SixPointer

I think this is your year to go up! Two very Good additions

Sixth after six games. Ideal start. Out of interest when was the last time schalke won anything big? In real life and the game?

I like how Patrice is giving his knowledge of English football to the transfers at the club. Vladan and Karamoko look excellent both in crucial parts of the pitch as well. Good signs from the youth section especially if it’s coming like that when it’s limited. Hopefully an area Patrice will grown for the club.

I love your work! Feel you’re building something special in Marseille it’s a place I would very like to end up at some point. There champions league triumph is one of great delight! Paris have ran away with it again this year but i fancy you to topple them in the not so distant future. I seen you tinker with a some what 343 shape. Give the flat front three ago. Even use midfielders, Guler would probably make a very interesting False 9

What a journey from the depths of Austria football to the continental football. Very inspiring, I loved your club choice. Finding a somewhat fallen giant in a way and restoring them. Surely you want one crack at Europe? You’ve earned it.

Braga I can have no complaints with, I would of course want to win the league but I think them winning it and doing it undefeated add a nice edge to the story. Would rather them than either Sporting or Porto. No pressure 🤣 wait until you see the Arsenal squad. Thanks my man 👍🏻 Thanks dude 👍🏻 something must give way but in all truth I think it was more a case of Braga we’re just better than us this year rather than us being poor.

Very interesting from the AI. I hope they can stay in the title race but I think they will lose their star striker who’s been sublime. I can’t quite believe that’s their first title. I knew the big three dominated especially, but I never realised only Boavista and Belenenses are the only two title the big three haven’t won. Shows you my knowledge on Portuguese football isn’t as good as I thought. I tried to write it with as much suspense as possible, can be quite hard when you already know all the outcomes. Braga full deserved their title they won the big game when it mattered and to not lose in a whole season is always special no matter what level. Never mind elite. I think in both the 1/4 and semi finals we done well, controlling the games perhaps lacked a clinical edged. No Mbappe certainly helped our cause against Paris.

You liking it? I used it in FM 21 and found it very useful. You can create all sorts of variations and movements to pull defences apart.

Its the hope that kills you As it stands Franz and Benfica are fighting on four fronts, Taca de Liga final secured, Taca de Portugal semi final underway, Uefa Champions league quarter final and the ongoing three way battle for the league title with Braga and Porto. Taca De Liga Final Back to back League cup titles for Benfica, while these don't count towards any of the required trophies for the stage it's always nice to win them, in fact at Benfica it's expected. 4-0 looked extremely convincing and while we were the better side, Seimen did have work to do and came up with big saves when it mattered most. Portimonense will feel like they gave their all and that's all that can be asked, the gulf in power between the clubs always plays its part. Giovane headed home the opener from a Joao Paulo cross to the back post, Lavia then produced some nice work in the box to square for Granelli to tap home, then Lucas headed home at the back post from a corner and Hidalgo rounded off the scoring with an empathic finish into the far corner. Taca de Portugal Semi & Final Vitória de Guimarães are knocked out, 4-1 again the scoreline flatters us slightly. This time Sinisterra couldn't replicate his form from the first leg and his defence didn't offer him much help in doing so. Palmeirim gets across the front post to head home a whipped cross from Walter Cacerers, the young argentine is starting to settle in lisbon. Granelli was on hand to knock in a rebound inside the box, Morato knocked in at the near post from corner a Franz special, Gio with the final nail in the coffin with a volley smashed from inside the box after some scrappy defending. Both teams came into the final in good form, but in the end it became a non-event and Benfica ran away with it. Unfortunately the ref sent off Berten on the 8 minute mark, personally i felt he was hard done by and it was a soft red. From the first angle i would say soft perhaps the second angle i agree with the ref, either way it allowed the traffic to flow one way only. Lavia picked out Hidalgo's run in behind and the pacy hitman did the rest, a phenomenal return this year with 50 direct goal involvements (he takes set plays). He put the game beyond any doubt to secure Benfica domestic cup double, he waltzed right through the defence and picked his spot. Liga Portugal Bwin April brought about some changes in the league Porto lost and Braga drew again, this made it advantage Benfica. The fixtures however threw up a huge table toppping SixPointer, Benfica at home to the unbeaten Braga. Now Benfica haven't lost a home league game under Franz, they also have only lost three home games in the last six seasons. you have to have the Eagles down as huge favourites. The pendulum swung towards the north west of Portugal and took the unbeaten Braga, who now look like huge title favourites with four games to play. Tiago Tomas has been their talsman again this year, two seasons with over 25 league goals is superb since he returned back to his homeland after a failed move to Galatasaray. He hit goals either side of half time to steer his club to the top of the league. The first is slack defending down our left hand side, allowing a simple cross, then Seimen and Andric dont deal with it. The second isn't much different, coming from the opposite side, again Seimen was left wanting at his near post. In the end our poor defending cost us a game which we took charge of. In even more bad news Matehus Franxa broke his lower leg and would spend the next six months on the sidelines. The final day of the season, we rallied after our defeat to Braga to win every game bar that one against Braga in the last two months of the season. We needed Casa Pia to pull off a miracle win for us, as our head to head record with Braga a draw wouldn't be enough, we also need to hold up our end of the bargain. Boy did we leave it late........ Did Luca Zidane just hand Benfica the title, passing the ball straight to Granelli who did not look a gift horse in the mouth............... It wasn't to be, Braga won their first ever title which is remarkable and something I wasn't actually aware of. Only Bovaistae and Beleneses have won a singular title each out with the big three in Portugal. Until now.. Well done Braga. It's a tough one to take and it shows the fine margins in this league, 88 points scoring and incredible 103 goals and conceded only 20. However two defeats and four draws wasn't good enough and the winners of the last two titles have done it unbeaten, the standard has been set. Uefa Champions League Franz Schiemer would take control of his 100th Benfica game against Juventus in the quarter final, in front of a sell out Estádio da Luz . He would do it with a bit of an injury crisis on his hands, so many players carry little knocks, not ideal. Benfica look for revenge after Juve knocked them out last season, it will be a good marker to see if his side have progressed. Well its advantage Benfica, taking a slender 1-0 lead to turin, albeit heading there in better shape than last year. Far from a classic, but we definitely were the better side dominating for large spells. I thought we had passed up our chance until the subs Palm and Hidalgo combined to roll it in on the goaline. Mission accomplished.... If the first leg wasn't a classic the second leg would be a complete snooze fest. Our high press restricted them to deep possession, in fact our high line on the ball made it feel like a home match. So I think the better side advances, the old lady is dumped out and the eagles soar into the semi final, to face Paris Saint-Germain. Never has such a good result felt so underwhelming. We bossed a PSG side missing there star man Kylian Mbappé who will miss both legs which we know the pain as we also have Franca out. Odegaard was depolyed in a DLF role which i felt played right into our hands, the middle CB became a stopper role and man marked him, following him into midfield and denying him space to dictate the game. However it was Donnarumma who stepped up for his side, the Italian stopper getting the better of his fellow countryman Granelli on so many occasions. Our goal was very well worked and leaving him very little chance to stop it, Lavia and Granelli linking nicely in the midfield to pull the defence out of shape to allow the space for Giovane to exploit and then finish well. The other side of the coin, the goal we concede comes from a corner, my pet hate and something we have been caught with one or two many times this year. 10 minutes into the second leg and PSG are infront, Reyna finds himself unmarked on the edge if the area, after Dias and Dego are sucked in to the PSG overload. Again we looked the better side and controlled the game, but it looked as if we would crash out in Paris, step up club captain Morato who finally broke through Donnaruma, with a touch and finish the strikers would have been proud of. Extra time came and went and it would be settled by a dreaded penalty shootout......... Palmeirim missed our first, Zaire-Emrey missed their third and sudden death would decide it, we got to the eighth round of penalties. Raheem Sterling stepped up...... Denis Seimen was equal to it Walter Caceres had the chance to put his name in the headlines, and the young Argentine does just that, keeping his nerve and firing down the middle! Sport Lisboa e Benfica are in the champions league final, for the first time since 1990. They will face Arsenal who were runners up in 2006. Benfica won and retained the title in the early 1960’s, can they break the curse of then manager Béla Guttmann.

Season is done. Writing commences

Thanks for the mention! Glad to see another joining the flat front three club 😎 but how the hell have I missed this whole thread!!

Things just got interesting!!! I’ve ran out of time today and I was going to do another monthly but I never planned my screenshots according so will be a big season wrap up tomorrow

Works very quiet at the minute so I’ve managed to bring my laptop in while waiting on boats arriving 😎

The fixtures next month are even more crazy than last month now. We have Juve twice then Braga in the league, the FA cup semi final second leg, the league cup final all crammed in together each game 3/4 days apart. A real test on the Squad. I should get it played today then written up.

Eh I’ll need to look after work. I still have Braga for sure because it’s after the second leg with Juve, going to be demanding that!

The game I lost was the first leg of the champions league dude. We’re all good in the hood.

March Madness The significance of the month and how it played out has led me back to another monthly update, ohh how i miss those days, writing with depth and detail providing insight! A hectic month with it all to play for, the three matches against Porto are of huge importance and by the end of the month we will have played each other six times this season. However, becoming complacent in the other three league games is not an option as our title challenge hangs in the balance, it's so crucial. Throw in a first leg semi final in the Taca de Portugal and you have one hell of a month. What a game! Coming out on top on this one really boosts the title hopes, billed as a SixPointer and boy was it. Taking an early lead through a corner, with mr consistent (Lucas) getting on the end of a Morato flick on. Franca finished excellently after some nice link up play from Lavia and Hidalgo. When Hidalgo smashed home a wonder freekick the Estádio da Luz was in dreamland. Aaron Garcia decided enough was enough and decided a two foot lunge was necessary, after that you would presume Befica would cruise to victory. The polar opposite, the sending off galvanised the visitors, Benfica perhaps complacent allowed to goals in the last ten minutes and in the end battled it out to hold onto their victory. It was the perfect way to celebrate 400 games in management, with a very stressful last ten minutes..... A most impressive goalkeeping performance from Jamie Sinisterra ensured his side held on to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of the Taca de Portugal. While our XG was scored at 1.91 he still pulled off 10 saves, and walked away with a man of the match award. A massive 1-0 win over Moreirense, we almost got complacent, missing a huge amount of chances, Franca coming off the bench to rescue the three points. I chose to rest the team, and luckily enough it worked out. The other 1-0 went Braga's way in a huge result in Porto, this puts Braga top of the pile by three points. Porto have went from 12 games unbeaten to losing two on the bounce to their closest title rivals. Winning their two games in hand would still level us, so its advantage Braga at this point. The away leg was always going to be a test, but it became an uphill battle when Matheus Franca took matters into his own hands 11 minutes after getting sent off for halfing Montiel in two. Dropping into a 3-4-1-1 shape managed to stem the flow of Porto pressure but we sacrificed everything in terms of being a threat. Seimen held on in there for us, and the boys restricted Porto to very little. Unfortunately we were undone at a corner that came back of the post and Porto took a 1-0 lead into the second leg. A convincing 5-1 against Tondela was exactly what the doctor ordered to get back to winning ways. Passing the ball for fun and scoring freely sadly a penalty cost us our clean sheet. I opted to play a mixed side, the thinking was to regain some confidence in players and boost their form going into the second leg of the UCL, but also making sure match sharpness was there to give me the best choice for selection. Making subs at key times was crucial to keep players fresh. A resounding 4-0 win crushing our fellow countrymen hopes of European Glory. Sérgio Conceição claimed Porto were awful and it has been a tough month for the Portuguese legend but for me it was more about Benfica being good than Porto awful. Lavia got the ball rolling, as he arrived late to lash home a Granelli cutback, the Belgian is really starting to settle in Lisbon and forming strong partnership with Danilo. 16 minutes in and the tie was turned on its head, Doig who had his best game in a Benfica shirt whipped superb cross to be headed home by Granelli. Leites was up next, the uruguayan wonderkid has kicked on since the Mecka departure and is starting to realise his potential, heading home from the other side of the pitch this time. Another who is beginning to answer Franz 'call is Estêvão Palmeirim who sealed the fourth with a nice touch and finish in the six yard box. Estêvão Palmeirim was at it again in the 4-2 win over Estoril Praia, a snap volley was the pick of his brace. A nice way to round off a great month, bounced back to qualify in the Uefa Champions League and got rewarded with a tie against Juventus, hopefully we can out do the old lady this time around. We held our own on the domestic front and now only sit one point behind Braga and six points ahead of Porto, who do have two games in hand. So it's all to play for.

Carnage has presumed! We’ve played Porto more times than I care to remember recently! I kinda hope Braga hang on in there until the bitter end. They deserve it.

I’m actually going to do it month by month I think. That month just there was madness!! They are flying after coming up last season!

Thanks bud. It’s kicking off!! I just played the six pointer and I feel like doing an update on the game on its own. It had everything!!! Unfortunately time is money but I’ll cover it in my next big update for sure

We're getting into the thick of it A quick fire update on January and February before the final push to the end of the season, time is really against Franz and his quest. This time ive added some depth as its a slow day at work and it feels needed! Extremely quiet window, the bulk of the work is done on the squad and Franz can be more selective with recruitment and pick his moments. Josh Doig arrives on loan as cover, Joao Paulo has real issues with injuries so Josh will add much needed depth at LWB. Ndiaye has settled well but again he picks up knocks and it hampers the balance of the side. The big deal of the window, Meckaroski to Arsenal, 45 million release clause activated which left benfica powerless. In all truth he certainly has all the potential of a eilte class player and in the first season he showed real glimpses of it, this year he's struggled for consistency and lost his place in the side. A lot of money for Arsenal to part with and it takes in a huge profit for the club, bought for 9 and sold for 45 a massive 36 million in profit. The first real Franz money spinner at Benfica with Estêvão Palmeirim ready to fill the void instantly makes even more sense. The academy graduate hit two in the very next game and looks more than capable of being a Benfica striker for years to come. Our league form really kicked off, again after a poor result the response is perfect. Held to a 0-0 against Braga really dents the title hopes yet again, but a switch to a cover role instead of stopper in the middle of defence, dropping off more and the inspired form of Dennis Seimen sent us on a run of eight games without conceding a goal. In Fact over the whole ten games in the league we conceded just three goals and scored thirty six. Thrasing our city rivals Sporting CP 4-0 the highlight in the league. Looking at the passing shape, you can see how perfect Granelli has become at dropping into midfield. The young italian has found the net 22 times this season, but he has also added 7 assists, something he never did all last season. Adding the trait comes deep to get the ball, and gets into oppositions area has unlocked a unique movement, he comes deep links play then arrives late in the box unmarked more often than not, its proving to be lethal. Franz returned to Liege and came away from the Belgian champions with all three points in a tough fought 1-0 win. Lavia's goal fitting to win any match, Granny dropping deep linking play with the Fonseca, then spreading it, Paulo and Palmeirim linking on the flank and Lavia attacking the space and then delightfully finishing, a masterpiece. He was welcomed with huge applause and admiration from the home crowd, testament to what he did at the club, delivering their first league title in over 18 years, and league and cup double. The club has continued on his path winning another league and cup double since he left, the fans appreciate he set about the foundations to their continued success. A 3-2 win against Celtic was enough for us to quaifiy for the round of 16, The draw has thrown up a massive tie as we draw none other than Porto! Speaking of Porto we beat them 1-0 in the Taca de Portugal and 3-0 in the Taca de League to advance on all fronts, these cup wins are all well but two legs will offer another dimension. The league is really heating up, Braga have maintained their unbeaten record and lead us by three points, we lead Porto by three but they have three games in hand and are in phenomenal form in the league. All three clubs have built their season on solid foundations at the back, just 14 goals conceded from Braga is impressive in itself but Benfica at 9 and Porto at an incredible 7 is testament to all three clubs. All three look up for the fight but right now you would say Porto are favourites although it's always better to have the points on the board no matter what sort of form you're in. Next up in the league. A true SixPointer against Porto! We’re going to be sick of the sight of them this year.

He is worth every penny when hes in this sort of form!

He’s really turned it on this year. He’s proving to be an absolute bargain. I said at the time I was shocked Milan let him go

few tweaks may just be enough! Can’t be to harsh with the step up

Seimen is a bargain at that price, he cost me a fortune but he pulls off some saves! He does have games he decided to lose the plot though! Form is on fire! It’s building nicely towards something special. Love that against Salzburg my hatred from my time in Austria lives on. Pain in the ass when big teams hit the release clauses but suppose it adds to the realism off it all.