we still have the upper hand in possession at the very least. Our best attempt comes through the center thanks to Rodríguez's through ball towards Özcan, who once again runs into Mantl with his finish. Next comes Maldini, once again assisted Rodríguez and also meeting the same final fate with his shot. The rest of the half sees little more than a couple of long-range attempts without any real danger to them, and we retain our lead without much issue. HALF TIME - 0-1 Things remain mostly the same in the second half, although an early corner kick that ends in two dangerous blocked shots for Wolfsburg gives us some pause. The home team seem to be a bit more daring now, although without much bite upfront so far. Caraballo and Sánchez enter the game after fifteen minutes as the game remains under control, but with the feel that things might turn south at any moment. We need a second goal to close this, and Sánchez almost creates it with another fantastic pass from deep in the 67th minute towards Özcan, who finishes well but is denied by Mantl yet again. Vuskovic for Thiago is our final substitution as we enter the final twenty minutes, and six minutes later we get a big scare when Waldschmidt receives on the left wing and crosses towards Kolo Muani, who scores with a good header but sees his goal disallowed as Waldschmidt had been offside when he got the ball. Kretzschmar then needs to block a difficult finish by Jovane after a cross from the right, and Wolfsburg look set to go all-out attack in the final ten minutes to get the draw. That doesn't happen, though, and with a great defensive and midfield display we proceed to completely and thoroughly kill the game before it can go anywhere dangerous. No chances at all in the final minutes, and three more points for us. * * * VfL Wolfsburg 0 TSV 1860 München 1 (Jair Rodríguez 3) - - - I did say I'd kill for six more 1-0 wins, didn't I? Well, that wasn't the intention today, and we probably should've scored at least one more if Özcan hadn't had a horrid day in front of Mantl, but it still worked out in the end. Once again extremely solid at the back and completely dominating in midfield, and Rodríguez celebrating his award with a key goal, his fifth of the season already. We put some pressure on Leverkusen now and wait to see how they react.

Mar 17th 2028 It's a miracle! Kretzschmar gets called up with Germany's national team for the first time ever! Granted, it was only because Wolfsburg's Mantl got injured and he was the next in line, but still. We'll see if he gets the chance to debut, Mantl still hasn't despite being called up multiple times before now... Mar 19th 2028 TSV 1860 München (5th) vs. Eintracht Frankfurt (7th) (Bundesliga, 28/34) With Europe now done and dusted, it's time to focus on returning there next season, and for that we need to start picking up wins in the many direct duels we'll have to face in these final seven fixtures. Starting with Eintracht, who together with Gladbach might be one of the most in-form teams in the league not called Bayern. We'll need to be at our best today, and we haven't really been there for a while now... * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Darko Vuskovic (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) EINTRACHT (4-2-3-1): Timo Horn (GK); Jordan Lotomba (DR), Marvin Friedrich (DCr), Jackson Porozo (DCl), Matthew Sorinola (DL); Lewis Cook (MCr), Toma Basic (MCl); Datro Fofana (AMR), André Franco (AMC), Bryan Mbeumo (AML); Joe Gelhardt (ST) * * * With the same starting eleven that got our last win against Stuttgart, we face an Eintracht side that only change three quarters of their defense from our previous meeting, with former Löwe Erik Tallig in the bench. After ten minutes of midfield battle without a clear winner we start pushing forward slightly, soon creating our first chance with a long distance direct free kick taken by Miranda and which Horn has trouble deflecting wide. Özcan gets his head to the corner kick, too, but that only sends the ball over the bar, and his second attempt two minutes later after a cross by Baldé doesn't find the target either, this time going wide. With the game now firmly in our grasp we keep pushing for the opener, with Miranda testing Horn from distance and Svensson getting another potentially dangerous shot blocked by Franco. Özcan keeps finding crosses with his head, but mostly from awkward positions that don't lead to any real danger for Horn's goal. Eintracht are more than happy to keep defending all game long, and only show up near our goal in the final minutes of the half after a quick counterattack that Fofana finishes with a high header, in what turns out to be the final chance of the half. HALF TIME - 0-0 There's a shift in Eintracht's attitude in the early second half, trying to push a bit farther forward and even testing Kretzschmar with a shot by Mbeumo that the keeper blocks with some difficulty. It's a momentary thing, though, and soon they're back to defending with all eleven men, denying us even the most basic of chances with very solid defensive work. Since normal attacks won't work, we give set pieces a try: Rodríguez takes a corner kick towards the far post and who else but Lang is there to put his head in and score the 1-0. Now it's Eintracht's turn to attack, and it doesn't take long for Mbeumo to remind us of our many wasted leads into all those draws in January and February, entering the box and shooting into Kretzschmar's good save. It's time for substitutions, and soon Maldini, Thiago, and Marcos Paulo enter the game to try and help us retain our lead, or expand it if possible. Substitute Maina tries an acrobatic volley from afar that doesn't catch Kretzschmar by surprise, but otherwise the following minutes are a calm affair. Kretzschmar is called up in the 83rd minute to perform his usual magic, parrying a point-blank header by Maina after a fantastic run and cross by Lotomba and keeping us still ahead. Eintracht move to a 4-4-1-1, a surprising move when chasing a goal which seems to make our life easier in the final stretch, even allowing us to create a great chance to score the second that Maldini sends straight into Horn's hands. There are no more scares, Eintracht don't really seem to push all that hard to score the draw, and we secure a vital win to revitalize our campaign. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Niklas Lang 58) Eintracht Frankfurt 0 - - - Absolutely key result, knocking Eintracht out of the race for Europe for the time being and putting some extra space behind us, while also recovering most of the lost ground with Leverkusen thanks to their defeat in Hamburg. It wasn't a brilliant game by any means, and Eintracht's defensive outlook didn't help matters, but we got the win and actually held onto it for a change and that's what matters at this stage. I'd kill for six more wins like this one.

Mar 12th 2028 It's time for international callups once again, and Mexico bring Rodríguez back to the senior team for a potential third and fourth caps. A few days later the European nations name their squads, which include Özcan with Turkey, Svensson with Sweden, Hadzic with Bosnia, and, finally, Vuskovic returning with Croatia. Sapmaz and Karlsen also join their respective U21 squads. Finally, just before the Europa League game, Caraballo is called up by the Venezuela side. Mar 16th 2028 TSV 1860 München vs. Club Brugge SV (Europa League 2nd knockout stage, 2nd leg) Time to fish for a miracle, I guess. At least this time our next league game is in three days rather than two, so we can at least play a less backup-heavy eleven and hope for the best. Our focus will still be in the league, though, so we won't go all out unless there's a real chance of fixing our mistakes from last week. I'll want at least a good performance and a win, though, as a bare minimum. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Francisco Gerometta (DR), Ader Hadzic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Darko Vuskovic (DM), Martin Karlsen (MCr), Thiago (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) CLUB BRUGGE (4-2-3-1): Nick Shinton (GK); Mark Spanring (DR), Henrik Heggheim (DCr), Josip Sutalo (DCl), Abner Vinicius (DL); Pedro Chirivella (MCr), Sivert Mannsverk (MCl); Sergi Canos (AMR), Sofiane Diop (AMC), Diego Moreira (AML); David Okereke (ST) * * * With Miranda out of contention due to suspension and Rodríguez looking tired, we push Thiago into a more advanced role today alongside Karlsen. Maldini also returns to the lineup after his latest injury, but otherwise we trust in the same defense that conceded four one week ago. Club Brugge only change their left back from last time, and still seem to want to score more against this defense, with Canos smashing a shot into Casas's back just mere seconds into the game. We take control afterwards, though, with possession on our side and pushing Brugge back like we didn't manage to do in all of the first leg. A weak header by Maldini is our first attempt at goal, easy for Shinton, but our first real chance comes in the 15th minute after a nod by Marcos Paulo leaves Özcan with only the keeper ahead, yet the striker ends up shooting wide by an inch or two. One minute later Okereke also sends the ball far from the target after a good-looking run through the center, but we keep piling the pressure on through Gerometta, whose shot is tipped over by the keeper in a really good save. Maldini also comes across Shinton's agility in another good chance generated by Karlsen's passes into space, but Okereke strikes back for the Belgians once again, this time heading wide a cross from the left by Mannsverk. Karlsen joins the attack in the 34th minute to catch a long ball by Vuskovic and send it wide to the left of the target, but after that we run completely dry, and the final ten minutes of the half pass without any further chances. Still way too far from a comeback. HALF TIME - 0-0 Another pass into space ahead of Karlsen ends with the ball flying into the stratosphere in our first approach of the second half, but after fifteen minutes pass and that's still our best chance post-break we need to start making decisions. Sapmaz replaces a tired Maldini, while Rodríguez and Caraballo replace Vuskovic and Özcan to keep them fresh for Sunday's key game against Eintracht. A left-footed finish by Canos sails over Kretzschmar's goal a few minutes later, as Club Brugge start feeling comfortable enough to push farther forward. Soon Diop gathers the ball inside the ball following good service from Moreira, much quieter today so far, and shoots into Kretzschmar's first difficult save of the evening. On the other end Thiago tries luck from thirty yards away, but his shot is centered and easy to punch away for Shinton. Another attempt by the young Brazilian doesn't even find the target, and Kretzschmar's fingertips have soon work to do to stop a dangerous curler by sub forward Malpon. Three minutes before full time Sapmaz gets a low shot in after a good assist by Marcos Paulo but, once again, finds Shinton well positioned to save. Moreira wastes another chance for Club Brugge on the counter with a terrible finish just before time runs out on our European adventure for this season. * * * TSV 1860 München 0 Club Brugge SV 0 - - - Much better today, even though our finishing was still poor and Shinton made good work of the few times it wasn't. Still, a marked improvement for most players, probably helped by the fact that Club Brugge didn't really have to try all that hard today. Let's hope we can carry this into the league now and turn it into actual wins. At least we get €1.2M for our troubles. Good bye, Europe. We will return. Siren songs playing from back home in Spain, Valencia to be precise. Cute little job to take, assuming the board have sorted themselves out in the meantime (doubtful), but still no.

Mar 10th 2028 If by some miracle we manage to come back from that 4-1 defeat we'd be facing either Leipzig or Atlético de Madrid in the quarterfinals. Not sure if worth it... Villarreal, OL, Monaco, or Leicester would be our extremely hypothetical semifinal opposition. Mar 11th 2028 FC Bayern München (1st) vs. TSV 1860 München (5th) (Bundesliga, 27/34) Fantastic timing for this, really. Can't help but think that if Club Brugge can put four (and threaten at least four more) past us, what can Bayern do then? On the other hand we've been doing really well lately except for that particular game, and our lineup today will be completely different, so who knows? We're most likely losing anyway, but at least we should put up a bit of a fight. Just a bit. * * * BAYERN (4-2-3-1): Aaron Ramsdale (GK); Nordi Mukiele (DR), Dayot Upamecano (DCr), Andrea Papetti (DCl), Alphonso Davies (DL); Leon Goretzka (MCr), Mikkel Damsgaard (MCl); Leroy Sané (AMR), Kai Havertz (AMC), Ansu Fati (AML); Timo Werner (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-2-3-1 deep): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Thiago (DMCr), Darko Vuskovic (DMCl); Jair Rodríguez (MC); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) * * * Back to the 4-2-3-1, even though Thiago is reeling a bit from playing the whole game two days ago and we're without Da Silva as an alternative there. Bayern are also in need of a comeback against PSG in the Champions League so they save a few starters today, although Moukoko and Kimmich are both injured, the latter about to return after damaged cruciate ligaments. That's still more than enough, though, and after ten minutes Mukiele runs into space after a long ball sent in by Goretzka, enters the box, makes Kretzschmar go to the ground, then shoots calmly into the empty goal to score the 1-0. Of course Bayern want more, and soon Werner is testing Kretzschmar from the edge of the box with a flat shot that the keeper manages to tip wide, before having to fly to keep out of the net a header by Goretzka in the corner kick that follows. Next up is Fati, receiving a long ball from Goretzka inside the box and trying to surprise Kretzschmar with a first-touch shot which the keeper reads well enough to save and hold the ball, and then it's Havertz who sends a header over the bar after a cross by Davies. In the 17th, though, we manage to break free for the first time and Caraballo almost scores the 1-1 with a cute little lob over Ramsdale, who has to watch the ball miss the target by mere inches. That chance gives us a push, and soon Özcan is gathering a pass by Sapmaz and trying a finish that Papetti blocks and sends behind. A quick run through the center by Werner cuts our reaction short, though, as Stjepanovic is forced to trip him when he was getting ready to shoot and score the second. The penalty is clear, and so is Werner's 2-0 from the spot. Kretzschmar is called to action once again a while later to stop a very dangerous finish by Fati, but after that things seem to calm down a bit, with only Werner trying a powerful finish after sneaking past Stjepanovice once again but blasting it over. A wide header by Sané leads into the final minutes of the half, when a set piece whipped into the box by Damsgaard is perfectly headed by Werner to score the 3-0. Not the best note on which to end the first half. HALF TIME - 3-0 The second half starts in a similar note, only this time Goretzka heads a corner kick wide instead of into the net. We still can't get the ball out of our own half, though, so a chance is warrented: Karlsen replaces Thiago and we move back to the 4-3-3, while Miranda takes Sapmaz's place in the right wing. No matter: another corner kick taken by Damsgaard reaches Upamecano at the near post and the center back heads it in for the fourth. Marcos Paulo replaces a very frustrated Özcan after a bit, just to save some of the striker's energy for the Europa League's return leg, and not much later Miranda has a chance to put some pressure on Ramsdale with a direct free kick that the keeper tips over the bar with an aesthetic flight. The game is a bit more back-and-forth now, although with less clear chances on either goal. Probably an improvement. Kretzschmar doesn't have more work until the 69th, when he goes down well to save a long-range attempt by Sané. After ten minutes of tranquility it's our turn to strike, once again through Miranda, who gathers a great pass by Baldé and faces Ramsdale one-on-one, but is once again denied by the keeper. Lang also gets close in the resulting corner kick, although his header ends up going over. On the other goal Werner wastes a clear-cut chance to grab himself a hattrick with a narrowly wide finish four minutes before the end of regulation, then Kretzschmar saves a powerful header by Upamecano, once again unbeatable in set pieces. A final high ball by Papetti in yet another dead ball situation marks the end of the most one-sided Münchner Derby in recent history. * * * FC Bayern München 4 (Nordi Mukiele 10, Timo Werner 22p 44, Dayot Upamecano 52) TSV 1860 München 0 - - - Apparently Bayern can do exactly the same Club Brugge did, only not conceding even once. At least this is a game we should be losing, because even a Kimmich-less, Lewandowski-less, Moukoko-less Bayern team is ridiculously strong. It's still a bad feeling to see that after all the improving we've done throughout the years we still keep being swept aside as an afterthought time and time again. Sigh, our time will come. Eventually.

Mar 5th 2028 Baldé signs a new contract with us, an upgrade to his wages after a bit over a year with us that the right back has deserved thoroughly so far. We guarantee his presence in the team for four more years at €29k per week and with no release clauses attached, a good deal in my books. Mar 7th 2028 Svensson earns a place in the Team of the Week with his game-deciding assist and solid defensive work against Stuttgart. And the injury crisis gets worse: Maldini goes down with a gashed upper leg which will make him miss somewhere between one and two weeks. Suddenly playing Sapmaz for the whole game against Stuttgart feels like a bad idea... Mar 9th 2028 Club Brugge KV vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League 2nd knockout stage, 1st leg) Europe calls once again. Club Brugge are the current runaway leaders in the Belgian league, going strong for their fifth title in a row. It's still the Belgian league, though, meaning the standard of play there should be at least a step or two below what we find week in and week out in the Bundesliga. As such, we have to believe we have a chance of getting a result here, injuries or not. And for once, I'd welcome a draw. * * * CLUB BRUGGE (4-2-3-1): Nick Shinton (GK); Mark Spanring (DR), Henrik Heggheim (DCr), Josip Sutalo (DCl), Gastón Ávila (DL); Pedro Chirivella (MCr), Sivert Mannsverk (MCl); Sergi Canos (AMR), Sofiane Diop (AMC), Diego Moreira (AML); David Okereke (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Francisco Gerometta (DR), Ader Hadzic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Thiago (DM), Martin Karlsen (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) * * * Mandatory rotation today as we save a few legs for the game against Bayern in just forty-eight hours, with Karlsen getting his first start in a while after some good performances off the bench. Sapmaz and Özcan might need resting at some point today, though. There's a familiar face in Club Brugge's lineup, too, since left winger Diego Moreira spent some time with us on loan a few years ago. They start controlling possession in the early game, and after nine minutes a ball lost by Gerometta in midfield reaches Okereke some thirty-five yards away from goal, and the striker unleashes an absolutely unstoppable missile into the top right corner to score a spectacular 1-0 for the Belgians. His thirtieth goal in all competitions this season, by the way. After the goal Club Brugge seem to retreat into their own half, something we thank them for with a good chance created by Marcos Paulo and finished, very poorly, by Rodríguez fourteen minutes in. Five minutes later Marcos Paulo has a chance to score himself with a header after a good cross by Karlsen, but he happens to send it exactly where Shinton was, and it's an easy save for the keeper. A through ball to Canos generates Club Brugge's second attack of the game, although this time Kretzschmar is where he has to be to stop the winger from scoring the second. Things even out after that, the game getting mired in midfield for a long while until in the 40th minute a good run down the left by Diop ends in a cross towards Moreira, who also finds Kretzschmar in the way of his finish. That's it for a very even first half decided by a moment of genius. HALF TIME - 1-0 The second half starts in the worst possible way: pass into space from deep by Mannsverk towards Moreira, the winger completely outpaces Gerometta, enters the box, and rounds Kretzschmar with a good show of skill to score the second. Three minutes later another missile from outside the box, this one fired by Diop, rips a hole in our net as Kretzschmar is unable to stop it, and the game is now completely out of reach, as might be the competition altogether. We decide to rest Sapmaz then and bring Miranda in, but Club Brugge still run rampant, with Kretzschmar having to go down in the 56th to prevent another goal by Diop following a great assist by Moreira, who's destroying Gerometta today. Caraballo replaces Özcan, moving Marcos Paulo to the center, and Ulrich returns to the team in Rodríguez's place. Then, to complete an absolutely horrid performance, Gerometta pulls on Moreira's shirt inside the box and it's a stonewall penalty that Okereke turns into the 4-0. Moreira keeps hitting us even after switching sides to allow a substitute in his previous position, heading over the bar a cross from the left in the 62nd minute. Two minutes later and completely out of nowhere we get a corner kick, Miranda takes it towards the far post, and Marcos Paulo heads it in to cut our disadvantadge by a little. The incidental striker tries luck again a bit later from afar, trying a placed shot but sending it very narrowly wide. Miranda then picks a yellow that implies suspension for the second leg, followed by Diop wasting a good chance for a fifth with a centered shot after a lightning-quick counterattack. We keep trying to reduce Club Brugge's lead as much as possible, and Marcos Paulo has another good chance with a header tipped wide by Shinton, well generated by Karlsen's cross from the right wing. We aren't having the best of days overall, though, and Sánchez forgets about his usual solid self with an absolutely atrocius mistake that gifts Nusa the ball and an empty goal to score in, and which the forward somehow manages to turn into an even worse finish, the ball sailing well over the bar. A cross by the same Nusa allows Okereke another chance to score but he sends it straight at Kretzschmar, then Nusa tries again from distance, this time hitting the crossbar. Thankfully that's the end for today, but this first taste of European knockout stages couldn't have been more bitter. * * * Club Brugge SV 4 (David Okereke 9 60p, Diego Moreira 46, Sofian Diop 49) TSV 1860 München 1 (Marcos Paulo 64) - - - That was a short result. That's how bad we were today. I don't think Club Brugge are better than, say, Bayern, but we certainly made them look like worldbeaters. We still have to be thankful for Marcos Paulo's goal and their many sitters missed, because now we have a (small) chance to fix this at our stadium. Many players lost a lot of credit today, though, including but not limited to Gerometta and Hadzic.

Feb 29th 2028 February 29th is a weird day, and not in a good way for us: Rijkhoff breaks a rib in training, because apparently doing American football drills without protection is a good idea. Our striker will be out of contention for five to six weeks, leaving Özcan as our only out-and-out striker in a very loaded period, with the Europa League coming in between a handful of extremely important league games. Mar 1st 2028 Bayern, Leipzig, Gladbach, and Freiburg will be the participating teams in the DFB Pokal semifinals, quite the loaded lineup. Mar 2nd 2028 Another serious injury, this time for Da Silva, who twists an ankle and will miss approximately one whole month. He's not having a fantastic season by any means, but he's still our main rotation option in midfield, so losing him now hurts. More minutes for Karlsen and, perhaps, Ulrich, I guess, plus Thiago might play some games in a more advanced position to see how he does. Mar 4th 2028 TSV 1860 München (5th) vs. VfB Stuttgart (9th) (Bundesliga, 26/34) Three fourths of the season gone today and everything still very, heh, tied up. Draw jokes aside, Stuttgart have had a rougher winter than even us, particularly in February where they lost three and drew one, thus dropping places like a rock. They're still only five points behind us because yeah, we only got three points more than them in February after all... Dare I wish for a win to end this curse? * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Darko Vuskovic (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) STUTTGART (4-2-3-1): Finn Dahmen (GK); Chris Richards (DR), Waldemar Anton (DCr), Hrvoje Smolcic (DCl), Fabian Nürnberger (DL); Shinta Appelkamp (MCr), Orel Mangala (MCl); Aleksander Andresen (AMR), Ismaël Gharbi (AMC), Moussa Djénépo (AML); Borja Mayoral (ST) * * * We need to be careful about who we play and when now, because we have a trip to Belgium in five days, and two days later a derby in the Allianz, plus our injuries thinning our options in midfield and attack. Today we play a mostly-starters eleven that should be ready to face Bayern next weekend, and save a mostly-backups eleven for the Europa League. The match starts quite even in possession, although Stuttgart have a noticeable tendency to go back into their own half easily. They still draw first blood with a good run by Mayoral, who gains some space on Stjepanovic and shoots into Kretzschmar's save. We answer quickly through Rodríguez's pass into space and Sapmaz's finish, well blocked by Dahmen. We keep pushing, generating a few shots without much danger to them before a corner kick allows Özcan a chance to get a header in which sadly goes wide by about half a meter. Stuttgart look content to wait in their own half now, thus making our job more difficult. We try widening the field as much as we can, and in the 42nd minute a good cross by Baldé gives Özcan another header, this one saved by a very confident-looking Dahmen. That's the last action of the first half, still goalless. HALF TIME - 0-0 The second half starts even slower than the first ended, with neither team getting anywhere close to dangerous positions for over ten minutes, only a blocked shot by Özcan after a good counter by Sapmaz. Karlsen soon replaces a mediocre Miranda but nothing seems to really change, so it's Thiago's and Gerometta's turn to try and turn our engines on. Still nothing, other than Stuttgart having a bit more of the ball now and starting to get a bit too daring for my tastes. Finally, some action in the 74th minute: good cross by Svensson into the penalty spot for another header by Özcan, deflected behind by Dahmen. That corner kick turns into an even better chance when Lang heads the ball into the crossbar and over, and the fans finally got lively, hoping for this to be the start of something better. It is not, and we go into the last minutes of regulation with only a weak shot by Andresen that Kretzschmar has zero trouble saving. Injury time comes and almost goes, and it looks like this is gonna be the seventh in a row when Caraballo spots Svensson running unmarked down the left flank and passes the ball to him, Stuttgart's defense have a bit of a sudden collapse, and the wingback just passes it towards the center where an equally unmarked Özcan only needs to push it into the net to score the 1-0 just seconds before the end of the match. That felt good. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Vedat Özcan 90+3) VfB Stuttgart 0 - - - FINALLY. And with the heaviest possible dose of drama, too. Absolutely deserved win against a very defensive-minded Stuttgart that only got a single, weak shot on target in the whole game, yet almost escaped from Grünwalder Strasse with a point. Özcan's goal is enough to snap us of our draw streak and give us a nice morale boost before the Europa League and the Munchner derby. * * * | Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | GD | Pts | Form | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | FC Bayern | 25 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 75 | 17 | 58 | 66 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | RB Leipzig | 25 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 62 | 30 | 32 | 56 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | Borussia Dortmund | 26 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 54 | 29 | 25 | 55 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Bayer Leverkusen | 26 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 44 | 32 | 12 | 46 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | 1860 München | 26 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 41 | 25 | 16 | 45 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | Hamburg | 26 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 45 | 33 | 12 | 41 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | Freiburg | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 41 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | Frankfurt | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 45 | 39 | 6 | 38 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | Borussia M'gladbach | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 39 | 33 | 6 | 37 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th| Stuttgart | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 39 | 43 | -4 | 37 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th| Hertha BSC | 26 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 37 | 38 | -1 | 36 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th| Nürnberg | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 42 | 43 | -1 | 33 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th| Mainz | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 34 | 46 | -12 | 28 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th| Fortuna Düsseldorf | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 35 | 54 | -19 | 28 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th| Köln | 26 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 32 | 47 | -15 | 26 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th| Wolfsburg | 26 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 26 | 53 | -27 | 21 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th| Heidenheim | 26 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 28 | 73 | -45 | 12 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th| SC Paderborn | 26 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 17 | 60 | -43 | 7 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| One one hand, yay, unbeaten in 2028! On the other, boo, only fifteen points in nine league games, or in other words the same we would've got if we'd won five and lost four. Yet somehow, despite all the point-wasting and all the goals conceded in key moments, we remain as the second best defense in the league only behind Bayern, and that's with Kretzschmar having been a bit on-and-off lately. Our attack is still a work in progress, though... Fifth is a good place to start the final stretch in, and our four point lead on all our chasers, most notably Hamburg, means we don't have to worry too much about the upcoming and almost inevitable defeat in the Allianz. We have a chance to get in the Champions League, and we should take it this time. The league title, on the other hand, is almost decided pending the adjourned match between Bayern and Leipzig, which won't happen until early April. Still, it feels like Bayern's lead is more than enough regardless of what happens then, and it'd take an implosion of massive proportions to rob them of the Bundesliga. Dortmund have entered a downward spiral with four consecutive games without a win and might find their third place in jeopardy if they don't snap out of it soon. On the other hand, look at Gladbach go! I predicted they'd bounce back in the second half of the season and they sure are doing so. I'd call them favorites for the seventh place, and might get even more than that. The bottom looks almost completely decided by now, with the only doubt remaining being whether Wolfsburg will have it in them to put some pressure on Köln, Fortuna, and Mainz for the relegation playoff. Heidenheim and Paderborn are almost as good as gone. * * * PLAYER STATS ============ Average rating (min. 9 games played): Vedat Özcan 7.20 (16(5) apps) Niklas Lang 7.17 (21 apps) Daniel Svensson 7.16 (20(3) apps) Matías Miranda 7.15 (25(1) apps) Arnau Casas 7.13 (16(2) apps) Goals: Vedat Özcan 9 goals Julian Rijkhoff 9 Rodrigo Caraballo 7 Can Sapmaz 6 Marcos Paulo 5 Assists: Matías Miranda 6 assists Vedat Özcan 5 Florent Da Silva 5 Daniel Maldini 5 Manu Sánchez 4 Martin Karlsen 4

Feb 22nd 2028 Russia and their weird transfer windows... Turns out they still can make signings, and Dinamo Moscow make a ridiculously low €4.8M offer for Baldé, then try again with €6M plus 20% of future profits. Good thing the player doesn't even want to hear about moving there. Feb 25th 2028 Finally, we're going back to the Europa League. The first knockout round just ended (Napoli lost to Benfica, incidentally), and now we reenter in the second, where we get one of the best draws we could realistically hope for: Club Brugge from Belgium. Considering this same round has ties like PSV-Liverpool, Benfica-Leverkusen, or Leipzig-Atlético, I'd say we got lucky here. Feb 26th 2028 Borussia Dortmund (3rd) vs. TSV 1860 München (4th) (Bundesliga, 25/34) Klopp's boys are on their worst run of the season by far, with two defeats in the league and a loss in London to Chelsea in the Champions League just four days ago to boot. They're still heavy favorites here and I'll prepare for a pretty thorough drubbing, but if there's a moment where we might be able to steal something from them, it's probably now. * * * DORTMUND (4-3-3): Gregor Kobel (GK); Mohamed Simakan (DR), Niklas Süle (DCr), Manuel Akanji (DCl), Marcus Holmgren Pedersen (DL); Angelo Stiller (DM), Hadj Semahi (MCr), Giovanni Reyna (MCl); Luka Jovic (AMR), Adam Hlozek (AML), Liam Delap (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Darko Vuskovic (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST) * * * Sapmaz misses out today with an untimely cold, but otherwise our team looks more or less as one would expect, except maybe for Casas in Stjepanovic's place. Dortmund start their new striker Delap upfront returning Jovic to the wing and Chukwueze to the bench, yet surprisingly it's us who have the first chance still in the first minute, with Rijkhoff heading a corner kick taken by Miranda into Kobel's fists and over. We also keep the ball very well in those first minutes, putting some pressure on Dortmund to see if they will crack under it. They don't, and instead create a very dangerous chance in the 11th minute with a cross into space by Hlozek towards Semahi, who rushes his finish and sends it well wide. Jovic is the next to try luck with a curler from the edge of the box that goes wide to the right of Kretzschmar's goal, but the game is starting to take a very yellow color, as would be expected. Delap soon finds another pass into space by Reyna inside the box, but thankfully he shoots well over the bar, and afterwards we start taking less risks and just trying our best to have possession, only pushing forward when a clear opportunity to do so arises. The plan seems to work, and for a good while Dortmund look incapable of breaking us down. That changes in the 41st, when Semahi breaks into the right side of the box and crosses towards Delap, who once again has his aim set too high and sends his header over. That's the last thing they can produce in the first half, though. Surviving so far. HALF TIME - 0-0 Dortmund need a goal and start the second half looking for it, with Reyna heading over the bar a dangerous corner kick in the very first minute. Next comes Delap, profiting from a bad pass by Maldini in midfield to get a shot from inside the box blocked by Kretzschmar. Maldini himself is our first substituted player, bringing Da Silva in and moving Miranda to the right, while Özcan takes point in Rijkhoff's place. Meanwhile Holmgren Pedersen tries a right-footed curling shot from afar that goes well wide, but Dortmund still can't seem to be able to break us down, and look increasingly desperate. Caraballo for Marcos Paulo is our final substitution, and now we start looking seriously into launching a counterattack here and there, just for variety's sake. Miranda ends one of them with a left-footed effort into the post from an offside position, which should serve as a nice warning shot. Dortmund haven't created anything in a while now other than a couple of good chances for Hlozek that were also flagged down due to offside. Theate finally tests Kretzschmar again with a powerful finish from inside the box in a set piece come the 78th minute, but the keeper answers admirably once again and the ball is deflected away from danger. There's a dramatic moment in the 82nd minute when Caraballo goes down due to a challenge by Holmgren Pedersen right on the edge of the box. After checking with VAR, though, the referee correctly signals a free kick just outside the penalty area. Shame. That set piece goes nowhere, but Özcan manages to give Dortmund a pretty good scare in the 86th, running at his marker and into the box, but finally getting his shot blocked by Akanji. Two minutes later the striker gathers a clearance by Kretzschmar, holds it down for a bit, then assists Rodríguez as the young midfielder runs into space, into the box, and shoots past Kobel to score a dramatic 0-1. Even more dramatic, though, is the next minute: corner kick headed by Delap and parried by Kretzschmar, only for the ball to go all the way outside the box to Kozlowski so the midfielder can send a low shot into the root of the post and in, drawing the game almost instantly. Injury time brings a direct free kick for Stiller that the defensive midfielder smashes into the crossbar and over, then a bicycle kick from distance by Da Silva that Kobel saves easily. In the end, though, the 1-1 stands. * * * Borussia Dortmund 1 (Kaçper Kozlowski 89) TSV 1860 München 1 (Jair Rodríguez 88) - - - I hate that the first thing that comes to mind after such a fantastic performance and result in Dortmund is "gods, not another draw". And yes, it hurt to concede once again immediately after scoring, but to be fair this is the most we deserved out of this game, if that. Dortmund had us bottled in for most of the match, and although we defended well we should never have scored today, but Özcan does those things sometimes and goals just happen. I'll take it happily. Well, mostly happily, we lose the fourth place to Leverkusen today, but whatever, we'll get it back. So yes, Leverkusen won and are now fourth one point ahead of us. The surprising thing today is that Eintracht have come out of nowhere, beat HSV, and snuck into the sixth place four points behind us. Stuttgart's loss at home to Fortuna helps, even more considering we're hosting them next.

Feb 13th 2028 New kid Jô suffers a twisted ankle in training and will be recovering for over a month. Not ideal, for sure. Feb 15th 2028 Stjepanovic earns a place in the Team of the Week thanks to his goal against Köln. Feb 16th 2028 Looks like it's the week for our reserve midfielders to get injured. Next in line is Van Santen, also with a twisted ankle, and also out for over a month. Feb 19th 2028 TSV 1860 München (4th) vs. Hertha BSC (8th) (Bundesliga, 24/34) Last chance to turn this streak of draws into something positive, because after this Dortmund is waiting... Hertha are on the rise mostly thanks to our (and HSV's and Leverkusen's) failure to, well, win games rather than to their great play and form, as they keep alternating home wins with away defeats. That said, they've beaten both Hamburg and Leverkusen this year already, so they have to be respected. And for the love of all that's good and cute, please don't give up another lead! * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Darko Vuskovic (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST) HERTHA (4-2-3-1): Marco Carnesecchi (GK); Fredrik Byorkan (DR), Andrew Omobamidele (DCr), Omar Alderete (DCl), Amar Dedic (DL); Julian Weigl (MCr), Charles De Ketelaere (MCl); Pedro Porro (AMR), Miguel Carvalho (AMC), Hannibal (AML), Delyan Atanasov (ST) * * * Da Silva returns to the starting eleven after one too many mediocre games by Rodríguez, while Hertha present basically the same team we met (and defeated) in the first half of the season only with Byorkan showing off his versatility by moving from left winger to right back. We play the patient game in the first minutes, holding the ball and trying to see if Hertha had left any obvious gaps in their formation today. We can't find any, but Vuskovic still has enough to send a 20-yard piledriver into the post with fourteen minutes played, just to keep Carnesecchi on his toes. From then on we turn our attacking engines on, testing the keeper with a couple of long range efforts he deals with easily, but after a while we start running into a wall whenever we get near Hertha's goal. A shot that Maldini that hits a defender and bubbles over the bar is our best not-quite-a-chance during this period, after which we decide to start focusing more on the wings, since Hertha seem to be defending really narrow today. Hertha's only approach in the first half hour is easily solved by Stjepanovic with a good block on Carvalho's attempt inside the box, but in the 40th they manage to produce a corner kick that Porro takes towards the near post, where Omobamidele outjumps Stjepanovic and heads it in for the opener. Maldini heads a cross by Sánchez into Carnesecchi's hands one minute later, then the keeper does it again, tipping wide a finish by Miranda after a nice barge into midfield by Stjepanovic. With that, the first half ends. HALF TIME - 0-1 Another corner kick for Hertha kickstarts the second half, with Carvalho heading it wide, while the best we can do is a bad shot by Rijkhoff that doesn't even reach the keeper. The striker is soon replaced by Özkan after one of his most irrelevant performances since his permanent signing, just as Miranda wastes yet another chance with a wide finish when completely unmarked inside the box following a nice cross by Sánchez. Rodríguez and Marcos Paulo come in then, replacing Da Silva and Caraballo to see if we can improve our finishing. The winger makes me look a bit silly with his first chance, which he smashes into a defender's legs, while Hertha get close again in their first approach in a long while, a cross from the left that Atanasov finishes on the turnaround inside the box, but which Kretzschmar solves with a solid save. Carnesecchi saves easily a header by Marcos Paulo in the 72nd, and time is starting to run a bit too short for my tastes. One minute later, though, a long pass by Marcos Paulo towards Maldini allows the Italian to gather the ball, pause, look up, and put a perfect cross in Özcan's head so the striker can score the 1-1, finally. We take a short break to catch our breath, then we go right back at it. Hertha hit first, though, with Hannibal slipping past Baldé and crossing towards Atanasov, who once again finds Kretzschmar well positioned to save. Then Marcos Paulo almost profits from an injury to Bjorkan and Hertha's failure to cover his position in defense, although in the end Carnesecchi fixes it all with a good save, which he repeats one minute later to stop a shot by Maldini. The match goes a bit crazy then, with both teams running up and down the pitch and threatening constantly, and Carnesecchi has another great save in the 87th, going down to stop a dangerous placed finish by Özcan. The final chance is for Hertha in a corner kick already in injury time, headed by Alderete and tipped over the bar by Kretzschmar. Time's over, and it's draw number five for us. Joy. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Vedat Özcan 73) Hertha BSC 1 (Andrew Omobamidele 40) - - - I'm starting to think this is less a matter of not knowing how to hold a lead and more a matter of having extremely rotten luck, or extremely bad finishing. We had ten shots on target today, most of them in really dangerous positions, and a couple others that went wide that were also clear-cut chances. Then Hertha just get a corner kick and boom, another draw. This is getting silly by now. Leverkusen win today, so we don't get out of jail for free for once, but an interesting result is Dortmund's heavy 3-0 loss in Düsseldorf, their second in a row. Might be a good moment to go visit them and maybe, heh, snatch a draw. Hamburg do lose to Bayern, though, and Stuttgart do the same in Leipzig. I don't know how we're managing to hold on to the fourth place with just draws, but so far it's working!

Feb 11th 2028 1.FC Köln (13th) vs. TSV 1860 München (4th) (Bundesliga, 23/34) I could basically copy-paste my pre-match comments from last week here, honestly. Köln are also in that awkward zone of the table where they're not really playing for anything relevant with so much still left of the season, to the point that they're tied at almost everything with Nürnberg (same wins, draws, loses, and points, but -7 vs. -8 goal difference). Let's hope this game doesn't end exactly the same way, too... * * * KÖLN (4-4-2): Kevin Trapp (GK); Kevin Mbabu (DR), Hugo Faria (DCr), Saúl Filipe (DCl), Philipp Max (DL); Julian Draxler (MR), Ellyes Skhiri (MCr), Anton Stach (MCl), Jayden Braaf (ML); Felix Afena-Gyan (STr), Janni Serra (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Francisco Gerometta (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Thiago (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) * * * Even more deja-vu inducing coincidences, Köln also play a flat 4-4-2 like Nürnberg now, having ditched their 3-5-2 when Podolski was sacked in December and Torsten Frings took over. They start well today, though, keeping the ball away from us and creating an early half-chance with a header by Serra that goes high and wide off the target. We soon regain control and start pushing back, though, and we hit back through Özcan's pass into space and Sapmaz's not too confident finish, easy for Trapp. Afena-Gyan then gives us a scare after scoring from a cross by Braaf, although thankfully the striker, just arrived from Sheffield United, was offside. Things slow down after that, with both teams playing in a very narrow band in midfield and struggling to find a way through. Finally, in the 30th minute we create a gap in the center through which Özcan can try another assist towards Sapmaz, and this time the winger hits low and placed, making Trapp's attempt at a save useless: 0-1. Not even one minute later the winger is knocking at Trapp's door once again, this time after a great pass by Rodríguez, but the keeper does much better this time and blocks the finish effectively. And in the next minute, long clearance by Trapp towards Stach, the midfielder wins the jump against Lang, and Serra finds himself in a perfect position to beat Kretzschmar and score the 1-1. Deja-vu intensifies. Özcan is in a very assisting mood today, and in the 36th he threads the needle with a perfect pass towards Rodríguez and between three defenders, but the young midfielder can't finish the job properly and shoots wide. The rest of the first half only brings a shot by Özcan into a defender's legs already in injury time while Köln seem happy to hold onto the draw for now. They get their wish, at least until the break. HALF TIME - 1-1 Köln turn it up a notch in the early second half like they did in the first, restarting the hostilities with a shot from outside the box by Faria that Kretzschmar tips wide with some difficulty. Like before, though, we let their effervescence die off and start hitting them back through Miranda, who sends into the sidenetting his finish after an intelligent nod into the box by Marcos Paulo. Karlsen and Baldé then join the game in Rodríguez and Gerometta's places, but it's Sapmaz who creates our next chance stealing the ball from Max, then crossing for Özcan's header into Trapp's easy save. Caraballo for Marcos Paulo is our last substitution with about twenty minutes left to play, and it's precisely a foul on the youngster that gives us the 1-2: Miranda whips the ball into the box, Özcan nods it forward, and Stjepanovic smashes it in from right in front of Trapp's face, straying dangerously close to an offside position but timing his jump forward perfectly. And once gain, Köln hit us back almost immediately, and in a surprisingly similar way: corner kick that Max takes, Júnior Firpo prolongs on the near post, and Faria puts it in on the far post. This is getting ridiculous. Time to look forward once again, starting with Thiago's pretty bad attempt from distance in the 77th minute, and with a pause so Max can take another corner kick and allow Stach a high header over the bar. Both teams try their best to score in the final minutes, but once again the game dies off without any further chances and we score our fourth consecutive draw, once again thanks to our very own mistakes. * * * 1.FC Köln 2 (Janni Serra 32, Hugo Faria 77) TSV 1860 München 2 (Can Sapmaz 30, Mateja Stjepanovic 73) - - - To put it simply, we can't hold a lead for our lives. In each of the last four games we managed to put ourselves ahead, and then within ten minutes we'd conceded the draw. Sometimes, like today, even more than once per game. Whenever teams push us we fold like a house of cards, and we won't be going anywhere like this. And the sad thing is, other than that we're playing really well! Today we could've scored a couple more, and Özcan in particular had a fantastic game playing the buoy and assisting everyone around him, but in the end it was for nothing. Well, for one point. Once again other results make our draw look almost good, though. Leverkusen draw in Frankfurt and Stuttgart and Hamburg do the same against each other, so everything behind us remains the same except that Hertha and Freiburg creep a little closer to the pack. At the top, Leipzig win in Dortmund and now Bayern is seven points clear at the top. Doesn't look like they're gonna be losing this one either... Fati scored their one and only goal against Mainz, by the way.

Jan 30th 2028 Thiago's Brazil U23 qualify for the Olympics together with Argentina after a 2-0 win against Colombia, in which our midfielder played a solid game for about sixty minutes. Hopefully he'll be allowed to take part in the tournament proper this summer. Jan 31st 2028 And another transfer window draws to a close. This one has been surprisingly quiet so far considering the expectations, what with Kretzschmar and all that. Watch it all explode in the final hours, though... It's very unlikely we'll do any deals today, not even for a backup keeper: we'll wait for Englisch to take that role next year and make do with what we have. Crossing fingers that Kretzschmar doesn't have any serious upset. Three of our players are currently attracting attention: the usual suspects Karlsen (Karlsruhe and Hoffenheim) and Svensson (Feyenoord, Roma, Udinese), but with the recent addition of Köln tracking Rijkhoff. I mean, if they have 40 million euros to spend I might consider it, but... As for the other two, I have no intention of selling Karlsen (even less for the ridiculous offers we've received so far) and Svensson would take a lot (€15M+) to convince me otherwise. Three hours to go and no offers so far other than a €1.4M one for Karlsen by Hoffenheim which we auto-refuse. Not even our potential loanees seem to be garnering any attention. When I saw the e-mail header reading "Borussia Dortmund make Svensson offer" I almost had a heart attack. Turns out they only offer €7M for a player with a much higher value. What's with this window, even Dortmund are trying to lowball us... Rejected, of course, if they come with something much better than that we might consider negotiating. Incidentally, Dortmund just spent €59M to take Liam Delap from Man City. Looks like they finally found a replacement for Moukoko... One hour to go. Remember Vagnoman? He just left Leipzig for Bournemouth after playing almost zilch since they bought him from us. A shame we don't get anything out of that deal... Meanwhile, Dortmund return with a barely improved offer and PSV and (again) Leipzig join in, neither of them meeting our valuation. Still no, you can all do better. I won't even bother mentioning Hoffenheim's offers for Karlsen anymore, they're a joke. And just with that, the window ends. Huh. Turns out it was a calm day after all. There's a couple off-window offers for both our targets, but with no possibility of replacing them there's no way in hell I would accept now. Big transfer news that might affect us indirectly: Marcos Leonardo leaves Leverkusen for Manchester City in exchange for one hundred and sixty-eight million euros. Madness. Not that we mind right now, but them having this much money to spend come the summer is somewhat terrifying. Bayern meanwhile add yet another forward to their already stacked line with Ansu Fati (€78M) after he found himself benched in Barcelona. Y'know, just in case Lewa, Moukoko, Havertz, Werner, and company have a bad day. Feb 5th 2028 TSV 1860 München (4th) vs. 1.FC Nürnberg (13th) (Bundesliga, 22/34) With the whole transfer thing in the backburner for at least a few months it's time to focus in what matters: winning games. Nürnberg look like a viable candidate to return to winning ways after two consecutive draws, being currently in no-mans land, eleven points over the playoff place but nowhere near Europe, or the top half for that matter. They just won their first game after four straight defeats in the league, though, so we'd better be careful. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Darko Vuskovic (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rikhoff (ST) NÜRNBERG (4-4-2): Jan Olschowsky (GK); Nicholas Mickelson (DR), Maksim Paskotsi (DCr), Lee Han-Bum (DCl), Omar Campos (DL); Brooks Lennon (MR), Ilai Madmon (MCr), Sebastián González (MCl), Lars Kehl (ML); Facundo Farías (STr), Manuel Wintzheimer (STl) * * * Casas returns to the lineup and Thiago is finally back from the pre-Olympic, so we're at full strength for the first time in a while. We rotate our defense a bit but otherwise keep the same core, and we soon get a first chance with a simple pass over the defense by Baldé towards Rijkhoff, who can't get his good foot into it and shoots very wide. Nürnberg take refuge inside their own half for the first ten minutes, but on their first incursion into our half of the field Kehl manages a great dribble past Baldé and assists Wintzheimer, who just hits it with all he has to score a shocking 0-1. We go right back at it, Svensson being the first to try luck with a wide shot after the ball goes through basically all our forward line from right to left. It's slow going, though, not helped by Nürnberg having more reasons than ever to park the bus now. After a couple of minor chances Caraballo assists Rodríguez for a decent-looking one, but once again it all ends up in a mishit finish that goes wide without even bothering Olschowsky. In the 34th, finally, a great steal by Vuskovic in midfield leads to a counter led by Rijkhoff, a cross towards Caraballo, and a pass into the heart of the box so Maldini can rifle it in and draw the game. A draw is not enough, though, and soon Miranda is seeking a second with a wide direct free kick. Another set piece, a corner kick this time, gives Hadzic a great chance with a downwards header that a defender clears off the line, then the play continues until Rijkhoff assists Svensson and the wingback gets his finish deflected over the bar by Olschowsky. In the final moments of injury time a header by Rijkhoff licks the upside of the crossbar before going over, and seconds later it's time for a rest and to look for new ideas. HALF TIME - 1-1 We continue right where we left things before the break, with Svensson creating danger with a long ball towards Miranda, who gets stopped by the keeper in the end. An offside chip by Rijkhoff ends bouncing on the crossbar in spectacular fashion, even though in the end it was all disallowed, and in the 57th Caraballo intercepts a pretty bad clearance by Olschowsky near the penalty area, runs at the defense, then shoots into a gap to surprise the keeper and score the 2-1 we'd been deserving for a while now. Nürnberg now make a few timid attempts to get back into an attacking mood, while we bring Gerometta, Da Silva, and Özcan into the game as substitutes. Rodríguez gets a chance to score the third and make our win much more clearer blocked by Paskotsi, then Hadzic gets really close to a goal with another good header in a corner kick, but for the most part we play the long game as time goes by, trying to keep Nürnberg away from our goal by holding the ball. It's not a perfect plan, though, and in the 86th Lennon shows its flaws when he gathers a long ball into the box thanks to a missed header by Casas, only to shoot very wide when Kretzschmar was getting ready for another miracle save. And then it happens again, just as the clock goes over ninety: Vuskovic loses the ball, Lennon gathers it, shoots low, and the bounce on the wet grass surprises Kretzschmar, who watches it go over his body and into the net. There is no time to react, and two points fly away from Grünwalder Strasse in the most dramatic and unfair of ways. * * * TSV 1860 München 2 (Daniel Maldini 34, Rodrigo Caraballo 57) 1.FC Nürnberg 2 (Manuel Wintzheimer 11, Brooks Lennon 90+1) - - - ...Well. That was a thing that happened. Nineteen shots to four, five to two on target. And this is what we get. Wonderful, just wonderful. Can we please not do this again? Bayern bail us from this disaster with a win in Leverkusen, then Dortmund round it up by also winning in Hamburg. Stuttgart and Hertha lose too, so despite everything we manage to put one more point on everyone behind us. Could've been three, though. Should've been three.

Last update of August, since I'm off for the holidays tomorrow. * * * Jan 24th 2027 One week left in the transfer window and still no movement. Only Svensson and Maldini seem to be attracting any interest nowadays, which is good. Watch it all happen at the very last moment once again... Jan 29th 2027 Sport-Club Freiburg (8th) vs. TSV 1860 München (5th) (Bundesliga, 21/34) And now for something completely different: a direct duel for Europe, and against a team that already beat us at our own stadium, no less. Freiburg have been extremel inconsistent all year long, though, managing famous wins against big teams but then failing against opposition way below them in quality. One never knows what version will appear. Still, we need a result here to keep them at bay and avoid making European qualification a free-for-all. * * * FREIBURG (4-2-3-1): Pontus Dahlberg (GK); Erik Warner (DR), Linus Gechter (DCr), Eric Martel (DCl), Felix Passlack (DL); Niklas Dorsch (MCr), Yangel Herrera (MCl); Akinkunmi Amoo (AMR), Erik Majetschak (AMC), Sead Haksabanovic (AML), Nicolai Skoglund (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Florent Da Silva (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rikhoff (ST) * * * Going back to the 4-2-3-1 was very tempting today, but with Thiago still with Brazil U23 and Vuskovic suspended we don't have the right personnel for this, so we stick with the usual. Da Silva is our emergency anchor today, and Caraballo returns from international duty straight into the starting eleven, with Svensson on the bench. Freiburg start a very similar eleven to the one we met in September, and start the game on the offensive through Majetschak, who runs into the box and shoots into Kretzschmar's save. Our answer is even better, though: great ball into space by Caraballo and Rodríguez runs and shoots into the root of the post. Looks like another entertaining match in the making. After those early chances both teams start playing a bit more carefully, so it isn't until the 22nd minute that another run into space by Rijkhoff gives Freiburg's defense some pause. The run is intercepted and Warner gathers the ball, but instead of clearing it he decides to pass it back to Dahlberg while Rijkhoff is still there lurking. The striker intercepts and, with the fans groaning in the stands, just passes it into the back of the net to score the 0-1. Things slow down again after the goal, something we welcome with open arms. We go all the way into the 42nd minute before something else happens on either goal, and it's Caraballo sending another beautiful through ball towards Rijkhoff who, with everything in his favor, sends the ball wide by a couple of inches. There are no news from Freiburg's attack until injury time, when Warner sends a good cross into the box, Haksabanovic heads it into a miracle save by Kretzschmar, but the ball bounces back to Skoglund who just has to put his head on it to score the 1-1, just before the end of the first forty-five minutes. Harsh. HALF TIME - 1-1 We almost get another scare six minutes into the second half when Rodríguez gets the ball stolen by Majetschak and it soon reaches Skoglund who, unmarked, shoots wide in a move very reminiscent of Rijkhoff's earlier miss. Passlack has another chance six minutes later that he sends straight at Kretzschmar's arms, but lately all divided balls end up going Freiburg's way, and our defense seems unable to cope with their movements. Karlsen and Maldini replace Rodríguez and Sapmaz then, but not much seems to improve. After a while it's Marcos Paulo who replaces a tired but solid Caraballo. We finally create something in the 71st minute through Sánchez and Marcos Paulo, with a finish by Karlsen that hits a defender before being cleared out of the way. Still, it's a good sign, and we start pushing a bit farther forward looking for the winner with more faith. Freiburg hit us on the break from time to time, although their finishing is not good either and Skoglund sends their best chance into the stratosphere after a good run and pass by Amoo. In the 74th Karlsen creates danger again with a good cross towards Rijkhoff who can't get a good enough header in and makes it easy for Dahlberg. Five minutes later the same play repeats, this time with Marcos Paulo being the one to finish with a good-looking header that hits the crossbar and bounces clear. Third time's the charm, though, and after a run through the center Karlsen delivers a soft touch towards Rijkhoff ahead of him, and this time the striker doesn't miss, placing the ball into the back of the net with ten minutes on the clock. We can't have nice things today, though: four minutes later a corner kick taken by Haksabanovic towards the far post is met by good ol' Gechter with a perfect header, helped by the lack of markers around him, and it's 2-2. It could be worse, too, as Amoo has a great chance to steal the winner in the last minute of injury time but thankfully he sends it wide. Miranda then blasts a final shot over the bar, and the game ends in another draw that could've gone either way. * * * Sport-Club Freiburg 2 (Nicolai Skoglund 45+1, Linus Gechter 84) TSV 1860 München 2 (Julian Rijkhoff 22 80) - - - A shame, but once again, fair result. It pains me to concede two goals so close to the end of the respective halves, to be honest. And also that another fantastic show of creativity by young Karlsen has been wasted by bad finishing. The kid really got us ticking in the second half, even if Rijkhoff got the glory with his goals. Oh well, another point which Hertha make taste a bit sweeter by beating HSV, and Stuttgart also beat Leverkusen. Problem is, that brings them both closer to the European places, which is exactly what I wanted to avoid in the first place. Sigh, we really can't have nice things...

Jan 16th 2028 Much better from Caraballo in his second game with Venezuela U23, scoring the only goal of his team in a 1-3 defeat to Uruguay. Doesn't look like Venezuela have much of a chance at making the Olympics now... Jan 17th 2028 That's one face I didn't expect to see in the Bundesliga at all... Remember Erik Tallig, that attacking midfielder we had in our first couple of seasons then sold to DC United because he was starting to feel out of place in an ever improving squad? Well, Eintracht just paid €8.25M for him! It's a shame we couldn't include a future profits fee in that transfer, but at least we get €123k off a 1.5% solidarity fee as his second formative club. Will be nice to see him again, and in a Bundesliga team to boot. Jan 18th 2028 Maldini caps his excellent performance against Paderborn with a place in the Team of the Week. Once again, random international callup for Svensson to play against Cyprus. And once again while Manu Sánchez is out injured. Good thing he's returning in a couple of days, but still, what's this deja vu? On the topic of injuries, Casas suffers from pulled ankle ligaments, the classic that never dies. He'll miss two weeks during which Stjepanovic will be starting in his place. Jan 20th 2028 Oh my god, Fiore... They make a loan offer for Svensson, paying half his wages for what remains of the season, and with an optional future clause of a bit under €10M plus 20% of future profits. I think I'll laugh every time I remember this in the future. Heh. Meanwhile, in South America, neither Thiago nor Caraballo manage a win with their U23 national teams, with Brazil losing to Uruguay and Venezuela at least drawing with Ecuador. None of them had particularly brilliant performances either. And closer to home, yet another injury, this time for Rijkhoff. Thankfully it's just a twisted knee, so he'll only miss our next game against Gladbach. Jan 21st 2028 Feyenoord do one better and offer a part-exchange transfer for Svensson with 20yo center-back Dean Bosz. Who yes, is a pretty interesting young player and has a higher market value than Svensson, but doesn't replace him in the team and wouldn't even have a place in our rotation right now. You can do better than that. Svensson doesn't want to go there anyways. Jan 22nd 2028 TSV 1860 München (4th) vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach (12th) (Bundesliga, 20/34) Yes, Gladbach are the disappointment of the season so far. So far. Their form has improved a lot with the turn of the year and they've won their last two fixtures, including a 0-3 away win against Leipzig. They seem to be recovering a bit of the lost ground, although it's doubtful that they'll have enough to reach the European places in the end. In any case, we should be the better and most in-form team today. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Darko Vuskovic (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Florend Da Silva (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) GLADBACH (4-4-2 diamond narrow): David Raya (GK); Brandon Soppy (DR), Igor Diveev (DCr), Nico Elvedi (DCl), Bali Mumba (DL); Tom Krauss (DM), Cheick Doucouré (MCr), Mike Kleijn (MCl), Antoni Milambo (AMC); Jonas Wind (STr), Marcus Thuram (STl) * * * Given our multiple absences due to injury and international duty today we're forced to bring new kid Jô along as a bench player, and might even have a chance to debut depending on how things go. Peter Ziedler has changed Gladbach's outlook to a rarely seen nowadays diamond formation, and seem to want to dominate the game with the ancestral tactic of clogging the middle with players. It doesn't seem to work too well, though, because our first chance comes from right there, with Özcan assisting Miranda so the midfielder shoots over the bar. They answer with a long cross by Soppy towards Wind, who benefits from Lang failing to intercept the ball and gets a shot in, also well over. The game slows down then, just as Gladbach seems to want. We struggle in attack while they keep testing us with long shots, the best of which Milambo sends a couple of meters higher than the target. In the 25th, though, we find ourselves with a throw in near Gladbach's box and push our center backs inside. The ball eventually reaches Stjepanovic inside the box, and he decides to pass it back outside so Manu Sánchez can shoot with power and precision to score the 1-0. Too bad it only lasts four minutes: another throw in is intercepted by Mumba and the full back just hoofs it ahead towards the unmarked Thuram, who takes the chance to round Kretzschmar and pull level once again. The game then returns to its previous state of attacks failing to do much noteworthy, at least until Miranda gathers a long ball on the right side of the box and runs at Raya, who covers the gap well and deflects the shot wide. The keeper has it much more difficult to tip wide Özcan's header in that corner kick, which was going straight into the top right corner of his goal, but that's enough to keep the draw on the board until half time. HALF TIME - 1-1 The second half starts interesting, with Vuskovic trying a long pass into space for Miranda who tries a first-time touch around Raya, but the keeper reads it well and saves. Marcos Paulo comes next with a header straight at the keeper, wasting Baldé's good cross, while Gladbach can only produce a direct free kick that Wind smashes into the fence and a finish by Milambo that Kretzschmar saves without even having to move. Sapmaz and Rodríguez then enter the game replacing Maldini and Da Silva, trying to give our attacks some extra punch. One more terrible finish by Marcos Paulo later, Wind has another good chance with a header that Kretzschmar tips over the bar, well assisted by Mumba from the left wing. Our answer is a great run by Baldé and a cross that Özcan heads very narrowly wide, just before Karlsen replaces Marcos Paulo on our left wing. Milambo then gives us a real scare when he controls a pass by Mumba and squeezes the ball between Lang's legs before rifling it towards goal, only for Kretzschmar to perform one of his miraculous reflex saves. At that point Gladbach decide to change formations, replacing Milambo and moving to a 4-3-3 like ours. That slows the game down to a crawl, and the constant flow of chances on both goals stops suddenly. Diveev gets in the way of Özcan's finish in our first approach in a long time, already in the 81st minute, then Raya holds another header by the striker one minute later without issue. That seems to wake everyone up once again, and soon Kretzschmar is saving a header by Samardzic after a cross from the right, and Tshibangu sends another header over when the keeper had completely missed the flight of the ball. Another save by Kretzschmar prevents Elvedi from scoring in a corner kick one minute before full time, Rodríguez scores in a clear offside position in injury time, and an extremely entertaining game ends in a fair draw. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Manu Sánchez 25) Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 (Marcus Thuram 30) - - - Told you this wouldn't be easy. Gladbach are a much better team than their position shows and they're finally finding their rhythm. This game could've gone either way, particularly in the second half when most of the best chances went for the visitors, but we also had our fair share. In the end a result that's not too bad but not particularly good given HSV's win. Leverkusen also take the chance to win against Dortmund and give Bayern the chance to escape, which they (barely) take winning 0-1 in Wolfsburg thanks to an 80th minute penalty kick.

Jan 11th 2028 Here comes Mourinho to make our life difficult with a €7.75M bid for Svensson. Nowhere near enough, and while the player wouldn't mind a move to Roma, he isn't willing to push the issue either, so rejecting the offer is the easy choice here. Now, if other, more enticing teams come around we might have to deal with this differently, but for now we're safe. Rodríguez and Rijkhoff make the Team of the Week, and deservedly so. Jan 12th 2028 One of them won't be starting in our next game, though: Rijkhoff stubs his toe in training and will be in the medical bay for a few days, enough to give Özcan the nod against Paderborn. Jan 14th 2028 Caraballo has a pretty torrid day in his first match with Venezuela U23, which they lose clearly to Brazil 1-3. Minor injury to loanee keeper Aghajanyan, who still hasn't played but has now been thrust into the second keeper position with Quintero's departure. A gashed leg means he misses only five to eight days, but it's still enough to force us to call up a kid from the U18s just to fill the mandatory reserve keeper slot. Jan 15th 2028 TSV 1860 München (4th) vs. SC Paderborn 07 (18th) (Bundesliga, 19/34) Dead last, only six points scored so far, and with their last (and only) win having happened in September? This should be a walkover. But of course we can't go out there thinking like that, because that's when you throw away points you end up missing at the end of the season. Let's take this seriously. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Francisco Gerometta (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florend Da Silva (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) PADERBORN (4-4-2): Leopold Zingerle (GK); Bendegúz Bolla (DR), Laurin Moser (DCr), Jacek Winiarczyk (DCl), Jaouen Hadjam (DL); Bruninho (MR), Kacper Duda (MCr), Tomer Gannah (MCl), Felix Mambimbi (ML); Jessic Ngankam (STl), Johann Brunnemann (STr) * * * Some rotation today, but we keep a competitive eleven with few concessions to luck. The game starts slow, with possession clearly on our side but little in the way of results in attack, until twelve minutes in Maldini goes down inside the box after a challenge by Hadjam and, after the usual VAR drama, a penalty kick is given. Da Silva quickly makes it four out of four for him from the spot this season and gives us the early lead we'd been craving. A good block by Thiago prevents an instant reply by Paderborn through Bruninho, and after focusing on defense and control of the ball for a bit we go right back at it, with Maldini leaving Hadjam behind in a burst of speed and shooting into Zingerle's effective but not very aesthetic save. In the 24th the winger goes for a more traditional route, dropping into the corner and crossing towards the heart of the box, where Marcos Paulo heads the ball unopposed into the back of the net for the 2-0. One minute later Maldini does it again, this time finding Özcan for a slightly wide header, but afterwards we go back to our more controlling profile, keeping the ball well hidden away for the rest of the half, with Paderborn only interrupting us in injury time with a corner kick that Winiarczyk heads into the crossbar and over. Easy so far. HALF TIME - 2-0 To the players' credit they come into the second half looking for a third, with Özcan and Marcos Paulo having early chances denied by an excellent Zingerle. On the other end Kretzschmar has to go down to save a rebounded ball after an attempt by Ngankam, but we quickly respond through Özcan's through ball towards Marcos Paulo, who once again runs into the keeper in his attempt to score. After a while Stjepanovic, Baldé, and Karlsen enter the game, which seems to be completely under control. Mambimbi has a decent chance to make me eat my words in the 64th after gathering the ball inside the penalty area from Hadjam, but thankfully his aim is terrible and his shot goes well wide. Meanwhile Maldini tries luck with a 30-yard direct free kick that almost surprises Zingerle, but the keeper manages to swat it away from the top corner before it goes in. Next comes Karlsen, barging into the box but being blocked by Hadjam when trying to finish the job, and in the 74th a combination through the center between Özcan, Karlsen, and Maldini almost ends with the Italian scoring, but another timely block by the defense saves an already beaten Zingerle, at the risk of almost scoring an own goal. Özcan follows up with a great header in the corner kick, sending it a few inches above the bar. One minute later, though, Ngankam profits from Baldé's extremely deep position to receive unmarked and onside inside the box, but he takes too long to shoot and gives time to the same right back to come and take the ball away from him. On the other goal Zingerle flies again to tip wide another direct free kick, this one by Da Silva, and after a few more blocked shots Karlsen finally finds a way to the keeper with a run into space and a first-time shot that Zingerle once again turns around the post. Despite our somewhat suspect finishing, though, we still manage a comfortable win in the end. * * * TSV 1860 München 2 (Florent Da Silva 12p, Marcos Paulo 24) SC Paderborn 07 0 - - - Easy as expected. We probably could've scored a few more today if we'd needed them, although Zingerle had a bit of a stormer despite conceding twice. Other than a couple of isolated chances Paderborn were about as inoffensive as we could imagine from their position, so we never felt threatened. Great game by Maldini today. Once again tasty results elsewhere, with Leipzig and Leverkusen dropping more points, leaving us four points behind the third place and with a healthy six-point lead over seventh-placed Stuttgart. After the match Thiago receives the news that he's been called up as an injury substitute for the Brazil U23 side. Good thing we made him play today, as he's unlikely to be available next weekend.

Dec 19th 2027 Okay, time to look at expiring contracts, of which we have three in the first team. First up is Quintero, who I fear has hit his ceiling already and, if we go by his latest performances in the Cup and Europa League, he's simply not good enough to play at this level. Extending his contract just to sell him is an option, but his value is low and the hassle is probably not worth it. He'll be let go come June, with a thank-you gift for all his work in that DFB Pokal semifinal run two years ago. Then there's Ulrich. Unlike Quintero, who came on a free, we actually paid some money for Ulrich back in the day, but just like Quintero, he seems to have already reached a plateau where he's not good enough to play regularly for us, but also unlikely to ever get there no matter how much we try to force the issue. He's younger at only 22, but even if he manages to reach his whole potential he'll never be anything more than a fringe player. He has some current upside due to being homegrown, but that changes next June when both Vuskovic and Hadzic will attain that status, which makes him expendable. Most likely released in June, unless we can find a really good reason to keep him in the meantime. Last one is Sapmaz, and his case is a bit more problematic than it seems. Yes, he's slowly getting better, but his development pace seems to always put him a step behind what a regular starter at the club should be. Still 21 so plenty of time to get there, and he is homegrown at the club so that's a huge upside, but just having him there needing regular minutes means improving on that position becomes more difficult, as we need to sell Maldini if we want a better starter, and that in turn makes it more difficult for Sapmaz to get minutes. Still, the kid's shown a remarkable increase in consistency this year when compared to his ten-game wonder from the last, and already has numbers comparable to what he achieved last year during the whole season, so an extension (and a healthy raise in weekly wages to €16.5k) is warranteed in any case. Doesn't mean he will stay past next summer with 100% certainty, though. Dec 26th 2027 Well, that's a surprise. I was fully expecting some transfer offers to come our way as soon as the new window approached, but I didn't think the first one would be for Quintero! And from Racing Club de Avellaneda, no less. The fee is small (€55k with some extra clauses) but it includes a 20% of future profits which I'm much more keen on, particularly considering he'd leave on a free come June anyway. The only issue is that now we need to find a backup keeper for the rest of the season, although we might wait to see what happens with Kretzschmar (and how much we get for him) first to decide how much we want to splurge into this. Dec 29th 2027 Baldé goes down in the first training session after the winter break with pulled ankle ligaments, meaning he's gonna be out for at least a couple of weeks and miss at the very least our first Bundesliga game of 2028. Dec 31st 2027 Unexpected awards coming for one of our players, Arnau Casas. The center-back had an impressive year in Brondby before joining us, and even now they remember him fondly enough to give him the Player of the Year and Media Player of the Year awards. Jan 1st 2028 Happy new year, and let the madness of the winter transfer window commence! First of all, one arrival in the shape of young midfielder Jô, who we signed on a free a few months ago and who will be loaned out as soon as possible to get him some playing time. Otherwise, the party starts about the same as it ended last time: with Ajax being annoying sending lowball offers for Karlsen. Give up already, guys. It doesn't take long for Quintero to agree his departure back towards Argentina to join Racing Club. The small fee is just that much more than we expected to get for him at this point of his contract, so this has to count as a good sale. He did acceptably well as our backup/cup keeper, but this is as far as he could go with us. Jan 2nd 2028 TSV 1860 München vs. Olympique Lyonnais (Friendly) For our traditional winter friendly we bring to München former Ligue 1 winners who have hit a rough patch lately, to the point of hiring ex-Wolfsburg Edin Dzeko as their manager. OL come into the game with a very defensive outlook, which hinders our progress towards scoring the opener, not helped by our lack of accuracy upfront. After ten shots, none of them on target, we go into the second half with a fresh new eleven and finally make their keeper work a little bit. A corner kick in the 54th minute finally gives us the lead thanks to a nod by Özcan and a point-blank header into the net by Casas. Four minutes later Hadzic makes it two in yet another corner kick, which seem to be Lyon's weakness. Their first shot at goal doesn't come until the 75th and it's a wide one, and four minutes later Rodríguez scores the third with a powerful shot from the edge of the box, and could've got a fourth in injury time if the post hadn't got in the way. A surprisingly easy win all in all. TSV 1860 München 3 (Arnau Casas 54, Amer Hadzic 48, Jair Rodríguez 79) Olympique Lyonnais 0 Jan 3rd 2028 Looks like the interest in Kretzschmar is cooling down a bit, with only Chelsea trailing him now. On the other hand Svensson is attracting attention from many clubs with deep pockets including Roma, Fiorentina, and Crystal Palace, so that's another problem we might have to deal with soon. Jan 5th 2028 Welp, problems: Gerometta has a pulled groin. This is nothing serious and should only keep him out of the game for less than a week, but that's enough to make him a very serious doubt for our game in Düsseldorf in three days, and Baldé is definitely out for that one... Jan 7th 2028 Caraballo gets called by the Venezuela U23 squad to take part in the South American branch of the Pre-Olympic tournament, in which he'll face against Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Uruguay in only six days. Of course that means we'll miss him for a while, which isn't ideal, but at least it's not in the busiest part of the schedule. Still no transfer activity, which is good, but we secure a signing for the summer: 19yo goalkeeper Christian Englisch, who is German by the way, agrees to a free transfer from Hoffenheim. A young keeper with lots of future, he could become Kretzschmar's long-term replacement if he develops as well as the scouts expect him to. Somewhat surprising that we didn't have to fight against any of the big teams in the nation for him, though. Regardless, he'll come on minimal wages and with the expectation to train well and possibly play in the cup. His minutes with the first team might be reduced, probably to zero, if we sign an actual, senior backup in the meantime, though. More problems in the infirmary, and once again with one of our full backs: now it's Manu Sánchez who's suffering from the seasonal flu, and will be sent home to recover for around two weeks. Jan 8th 2028 Fortuna Düsseldorf (15th) vs. TSV 1860 München (6th) (Bundesliga, 18/34) Break over, back to work. Fortuna remain in "their" place, hovering right above the relegation battle without getting dragged into it, but always with the feeling that a few bad results in a row could bring them down into the mud. With our last three fixtures having resulted in two draws and a defeat it's about time to get back to winning ways. * * * DÜSSELDORF (4-4-2): Florian Kastenmeier (GK); Benjamin Henrichs (DR), Christoph Klarer (DCr), Matthias Ginter (DCl), Pietro Beruatto (DL); Levin Öztunali (MR), Ilay Elmkies (MCr), Finn Ole Becker (MCl), Ben Bobzien (ML); Mamadou Kaly Sené (STr), Rafael Santos Borré (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Francisco Gerometta (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Darko Vuskovic (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST) * * * Gerometta is able to play with minimal difficulties in the end, although we'll be keeping an eye on his fitness levels as the game progresses. Not like we have any other right backs to replace him with, though... Fortuna start someone familiar upfront today alongside Borré: Sené signed for them from Mainz this past summer after our previous meeting and has been doing a good job so far with six goals in twelve appearances. The game starts quite even, both teams trying to push forward but not really getting past the opposing defensive lines with any clarity in the first twenty minutes. Then, exactly on the twenty-first minute, a long passing play by Fortuna ends when Becker finds Elmkies unmarked after a bad decision by Stjepanovic, and the midfielder takes his chance to advance and shoot with power to score the 1-0. But that lead lasts them all of two minutes: Caraballo assists Rijkhoff inside the box, the striker drops towards the left, turns around, and passes it low towards the center so Rodríguez can hit it on the run and draw the game. That's some change of pace. Suddenly chances seem much easier to get, and soon Svensson is sending a shot over the bar after another good pass by Caraballo. Rijkhoff also sends his finish over the bar a bit later following a good low cross by Rodríguez, who almost returned the favor there. Another chance falls to the striker after a cross by Sapmaz, but this time his header is well saved by Kastenmeier. Fortuna all but disappear after our goal, but they still manage to hold on to the draw until half time. HALF TIME - 1-1 We keep the pressure up in the second half, starting with another cross from the right that Rijkhoff heads into the keeper's hands. We switch wings then after Svensson sends a beautiful pass into the center towards Rodríguez, whose finish is once again blocked by Kastenmeier and deflected wide. The goal still won't come, though, and we try with Da Silva and Maldini to see if they can create something new. That doesn't seem to work, and after ten minutes without any more chances we bring Marcos Paulo in, too. In the end our substitutions work as intended, at least one of them: in the 74th minute Da Silva drops to the left wing to trade passes with Svensson before throwing a high cross into the heart of the box so Rijkhoff can use his height to jump over Ginter in and score the 1-2. Fortune once again seem to take it hard, and Rijkhoff almost profits from their funk to score a third with a powerful left-footed finish that goes narrowly wide. Seven minutes before full time Da Silva sends another ball into the box and Rodríguez, who looks very much offside, gathers it and calmly slots it in. The surprising part comes when VAR gives the all ok and the goal makes it to the scoreboard: turns out Elmkies was juuust in line with the Mexican. That basically seals the game, but there's still time for Rijkhoff to get a one-on-one stopped by Kastenmeier after another great assist by Da Silva, and for Kretzschmar to save a clear-cut chance for Köhlert to get one back for the home team in the 89th. The result doesn't move one way or the other, though, and we score a quite comprehensive away win to start the year in a good note. * * * Fortuna Düsseldorf 1 (Ilay Elmkies 21) TSV 1860 München 3 (Jair Rodríguez 23 82, Julian Rijkhoff 74) - - - Quite good, this one. Conceding in Fortuna's only real chance in the first half was unfortunate, but we recovered quickly and, mostly thanks to Rodríguez, Rijkhoff, and a good show by Da Silva off the bench, we made short work of them and secured a very comfortable win in the end. A great result made even better by Leverkusen's draw against Köln, HSV's defeat at home to Freiburg, and Leipzig's shocking 0-3 loss to Gladbach, which means we go back to the fourth place once again and creep a bit closer to the third.

Dec 13th 2027 Not one but two job interview offers out of nowhere. The culprits were Köln (expected after that question from the press a while ago) and Hertha (not so much, they sacked Dárdai a week ago), and both get the usual line of "I'm sorry, this can't work. It's not you, it's me." Meanwhile transfer rumor season is already in full swing with only a bit over two weeks remaining until the winter window. First one in the headlines is, somewhat surprisingly, Svensson, who is reportedly Freiburg's main target. €20M or bust, guys, he's not moving otherwise. Dec 14th 2027 Gigachad Sapmaz with the Team of the Week appearance off the bench. Dec 17th 2027 RasenBallsport Leipzig (3rd) vs. TSV 1860 München (4th) (Bundesliga, 17/34) Early end of the first half of the season, since we get the Friday fixture this week in our trip to Leipzig. The Red Bull fellows are doing their best to keep Bayern's and Dortmund's pace, but they still look like the weakest link in this top three. Let's see if we can give them a scare and pull them down into a whole different battle. * * * RB LEIPZIG (4-2-3-1): Alexander Nübel (GK); Wilfried Singo (DR), Kamil Piatkowski (DCr), Felix Uduokhai (DCl), Angeliño (DL); Jakub Moder (MCr), Nedim Bajrami (MCl); Francisco Conceiçao (AMR), Fábio Carvalho (AMC), Alan Velasco (AML); Patson Daka (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-2-3-1 deep): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Thiago (DMCr), Darko Vuskovic (DMCl); Matías Miranda (MC); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST) * * * We repeat our "defensive" formation since we know Leipzig love pressing us high, with some minor changes in the lineup from our last fixture. Leipzig get an early chance in a corner kick that Moder heads over Kretzschmar and into the crossbar, then Velasco follows it up with another header to a cross by Singo, this one wide. As expected, they're not pulling any punches. We try our best to get away from their early pressure, which directly leads to a ball lost in the build-up and a high shot by Daka as he tries to surprise Kretzschmar, and after some minutes without shots at our goal it looks like we've survived the first wave. The second is a whole another matter, though: Singo runs down the right wing and crosses directly towards the goal, forcing Kretzschmar to punch the ball away but only as far as Daka, who scores easily to put Leipzig ahead. Immediately after that we mount our first real attack, with Caraballo nudging the ball under Moder's legs and assisting Rijkhoff, who shoots left-footed and weakly into Nübel's hands. Kretzschmar then does well to save and hold a dangerous header by Daka, but in the 29th Vuskovic trips Moder inside the box and the penalty is clear even before VAR's intervention. Bajrami beats Kretzschmar from the spot, and the game is starting to run away from us. Once again we try to hit back right after kick off, and once again Caraballo sets up a good chance, this time with a pass into space ahead of Miranda who also sees his finish denied by Nübel, as does Stjepanovic in the following corner kick. Velasco then hits us back with a good run into the box from the right wing that he finishes by shooting into the sidenetting, and in the 35th Stjeppanovic tries again in another corner kick, this time nodding the ball slightly over the bar. We're improving, but we'll need more than this if we want to get something out of this game in the second half. HALF TIME - 2-0 We give it ten minutes until we pull the trigger and bring in three players and a formation change, similarly to what we did against Hamburg: Rodríguez, Sapmaz, and Özcan are the chosen ones this time, but there's no immediate effect other than a good chance on the wrong goal, with Carvalho breaking through the center and shooting into Kretzschmar's block. We slowly push forward, although not every effectively when it comes to creating danger, while Leipzig keep hitting us with balls into space that generate good chances, like one for Joao Mário in the 73rd minute that Kretzschmar once again stops. The keeper needs to perform once again two minutes later, stopping a long-range attempt by Paulo Bernardo, then watches as Barrow sends wide an absolute sitter in the 80th after a great through ball tears our defense apart. In the final ten minutes they seem to take pity on us, though, and stop their attacks in order to keep the ball and prevent any of our desperate attempts at a last-second comeback. Not a good note to end the year with. * * * RasenBallsport Leipzig 2 (Patson Daka 19, Nedim Bajrami 30p) TSV 1860 München 0 - - - Nah, this was terrible. Neither tactic worked today, we just didn't have the required skill level to put them under even the tiniest bit of pressure all game long. This could've easily been a 4-0 if they'd even bothered to try. Still worlds apart. * * * | Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | GD | Pts | Form | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | FC Bayern | 17 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 55 | 14 | 41 | 42 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | Borussia Dortmund | 17 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 35 | 18 | 17 | 41 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | RB Leipzig | 17 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 43 | 19 | 24 | 39 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | Bayer Leverkusen | 17 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 22 | 8 | 32 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | Hamburg | 17 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 30 | 20 | 10 | 31 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | 1860 München | 17 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 26 | 15 | 11 | 30 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | Stuttgart | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 31 | 28 | 3 | 27 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | Freiburg | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 25 | 27 | -2 | 26 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | Frankfurt | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 28 | 25 | 3 | 24 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th| Hertha BSC | 17 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 24 | 27 | -3 | 23 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th| Nürnberg | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 23 | 25 | -2 | 20 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th| Köln | 17 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 23 | 27 | -4 | 19 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th| Borussia M'gladbach | 17 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 26 | -9 | 17 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th| Mainz | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 23 | 33 | -10 | 16 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th| Fortuna Düsseldorf | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 22 | 38 | -16 | 16 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th| Heidenheim | 17 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 21 | 46 | -25 | 10 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th| Wolfsburg | 17 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 30 | -18 | 9 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th| SC Paderborn | 17 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 11 | 39 | -28 | 6 | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| Still, we're roughly where we'd want to be at this stage. It's obvious we're still far from a title-worthy team so challenging for the Bundesliga is a pipedream, but we certainly can fight for the fourth place and use the Champions League as that final step towards the top three. The situation is very similar to last year's, only the table is a bit less tight in the top half than it was then, with only Hamburg and Leverkusen really there and Stuttgart and Freiburg a fair bit behind, with other candidates like Eintracht and Hertha needing a huge comeback to even get involved. That should simplify matters come the final fixtures, and hopefully make it easier to secure European qualification once again. The battle for the Bundesliga is, as mentioned previously, wide open between the three usual suspects. Bayern have a small lead and the moral advantage of only having lost once, but that one defeat was a thorough drubbing by Dortmund, so they might not want to feel too confident in their position. At the bottom, Heidenheim have just escaped the direct drop and dragged Wolfsburg into it, but only to see that there's a world and a half ahead of them if they want to reach Fortuna, Mainz, and the extremely disappointing Gladbach and Köln and drag them into the fight for extra funsies. It'll take something special for the bottom three to not remain as is come the end of the season, in whatever order. * * * PLAYER STATS ============ Average rating (min. 6 games played): Vedat Özcan 7.19 (12(2) apps) Matías Miranda 7.19 (17(1) apps) Arnau Casas 7.19 (13(2) apps) Niklas Lang 7.15 (14 apps) Thierno Baldé 7.11 (14(1) apps) Goals: Vedat Özcan 7 goals Rodrigo Caraballo 6 Julian Rijkhoff 6 Can Sapmaz 5 Marcos Paulo 4 Assists: Matías Miranda 6 assists Manu Sánchez 4 Jair Rodríguez 3 Martin Karlsen 3 Florent Da Silva 3 Daniel Maldini 3 Francisco Gerometta 3 * * * ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD Premier League: sigh, I don't know why I even bother with this league anymore. The Ligue 1 is boring with PSG's domination, sure, but Manchester City is becoming as bad or worse. At least there's some entertainment in their chasers this time, though. Sure, Liverpool and Newcastle seven points behind are predictable, but West Ham in fourth place, comfortably ahead of Chelsea, Leicester, and Arsenal? Now that's different. Even more different is Manchester United's shocking twelfth place, although with a game in hand and only three points behind the Europa League places. As for the relegation places, Norwich and Stoke were expected as newly promoted teams, but Fulham is a bit of a surprise. The third ex-Championship side, Brentford, are actually eighth. Wow. LaLiga: Barça are building up on last year's success with an almost perfect season so far, conceding only a single draw in seventeen games (against seventh-placed Atlético) and leading with four points over Real Madrid, with the likes of Real Sociedad, Sevilla, and Villarreal a world apart. At the bottom the one surprising thing is that none of the newly promoted teams (Alavés, Zaragoza, and Tenerife) are in the drop zone right now, although the latter are really close. Getafe are dead last with only seven points, but Cádiz and Valladolid could escape from there at a moment's notice. Serie A: the most interesting big league in Europe bar none, with four different winners in the last five seasons, and looking like they might have another change at the top this season with Milan leading champions Juventus by two points and neighbors Inter by three. Napoli are a distant fourth, and there's a surprising face in the European places with Genoa. The biggest surprise by far, though, is seeing Fiorentina second to last, only better than dead-last Lecce, particularly considering they were expected to be fighting for Europe instead of for survival. Verona are third from the bottom, and both them and Fiore need only a couple of wins to escape that predicament. Ligue 1: okay, I take it back, the Ligue 1 is still worse than the Premier. Nine points is PSG's lead this time, matching Barça's almost perfect season in Spain with also one single draw (at home against Brest of all teams) and leaving the likes of Nice, Monaco and Lille fighting to be the best of the rest. Surprisingly terrible seasons for the two classics of French football, OM and OL, both mired in midtable with surprise packages like Strasbourg, Brest, and Saint-Étienne taking their places in the European scuffle. Another classic in the league, Reims, is the only winless team and looking like a certainty for relegation after ten consecutive years in the top tier. Troyes, Bourdeaux, Nimes, and Lorient will try to avoid going along with them towards the Ligue 2.

Dec 10th 2027 With Stjepanovic back in action it was about time to consider returning Chabot to Dortmund, but Klopp beat us to the punch by calling to complain that he wasn't playing enough. Well, good thing you called, Jurgen... Five minutes later the player is on his way back to his club. He was decent enough when he played, for sure, but certainly not worth the €37.5k we were paying him each week. And that's just half of his total wages! Now we can put that money to better use, like extending some expiring deals or offering a new contract to Kretzschmar before he's taken away from us. Problem is, Kretzschmar just wants too much. The interest of such big teams means he knows he can get a much better contract elsewhere, so he's asking for wages we just can't afford to offer him, and which the board would block if we did anyway. Not to mention wanting a €9.5M release clause for Champions League clubs in exchange for not asking for even more money. A real shame, but I wouldn't be surprised if he left this coming January. Dec 12th 2027 TSV 1860 München (4th) vs. Hamburger SV (5th) (Bundesliga, 16/34) With most of the German football world focusing exclusively on der Klassiker between Dortmund and Bayern, we also have our very own "title" decider today against Hamburg, one of those teams that always, without fail, give us a lot of trouble. They're building on their successful Champions League challenge from the last season and look set to be there or thereabouts by the end of the year, so a win is imperative today if we want to keep them at bay and gain an important advantage. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-2-3-1 deep): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Francisco Gerometta (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Thiago (DMCr), Darko Vuskovic (DMCl); Matías Miranda (MC); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST) HSV (4-2-3-1): Yoshiaki Ichikawa (GK); Joel Agyekum (DR), Ron Schallenberg (DCr), Justin Janitzek (DCl), Andrii Buleza (DL); Burak Ince (MCr), Ludovit Reis (MCl); Xavier Amaechi (AMR), Tin Vrljicak (AMC), Filip Ristanic (AML); Kevin Schade (ST) * * * We return to our 4-2-3-1 formation to counter HSV's predictable high press tactic, facing an almost completely new forward line in which Schade still remains as their most advanced player, ready to score against us once again. The match starts really even, with us holding the ball but Hamburg defending well and looking dangerous on the break, and actually having the first chance in a pass by Amaechi gathered by Ristanic, who shoots into Kretzschmar's emergency save. Neither team is attacking with any kind of consistency, though, and the best we can produce in a bit over twenty minutes is a soft header by Rijkhoff that Ichikawa gathers with ease. Our control of possession allows us to push HSV back little by little, though, and in the 24th a good cross by Vuskovic leads to Maldini's header, well blocked by Ichikawa for a corner kick. Casas has another header in a different corner kick five minutes later, although this one goes narrowly over, and it seems like we're slowly but surely becoming the better team on the pitch. That's when HSV remind us who they are, with a dangerous run by Schade that ends in a cross towards Ristanic, who heads it over the bar. After that, though, the ball gets mired in midfield and the keepers can have a bit of a breather until the end of the half. HALF TIME - 0-0 The players look fired up after the break, soon creating an attack down the right flank that leads to Miranda's header, not too difficult for Ichikawa. More dangerous is Buleza's cross in the 50th, headed by Vrljicak from close range but well saved by the always well positioned Kretzschmar. Six minutes later Buleza sends another cross into the box, Schade is somehow paired with the much smaller Svensson, and the striker gets a perfect header in to score the 0-1 for Hamburg. Same old. We react immediately, bringing Rodríguez, Sapmaz, and Caraballo into the game and switching to our usual 4-3-3, and right off the bat Sapmaz performs a great dribble past Buleza and crosses to an apparently easy finish by Caraballo, who nonetheless mishits the ball and sends it wide. We keep knocking on the door for the following minutes, but we don't create anything as good as that instant chance until the 76th, when a corner kick reaches Rijkhoff in the far post, but the striker can't bring it down and the ball sails over. Two minutes later Sapmaz sets Rijkhoff up for another great chance, one on one against Ichikawa, but the keeper wins this round too and the ball is deflected wide. Time is running out on us and desperation starts settling in, but in the 88th minute Svensson sends a long diagonal pass into Sapmaz's path, and the winger runs into the box unopposed and places the ball past Ichikawa to score the 1-1, confirmed by VAR a while later. The players are fired up now, and a steal and cross by Sapmaz in injury time almost becomes the winner, but Rodríguez finds Janitzek in the way of his finish and all we get is another corner kick. We keep trying until the end, but there are no more chances to be had and the game ends in a draw. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Can Sapmaz 88) Hamburger SV 1 (Kevin Schade 56) - - - I hate Schade so, so much. Sigh... At least we can have the consolation prize of deserving the win today, we had more and better chances and should've scored at least one more in the second half, particularly one of those near-misses by Caraballo and Rijkhoff. Still, Sapmaz heroics off the bench are always a thing of beauty. Oh well, looks like HSV will remain a thorn in our side for a bit longer. Dortmund absolutely dominate Bayern in der Klassiker and score a momentous 5-2 win (Bayern's first league defeat of the season so far) putting themselves only one point behind the current champions, and allowing Leipzig to also get within reach of the top spot. The Bundesliga is still alive.

Dec 7th 2027 Svensson and Caraballo populate the whole left wing of the Team of the Week. Dec 9th 2027 TSV 1860 München vs. FC Kobenhavn (Europa League group F, 6/6) A friendly in everything but name, really, at least for us: Kobenhavn need a win to put some pressure on Napoli for the second place. We don't mind either way, so we'll play our youngsters and reserves and save our starters for the really important Bundesliga games coming in the following days. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Valentino Quintero (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Thiago (DM), Martin Karlsen (MCr), Laurin Ulrich (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) KOBENHAVN (4-4-2): Lawrence Zigi (GK); Petr Václavik (DR), Morten Pedersen (DCr), Davit Khocholava (DCl), Miguel Gutiérrez (DL); Anders Dreyer (MR), Mateusz Bogusz (MCr), Takuhiro Nakai (MCl), Trym Brubak (ML); Lasse Jepsen (STr), Dias (STl) * * * Funnily enough, Kobenhavn are currently managerless after David Nielsen moved to Lazio, and their caretaker has switched into a flat 4-4-2, which serves us just fine. We start a mix of youngsters and players in need of fitness, plus Quintero, who gets an unexpected game after the cup exit. This patchwork starting eleven starts really well, with Sánchez and Caraballo combining so the Venezuelan shoots with power into Zigi's fist save. Our next attacks run into a defender at some point before the final shot, but a volley by Özcan after a cross by Maldini forces Zigi into another difficult save in the 9th minute. The corner kick is cleared, but the play continues into a cross by Sánchez that Özcan heads perfectly, downwards and away from the keeper's reach, to score the 1-0. Two minutes later Karlsen sends into the clouds a chance to make it two following a great pass into space by Caraballo, and in the 15th Özcan's pressure on the defense bears fruit when he intercepts a terrible pass by Pedersen and walks into the box unopposed to score the 2-0 with supreme ease. After that we flip the "keep the ball" switch and start dominating in earnest, not giving Kobenhavn a sniff until in the 30th minute Maldini finds Özcan inside the penalty area, the striker shoots into the post, and Caraballo grabs the rebound to score the 3-0. Six minutes later, though, a cross by Bruback reaches Jepsen, who outjumps Ulrich and loops the ball over Kretzschmar to cut our lead back to two. The rest of the half goes by without any noteworthy news, and we maintain a healthy result at the break. HALF TIME - 3-1 Özcan clearly wants a hattrick, and he almost gets it with a perfectly placed shot from the edge of the box early into the second half that only Zigi's self-propelled flight prevents from going in. However, in the 53rd, a good movement by Kobenhavn leaves them with superiority down the left flank, and their players combine well through that gap to allow Jepsen to score the 3-2, not conveniently defended by Quintero. Dias then tries luck from afar but misses the target by a mile and a half, just before we bring our first substitutions into the game, namely Sapmaz and Casas replacing the recently recovered Stjepanovic and Maldini. Caraballo gathers a great pass by Özcan, undisputed man of the match, in the 63rd minute and bears down on Zigi, but runs out of space and the keeper has an easy time blocking his shot. Rodríguez then gives Thiago a chance to rest and moves Ulrich to the anchor, but that turns out to be a bad idea: Ulrich loses the ball in midfield, Hartmann assists Dias, and the striker runs into the box and shoots past Quintero, once again very static, to draw the game. Jepsen then has a chance to complete an unlikely comeback after Hadzic fails to measure a long pass into the box, but thankfully this time the striker blasts it over. Kobenhavn now believe they can win this and pour forward, creating a few minor chances the best of which is a header by Hartmann that Quintero saves and holds with both hands. We also hit them on the break, and Rodríguez almost grabs the decider one minute before the 90th after a quick run by Sapmaz, but smashes his shot against a defender. In the end, though, neither team manages to break a tie that leaves everyone unsatisfied. * * * TSV 1860 München 3 (Vedat Özcan 9 15, Rodrigo Caraballo 30) FC Kobenhavn 3 (Lasse Jepsen 36 53, Dias 75) - - - Good thing this game didn't matter, because by the gods that I'd be throwing bottles at the wall if it did. I have no idea what happened there, but I sure hope it never happens again. Özcan was great today, though, the kid's looking better by the day. No wonder Inter value him so highly. The result didn't matter for Kobenhavn either in the end, since Napoli won easily in Bern and secured the second place no matter what happened here. We get a bye in the first knockout round now, so we'll have to wait until it's done in February to know who'll be our next rivals in the competition.

Dec 2nd 2027 Celtic and RB Leipzig join the growing list of Kretzschmar's suitors. The one thing I know for certain is that I'm not selling him to Leipzig, nor Bayern, nor any other team in the Bundesliga. Other than that it'll be up to the player and to the teams chasing him, but they should expect to pay through their noses. Dec 4th 2027 1.FSV Mainz 05 (13th) vs. TSV 1860 München (4th) (Bundesliga, 15/34) We end this quickfire run of games with a trip to Mainz, who are having a very... Mainz-like season. Still stuck in the bottom half and with little hope of pushing much higher, their aim is to keep the relegation candidates below at bay. Feels weird to say, but we play in a different league nowadays. We should be winning this. * * * MAINZ (4-2-3-1): Marvin Schwäbe (GK); Joe Scally (DR), Omar Rekik (DCr), Márton Dárdai (DCl), Mathias Farnes Gabrielsen (DL); Frank Hennig (MCr), Eduard Löwen (MCl); Tore Os (AMR), Mohammed Diomandé (AMC), Paulos Abraham (AML); Alessio Besio (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST) * * * Partial rotation today, since a few players like Lang, Svensson, and Rijkhoff have been complaining about wanting more starts and we now have five days and an irrelevant Europa League game to rest them. The game starts slow, with us holding the ball by not risking it, and this patient approach finally leads to a shot by Rijkhoff that Schwäbe blocks right next to his right post. Mainz respond with an attempt by Löwen that hits Lang and bounces up before falling into Kretzschmar's arms. After a while we decide to switch to a slightly higher gear, although chances are still hard to come by for both teams. Closest thing is a direct free kick that Dárdai smashes into the fence, while our only good approach, a saved finish by Marcos Paulo after a nice nod from Rijkhoff, is not even valid due to offside. In the 43rd, though, Sapmaz finally breaks free from Gabrielsen and sends a cross towards the small box, where Rijkhoff stretches to get ahead of Rekik and push it over the line for the 0-1. With that ends a very low-key first half. HALF TIME - 0-1 The second half doesn't exactly turn into an attacking festival, but Mainz do get an early chance in a corner kick that Dárdai heads into Kretzschmar's hands. There's no continuity, though, and we feel comfortable enough to bring a few substitutes into the game early to keep our legs fresh. One of them is Maldini, who returns to action after his injury, while Hadzic takes Lang's place in our defense. Right before the substitutions take place, though, Sapmaz is tripped from behind by Gabrielsen and the left back is shown his second yellow card, making our job even easier. The game is ready for us to score a second and confirm our win for good, and Rijkhoff gets the closest one can get after he gathers a through ball from Rodríguez and runs at Schwäbe before smashing his finish into the crossbar. Da Silva replaces Miranda afterwards after another great game in midfield by the Argentinian, and Rodríguez increases our woodwork count with a direct free kick that bounces off the top of the crossbar before going over. The goal is coming, though, and it arrives in the 82nd after a long play ends with Rodríguez passing the ball back towards the front of the area so Thiago can shoot with power and precision and score the 0-2, and his first since his arrival. With that the game is effectively over, and the remaining minutes pass without further incident. A professional job. * * * 1.FSV Mainz 05 0 (Mathias Farnes Gabrielsen sent off 65) TSV 1860 München 2 (Julian Rijkhoff 43, Thiago 82) - - - Rock solid once again. Very similar to the Heidenheim game at times, with us always in control but not really pushing for all we're worth in attack despite our superiority. Thankfully this time the sending off removed any chances Mainz had of stealing points from us, and a beauty by Thiago sealed the deal in the end. No complaints whatsoever. HSV and Leverkusen keep pace with us, but Leipzig and Dortmund drop two points apiece in Paderborn and Stuttgart, and now they're "only" four and six points ahead. Oh, and the press didn't have anything better to ask me about than Köln's recently vacated manager post. Been a while. Still no.

Dec 1st 2027 TSV 1860 München (6th) vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen (5th) (Bundesliga, 14/34) Last season we beat Leverkusen 4-0 in a high-stakes fixture with Europe on the line. This season Leverkusen beat us 4-0 in a high-stakes fixture with survival in the DFB Pokal on the line. Today we have another high-stakes fixture in which the winner can take the loser out of Europe for the time being and establish dominance in what's likely to be a close-fought battle come the end of the season. Let's see which version of ourselves we find today... * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Francisco Gerometta (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Darko Vuskovic (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Matías Miranda (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) LEVERKUSEN (4-2-3-1 deep): Maarten Vandevoordt (GK); Kluiverth Aguilar (DR), Marco Kana (DCr), Pascual Piera (DCl), Jefté (DL); Giacomo Faticanti (DMCr), Eyüp Aydin (DMCl); Moussa Diaby (AMR), Florian Wirtz (AMC), Gabriel Pirani (AML), Marcos Leonardo (ST) * * * Maldini almost makes the bench today, but in the end we decide to play it safe and save his reappearance for the weekend. Leverkusen show an almost whole new defense compared to our last meeting, but their main threat, Marcos Leonardo (20 goals already) remains. That new defense turns to be their undoing, though: four minutes into the game Özcan speeds past Piera and into the box and the center back trips him clearly, gifting us an early penalty kick that Da Silva turns into the 1-0. Leverkusen remain a danger, though, and soon Faticanti has a good chance to draw the game in a corner kick he heads narrowly over. Stjepanovic answers with a Beckenbauer-like run forward before combining with Miranda and Özcan, who gets his finish deflected wide by Vandevoordt. In the 14th Gerometta finds himself with space to cross and sends the ball towards the far post, where Caraballo, who'd had a couple of suspicious performances as of late, volleys it in left-footed to double our lead. Now we can afford to control the game and keep the ball close to our feet. We do so with ease, and in the 29th Miranda decides to spice things up a bit with an individual run into the box and a placed finish that Vandevoordt has to work to turn around the post. Leverkusen finally show some teeth in the 36th minute with a long ball towards Marcos Leonardo, who blasts it miles over when put under pressure by our center-backs. Injury time brings a fantastic movement by Özcan, who leaves Kana for dead and runs at the keeper only to find his finish blocked in what becomes the last chance of a very one-sided first half. HALF TIME - 2-0 It's only fifteen seconds of the second half and Özcan is already heading a cross by Miranda over the bar, just to keep Leverkusen on their toes. Two minutes later the striker intercepts the ball inside the box and shoots first time into Vandervoordt's miracle save, which he repeats again when Miranda tries to score on the rebound. The miracles end there, though, and the corner taken by Miranda towards the far post is met by Özcan with a powerful downwards header to score the 3-0. We're riding the wave now, and in the 50th two new miracles, this time performed by Leverkusen's center-backs, prevent two point-blank finishes from Caraballo and Rodríguez from finding the back of the net. On the other goal Leverkusen try with another corner kick that Piera tries to smash in from a tight angle but Svensson covers his post well and kicks it away. Another strong block by Stjepanovic prevents another point-blank finish by Marcos Leonardo, then Kretzschmar saves a header by the striker in another corner kick. To prevent any more shenanigans we make a triple change then, bringing Thiago, Sapmaz, and Karlsen into the game. The substitutions seem to bring Leverkusen's attack to a screeching halt, and after fifteen minutes of calm Karlsen suddenly breaks through the right wing, stops, and sends a perfect cross towards the far post so Caraballo can head it in and score the traditional 1860-Leverkusen result of 4-0. After that neither team seems willing or able to attack anymore, so the final fifteen minutes are just a long celebration for the fans while the players watch the minutes tick away. A great win. * * * TSV 1860 München 4 (Florent Da Silva 5p, Rodrigo Caraballo 14 75, Vedat Özcan 49) Bayer 04 Leverkusen 0 - - - Perfection, once again. Looks like we can only win big or lose big against this team, at least since Simeone is in charge. Özcan, Caraballo, and Miranda had an absolute stormer today, and our defense was really solid too, including a good-as-new Stjepanovic. Fourth place recovered, and we reopen a bit of a gap ahead of our rivals for the Champions League. Let's see if it lasts.

Nov 28th 2027 1.FC Heidenheim 1846 (17th) vs. TSV 1860 München (4th) (Bundesliga, 13/34) We now head into another intense week with three games in six days, with the middle one against Leverkusen being the critical fixture for this part of the schedule. Before that, though, a trip to just-promoted Heidenheim who, as expected, are having a tough time in the Bundesliga, although not as bad as Paderborn. They're just one point away from Wolfsburg in the playoff position and two away from complete safety, so this won't be as easy as it may look at first glance. * * * HEIDENHEIM (4-2-3-1): Timothee Lo-Tutala (GK); Raphael Framberger (DR), Sharqia (DCr), Kasim Adams (DCl), Jonas Föhrenbach (DL); Dominik Kohr (MCr), Paul Seguin (MCl); Franco Tongya (AMR), Leo Castledine (AMC), Lee Jae-Sung (AML); Tim Kleindienst (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Julian Chabot (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Thiago (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST) * * * We haven't played against Heidenheim since our last year in the 2.Bundesliga, and we actually lost both games back then, so not exactly good memories. Kleindienst is the only remaining player from that team, though, so there won't be many callbacks today. Casas misses out today with a last second bruise, prompting Chabot's return to the lineup. We go hard on the pressing from the start, disrupting their buildup and generating some early danger through steals in midfield, although our first chance comes in a corner kick that Rijkhoff heads and Föhrenbach clears off the line. The striker has another in the 8th minute after a quick one-two with Sapmaz, but this time it's Lo-Tutala who deflects his finish wide. Two minutes later we turn on the style for good, with a first-touch passing play between Da Silva, Rijkhoff, Miranda, and Sapmaz, with the winger finishing it all with a placed finish that leaves the keeper unable to even react. Beautiful team goal. We take a more controlling approach after the goal, letting time pass while Heidenheim tire themselves chasing after the ball. Not much happens chances-wise until the 28th when Miranda and Sapmaz connect once again, this time with the winger shooting with power from the edge of the box and Lo-Tutala tipping it over the bar. The keeper also saves Rijkhoff's header in the following corner kick, then watches as Miranda half-volleys a cross by Sánchez narrowly wide to his left. Another shot by Miranda into Lo-Tutala's hands marks the end of a very comfy first half. HALF TIME - 0-1 Things remain calm in the first fifteen minutes of the second half, with Heidenheim barely threatening us and Kretzschmar still bored out of his mind. Rodríguez then gives Miranda some rest, keeping him fresh for what's coming midweek, while Karlsen takes Da Silva's place. In the 64th arrives Heidenheim's first shot on target, a direct free kick by Castledine that Kretzschmar has some trouble swatting away from the top corner, leading to some scrambling for the loose ball inside the box before it's finally cleared by Hadzic. Stjepanovic comes in for Chabot then, looking to get some more minutes into his legs. We haven't done much in attack after halftime, but in the 74th Thiago spots a good run by Sapmaz and sends the ball to him, prompting a one-on-one that Lo-Tutala solves with confidence. And then nothing else, on either goal, until two minutes before the 90th an isolated corner kick for Heidenheim reaches the far post, and Kleindienst is there to head it in and draw the game. We don't have time to get back into an attacking mindset, and the game ends tied. * * * 1.FC Heidenheim 1846 1 (Tim Kleindienst 88) TSV 1860 München 1 (Can Sapmaz 9) - - - We owed karma a few chips, I guess. To be fair we made it easy for them today, after the goal we just took it waaay too easy, speculating a bit too much and with an unhealthy dose of overconfidence on top. It was bound to happen, even if Heidenheim did basically nothing to deserve a goal today. Oh well, let's take it as a wake-up call, we've had too many close wins we probably didn't deserve lately. HSV and Leverkusen leapfrog us on the table, and now the upcoming game against the latter is even more important than before.

Nov 23rd 2027 Lang and Manu Sánchez are half of the defense in the Team of the Week. Gods above, we might have a problem soon: Real Madrid and Manchester United are reportedly interested in signing Kretzschmar. That would be a huge sale for sure, but also a huge blow, losing our best homegrown talent and an absolute pillar of the squad. Let's hope it all comes to nothing, but I know if they come knocking I won't have a way to stop them... Nov 25th 2027 S.S.C. Napoli vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League group F, 5/6) It's nice to visit the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium with all the work already done. Well, most of it: we still have to secure the first place to have a more favorable draw for the knockout round, but even losing today we have a great chance to keep our place anyway. Regardless, we'll still look for a result today so we can relax completely in the final fixture. * * * NAPOLI (4-4-2): Luis Maximiano (GK); Lutsharel Geertruida (DR), Matteo Lovato (DCr), Edmond Tapsoba (DCl), Giuseppe Pezzella (DL); Otávio (MR), Nicolas Seiwald (MCr), Fabián (MCl), Piotr Zielinski (ML); Rafa Mir (STr), Rodrygo (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Francisco Gerometta (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Darko Vuskovic (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) * * * Napoli change their outlook from the 4-2-3-1 we destroyed back in Munich to another flat 4-4-2, which we're coming across a lot this season, generally with good results. Today's big news is Stjepanovic's first start after his injury, and we don't hesitate to push forward from the start despite not really needing a win today. Napoli slowly regain control, though, and although they don't really give us much to think about in defense, at least they hold the ball. There's no danger on either goal until the 25th minute, when a long attack with various phases finally reaches Sapmaz inside the box. The winger shoots into Pezzella's legs, Caraballo then tries to get the loose ball but again a defender blocks, and that last bounce happens to land firmly in Özcan's head, allowing the striker to just aim it in the goal's general direction and score a pretty comical goal as a birthday gift for himself. Napoli still have more of the ball, but we just have it better, keeping Maximiano on his toes whenever we approach their goal. The game continues in that vein until the final minutes of the half, when Napoli do get dangerously close to our goal in a cross by Pezzella that reaches Rafa Mir, but Stjepanovic tackles him before he can shoot. Effortlessly ahead at half time. HALF TIME - 0-1 We start the second half looking for another goal, with Svensson soon finding a lot of space to run to until Lovato goes down to block his shot. On the other end of the pitch Gerometta and Lang double-team Rodrygo the one time the Brazilian tries to break free and chase a long ball, and the chance is aborted. Soon after Stjepanovic is replaced by Casas after a pretty decent return to action, while Miranda goes to the right wing in Sapmaz's place. In the 65th Napoli finally find a way when Zielinski breaks free of Gerometta and crosses into the box, Kretzschmar blocks Anderson's initial finish, but Rafa Mir gathers the rebound and scores the 1-1 unopposed. Karlsen replaces Da Silva as our final substitution and both teams go looking for the winner, although the defenses once again are always one step ahead, plugging the holes and closing any gaps through which a shot could sneak. It's in fact one of those blocks, by Lovato to a cross by Miranda, that almost becomes the 1-2 accidentally, but thankfully for poor Maximiano the ball rolls very narrowly wide for a corner kick instead. The keeper is not so lucky in the 73rd when Özcan trades passes with Karlsen through the center, runs into the box, and blasts it in to restore our lead. Napoli look defeated for about ten minutes afterwards, and only a corner kick that Pezzella heads very narrowly wide in the 85th gives them some hope back. A badly high finish by Anderson in a counterattack four minutes later gives us another scare, but after that we close shop and lock it tightly, taking the three points back to Germany with us. * * * S.S.C. Napoli 1 (Rafa Mir 65) TSV 1860 München 2 (Vedat Özcan 25 73) - - - Pretty lucky win today, a draw was probably the fairest of results, but Özcan had a birthday to remember and that's all it took. Not much else to say about the game, really, there wasn't the usual competitive tension in the air today, which probably made for a bit of a lackluster performance, but it still was enough to beat the best team in the group again. First place secured, and now we can take it easy in the final game against Kobenhavn. Who, by the way, still have a chance to qualify if they beat us and Napoli don't win in Bern.

Nov 11th 2027 International break for us to recover our tired legs after such a stressing run of games. Except for our internationals, of course: Rodríguez plays most of the game in Mexico's surprise 1-0 defeat against Honduras, and Özcan enjoys 90 solid minutes in Turkey's 1-0 win against Costa Rica. Better news come from the infirmary (well, Serbia's infirmary anyway), though, as Stjepanovic is back in full training! He damaged his cruciate ligaments back in April, and seven months later he's finally available for selection. He still has some work to do to get his fitness levels back up to scratch, but the hard part is finally over. Happy for the lad. Nov 13th 2027 Full game performances for Caraballo and Hadzic, too, with the latter looking really good while the former had a bit of a stinker in a 0-1 defeat against Colombia. Svensson also has a good game in Sweden's 3-1 win over Slovakia. Nov 16th 2027 Well, good news: Stjepanovic is healthy enough to play a whole competitive game. Too bad he did it with Serbia before doing it with us but hey, it shows they're not paying his wages if they're willing to risk him to that extent in a meaningless Euro qualifyer. Oh well, he did really well in a 2-0 win over Latvia and felt just fine afterwards, so maybe it was all good. Özcan came off the bench for Turkey in a 0-1 loss to the Rijkhoff-less Netherlands. Nov 19th 2027 TSV 1860 München (5th) vs. VfL Wolfsburg (14th) (Bundesliga, 12/34) Finally done with the international matches for 2027, it's time to return to the "easy" part of the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg coming to town. Dzeko's boys are having another torrid year, barely hanging on just above the relegation places but very much threatened by the teams below them. Current form aside, we've won our last three games against them, so this is a great chance to get three more points and continue pushing for a second year in Europe. * * * 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Thiago (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST) WOLFSBURG (4-3-3): Nico Mantl (GK); Pascal Stenzl (DR), Niklas Stark (DCr), Moritz Jenz (DCl), Lennart Czyborra (DL); Gianluca Busio (DM), Dani Ceballos (MCr), Maximilian Arnold (MCl); Jovane Cabral (AMR), Luka Ivanusec (AML), Luca Waldschmidt (ST) * * * A few of our internationals, most notably Caraballo and Svensson, are too exhausted to play today, so they take the bench and save energy for the trip to Napoli coming next. Stjepanovic also makes the bench, and might have some minutes in the second half to help him build up his fitness. We push our lines forward from the start to put Wolfsburg under pressure and it pays off quickly, with Baldé intercepting a clearance and assisting Marcos Paulo, who is only denied by Mantl's good dive. Rijkhoff goes even closer when he heads the corner kick mere inches away from the post, and our pressure keeps increasing as we dominate the early game with apparent ease. Another good save by Mantl tips wide a shot by Sánchez that didn't look like it was going on target anyway, and Marcos Paulo follows with a high header to keep Mantl worrying. The goal looks like a matter of time, but Wolfsburg learn how to plug the holes in their defense and keep us at bay for the following minutes, even launching a counter or two that end nowhere important. They first serious attack comes in the 28th with a long ball into space for Czyborra, who outruns Lang but shoots very narrowly wide in the end. Nine minutes later it's finally our turn once again, and Miranda couldn't get any closer with his left-footed shot from just inside the box that clips the outside of the post and goes wide. That's our last chance, however, and Wolfsburg manage to hold us back for the whole first half. HALF TIME - 0-0 We obviously needed the break to gather some fresh ideas, and afterwards we go back at it with Sánchez sending a ball from deep towards Rijkhoff, who hits it first time but can't get the aim correctly. Mantl then saves a point-blank header by Land in a corner kick with a show of reflexes and confidence, then the keeper goes down to save and hold an attempt from distance by Da Silva. After a while we remove Sapmaz from the game to give Rodríguez the nod, moving Miranda to the right and instructing Baldé to push further forward along the right wing. That seems to do the trick, and soon Miranda assists Rijkhoff with a good nod, but once again there's Mantl to save a not particularly strong finish. Dani Ceballos shoots over the bar from outside the box in Wolfsburg's first show of attacking intent of the half, which Rijkhoff replicates with a similarly high attempt one minute later. With time ticking against us we decide to bring Caraballo and Karlsen into the game, and in the 71st we finally break through: Miranda takes a corner kick towards the far post and Lang heads it in perfectly to score the 1-0 we'd been deserving for a while now. A knock on Miranda soon afterwards gives us some reason to worry, but the Argentinian looks able to at least finish the game. He still has enough in him to run the wing and cross towards Rijkhoff in the 81st, the striker's volley well aimed and powerful, but straight at Mantl's body. A pass by Karlsen two minutes later allows Miranda a chance to shoot which he wastes with a terribly high finish, but at the very least we're keeping Wolfsburg busy defending instead of pushing for the draw, and our minimal lead turns out to be enough in the end. Three more points. * * * TSV 1860 München 1 (Niklas Lang 71) Vfl Wolfsburg 0 - - - I did say a couple of months ago that as soon as the pieces started clicking together properly we'd go back to our solid version from last season, didn't I? Looks like we're already there. We've had two notable defensive performances in a row now, and even our attack isn't looking half bad, despite missing chances by the dozen. Baldé, Lang, and Miranda were the standouts today in a short but comfortable win, and even better, Miranda's injury turns out to be a very minor bruise in his ankle, he'll be fine after a day or two of rest.

Nov 6th 2027 A last-minute call-up for Caraballo, who gets a chance to add to his current four senior caps with Venezuela. Svensson with Sweden and Vuskovic with Croatia U21 aren't surprising either, but the shocking one is Serbia calling Stjepanovic when he's not even fit enough to play for us just yet. If he comes back injured again I'm gonna be angry... On the topic of injuries, here's a pretty worrying one: Maldini will miss four to five weeks with a twisted ankle sustained in training. While our left wing is pretty well covered with various midfielders able to play there well enough, the right wing is much more dependent on Maldini and Sapmaz being healthy. Miranda is the only one who could do a job there, and he'd require a change in role from our usual since he's left-footed. And Sapmaz played the whole game in Bern. Hm... Nov 7th 2027 Eintracht Frankfurt (13th) vs. TSV 1860 München (6th) (Bundesliga, 11/34) We've been going through the grinder of difficult fixtures as of late, but thankfully now we get a bit of a break. Eintracht so far have been about as mediocre as in their last two seasons, which puts them closer to the relegation battle than to the European places. Another defeat here could put them in a world of trouble, but we need the three points to keep chasing the top six, so it's not like we can afford to be generous here. Even if we wanted to. Which we don't. * * * EINTRACHT (4-2-3-1): Timo Horn (GK); Marvin Friedrich (DR), Jamil Siebert (DCr), Bright Arrey-Mbi (DCl), Matthew Sorinola (DL); Lewis Cook (MCr), Toma Basic (MCl); Datro Fofana (AMR), André Franco (AMC), Bryan Mbeumo (AML); Joe Gelhardt (ST) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Matías Miranda (AMR), Marcos Paulo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST) * * * Miranda takes the right wing in the end, since Sapmaz is still looking a bit tired after the midweek game. We keep our 4-3-3 today despite Eintracht's 4-2-3-1, and we start looking good, Miranda being the first to try his luck with a wide header after a cross by Marcos Paulo. The Portuguese is the next to give it a go, trying a curler from the edge of the box that doesn't curl as much as it should have and goes wide in the end. Eintracht rely on long passes and quick counters, like the one Mbeumo sends wide from a tight angle in the ninth minute, but we remain in control and creating good danger, like a shot by Özcan from close after a low cross by Miranda that Horn manages to deflect wide sixteen minutes in, or the header by Lang held by the keeper in the corner kick that results from that save. Eintracht hit back with a set piece that Fofana heads over, just as the game enters a period of sterile possession for us. We finally return to action with a good cross by Sánzchez that Özcan can't quite direct towards the goal with his header in the 34th, and in the 39th a long passing play involving most of the team ends with Thiago trying luck from distance and hitting the crossbar, only for the rebound to fall to Marcos Paulo who scores the easiest goal of his career. Eintracht's attempts to get the draw back before half time fizzle with only a weak header by Fofana as a result, and we go to the showers with our lead still intact. HALF TIME - 0-1 The start of the second half is slow, just like we want it, and there are basically no attempts at goal on either goal for over fifteen minutes. Karlsen is our first substitution once again, replacing Da Silva, and a while later it's Sapmaz and Svensson replacing the tired Miranda and Sánchez. Meanwhile Eintracht try to put us under pressure, but there's always a defender ready to put their foot in the way at the last instant to prevent a dangerous shot. Another bad header by Fofana in a corner kick is the only exception, and that's already in the 68th minute of the game. It takes them nine more minutes to try again, this time with Basic heading a cross by Fofana into Kretzschmar's hands, his first somewhat demanding save of the game. Horn has much more trouble with Özcan's header two minutes later, barely managing to block it and giving his defense a difficult job to clear the ball from danger. Karlsen shoots over the bar immediately after following a great pass by Marcos Paulo, then Lang performs another timely block to prevent a dangerous shot by Gelhardt. Sorinola blasts another shot well over the bar with only seven minutes on the clock, just before Eintracht move to a 4-4-1-1 formation for... some reason. Thanks to that the only other shot before the final whistle is by Marcos Paulo, and well saved by Horn. Nice result, if a bit lucky. * * * Eintracht Frankfurt 0 TSV 1860 München 1 (Marcos Paulo 39) - - - Better lucky than dead, as they say. Today we found ourselves with a lead after Marcos Paulo profited from a rebound, and then proceeded to defend like our lives depended on it, with Lang in particular blocking shot after shot before they even reached Kretzschmar's domain. Eintracht just couldn't break through despite many attempts, and we ran away with the points in the end. Great result given the circumstances, and one position gained on the table. In other news, Gladbach are now in the relegation playoff position and Van Bommel gets the sack, ouch.

Nov 3rd 2027 With European money rolling in and the stadium construction already paid for (except for that loan thing), it's a good moment to start investing in facilities. As such, I get the board to agree to a €2.3M investment in our youth facilities, which will start at the beginning of 2028 and be completed sometime around May. First step of many, there's a lot of work left to do to put us on par with the big teams in the Bundesliga. Rodríguez and Hadzic get senior international callups once again, with the midfielder looking to establish himself with Mexico and Hadzic already a regular fixture for Bosnia. Özcan joins them with his habitual call with Turkey. Nov 4th 2027 SC Young Boys vs. TSV 1860 München (Europa League group F, 4/6) Time to forget our domestic woes and focus on the one competition where we're still unbeaten. We actually have a chance to qualify today if we win and Napoli beat Kobenhavn, so that's some extra motivation. Regardless, considering how tough the game at home was, I expect we'll have it even more difficult in Bern. * * * YOUNG BOYS (4-4-2): David Von Ballmoos (GK); Danilho Doekhi (DR), David Nemeth (DCr), Eduardo Quaresma (DCl), Adrian Bajrami (DL); Christian Fassnacht (MR), Sandro Lauper (MCr), Christopher Martins Pereira (MCl), Munir (ML); Meschack Elia (STr), Kai Arbinger (STl) 1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Francisco Gerometta (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Julian Chabot (DCl), Daniel Svensson (DL); Darko Vuskovic (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST) * * * Svensson returns to his former team's stadium for the first time as a starter, and the game starts with Young Boys in command but unable to create any significant danger. That lasts for a bit over ten minutes, at which point we start pushing them back and regaining some lost ground, even managing a shot by Vuskovic that deflects clear off a defender's back. In the 19th minute Vuskovic tries again, this time from almost thirty yards away, and the missile he unleashes is absolutely impossible to stop for Von Ballmoos. Beautiful goal for his first since his arrival a bit over two years ago. Young Boys still have most of the ball, but the ones looking dangerous are us whenever we manage to steal it back. That happens in the 25th, when an interception by Svensson leads to a high pass towards the right where Sapmaz profits from a missed header by Bajrami and nods it back into the box, so Rijkhoff can simply shoot and score the 0-2. Three minutes later Sapmaz tries a more traditional run-and-cross assist towards the striker, who gets a good header in but finds the keeper in the right place to stop. Afterwards possession becomes more evenly split as Young Boys lose even that small advantage, and we enjoy a pretty relaxing end to the first half. HALF TIME - 0-2 Young Boys finally have a chance two minutes into the second half, a floating header by Martins after a cross by Arbinger that bubbles wide off the target. Better still is Elia's chance three minutes later after another assist by Arbinger, running past Hadzic and shooting into Kretzschmar's save. But just when it looks like they might have a way back into the game, Rijkhoff smells blood and intercepts a horizontal pass from Nemeth to Quaresma, running alone into the box and circling around the keeper before passing into the back of the net for the 0-3. With the result clear, we take the chance to give Ulrich and Karlsen some minutes off the bench, replacing Miranda and Da Silva. That, however, might prove to be a bit premature: in the 67th minute Elia sees Munir's run into space and sends a perfect through ball that the veteran forward doesn't waste, scoring the 1-3 and giving the home team renewed hopes of a miracle comeback. Sánchez replaces a solid Svensson after that, and things seem to calm down for a long while, neither keeper having any work to do except for a save by Kretzschmar in the 80th that turns out to be unneeded due to Munir's offside. Six minutes before full time Munir tries again, breaking through the left side of the penalty area and passing back to Lauper, who somehow sends his finish wide from really close. With the home team pouring forward with all they have we find space for counterattacks, like the one Caraballo launches in the first minute of injury time that Sánchez ends with a poor, wide finish. Thankfully our work until then had been more than enough, and the game ends in a vital away win. * * * SC Young Boys 1 (Munir 66) TSV 1860 München 3 (Darko Vuskovic 19, Julian Rijkhoff 25 53) - - - Solid as a rock. For once we were really sharp upfront, too, taking our chances with a very accurate Rijkhoff and a SSR Vuskovic screamer, something he might have to try more often judging by the results. It was a very even game play-wise, but we just created better chances when it mattered and took them, and that was enough. And, as predicted, Napoli's 2-1 win against Kobenhavn means we're already in the knockout rounds! We'll have to defend the first place in Napoli in our next match, a draw is enough to secure it for good.

Aw four asterisks, here we go again. Bari is an interesting one, finished third irl so maybe we have a chance without too much pressure. Should be fun.