[FM11]Deltablue Rising II: Delta's Darlings.

[SRL88]

He looks a beast of a DM for his age .

[AK22]

Well done, another league title for AC Milan

Evandro will turn out to be immense (he's pretty decent already!)

[deltablue]

He looks a beast of a DM for his age .

Well done, another league title for AC Milan

Evandro will turn out to be immense (he's pretty decent already!)

Well he was just the sort of player I felt I needed to get in, so there was no hesitation in moving for him. Just had an excellent debut in the Super cup, indeed the team's performance as a whole suggests that were in for a much better season.

[cerud]

Wow, Evandro will be a worldclass player before long!

[B.W.G]

Congrats on the title.Evandro looks like he'll end up world class.

[Mikal]

Really good league win, and another exciting transfer window.

[deltablue]

Wow, Evandro will be a worldclass player before long!

Congrats on the title.Evandro looks like he'll end up world class.

He's already excellent now, the future looks very bright with players like that.

Really good league win, and another exciting transfer window.

Exciting times, though not as much as it should be.

Aug/Sept 2063

Milan 5-0 Fiorentina (SC)

We kicked off against Fiorentina in the Super cup, and Yurdakul got us off to a good start in the 6th minute. We faced a bit of pressure before Muller extended the lead in the 22nd minute. He then had another disallowed by it took just 6 minutes for Yurdakul to make it 3-0 anyway. He completed his hat-trick in the 48th minute, with Muller a few minutes later getting a 5-0 win, a very promising start to the season.

Palermo 0-3 Milan (A)

Like last year the league season started with trip to Palermo. It was an interesting test of how much we’d improved, and we passed with flying colours. Having struggled to a point this time, it was much easier now, with El Amrani scoring in the 23th minute and despite some Palermo pressure, Yurdakul getting a brace before half-time, and more could have come afterwards.

Milan 4-1 Lazio (A)

Lazio at home was my 100th game of my Milan return (which meant I was at 803). Yurdakul gave us a 5th minute lead, but more goals were hard to come by for the rest of the half. Benoit got us going again a few minutes into the second half, and despite Lazio getting a goal back, Muller and Gustavo made it an easy 4-1 win.

Israel 2-0 Greece (ECQ)

I had a pair of Greece games after that, starting away to Israel. A few things had been changed since June, but we didn’t seem much better, after after going down to 10 men we were behind at the break, and never really had a chance in the second half,conceding again in the 87th minute, as they went above us into 2nd though we had a game in hand.

Greece 1-0 Estonia (ECQ)

We needed to beat Estonia. My Milan defender Papoutsakis showed his international teammates how it was done when he gave us the lead in the 23rd minute. We kept pounding away so it was incredible that we didn’t get at least two more.

Milan 3-0 Ternana (A)

There were no such problems for Milan against promoted Ternana. Yurdakul’s 7th goal in 4 games so far gave us the lead just before the half-time whistle. We seemed to struggle for more as they had a good second half but the last 12 minutes saw two Nicoletti corners headed in by Benoit.

Milan 4-1 Proleter (CL)

We had a tough CL group with Atletico and Feyenoord, but started against the weak side, the Serbian club Proleter. Muller opened our European account in the 4th minute, followed by Yurdakul in the 8th. An own-goal took us 3-0 up after just 12 minutes, but they got a goal back 10 minutes later, and we only got another after 80 minutes from Muller.

Torino 2-1 Milan (A)

We had a lot of trouble against Torino. Pastor gave us the lead in the 29th minute but a lot of players were having bad games. They equalized in the 38th minute but we still would have got something if they hadn’t scored a penalty just before half-time. Hopefully it was a bad day rather than a sign that we still weren’t that strong.

Milan 3-1 Napoli (A)

It looked like the latter as we were on top against Napoli while barely giving them a sniff. Romeo gave us the lead in the 25th minute, and in the first 15 minutes of the second half, Muller and Pastor gave us a commanding 3-0 lead. They scored in the 72nd minute, and hit us hard to try and get back, and they might have done so all the way to an equalizer but we held firm very well indeed.

League Table

Oct 2063

Atletico 2-1 Milan (CL)

We hoped to avoid a nightmare European away day at Atletico, and resisted in the first half, but conceded two in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Muller scored in the 68th minute but we couldn’t do much else. After that we were very shaky against Udinese. We thought we’d done it when Yurdakul scored in the 72nd minute, but there was a lot of angry fist waving when they equalized in stoppage time.

Padova 0-1 Milan (A)

We went to Padova hoping to get back at them for our defeat at the end of last season, but were again lacklustre. Evandro headed in a corner after an hour, and thankfully just about avoided another late equalizer.

Greece 3-1 Finland (ECQ)

It was judgement week for Greece, needing to beat Finland, and hoping that would be enough to qualify before a painful trip to the Ukraine. We were helped by an early red card, and with our usual goalscorer Spyridakos injured, his replacement Papageorgiou gave us the lead after 12 minutes. Politis extended it in the 28th minute. Marinos made it a full house of forward on the scoresheet in the 79th minute, after they dangerously pulled a goal back, and we had another disallowed. Unfortunately Israel somehow beat the Ukraine so we were still in danger of facing a playoff.

Ukraine 0-0 Greece (ECQ)

We actually looked pretty bright in Kiev. Our keeper Vatsis needed to pull off a number of saves but we had plenty of chances ourselves, making it an unlikely 0-0. As it happened Israel lost in Estonia so we would have qualified anyway, but it had been a mediocre campaign, only slightly livened up later on.

Qualifying Group Table

Feyenoord 2-6 Milan (CL)

We had another tough trip when Milan went to Feyenoord, hoping to avoid the Dutch humiliations of last season. Yurdakul gave us the lead against the run of play in the 28th minute, followed up a few minutes later by El Amrani. Now a Turkish international, Yurdakul scored 2 more goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half, with a Feyenoord goal in between. They got another goal back in the 65th minute, but it took just a couple of minutes for Bode (another former German, now a Bosnian international) to put us 5-2 up. Gustavo wrapped up a 6-2 win in the 83rd minute. Atletico were very nearly held in Serbia, though a late winner kept us off top, but with home games with both group rivals to come, we were in a great position.

Milan 5-0 Siena (A)

Siena had been runners up in both the past two years, so could be considered a potential rival. Yurdakul had other ideas. He gave us the lead in the 8th minute, and after Pingu headed in another in the 33rd minute, scored two more to complete a first-half hat-trick. Another Pingu header made it 5-0 in the 69th minute.

Pescara 2-1 Milan (A)

Pescara were level with us on points (though we had a game in hand) so would be no picnic to go to. It was an even game until they snatched the lead in the 32nd minute. We pushed hard in the second half, eventually equalizing from Bode in the 77th minute, but soon conceded a winner as we fell away again.

League Table

Nov 2063

Milan 0-0 Roma (A)

We needed to make up ground against Roma, and certainly had a number of chances, with the exception of a few short parts where Rome scared us, and failing to get a goal was a massive frustration.

Atalanta 1-6 Milan (A)

We were similarly fired up at Atalanta, this time scoring from El Amrani after half an hour. Bode extended it 10 minutes later, and again just before half-time. Yurdakul joined the party early in the second half, and Bode completed a hat-trick in the 57th minute. Yurdakul scored another a minute later, a consolation 5 minutes later barely making a dent in the scoreline.

Inter 2-1 Milan (A)

Yurdakul gave us the lead in the 6th minute in the ‘away’ derby, but they equalized immediately. Early in the second half, Minotti picked up an injury early in the second half with both sub defenders already used, and they took the lead just afterwards. Despite that we could have grabbed an equalizer, and had a penalty turned down in the last couple of minutes.

Milan 2-1 Feyenoord (CL)

We thankfully managed to overcome Feyenoord to go top of our CL group. Bode gave us the lead after 10 minutes, and after they equalized, he finished it off at early as the 22nd minute.

Taranto 0-3 Milan (A)

I was slightly worried about whether we could beat Taranto like we needed to, but Rojo gave us the lead before half-time. Bodo’s goal in the 73rd minute helped my nerves even more. It looked like they might at least get a goal back before El Amrani missed a penalty for the first time, but Yurdakul’s 19th goal in 18 games in the 89th minute gave us a 3-0 win anyway.

Proleter 0-9 Milan (CL)

El Amrani made up for his penalty miss by giving us the lead in the 5th minute at Proleter. Yurdakul scored as well in the 13th minute, with another 15 minutes later. We both had a goal disallowed in the next 5 minutes, and Yurdakul finished his hat-trick in the 35th minute, and even scored a 4th 5 minutes later. In the second half Rojo and Benoit scored, with two more Yurdakul goals finishing off 6 for him (a new club record, and probably personal best for me) and 9-0 for us. Feyenoord beating Atletico meant we secured not only qualification but the group as well.

League Table

Not happy. We started like the Milan of old, and with some other similar performances, but while it was really too soon be be able to pull that off consistently, it makes it seem like we're making things much harder than it should be. A team playing like we have on many occasions has no business being anything but comfortably on top. Perhaps best symbolised by Yurdakul who has 25 goals in 19 games so far but has had at least 4 serious and badly timed shockers this season (which he has a habit of doing). The game in hand and the tight top half makes it look worse than it is, but even taking that into account (which would be against Juve) we'd only be 3rd.

[SRL88]

Very mixed so far.

[B.W.G]

Inconsistent to say the least.

[cerud]

Huge wins and mediocre performances. Hopefully it will come together soon.

[ashton321]

Brilliant mate this thread I have been reading on the train going into work and at other opportunities its brilliant mate well done. Glad to see you back in Milan

[Mikal]

Definitely some peculiar results popping up, but a decent enough couple months over all. The game in hand with Juve could prove to be very important!

[deltablue]

Very mixed so far.

Inconsistent to say the least.

Oh yes, thats what happens when things are still very much coming together.

Huge wins and mediocre performances. Hopefully it will come together soon.

It's good seeing the massive wins return a lot more frequently now, thankfully it's not coming together nicely.

Brilliant mate this thread I have been reading on the train going into work and at other opportunities its brilliant mate well done. Glad to see you back in Milan

You must have some very long train rides, the word file is almost 250 pages long

Definitely some peculiar results popping up, but a decent enough couple months over all. The game in hand with Juve could prove to be very important!

The only peculiar ones are the bad ones, the good ones are what my Milan shouldbe about.

Dec 2063

Milan 6-0 Bari (A)

Bari had beaten us both times we played them away, but they were no match for us at the San Siro this time. We battered them from the start, with an own goal in the 13th minute giving us the lead. Bode scored in the 22nd minute, followed by Yurdakul having one disallowed. Benoit made it 3-0 before the break, and Yurdakul finally got his goals with a quick double around the 65 minute mark. Rojo had been one of the best players of the game and capped it off with a deserved goal in the 70th minute.

Cremonese 0-5 Milan (A)

We went to Cremonese, who were torn apart by El Amrani. He had a shot defected in to give us the lead in the 10th minute, scored properly in the 20th, and having only scored from open play so far this year, a quich double of penalties gave him a hat-trick. The second half was quieter, but Benoit headed in a Rojo corner to give us a 5-0 win in the 80th minute.

Milan 1-2 Atletico (CL)

There was no pressure as we finished off our CL group with Atletico at home, which was just as well as we just didn’t turn up in the first half, as they needed a win to be sure of qualifying, so had a motivation we lacked. McShane put the ball in his own net in the 12th minute, and they scored another in the 20th. Much like in the first game, we improved enough in the second half for Muller to give us a late consolation, and he very nearly got a stoppage time equalizer. Dortmund awaited in the next round.

CL Group Table

Milan 4-0 Cagliari (A)

We turned the heat back up against Cagliari. El Amrani and Pastor gave us a 2-0 lead in the first 15 minutes. Bode made it 3-0 in the 38th minute, and Romeo finished off a 4-0 win in the 59th minute. We were now looking much better in the league, up in 3rd, and just one point behind both teams above us, one we had a game in hand over (ditto almost everyone else in the league), and the other would be played at home in that game in hand in a few games time.

Fiorentina 0-1 Milan (A)

Unfortunately the last game of the calendar year was at tough one at Fiorentina. Yurdakul delivered with a goal in the 32nd minute. It was his 29th goal of the season (16th in the league), and he wouldn’t get many more important than we barely held out to claim the win and go top, with a game in hand over everyone aside from Juventus, who were close rivals but who we would play at home in a couple of games time.

Having done a hat-trick of awards last year, El Amrani did even better with Serie A player of the year as well as fan’s player of the year, young player of the year, and foreign player of the year. He was also in the World team of the year. He was looking like the best 50M I’d ever spent (which admittedly I’d only done once before).

League Table

Jan 2064

Milan 4-0 Chievo (A)

We made heavy weather of a game against Chievo in the new year, the frustration shown in 7 bookings (almost all for midfielders/forwards) triggering 3 suspensions. Despite being dominant from the start we waited almost the entirety of the first half for Muller to give us the lead. Bode came on for Yurdakul in the second half and showed the Turk (who was having one of his occasional shockers) how it was done by scoring just afterwards, and as we got our act together Muller got another couple in the last 10 minutes to complete his hat-trick.

Milan 2-0 Juventus (A)

4 changes were forced for the critical game against Juventus, surprisingly given our position a month ago, we’d stay top even if we lost, but didn’t intend to make it easier for them or Roma. After a few early scares we took control, but finishing again left a lot to be desired. Evandro finally gave us the crucial goal with a 58th minute header. Tonolli caught them by surprise to make it comfortable in the 83rd minute, giving us a 7 point lead over them (a swing of 11 in just over a month) and 4 over Roma, at the halfway point in the season.

Milan 3-0 Palermo (A)

It took a while to get going against Palermo as well, while they threatened to snatch the lead. After a couple of mediocre games, Yurdakul gave us the lead after an hour. El Amrani scored 10 minutes later, than 5 after that (his 10th goal of the season, only 2 from penalties) and was even denied a hat-trick with a disallowed goal.

Milan 4-1 Bologna (CI)

Bologna were no trouble in the cup. El Amrani got us going in the 22nd minute, followed by Bode 6 minutes later. Yurdakul made it 3-0 before half time, and although they got a goal back in the 57th minute, the 17yr old Chabrier, making his debut, immediately wrapped up a 4-1 win.

Lazio 0-2 Milan (A)

The league march continued at Lazio. Rojo gave us the lead in the 8th minute, but we struggled to follow it up. The second half saw a lot of Lazio pressure, and it looked like they’d equalize, but Muller silenced them by scoring our second goal in the 84th minute. A draw between Roma and Juventus increased our lead over both.

Ternana 1-3 Milan (A)

We shockingly went behind after 18 minutes at Ternana, but just a few minutes later Benoit headed in a free-kick to level it. We weren’t so good at getting a winner, and Ternana even looked like getting another. 19yr old keeper McShane had really been thrown in the deep end since I bought him last summer and this was one of his busier games. However Benoit delivered again in the 58th minute, Chabrier showing the misfiring senior forwards how it was done with his first league goal for the club, in the 69th minute.

Milan 1-0 Inter (CI QF)

Again we faced Inter in the cup quarter-finals. We still had problems with dominating games but being poor with finishing, but this time it just cost us a bigger win than 1-0, from Bode in the 43rd minute.

League Table

Go team! Hitting our stride once more, now with 10 league wins in a row. If we're this good now, imagine how good well be in a few years. I really want to make a far better go for the CL, especially as Pastor will retire at the end of the season after 24 years at the club and I'd like our captain (and last main member of the old side) to go out with as much to celebrate as possible, after all this is what drew me most back to Milan when I did.

[SRL88]

Thats better .

[PaulHartman71]

nice to see you back on top of things!

[AK22]

The perfect January!

[Dexter_Morgan]

Much better in the next part of the season deltablue

[deltablue]

Thats better .

nice to see you back on top of things!

The perfect January!

Much better in the next part of the season deltablue

Thanks, it felt great, unfortunately we've had a bit of trouble now things have gotten very serious.

Feb 2064

Milan 1-0 Torino (A)

We turned 10 league wins in a row into 11 when we played Torino. Pastor had a goal disallowed in the 20th minute, unfortunate with time running out for his career, but Muller gave us the win in the 40th minute, with many more chances and the usual gripes about how it should be more.

Palermo 2-0 Milan (CI SF Leg 1)

We were on our travels for most of the month, starting at Palermo in the first leg of the cup Semis. Muller had a goal disallowed after 20 minutes, then we had a penalty claim turned down before they took the lead in the 35th minute. We were on the back foot after that, conceding another in the 55th minute. It got to the point when I accidentally put Thackeray on instead of Yurdakul and it didn’t make much difference.

Napoli 2-3 Milan (A)

Things didn’t start much better at Napoli. They scored in the very first minute, but we clawed it back thanks to Muller and an El Amrani penalty before half time. Muller made it reasonably safe in in the 69th minute but a second Napoli goal and a lot of pressure following suggested it very nearly wasn’t.

Udinese 2-0 Milan (A)

Udinese were having a very good season up in 5th, and after 12 wins in a row it this was an unlucky 13th. They scored in the 7th minute, and while we might have equalized from that, we had little chance when they got another in the 55th minute.

Dortmund 1-1 Milan (CL)

Things would get tougher when we went to Dortmund in the CL, but Muller rose to the occasion and gave us a 9th minute lead. He soon went off injured and they hammered away at our goal, eventually equalizing in the 50th minute but we managed to keep the scores level going into the home leg.

Milan 4-0 Padova (A)

We had a couple of home games to bounce back in the league, starting against Padova. We had definitely slowed down a bit since mid January, Yurdakul eventually giving us the lead in the 35th minute. Bode upped the pace in the second half with two goals in 5 minutes, and Gustavo finished a 4-0 win with a headed 15 minutes from time.

League Table

Mar 2064

Milan 7-0 Atalanta (A)

Atalanta was a comfortable game at the start of a tough month that would see us go to Roma and Siena as well as facing Inter (and going to Juventus at the start of April). Bode got us going in the 12th minute, and that seemed it until Lozano’s goal just before half-time. We really stepped up the pace in the second half with Yurdakul scoring a few minutes in, then Bode went on a rampage in the last 15 minutes wih 3 more goals, and El Amrani scored a minute from time as Atalanta didn’t know what hit them. We looked like extending our lead to 8 points before a late Juventus winner kept it at 6, and as I expected to drop some points in the next month, we needed it.

Siena 2-1 Milan(A)

We looked confident early on at Siena but then they scored in the 29th minute and we just fell away. They got another in the 52nd minute but late on we at least came to life with Bode getting a consolation a couple of minutes from time.

Milan 4-2 (5-3) Dortmund (CL)

We needed to do better against Dortmund. We again started well, but let them through to score in the 16th minute. El Amrani equalized from a penalty a few minutes later, Pastor then gave us the lead, but a Dortmund equalizer would be a critical away goal. Yurdakul made sure that wasn’t an issue in the 73rd minute and another Pastor goal in the 86th minute wrapped things up despite a second Dortmund goal in stoppage time. In the quarter-finals wed face PSV, our 4th Dutch side in 2 years, hopefully more Feyenoord than Ajax.

Milan 2-1 Pescara (A)

I felt we needed a win against Pescara but Evandro’s sending off after 20 minutes damaged our chances. Papoutsakis still managed to give us the lead in the 28th minute. I felt we needed another while we could, and after many chances were wasted, they equalized in the 71st minute. We immediately resumed the offensive, quickly scoring from Yurdakul, and we thankfully just held out against a few late chances.

Roma 2-0 Milan (A)

Roma were now 9 points adrift and weren’t too close a direct threat to us, but they very much were in terms of being a very hard game at the point where Juventus were closing in fast. Unfortunately like with Siena we couldn’t deliver. They had easily been on top by the time they were awarded and scored a harsh penalty in the 40th minute. They got another in the 58th minute and a late red for El Amrani capped off a very bad night, where Juve drew level.

Milan 3-0 Inter (A)

The pressure was very much on ahead of the derby, and early on we had a penalty claim waved away, followed by Pastor going off injured, but Bode rose above it to give us the lead after 25 minutes, extending it 10 minutes later. A defensive mess allowed Yurdakul to make it 3-0 just before half-time, giving us a comfortable win that definitely raised the spirits quite a bit again.

League Table

Oh dear! As odd as it may seem it wasn't the recent few defeats that I was that annoyed about. They were the sort of games that could go either way, last year they only just went our way so I wasn't surprised that they went against us this time, though we still should have done better and got something from one or two of Udinese, Siena and Roma. Instead I was annoyed about all the messing about earlier in the year which had cost us a more comfortable position.

Things would really come to a head as the next league game was... Juventus away. However after that we'd have no more games against the top 8 (though we did have to go to Bari, where we had lost both times so far) so if we managed to avoid defeat (though I wasn't too confident) we'd still look alright, and even if we did we were very much in it. Even before that we would go to PSV for what would be my 2,200th career match, which wouldn't be much easier.

[cerud]

Great month followed by a tough one. The Juventus match will be a big one!

[B.W.G]

Too close for comfort,hope you can win the rest of the matches

[iHeadHunta x]

Too close for comfort,hope you can win the rest of the matches

Second this!

[Dexter_Morgan]

The inconsistency is weird deltablue. It's obvious you have a talented squad who can batter anyone on their day yet other times it seems like they can't be arsed.

[SRL88]

Very tight at the top now.

[deltablue]

Great month followed by a tough one. The Juventus match will be a big one!

Oh it was indeed, just played it and it was a proper title-clash game.

Very tight at the top now.

No kidding, very nervous times ahead.

Too close for comfort,hope you can win the rest of the matches

Second this!

If we blow it I'd be very annoyed, it shouldn't be this close, but does make for an exciting end of the season.

The inconsistency is weird deltablue. It's obvious you have a talented squad who can batter anyone on their day yet other times it seems like they can't be arsed.

The defeats this time weren't so bad, and inconsistency is expected in a young side, but we still need to turn up a lot more in the big away games.

Anyway just played the Juventus match, very close indeed. The score was 2-1, but to who?

[Mikal]

Still a lot of points up for grabs, another good month would go a long way.

[deltablue]

Still a lot of points up for grabs, another good month would go a long way.

You're far more right than you realize.

Apr 2064

PSV 1-2 Milan (CL)

We faced a couple of games that would decide our season, starting at PSV. We went behind after 23 seconds, but managed to get plenty of chances to waste for more of the first half. There as plenty of frustration to go around as they were awarded a 37th minute penalty which they thankfully missed, and Yurdakul had an equalizer disallowed in early in the second half. It looked like we’d wasted our chance, but there was relief all round when Muller (back from injury) equalized in the 62nd minute. Revitalized, we kept pushing and an own-goal gave us the lead 6 minutes later. Like the Inter win, this was a much needed morale boost.

Juventus 1-2 Milan (A)

The suspension of Evandro wouldn’t help for the critical game against Juventus, though thankfully El Amrani only got one game and would be able to play. I would never not go for the win, which was be a massive boost, but felt that just avoiding defeat would be alright for us. It was advantage Milan in the 3rd minute as a corner was knocked in for an own-goal. We forced their keeper into a couple of early saves before they started coming back at us, and equalized in the 35th minute. The second half saw both sides come very close a few times, and in the 78th minute Dario headed in a corner during one of our spells of pressure to give us the lead again, and we managed to stop them threatening for the rest of the match.

Milan 4-5 (6-6a) PSV (CL)

Pride very much restored, we had the home leg against PSV. Bode gave us the lead in the 10 minute. If I thought we’d be comfortable finishing them off I was mistaken, as they equalized in the 15th minute, and levelled the tie a minute later. Muller restored the advantage in the 24th minute but their next goal would give them an away goals advantage and sure enough that came in the 36th minute. Nicoletti scored immediately to give us the aggregate lead again. Muller put us ahead on the night in the 50th minute, but the defensive nightmare wasn’t over, as they got a goal back in with 15 minutes left, and got a late goal (oddly an own-goal from McShane, who had been rather better than the defenders in fr to squeak through. Those ******* imbeciles!!!!!! I think I need to put Muller and co in a cage with the defenders and give them free-reign to tear them apart.

Milan 1-0 Cremonese (A)

Surely we couldn’t mess up a home game with Cremonese. Buoyed by Juventus being held at second-bottom Padova, we took the game an an almost dangerously leasurely pace, but Bode’s 27th minute goal was enough to give us a 5 point lead at the top with that many games to go.

Milan 4-0 (4-2) Palermo (CI SF)

We needed to turn the heat up against to overcome our first leg deficit against Palermo in the cup, and thankfully did much better than against PSV. Muller scored in the 12th minute, and the aggregate scores were level thanks to an own goal after half an hour. They were a bit more resistant afterwards but after Gustavo head a header disallowed in the 72nd minute, Muller gave us the crucial 3rd goal, sadly then being sent off meaning he’d miss the final he’d just sent us into, though Nicoletti found time to give us a 4th, as it was easily done from start to finish.

Milan 4-1 Taranto(A)

We kept up the pressure on Juventus against Taranto. Bode scored in the first minute, and again after an own-goal to put us 3-0 up after 22 minutes. They got a goal back but otherwise we totally dominated them. Muller made it 4-1 just before half-time, and there should have been a couple more in the second half.

Bari 0-5 Milan (A)

Having lost both league games at Bari since returning, this was a great time to break the curse and make it 3rd time lucky, despite an injury to McShane, and the lack of an available left-back. We certainly paid them back with interest. Muller gave us the lead in the 10th minute, followed a few minutes later by Bode. Nicoletti made it 3-0 in the 34th minute and from that point I knew they’d be little trouble. Bode scored again after 50 minutes and even right-back Minotti got in on the act in he 85th minute.

May 2064

Cagliari 0-4 Milan (A)

We went to Cagliari, who were just outside the relegation zone, but had the joint-highest number of defeats this season. If we won and Juventus didn’t, we’d clinch the title, but I wasn’t counting on that yet. Bode gave us the lead in the 3rd minute, but I was still wary as we quietened down for a while. That changed when Muller extended the lead in the 39th minute. We romped home in the second half as Muller scored again a couple of minutes in, completing a hat-trick with 10 minutes left. Best of all in a day with a number of draws (mostly 0-0), Juventus-Udinese was one of them, handing us the title!

Milan 5-2 Udinese (CI Final)

We had the chance to thank Udinese when we faced them in the cup final. The game started quietly, but Scardigli headed in a corner in the 27th minute to give us the breakthrough. Rojo extended it 9 minutes later. We were quietly dominant, an in the 60th minute the Spanish winger delivered a free-kick, headed in by Romeo. They got a goal back a few minutes later, the first sign of life they had showed all game. It was 10 minutes before they showed another, but which point Nicoletti and Bode put us 5-1 up, though they did get a second goal out of it. That didn’t matter as we completed a double in the space of a few days, and the captain Pastor lifted his last trophy of a long an illustrious career.

Milan 5-1 Fiorentina (A)

We took more time to get going against Fiorentina, going behind in the 38th minute, and just snatching a Romeo equalizer before half-time. The second half was far more comfortable. Benoit headed us into the lead in the 64th minute, followed by Muller tearing them apart with a hat-trick. Given we’d started the season by hammering them in the Super cup, it seemed fitting that we’d do the same at the end.

Chievo 1-5 Milan (A)

We finished the season at Chievo, and had a bit of a party. Bode and Nicoletti have us a 2-0 lead in the first 15 minutes. It was touching that Pastor scored the next goal, in his last appearance for the club, a couple of minutes later. The 22nd minute saw Rojo make it 4-0. They scored after 50 minutes, followed by Romeo getting sent off, but they still never stood a chance as Muller finished off a 5-1 win in the 79th minute.

We seem to like doing things the hard way, and then romping home anyway! That could apply just as much to the cup as the league. This was very much a work in progress, (which may seem odd with a domestic treble and a winning margin of 10 points) which explained a lot, but what mattered was that we were very much good enough. The spring defeats were frustrating, but aside from the fact that they weren’t easy games, it didn’t help that Yurdakul was having a very poor second half of the season (like Rooney he gets a lot of goals but it very inconsistent) while Muller was out injured, and his impact when he returned showed how much of a difference he could have made, not that it mattered in the end. Things looked bleak in March but after edging the Juventus game we stormed to it easily in the end.

I still hoped to avoid the scares in the future, and better European progress needed to be made, especially in the light of having completely thrown away the PSV tie, the only real blip in a great last couple of months, but if this was how good we were already, the world would soon be running scared once more. The domestic double put me top of the hall of fame at last (though having been just over 100 points short when leaving Milan the first time, I was never in much of a hurry to finish the job) as another triumph from a season which gave me three more things for the bulging Milan trophy cabinet (I think they need to have a special trophy room just for my successes).

Squad Stats

[deltablue]

Jeremie Pastor, 2040-2064

It was the heady summer of 2040, I was two years into my time at Milan. My best club success to that point had been a Slovakian title. I had taken Milan back up to 2 7th places (though didn’t get into Europe the second time) and needed many more players to build a new young side that I hoped could break their long run of barely even challenging for glory, let alone winning anything. I espied a 14yr old at Marseille, and though his age made him a massive development risk, I took the plunge, and that’s how a kid from Digne-les-bains arrived at the once and future best club in the world, as a potential replacement for the reliable but aging incumbent right-winger, Bertoni.

He was in luck as injuries gave him a decent run of appearances late in his first season, and he had just begun, little knowing the success his new teammates and manager would achieve. When I saw him I thought he had the potential to be our Zidane, and while longevity and trophies aren’t the absolute markers of greatness, 24 seasons at the top (not sure whether being generated at Marseille stops him being a one club man given his he was otherwise with us the entire time) is still impressive, are the honours to his name. While the game doesn’t credit him with all of them (due to not being part of the squad for finals or something) he was part of a team that won 17 Serie A titles, 7 CL titles, 4 European Super Cups, 6 CWC’s, 8 Italian cups and 13 Super Cups. Even taking away those he’s not credited with, he still has 50 honours to his name. Sadly he never won anything internationally, winning his first cap just after France won the Euros in 2044, and being either second or third a few times.

Ironically being in such a legendary side caused him a few problems. He was competing on the right both for club and country with his compatriot Marin Clement, World player of the year 6 times in 7 years (though Pastor himself did get that coveted award eventually), and while he got some appearances in the centre he had a couple of other fantastic players to compete with there (including Rene Larsen, one of my first signings and fittingly my current Ass Man) so while he did get a decent amount of games each year he wasn’t one of the biggest players in the side, but given what a side that was that was no shame at all, and he certainly made an excellent contribution anyway, proving to be an excellent player in his own right. One thing he has that few of his old teammates do (aside from the longevity) is the legendary status from that CL final against Inter, when he grabbed a goal and an assist as we turned the game around with 3 goals in the last 8 minutes of extra time, going from 2-1 down to winning 4-2.

He still looked capable at 35 when I returned, though he didn’t show it much at first. He eventually got better over the course of the 3 years, generally consigned to the centre once the new generation of wingers came in, though mostly in a ‘consistently solid’ way. He did get a few chances to shine again, the home leg against Dortmund being a case in point, plus there was the fact that his first two goals of the season were the top two goals for that month, proof that while he couldn’t do it that often, when it could he definitely still had the touch, lifting a domestic double at the end, and a goal in his last ever match, were nice ways to end such a career.

Career stats:

Milan

740 games, 113 goals, 263 ssists, 84 MoM.

France

11 goals and 27 assists in 96 games.

Pastor Biography

[AK22]

Your CL campaign was a bit eventful Still, a handy double

[deltablue]

Your CL campaign was a bit eventful Still, a handy double

We don't do things by halves at this club

[cerud]

Nice pull through on the Double

[Scarman]

More trophies for Milan! Who has the most league titles in Italy now?

[SRL88]

Very nice double.

[deltablue]

Nice pull through on the Double

Very nice double.

Thanks, really want the European and World crowns soon though.

More trophies for Milan! Who has the most league titles in Italy now?

We have just. I saw it was Juventus last season but now we've pipped them with 34. 9 under me, and 8 in my 'gap decade',which included 14 in a row which I did the first half of. While I was lookign I saw we also hold a few other records from my previous time at Milan. Biggest league win (10-0), Most games undefeated (60), though not wins in a row, Youngest player (The newly retired Pastor), Youngest goalscorer (Helm), most goals in a season (Eweka's 51 in the first title-winning season), most assists in a season (26), and the last two seasons of the 'first coming' set records for most points (105) and most goals (142) respectively, which sort of explains why I got bored and wanted to leave.

Euro 2064 (Italy)

No rest for the wicked. We had scraped into the Euros with a declining squad, and weren’t expected to do much, though a group of England, Sweden and the Czech Rep gave us a decent stab at going through, and I didn’t have to go far as the tournament was hosted in Italy. The first game was against the Czech Rep in Messina. It was a painfully mediocre start, as we went behind in the 5th minute, and again 10 minutes later. It was a long time before anything else happened, and when it did it was a red card for us, though immediately we started attacking, winning (and scoring) a penalty while the numbers were evened up again. There were actually a few chances for each side after that, though not for long, but one last effort gave us another penalty which we used to get an unlikely point. I was delighted to see we had a game at the San Siro, against England. We were thankfully a bit better and managed to hold them off in the first half with a few chances of our own. We rode our luck in the second half with two disallowed England goals, but still could have got a winner of our own by the time an injury reduced us to 10 men late on and they eventually snatched a winner. That left us needing to beat Sweden (again in the San Siro) despite the squad being hit by 4 injuries. We looked pretty strong in the first half, and really should have gone ahead. More chances came and went in the second half and they even started to threaten later on, Marinos thought he had finally done it in the last minute, but they snatched an equalizer in stoppage time. Even when we were starting to look good we couldn’t help being rubbish.

Euro Group

Euro Knockouts

Having never really got off the ground I always intended to leave Greece after this. I wasn’t too interested into going straight back into a national side, but was still open to offers and accepted one from England, with a very strong team and hosts of the next world cup (in 66 as it happened).

Summer 2064

There was still much to do back at Milan. We still needed to do an awful lot of work, especially on the defence, with Diaga now past it, the continuing lack of ‘proper’ full backs and a few players already looking like they wouldn’t be as good as I hoped. As we had a splendid Brazilian right-back coming in January we couldn’t sign any non-eu players (from abroad) and the selection of good players in any position was very limited. Thankfully we had room for a midfielder or two, as a couple of those looked like the only quality available, though later the Germans came to the rescue with a few 15yr olds that would allow me to improve the defence (at least for the future) just as I hoped. The latter three in particular looked like players to soon get excited about, and a welcome throwback to the days when I was able to pick up my future stars for relatively little and when very young and unknown, now I felt secure enough with how things were going now to take such a plunge.

Boban (From Hannover)

Coskun (From Ahlen)

Di Napoli(From Barcelona)

Er (From Schalke)

Mbambo (From Bristol City)

One to watch (eventually)

Still got a 6 month wait, but like Evandro last year he looks like a very important piece of the new Milan puzzle.

[B.W.G]

Congrats on the double,looks like Brazil is pumping out talent on your save.

[Mikal]

Brilliant domestic double. European champs can't be far away.

[deltablue]

Congrats on the double,looks like Brazil is pumping out talent on your save.

h

It always done even without the Brazilian leagues running. At Ipswich I used to have a core of Brazilians taking up at least 1/3 of the squad once I reached the level where I could get a lot of young Brazilians as part of a 'european qualification/title challenging team. The '1 non eu player from abroad' rule limits my ability to do the same here (though some Brazilians and Argentines have second nationalties), but Germany's just as fruitful. A had a number of my old team from there (though a few were out the door eventually), plus not only Muller his time but that trio of defenders this summer who have already got off to a good start.

Brilliant domestic double. European champs can't be far away.

It won't be a true success until I have a few of those. Won the CL in my first season competing last time then later 4 out of 5, so need to get back up to speed. At the moment Serie A is the main thing but the Cl needs to be won eventually.

Anyway was going to update yesterday but got sidetracked just before 2 months were up, might continue and be able to update later today.

[deltablue]

Aug/Sept 2064

Milan 1-0 Udinese (SC)

We kicked off against Udinese in the super cup. We were rather light in defence, with Dario shown the door, Thiago not here yet, Romeo suspended, Diaga injured and Gustavo and Benoit just returning from the Olympics (as well as Evandro and Chabrier). This gave my new 15yr old Germans an early chance to play. Muller got us going in the 18th minute, though they had an equalizer disallowed a couple of minutes later. It wasn’t exactly an explosive start to the season, as a surprisingly even game, but despite plenty of Udinese chances we claimed the win.

Reggina 0-2 Milan (A)

We went to promoted Reggina on the opening day of the league season. The Germans were retained for this game, even with the regulars back (that’s how I operate, 15yr olds or not), and one of them, Er, was even our second best player of the match (so much for a full-back problem). An own-goal gave us the lead after half a minute, with Rojo extending it in the 5th minute. Like Udinese, we didn’t really go on to control the game (which give the underage defenders even more credit for having a lot to deal with) but we’d already done the job and won 2-0.

Milan 2-1 Pescara (A)

At home to Pescara this lack of dominance cost us when they took the lead in the 25th minute. We had at least been reasonably lively in attack all game, and won a penalty in the 62nd minute. Up stepped 15yr old right-back Fatih Er to equalize, and Bode gave us a winner a few minutes from time, and only Inter had also won both games so far.

Milan 3-0 Vojvodina (CL)

Sadly my young germans couldn’t play in the CL this year (though one could from Christmas), bringing to an end their surprising and promising early taste of first team action. In our group we had Schalke, Sporting Lisbon and Vojvodina, and were at home to the Serbians first. An own-goal gave us the lead in the 2nd minute, and we comfortably pushed on, Rojo showing why he was keeping El Amrani out of the side at the moment with a 28th minute goal, and Yurdakul scored his first goal since March to finish it off in the 77th minute.

Roma 3-0 Milan (A)

The first big test was at Roma, and we started well but gradually they started getting closer and closer, and a penalty gave them the lead just before the break. The defence just fell apart after that. They made it 2-0 in the 53rd minute, with another goal coming after 70 minutes. The defence had completely ruined what had seemed like an improved performance compared to similar games last year.

Milan 4-1 Juventus (A)

We did much better against Juventus. Nicoletti gave us the lead in the 7th minute and though they equalized in the 30th minute, we battered them after that. It took a while to score again, but Muller did it in the 72nd minute. I now had all three of my baby German defenders on the pitch (yes I am playing 3 15yr olds in defence, but it’s working very well), and one of them, Boban made it 3-1 with a 78th minute header and becoming the club and league’s youngest ever goalscorer, and another Nicoletti goal finished off a 4-1 win.

Milan 4-1 Atalanta (A)

Muller gave us the lead in the 14th minute against Atalanta, but they pushed hard until a Yurdakul double made it 3-0 before the break. The Turk was denied a hat-trick three times in the first 15 minutes of the second time (the third time just a minute after the second) by goals being disallowed, by which point we felt there was no point trying, and they hit us hard again, scoring in the 81st minute, but that revitalized us and Romeo finally gave us a 4th goal in the last minute.

League Table

Oct 2064

Sporting Lisbon 2-6 Milan (CL)

We went to Sporting Lisbon in the CL, facing our former keeper Soumahoro, who at 37 must have felt like retiring after this. Taking advantage of only playing 10 men since the 1st minute, Rojo and Nicoletti were both masterful on the wings, despite neither scoring. Papoutsakis gave us the lead in the 8th minute, followed by Yuradkul in the 19th. Gustavo made it 3-0 within the first half-hour, then Yurdakul went on a rampage with two more goals to make it 5-0 in the second half. We eased off and they scored a couple of late goals beore Yurdakul scored one final goal in the last minute.

Chievo 0-2 Milan (A)

The wing wizards weaved their magic again at Chievo. Nicoletti set up Muller in the 25th minute, and then Rojo 5 minutes later. If Yurdakul hadn’t been so appalling up front there would have been at least a couple more as we battered them completely.

Milan 2-0 Cesena (A)

Complacency set in after the international break when we played Cesena. An early disallowed goal was easily shrugged off as we expected to get a few goals anyway, but it took an alarmingly long time to come, and it looked like we might actually drop silly points until Bode scored in the 72nd minute. He had another disallowed but Yurdakul gave us another goal, 5 minutes from time.

Schalke 1-2 Milan (CL)

The trip to Schalke featured a massive frenzy of chances at each end, though they took the lead in the 37th minute. They inflicted a few injuries (using up all three subs) which didn’t help, but Yurdakul roused himself to equalised after 75 minutes. A draw would keep us top, 2 points ahead of them, but while they battered McShane’s goal, we broke free and Yurdakul struck again in the 84th minute to give us the win.

Taranto 3-2 Milan (A)

We went to Taranto determined to give them a footballing lesson, and goals from Yurdakul and Bode put us 2-0 up a quarter of the way through the game. They struck back to level it with two goals before half-time, which I was fuming about. It got worse when they took the lead less than a minute into the second half. We had a few chances but had to settle for a stupid defeat.

League Table

Was just about to mention how Roma was the only blip on an excellent start to the season, then came the similarly stupid Taranto defeat. Otherwise looking more consistently lively compared to last year and if Inter hadn't started so well we would look even better.

[noikeee]

Well not consistently that strong, (the point was they were excellent last season) but I did meet them in the CL Semis once with Milan, and they have been regulars in the top 2-3 and the CL knockouts for the past decade or so can definitely be considered a fairly strong side. The expectation was always going to be there after my previous Milan successes, but I've almost always gotten off to a slow start in this career, even when eventually being successful, building sides of U21 players does take a bit of time to bear fruit, and this time I'm having to deliver quicker results so it was almost certain to be tough. A lot of the team needed replacing or would do soon so there was always going to be a need to rebuild.

I always forget when reading this that you're restricting yourself to only sign U21s! That makes things a lot harder indeed.

Since that comment you've won two league titles and one cup, well done to restore Milan to the top again. The only thing missing is an european piece of silverware again but dutch sides are really getting in the way aren't them! That 4-5 loss to PSV was crazy, I would be very frustrated with that!

Great little special post for Pastor, we all get attached to certain players in our games don't we. Taking a kid that young to the top of the world is great, I've never had any player quite like that.

[Dexter_Morgan]

The Taranto game put a bit of a spanner in the works but overall a good start there deltablue

[deltablue]

I always forget when reading this that you're restricting yourself to only sign U21s! That makes things a lot harder indeed.

Since that comment you've won two league titles and one cup, well done to restore Milan to the top again. The only thing missing is an european piece of silverware again but dutch sides are really getting in the way aren't them! That 4-5 loss to PSV was crazy, I would be very frustrated with that!

Great little special post for Pastor, we all get attached to certain players in our games don't we. Taking a kid that young to the top of the world is great, I've never had any player quite like that.

Did you think that my signings were a little young Anyway the U21 thing is second-nature and has been for a long time, barely even think about it. PSV was maddening, when we went 6-4 up on aggregate I was sure that we were through and the defensive mess from earlier in the game was sorted out (I even wrote as such). The goalkeeper own-goaling to give them the critical away goal right at the end didn't help my mood. We would have got Lens in the semis but as they beat PSV to reach the final they might not have been as easy as I expected. The massive Feyenoord win (and the fact we won the away leg against PSV) made it seem that we had moved on from the Dutch nightmares from the previous year, clearly not completely.

Glad to see the Pastor post was appreciated, did feel rather sad doing it, but I do get attached to players sometimes, in the case of my last Milan side it was an entire team.

The Taranto game put a bit of a spanner in the works but overall a good start there deltablue

The defenders are a bit of a spanner in the works, PSV last year, and so far Roma and Taranto this time. Typical that I play 2-3 15yr olds and they do fine but the estabished defenders (who have to take over for CL games and usually get to stay after when they don't blow it like that) have been the ones letting the side down, even if a couple are getting on a bit I expect much better. I think the attacking players have every right to teach the defenders a violent lesson, not that they were that good for Roma but they at least played alright and we had a reasonable chance of getting a draw at least.

[deltablue]

Nov 2064

Milan 3-0 Siena (A)

After Taranto I was worried about which Milan would turn up against Siena. They had a goal disallowed in the 10th minute, but otherwise we were the stronger, eventually scoring from Yurdakul in the 43rd minute.

Milan 6-2 Schalke (CL)

Goals from Bode and Yurdakul quickly finished the game off early in the second half, with the added bonus that Inter dropped points for the first time this season at Fiorentina, so we closed the gap a little to 4 points. The baby defenders had yet again shown the adults how it was done, so it was a shame that they had to be removed again for the CL clash with Schalke. As it happened Nicoletti and Rojo sparkled get again, each scoring in the first 20 minutes. Rojo got another 10 minutes later, and even completed a hat-trick with a stoppage time penalty. They scored in the 52nd minute, but Nicoletti laid on a pair of goals for Bode to make it 6-1 before a late second Schalke goal. We had easily secured qualification and only Vojvidina coming from behind to complete a double over Sporting denied us mathematical top spot already as well.

Udinese 0-1 Milan (A)

We were on the back foot again at Udinese, who like Siena were denied the lead in the first half due to a disallowed goal. A good spell late on allowed us to just snatch a win from Rojo.

Milan 5-0 Ternana (A)

Muller returned from injury to start against Ternana, and celebrated his return in style. He scored in the 3rd minute, and after Gustavo made it 2-0 in the 20th minute, Muller went on to complete a hat-trick (thanks to a penalty) by half-time and gave us a long awaited 5th goal in the 88th, after Ternana had a player sent off.

Lazio 0-3 Milan (A)

We went to Lazio side who were far down in 17th, but found them a tough nut to crack. Bode finally gave us a 39th minute lead, with Muller shot deflected in for an own goal 5 minutes later. As we found it easier, Bode finished them off in the 86th minute. In other news, Cosenza held Fiorentina to finally win their first point of the season, 12 games in.

Milan 7-0 Torino (A)

We completely tore Torino apart in the next game. Yurdakul’s 17th minute goal was followed by Bode a couple of minutes later. Rojo scored a brace before another Bode goal made it 5-0 in the 43rd minute. Yurdakul got his own second in the 49th minute, then had another disallowed, but Minotti’s header gave us a 7th goal in the 67th minute.

Vojvodina 4-4 Milan (CL)

We went to Vojvodina, and having drawn with Schalke and beaten Sporting twice, the Serbian side showed they were no walkover by taking the lead in the 2nd minute. Bode equalized in the 9th minute, but a penalty allowed them to go 2-1 up in the 13th minute, quickly following it up with a 3rd that really knocked us off our stride and into a state of collective uselessness. In the 27th minute they even went 4-1 up. Well if you’re going to have an off-day, you might as well do it properly! As it happened that applied to the first half only. Rojo got a goal back with his 10th goal of the season a few minutes into the second half, followed by Bode making it 4-3 in the 66th minute and Muller equalizing just afterwards. Sadly the comeback dried up but let’s face it, when you’re 4-1 down you’ll easily accept a draw unless you have to win, and a point secured top spot with a game to go so it was still a good thing, plus they had secured qualification themselves.

Inter 1-0 Milan (A)

More critical was the ‘away’ Milan derby, where we could either close to a point io end up 7 points adrift. Unsurprisingly I changed the entire back 4, but it was Benoit (as opposed to the three babies) who gifted Inter a goal in he 23rd minute. We had used up our comeback energy against Vojvodina and limply fell to a 1-0 defeat that was more disasterous than it would otherwise have been.

League Table

Dec 2064

Milan 4-1 Bari (A)

Rojo was on the World Player of the Year shortlist this year, and demonstrated why when he gave us the lead in the 22nd minute against Bari. Bode followed that up in the 38th minute. The got a goal back at the start of the second half but Bode immediately gave us a 3rd, with Yurdakul soon closing the game off to give us a 4-1 win.

Milan 6-1 Sporting Lisbon (CL)

The last CL group game was at home to Sporting Lisbon, and we wrapped it up in style. Yurdakul scored in the 10th minute, and an equalizer from a free-kick couldn’t save them from what followed. Gustavo headed in a Nicoletti corner, then the winger got a goal of his own to make it 3-1 just before the break. Yurdakul and Gustavo each scored again early in the second half, and the former completed a hat-trick with a couple of minutes left, taking us to 27 goals scored in the group. The next round threw up Ajax, who had dealt us great damage before, as had their compatriot clubs we’d faced.

CL Group Table

Palermo 0-2 Milan (A)

If we weren’t careful, a trip to Palermo would be another blow we couldn’t afford in the league. We had poor refereeing in our favour, as they had a goal disallowed before we were awarded a penalty which Rojo scored inthe 27th minute. However at worst it was an even game, and El Amrani, finally getting the chance to be on the pitch this year (Nicoletti being a bit shaky) reminded everyone that we have three awesome wingers, not just two, by scoring in the 79th minute.

Milan 3-0 Cosenza (A)

The last game before the break was at home to a Cosenza side who had just 1 point all season. It could have been a massive win, it wasn’t, but it was still good enough. Minotti gave us the lead in the 2nd minute, Yurdakul in the 32nd and Bode in the 64th gave us the win, but the important news was a defeat for Inter (hammered 4-0 by Taranto!) that meant we we closed to 4 points again.

League Table

We're definitely turning into a very strong side now, still a few bad results but on the face of it winning all but 3 league games almost half-way is still excellent, just a pity that a) all three exceptions were defeats, b) Inter was an example of how the few poor games came when we couldn't afford them, and c) the fact that that a single draw was their only blip before the last round of games makes us look worse than we deserve. Still plenty to come in the future, Thiago is about to arrive, the trio of 15yr old defenders have done very well so far, allowing the aged Papoutsakis and Diaga to leave at the end of the year, and with a bit more potential for improvement even in other areas, we're still far from as good as we might yet become.

[noikeee]

This would be a great season so far by any measures if not for Inter... damn they're on fire. You can't complain much really, just keep going and hope Inter drop more points, maybe that big loss to Taranto has unsettled them.

[SRL88]

Walked things in Europe. Very interesting at the top of the table to.

[cerud]

The Milan clubs are leading Italy strongly! Hope the second half of the season sees Inter at least stumble a bit for you to get on top.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Looks like Inter are going to give you a huge challenge this year deltablue, most seasons your form would be more than enough to be top.

[B.W.G]

In a very good position at the half way point,shame about the form Inter are in,hopefully they will drop more points as the season progresses.

[deltablue]

This would be a great season so far by any measures if not for Inter... damn they're on fire. You can't complain much really, just keep going and hope Inter drop more points, maybe that big loss to Taranto has unsettled them.

The Milan clubs are leading Italy strongly! Hope the second half of the season sees Inter at least stumble a bit for you to get on top.

In a very good position at the half way point,shame about the form Inter are in,hopefully they will drop more points as the season progresses.

Oh I really hope so, another thing was have in our favour is that while we lost a poor 'away' derby, we should expect to beat them at 'home', which could prove rather important.

Looks like Inter are going to give you a huge challenge this year deltablue, most seasons your form would be more than enough to be top.

Walked things in Europe. Very interesting at the top of the table to.

Not just the two of us, Roma are also doing very well, being just two points behind. Even with back to back league titles already (fairly safely won in the end) there's still been far more competition this time, and this year the bar is amazingly high (though plenty of time for one or both of the others to fade away). 3 league games into January and only a Roma draw prevents it from being all wins between us three sides.

[AK22]

Plenty of goals in your CL campaign! Vojvodina taking second was a bit of a shock too

[deltablue]

Plenty of goals in your CL campaign! Vojvodina taking second was a bit of a shock too

And more goals coming. Vojvodina was a bit of a surprise. Had different Serbian sides in the previous two years, both finishing bottom, but in a way I like that talent is move evenly spread later on in the game. My great Ipswich side from last year featured a legendary keeper bought from my previous club Aalesund (though I was well before his time), and with people delighting over Evandro, I got a similar player from Basle. Even one of my Magical Milan was bought (already as a seriously quality player) from Red Star, though the rest were from the big leagues/Brazil.

Anyway sorry it's been a few days, Civ V called and anyway not been feeling too great so more likely to play that anyway. It does have a tendency to call me away from FM for a day or two every so often recently, though it can never have the long term appeal. Will complete the season today (probably) before taking my turn in the England vs ROTW thread for a couple of days, and here is the latest.

Jan 2065

Napoli 1-5 Milan (A)

We had to keep up the pressure, though Napoli away wasn’t the most comfortable game to do it. While we didn’t close the gap, we certainly did all we could. El Amrani’s penalty gave us the lead in the 2nd minute. Yurdakul scored in the 15th minute and goals from Gustavo and Bode made it 4-0 after half an hour. They pulled a goal back 5 minutes before half-time, but Bode scored again to finish off a 5-1 win.

Milan 5-0 Fiorentina (A)

Fiorentina hadn’t often been a bundle of laughs either, but again we took them down. Yurdakul scored in the 8th minute, and the game actually looked even for a while, but Minotti headed in another in the 32nd minute, and Rojo made it 3-0 before half-time. Bode and Yurdakul wrapped up a 5-0 win in the second half, and even when Fiorentina eventually put the ball in the net it was disallowed. It was nowhere near as domianant a win as the score suggests, but we didn’t mind.

Milan 2-0 Napoli (CI)

We met Napoli again in the cup, but found it far slower going. Yurdakul gave us the breakthrough at the start of the second half, with Rojo giving us a good second with a couple of minutes left. Reggina proved surprisingly resistant to all our pressure. Yurdakul eventually broke through after 40 minutes, with another 5 minutes from the end.

Pescara 1-1 Milan (A)

We went to Pescara and found them hard to break through, or at least finish off, but when the goal came from Rojo in the 42nd minute it was well worth waiting for. Unfortunately the equalized a minute after the break, followed shortly by Yurdakul having a goal disallowed. There was a definite sense that we should have won it regardless, but with El Amrani at the ACN, Nicoletti chose a bad time to have a rare poor game, and Yurdakul had a more regular failure.

Milan 4-1 Palermo (CI QF)

Yurdakul made up for it against Palermo in the cup, with a brace in the first 15 minutes. They got a goal back before half-time but failed to threaten otherwise. After an extremely long wait, Yurdakul finished off his hat-trick in the 85th minute, and Muller (who was only on for the last 10 minutes) found time to give us a 4th goal.

League Table

Feb 2065

Milan 5-2 Roma (A)

Roma was a game we couldn’t afford to lose, but we needn’t have worried. We didn’t turn up last time and lost 3-0. This time we very much turned up. Muller gave us the lead in the 5th minute, and a quick Yurdakul double made it 3-0 after half an hour. They scored 5 minutes before the break, but Yurdakul and Rojo made it 5-1 a few minutes after half-time. I was hoping for more, but they scored a 2nd goal in the 51st minute, which made it less impressive, but I wasn’t complaining. The day before Inter had lost at Torino enabling us to really close in.

Juventus 0-1 Milan (A)

We still had a mega hurdle with a trip to Juventus. As it happened, this was a very unimpressive Juventus side, and they went down to 10 men after just a few minutes. We were still on the back foot, but grabbed the win from a 67th minute Yurdakul goal. Rojo had a goal disallowed at Atalanta, and as chances came and went I started getting worried. El Amrani burst through to score in the 55th minute, with a late second from Bode.

Cesena 0-4 Milan (A)

We had a 3rd away game in a row against bottom side Cesena, who had just 4 points from 24 games, and unsurprisingly were easy. We were able to keep to a relatively low gear. With Bode and Gustavo giving us a 2-0 lead after half an hour, and the score staying that way until the 80th minute when El Amrani scored the first of two goals.

Ajax 1-4 Milan (CL)

The 4th away game in a row was the toughest, in the CL against Ajax. People with memories will know that we haven’t had much luck in Holland (or against Dutch clubs in general) recently, losing 5-0 on a trip to Amsterdam 2 seasons ago, and it’s fair to say we needed to pay them back for that. They started off very strongly, and though we resisted well they still took an 18th minute lead. We probed regularly and Bode equalized in the 26th minute. We started to really take control, and Nicoletti gave us the lead just before the break. We looked uneasy early in the second half, but finished them off from a pair of Bode goals midway through the second half. That felt very good indeed.

Milan 3-0 Chievo (A)

We finally returned to the San Siro to play Chievo, which was unsurprisingly routine. Gustavo (in his 100th league appearance for the club) gave us a 10th minute lead, followed shortly by Bode, and we had a late 3rd from El Amrani.

League Table

Mar 2065

Milan 2-2 Taranto (A)

History annoyingly almost repeated itself against Taranto. El Amrani scored in the 9th minute, and Muller made it 2-0 after 30 minutes. Last time they came back from 2 down to win 3-2, when they scored a goal back in the 57th minute I had that very much in mind, but we should have got a 3rd goal either before or after their equalizer with a few minutes left, denying us the chance to close to a point of Inter, though at least we didn’t slip any further. While it sounds bad, that it was our only point against Taranto this season, and they had inflicted Inter’s first (of only two so far) defeat of the season suggests that they weren’t a team to be taken lightly.

Siena 0-3 Milan (A)

That wasn’t promising for a tougher (on paper) trip to Siena, but having been a distant second best in the first half, we easily took them down in the second. Muller broke through in the 56th minute, which at the time could be considered against the run of play, the balance of teh game shifted hard as 8 minutes later Bode scored the first of two as we won 3-0.

Milan 3-0 (7-1) Ajax (CL)

Even our disaster of a home leg against PSV last year shouldn’t be enough to blow the Ajax tie. As it was we easily finished them off. Nicoletti scored after 20 minutes, Bode went off injured but not before extending the lead in first-half stoppage time, and Muller added a 3rd in the 63rd minute, finishing off a 7-1 aggregate win. Rarely has winning in the First Knockout round felt so sweet.PSG would be next, not quite as bad a prospect in FM11 as they would have been in FM12. CSKA or Man Utd would await the victor in the semi-finals.

Milan 0-0 Udinese (A)

Three attacking changes were forced for the Udinese game, and disappointingly it ended up as a dull 0-0 (though we could have snatched the expected win), Inter matching our dropped points yet again.

Ternana 0-5 Milan (A)

Relegation battling Ternana were as easy as I hoped. Gustavo gave us the lead in just the 2nd minute. Muller extended the lead after half an hour, quickly followed by Yurdakul. Romeo headed in a 4th in the 50th minute, with Muller soon finishing a 5-0 win.

League Table

A couple of results could be better, and still chasing Inter despite the fact that we've clearly grown considerably in past couple of years. As well as facing them in the cup semis, we have a home game in the league late in April, which as I've mentioned before I expect to win, which as things stand would draw us level, and if we won by at least 2 goals we'd have a head to head advantage. Still a few games before that so the situation may be different by the time we play it, but what a chance to take control that will probably be!

[cerud]

You're so close to Inter! Still, it's good to see just how dominant both Milan clubs are.