KlaaZ

Another reason for me to stick around a bit longer, is the fact that I've built a very interesting set of affiliate clubs, which I'm hoping will yield some intake dividends in the future. Over the last few years, we've signed deals with Saint-Etienne, Guingamp, Caen, Kobenhavn, Tokyo, Granada, Hannover, Maritimo, Partizan, Rosenborg and Westerlo. I think the Belgian and Portuguese links already paid off with a young right back and a striker that could go far respectively.

Welcome, Marc-Patrick Ulshöfer! On July first, we break our transfer record in a 93M deal for a 21-year old German inside forward/striker from Frankfurt. Interesting fact, Ülshofer moved from Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga 2 to Frankfurt two years ago for only 12.5M, and I can't believe my scouting network didn't pick him up back then. Either way, he had an excellent season for Die Adler, scoring seventeen goals in the league. I have several options on how to play him, depending on who leaves (Rotini, Steele), he could either go into the team next to Lafaye or go on the left wing.

Player performances The reason why I was contemplating finding a new challenge is that I'm finding it very hard to get good performances out of what are clearly two of my best players. Cardo Mavinga is one of the best midfielders in the world at 21, with a great personality but I can't get him to turn up in the big game mostly. On top of that, he only averaged 6.92 in the league and even less in Europe. The same goes for Heris Acuna, our new midfield orchestrator who started off well but in the end also tends to now show up when it comes to the big ones. On a sidenote, Mavinga has a 300M release clause but I'm not sure if that will be enough to keep him at the club. City, Bayern and Milan are all interested in his services and especially the team from Manchester probably has the financial muscle to pull him in.

End of season: Recap Transfers Very little movement in January. The most important outgoings were loans for players that were looking for first team football: Sarue (who looks like he might have mentality problems, missed one game because he was out clubbing the night before..) goes to Reims, Buitraogo to Marseille where he joins Jankovic, Kobbernagel to Frankfurt and youngster Tshimanga to Den Bosch. One big move on the incoming side, we splash a little cash on 17-year old Charalabos Samaras, a German/Greek midfielder from the Union Berlin academy. 26.5M is a lot of money, but he's already looking quite good at his age and will only get better in time, a world class regista in the making. Defensive midfielders with that kind of flair are rare anyway. Bundesliga Winners, again, despite a very strong overperformance by Bayern who scored a whopping 105 goals (exceeding their xG by more than 21). Happy to be champions, but there are some concerns (see further below). DFB Pokal We finally broke our bad luck streak in the German cup. Again, we had a terrible draw in the second round, this time picking Bayern in Münich from the hat. In an even game, an own goal decided the result in our favor. We then went on to beat Fürth, Hertha and Schalke to come up against the other big team in the final: Dortmund. We started off very much on the backfoot but after some tactical tweaks in the second half, managed to grab the only goal through Alsina, securing another trophy. Champions League After a relaxed league phase where we beat Newcastle, Arsenal, Inter (away) and picked up a point in Liverpool, I thought that we were finally in a position to beat the bigger teams where it mattered. Eliminating Manchester United and Juventus in the round of sixteen and quarter final respectively, we looked good for another title. But then we drew Barça and in a horrific 45 minutes in the BayArena, they snuffed out any hopes we had to get to the final, 2-5 at the break. We were better in the second half but a horrible finishing performance and an even more atricious blunder by Seimen made it 2-6 at the final whistle.. We won 1-2 in Barcelona, but to no avail. The Blaugrana then went on to lose against City in the final. Youth intake A bit of light here with two potential top tier talents. Once again no goalkeeper though, something I could really do with as Seimen has had a very average season and I can't find someone better on the transfer market. Schumski already signed a provisional deal which is a good thing because Bayern is interested. Facilities The most exciting news comes from the infrastructure department: Our new stadium will be built. Even better, we're financing it ourselves entirely and will almost double our current capacity, hopefully with room to expand as there are currently 70k people on the waiting list for a season ticket. This is the reason that I may actually hang around for a few more years.

No second Champions League win after this semi final first leg for us. We were 1-5 down at the break and Seimen, who only saved one of six shots on target, added to the misery by just gifting the ball to a pressing De Jong in the added time. Absolutely horrendous. I'll also be looking for another job after this season because playing recently felt like a bit of a chore. I want to go to the lower Spanish leagues next so we'll see what pops up. Ideally, I'd like to manage a Basque club.

My fortunes have turned, potentially.

Absolute bonkers, never witnessed anything even close in those eleven years I've been attending.

https://www.facebook.com/1149974307/videos/934361078218409/ Absolute scenes, on the frigging buzzer.

Coming back to my first club, OHL, absolute scenes today in real life. We needed a win and needed either Charleroi to lose or Westerlo to lose by more than one goal, to escape the relegation playdowns. Charleroi were solidly beaten by Gent 5-0, but we were still level after 90 minutes 0-0. With only two minutes of stoppage time, we missed a clear header inside the penalty box at 91:12, and everyone thought that was the one chance. KV Mechelen countered five to two but Leysen saved the day, rolled it out to Schrijvers who played in Nsingi on the left. He cut inside and sent an absolute rocket in the top corner at 92:01, absolute bonkers. I was there live, been a season ticket holder over ten seasons but never have seen anything like this happen.

We are once again unlucky in the DFB Pokal and will play Bayern Münich away in the second round. Even better, we'll play them again, again away, three days later in the league.

I usually have a quick look online when I take over a club as the nicknames in FM are not really extensive most of the time, and you can find some really interesting stuff that way. I really like this one, as the club was originally founded back in 1904 by workmen of what now is Bayer. A lot of clubs in Germany have this kind of 'industry background'. In terms of why I took over, I think the appeal was based on several factors. First of all, despite being a relatively big name in German football and being around for a very long time, they never won a league title or a Champions League (losing that one time final back in 2002 I believe). Even more so, in the league they're known as quite the chokers as they finished second five times between 1997 and 2011. There's also the recent success story where they look like they could go all the way and dethrone Bayern Münich. The academy has been average at best, unfortunately, although there may be light at the end of the tunnel. We've got Awuah, who is first choice on the DM position, and there are a few young kids out on loan who could become part of the first team in the next few years, but generally, I haven't had the best of intakes. It's actually one of the reasons why I want to take on a job in the Spanish lower leagues at some point. More restrictions to non-EU players in Spain and less pressure will enable me to hopefully focus more on developing local talent. EDIT: On that note, I am quite happy that I have four German starters at this point, even if only one of them is an academy player. Seimen is still number one in goal, Jarosch was signed this season from Bayern and is a starter in the heart of the defense, Awuah I already mentioned, and Micky Steele (another 'steele' from Bayern) is our leading man up front.

On a sidenote, I will probably stay at Leverkusen for another few years as I want to keep developing the kids I have now. Once that is done, I have a shortlist of clubs in my head that I would like to manage next. Ideally, I'll go to France or Italy next. In France, I have my mind set on either Rennes (as they've never won the Ligue 1) or a faltering Monaco and Lyon. In Italy, Roma is very high on my list of clubs I'd like to manage, but I wouldn't say no to a Serie B adventure at Bari, Brescia or Palermo. And somewhere down the line, I want to go to the Spanish lower leagues as well.

First off, some more transfer news, with one unfortunate departure. First off, we clear some more dead wood by selling Baturina to Liverpool for 40M, and offloading Fatawu to Brighton for 17M. Tapsoba did not leave and is on the verge of signing a new one year deal. But we lost Aznou, our starting left back, to Everton as they activated his 62M release clause. I checked my shortlist and tried a recruitment focus to find a last minute replacement but in the end, we couldn't find anyone. This means Borgporsson is promoted to first choice left back, and we recalled Helgesson from a very short loan spell (sorry Caen!). We started the season well with two trophies in four days in August, beating Bayern in the German Supercup 1-0 and doing the same against Manchester United in a 2-0 win, thanks to Rashford getting sent off after only five minutes. We're also on a perfect track record in the league, including a nifty 1-0 win over Dortmund, and just come off a very good 3-0 victory over Newcastle in the Champions League. Fun fact, we're underperforming xG in the league again with little over 3 goals, but are overperforming defensive xG for the same amount so it's all balanced out.

One more transfer as we anticipate a potential departure of Tapsoba to the desert. We bring in 22-year old Yannick Jarosch from Bayern, where he was a regular already, in a deal running up to 56M. A club record as well. He's a natural at right back but looks like a future world class central defender really. On top of that, he's also a German international and has a worldwide reputation, which might help as the board wants me to increase commercial revenue.

Five new signings join us on July 1st. Some real bargains, most of them first team ready. But first, the outgoing side. Palacios is out of contract and goes off to the desert to cash in. I'm hoping to get rid of Mauro Junior and am also looking to sell Fatawu as Mainz didn't activate their optional clause. Caprile still wants to leave, and I would also not be opposed to let Rotini go if a good offer comes in, as for some reason his goalscoring record is not that great and we have a lot of options up front with Lafaye, Steele, Kroupi (who developed really well) and Alsina. Either way, on to the newcomers. I've already mentioned Jan Alsina, who was listed at Girona for 34M. As we have cash to burn thanks to the sales of Menghetti and Lomeli last year, we had no hesistation of swooping in. At 21 years of age, Jan is already a Spanish international and can play anywhere up front. He had a very good season at Girona, despite them being relegated, which says something about the quality he could bring to the club. On top of that, he's also a model citizen. Heris Acuna is only 18, but he already looks the part as one of the hottest prospects in the Colombian league. He scored a whopping 31 goals for Junior over the last two seasons, so signing him for only 2M feels like a real bargain. I'll have him compete with Beiersdorf for a place in central midfield as our playmaker but he also looks capable to be our main runner with his finishing ability. Seppe Van Den Broeck is a young Belgian central defender who almost joined us in January but the deal fell through when Standard couldn't find a replacement. Fun fact, we were willing to pay almost 30M back then, and now we were able to pick him up for almost half that value. Not a starter yet, but he'll get plenty of first team minutes to prove himself. In due time, I want him to replace Tapsoba. Our fourth signing is Matias Sarue, 19, from Lanus in a deal worth 8M. A useful rotation option already, would could become very good indeed. Very happy to have found a left footer as Simsek was the only one in midfield. Finally, we bring in another Mexican, who had been on our radar for two years but didn't want to join yet. Cabrera can both play the wing and up front and joins from Monterrey in a deal worth 9.25M. Great dribbler, great crosser, excellent free kick taker, and another reason why Rotini can go if we get a good offer.

Finally, I just wanted to put the spotlight on the players I brought with me from Leuven in the past few seasons. Lafaye and Mavinga are academy prospects from my former club too, which makes it extra special. They're turning into potentially some of the world's best players in their positions.

Season recap Bundesliga We retained our league title, ending eight points clear of Bayern. Despite going unbeaten for most of the season (until we gave away a lead in Dortmund twice to lose 3-2), this season felt more difficult than the last. Especially until November, when we had played twelve games, won nine but of those nine, eight were with a one goal margin only. We picked up steam in the next few months though, and were eight points clear by the end of February. At the end of March, we kept Bayern to a draw at home, keeping them from edging closer and when we beat Leipzig away in the next game, it was pretty much a done deal. A surprise 1-1 draw at home against last place Heidenheim gave me a bit of worry but we bounced back well and secured the title with two games to spare when Bayern lost at home to Bochum of all teams. We celebrated our title win with a 5-0 victory over Köln in the Rhein Derby, and finished the season on 87 points. Three points less than last season but only one game lost, more goals scored and less conceded. DFB Pokal Another disappointment here, going out in the second round at home against Leipzig. The Pokal remains elusive, for now.. Champions League Winners! An excellent campaign with the cherry one the cake by deservedly beating FC Barcelona 3-1 in the final. Varia After winning the Champions League,we finally got the option to ask the board to improve the youth facilities (why is that so hard in this version anyway?), and after some convincing they agreed. We've also set up a list of affiliates in the last few years, with the most important ones being Guingamp (Ligue 1), Caen (Ligue 2), Hannover (Bundesliga 2), Maritimo (Portuguese second league), Rosenborg (Norwegian Premier Division), Westerlo (Belgian Pro League) and Kobenhavn (Danish 3F Superliga). We also linked up with Australian Mariners, and FC-Tokyo and Nagasaki in Japan, to hopefully boost commercial revenue. And finally, some very exciting news: The board finally decided that a 30k stadium is not worthy of a recent Champions League winner, so the plans are afoot to build a new football temple in Leverkusen. It's still vague for now but I'm just happy at the prospect really.

IT'S IN THE BAG!

Three minutes to go.. Nervous affair in the second half, with De Jong probably missing the best chance for Barca with a shot from just inside the area. On the other hand, we've had quite a few opportunities to finish the game but the last pass is just not good enough.

45 minutes away from eternal glory. We started off well but Vitinha put Barça ahead with a real belter from outside the area. Our response was amazing though, with Kroupi heading home the equalizer from a floated cross by Serrano and Steele putting us ahead with a strong drive from a tight angle.

Line-ups!

How we got there Funny enough, we started our European campaign with a last minute loss in Paris. Even then though, we played surprisingly well and could have claimed at least a point. Our quality showed through the rest of the group stage, beating Juventus, Manchester City and my old team of Leuven and only conceding once more in seven games. All of this lead to a direct qualification for the round of sixteen, where we ended up with a favourable draw against another Belgian team, Anderlecht. Interestingly, OHL also made it to the last sixteen, so with two Belgian clubs at that stage history was written. Either way, we had no trouble disposing of the Mauves with two cleans 1-0 wins. In the next round, Chelsea provided tougher competition though. We went ahead at Stamford Bridge but in the end couldn't complain with the draw, and they almost took us to extra time in Leverkusen until Kobbernagel scored the winning goal in the 91st minute. In the semis, we were pitting against our league rivals for the title, the great Bayern. We edged an even home game with another late winner, this time in the 87th minute by Borgporsson. In Münich, we kept die Bayern under control in the first half but then they punched us twice in the first fifteen minutes of the second. When all looked lost, it was Lafaye who brought us back into the game, slotting home a rebound after Rotini's attempt from close by was parried by Simon. And when Thuram was forced off with injury in the 91st minute, we profited from the confusion to score once again a very late goal that sent us into the final, with Rotini being the hero of the day.

The season is almost over, but first we have one more game to play. Probably the most important one of my career so far. We have a very good track record against the Catalans, winning our previous three encounters, but it would be a very bad time to turn that statistic around. The good news is that 13 days out, we have a completely injury free squad. Let's hope it stays that way!

Transfer news With Lomeli gone, we bring in a replacement for the future while moving Simsek to central midfield. The new kid is Thomas Beiersdorf who joins from Leipzig in a deal worth 32.5M.