After 10 years with FM, my first career update

[trman73]

October 19, 2030 - Premier League: Leicester (2-2-3, 8 pts., 14th) vs. Newcastle (5-0-2, 15 pts., 3rd)

We really need to get back on track here, but Newcastle is following up a sixth-place finish last year with a great start to this season. Their five wins include a 3-1 defeat of Manchester United, and they've won three straight. We've scored just two goals in our last four matches overall. We need to get out of this funk, and do it now. Our next seven league matches include these guys, a rejuvenated Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, and City. A string of losses here could put us in a hole, although for now at least we are well clear of the bottom of the table.

It's another scoreless first half, and while we're struggling offensively, I do like what I've seen recently from the defense.

What follows is quite possibly the best 45 minutes of football for one of my teams in this entire career. Just a minute into the half Navarro puts us up with a beautiful individual effort, and he tallies another in the 62nd. Not to be outdone, Les Burton scores in the 69th and then again in the 78th, and it is a total rout and the best match we've played in my brief tenure at Leicester. We get back on track in a huge way against a quality opponent, and get our first home Premier League win to boot. This was a fantastic performance at a time when we really needed it.

[john1]

Off to decent start with Leicester  

[trman73]

October 26, 2030 - Premier League: Liverpool (4-2-2, 14 pts., 6th) vs. Leicester (3-2-3, 11 pts., 10th)

Six of our players are named to the Premier Division Team of the Week: Burton and Navarro for their two-goal performances, along with Christy Smyth and three of our defenders.

I'll admit it: I'm still a little bitter over being passed over for the Liverpool job a while back. I got a little bit of my frustration out in the EFL Cup win over them, but I'd much rather come to Anfield and beat them in a league match. If we do so, we'll jump them in the standings and have a good chance to pass a couple more teams in the table as well. These guys are playing well right now, but they are still a mid-table team in the league, and Christophe Coue, the coach they passed me over to hire, is just 23-14-18 in his tenure. Let's hand him that 19th loss.

We play a good, solid first half, and it's 0-0. It's that way deep into the match and once again our defense holds. And once again, we concede in the final moments, as Liverpool scores on a perfectly placed cross in the 90th minute. We don't do anything in stoppage time, and that's two matches we've lost at the tail end. Dammit.

[trman73]

Greetings from sunny Florida, where I am on my end of summer vacation at Santa Rosa beach.

October 29, 2030 - EFL Cup, Fourth Round: Chelsea vs. Leicester

I can't imagine our run of good luck in this tournament will continue against a Chelsea team that's made the final in three of the past four years. I'm excited for this match because I'll be going up against my former goalkeeper, Jonathan Valdes, who's now Chelsea's starting keeper. Unfortunately he gets the day off for this one, but I am happy to greet him on the sideline before the match and talk about some of our great times together at Juventus.

It doesn't look like Chelsea will need Valdes in the early going as they score in the 11th to put them up. It's 1-0 at the half and some of our guys are fatigued. But Navarro gets a breakaway in the 55thto tie it, and  after I sub out Burton for Lee Wilding, he puts one in the net in the 76th to give us the 2-1 lead! Chelsea doesn't mount much of an attack in the final 15 minutes, and we hang on for our third road win of this tournament!

One thing I'll say about this career is that I sure have had a lot of success in cups.

The draw for the quarters is held and Brentford from League One is still alive after knocking off Middlesbrough on penalties. Blackburn and Sunderland from the Championship are also in it, along with Man United, Wolves, Watford and Arsenal.

Arsenal draws United, so the two toughest teams left will play each other. Brentford will try to continue its run with a road match at Sunderland, meaning at least one non-EPL team will be in the semis. That leaves Wolves, Watford, or Blackburn for us, and we wind up with our first home match of the tournament, against Blackburn. We'll have to be considered favorites to get to the semifinals.

Edited August 6, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

November 2, 2030 - Premier League: Leicester (3-2-4, 11 pts., 10th) vs. Watford (3-2-4, 11 pts., 11th)

We really need this one as we've got Arsenal and City as our next two road matches and we can't assume we'll get anything from those. So we need good home performances against Watford here and Burnley in our next home game.

It's a boring, defensive first half but in stoppage time we catch a break as Burton is fouled for a penalty. But we don't convert it, as Navarro has his shot saved. We haven't been good on penalties thus far. In the second half things trudge along 0-0, until finally in the 77th a cross from van Eijden finds Les Burton for a beautiful goal, and we've finally broken through. Watford winds up not getting a shot on goal in the match, and we win, 1-0, in a game that we dominate.

Not all is well though, as right back Walter Morales leaves the game with shin splits, and the diagnosis after the match is not good: he's out 6-8 weeks.

Edited August 6, 2017 by trman73

[fridge73]

"Greetings from sunny Florida, where I am on my end of summer vacation at Santa Rosa beach."

And I was looking forward towards my few days off to Blackpool, UK!  😳

 

[trman73]

November 9, 2030 - Premier League: Arsenal (6-2-2, 20 pts., 3rd) vs. Leicester (4-2-4, 14 pts., 10th)

This kicks off a run of three out of four matches where we face the three best teams in the league - Arsenal (3rd), City on the road (1st), and home vs. Chelsea (2nd). If we can somehow manage one win from these three I'll feel great. This may be our best chance to do so as Arsenal had a midweek Champions League match. But they haven't lost a match in nearly two months, so we shall see.

We're doing fine until the 38th, when Rudy van Leeuwen gets called for a penalty and Arsenal converts it. Then we have a terrible stretch in the second half where within five minutes, Burton gets a breakaway and can't covert it, Christy Smyth injures his shoulder, and then Arsenal scores a second goal to put us down, 2-0. I pull Smyth from net due to his shoulder injury and cross my fingers that it's not serious. Arsenal does what it needs to do with a two goal lead, and we fall 2-0.

Thankfully, Smyth is only out for a few days, and we've got the international break now, so we're good in net.

[trman73]

November 24, 2030 - Premier League: Leicester (4-2-5, 14 pts., 11th) vs. Burnley (1-4-6, 7 pts., 19th)

I'm really not concerned at this point about the chances of being relegated (and never was despite the board and media predictions), but at the same time, we've got to beat a team like Burnley at home. Our guys escape international duty injury-free, so we're at full strength here except for Morales at right back.

We don't get off to a good start as Chris Manning, my namesake, scores for Burnley in the 18th. But just 45 seconds later we equalize on a goal from Navarro, and it's 1-1 at the half. We need this win, and just three minutes into the second half a great series of passes ends with Burton finding Navarro right in front of the net for his second goal, and we have our first lead, 2-1. That goal closes out the scoring, and we get back on track after the ugly Arsenal loss and now prepare to face City and Chelsea.

[trman73]

November 30, 2030 - Premier League: Manchester City (9-2-1, 29 pts., 1st) vs. Leicester (5-2-5, 17 pts., 11th)

Well, this is obviously a huge test. City has a five-point lead in the league and has lost only on the road to Manchester United. We haven't won, lost, or drawn consecutive games thus far in league play, which doesn't bode well for our chances in this one.

We get absolutely dominated in the first half, but Smyth keeps us in the game with three fantastic saves, and it's 0-0 at the break. It's more of the same through the next 30 minutes, and were still holding on. In the final 15 minutes City really turns it on, but Smyth makes two more incredible saves, and we miraculously secure a 0-0 draw on the road against the best team in the league. Excellent!

Or... not so excellent. In second half stoppage time, Enrico Pazzaglia goes down, and after the game we get a terrible diagnosis: our starting center back will miss 3-4 months with a torn calf muscle. This is a big blow as he's started every game for us and has been excellent in the middle of the defense. Ouch.

[trman73]

December 3, 2030 - EFL Cup, Quarterfinal: Leicester vs. Blackburn

Blackburn knocked off Burnley in the last round and have not won a match since then, going 0-2-2 in the Championship in their last four. Damon Delgado, a 27-year-old American from Orlando, Florida, is now starting at center back for Pazzaglia, with Spaniard Roberto Valle as our primary backup. Delgado's been good in limited duty this year, but he'll carry a heavy load in the next few months as we're thin in the back in terms of depth. Just to add to the cruelty of Pazzaglia's loss, he's named to the EPL Team of the Week for his performance against City, along with Christy Smyth for his fantastic performance in net that basically earned us the point.

Lee Wilding, who has two Man of the Match awards in our three EFL Cup wins, gets the start in this one over Claudio Navarro.

We play yet another scoreless first half and we're looking sluggish, but early in the second Sabbatini finds Les Burton and he scores on a smash from outside the box and we're up 1-0. We dominate possession for the rest of the match, hold Blackburn without a shot for the 90 minutes, and hang on for the win to put us in the EFL Cup semifinal.

We're joined in the semifinals by Wolves (which destroyed Watford 6-0 in the quarters), United (2-1 road win over Arsenal), and the surprise of the tournament, Brentford, which kept the miracle alive with a 2-1 road win over Sunderland. Obviously I'd love to draw that League One team in the semis.

The draw is held and we're the first team selected. And we get... Wolves, who are having an absolutely phenomenal year in the EPL thus far. This will be a good test. We'll be at home for the first leg after the first of the year, and you've got to think the winner will face United in the final.

 

Edited August 7, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

We're a third of the way through the Premier League season, so here's a look at where things are 13 matches in...

I'm feeling pretty good about where we are. I'll do a full evaluation at the midway point, but 5-3-5 is outpacing my 40-point prediction, and right now we're far closer to European qualification than we are to relegation.

[trman73]

December 7, 2030 - Premier League: Leicester (5-3-5, 18 pts., 9th) vs. Chelsea (7-3-3, 24 pts., 4th)

Well in this one we'll get to see Jonathan Valdes, my former Juventus keeper. He hasn't been quite up to the elite level he was for us in Italy, as he's given up 15 goals in 13 league matches with just three shutouts. He gave up just 16 goals for Juventus in 37 league matches a year ago, and posted a whopping 24 clean sheets.

But Chelsea is still Chelsea, and this is another big opportunity for us to secure that signature win. Right now I'd say our best league win was the thrashing of West Ham in our first road match, but they appear to be having a down year, so maybe that wasn't as big of a win as it looked like three months ago. The 4-0 win vs. Newcastle looks like the better result right now.

Regardless, this would be a huge win for us and could very well buoy us into contention for a top-seven position in the league.

It's another scoreless first 45, and in the early going of the second half Valdes makes a great save on a shot by Navarro, then Burton hits the post. We're the better team in this one, and we get one last chance to prove it in the 86th, but Lee Wilding misses on a breakaway, and the game ends in a 0-0 draw. So we go 0-2-1 in this tough stretch, with quality draws against Man City and Chelsea. I'm happy with this result today.

[trman73]

December 13, 2030 - Premier League: Derby (4-1-9, 13 pts., 18th) vs. Leicester (5-4-5, 19 pts., 11th)

Following our stretch with the top teams in the league we now get one of the worst in Derby County. These guys have won two of their last three, though, including a win against a United team that I keep waiting to see fire manager Rui Vitoria at any moment. We've now gone more than 300 minutes without conceding a goal, and we also get Walter Morales back for this one at right back. If we win here that'd be four straight without a loss in the league, and five straight overall. We kick off the week as the Friday match this week.

We open the scoring in the 27th as Navarro converts his 9th of the season to put us up 1-0. That's the halftime score and we look like we're going to collect another clean sheet. That's what happens, as Derby manages just a single shot in the second half and we win 1-0. At some point our own lack of offense is likely to catch up to us, but for now we'll be pleased with this run of results.

[trman73]

December 18, 2030 - Premier League: Leicester (6-4-5, 22 pts., 8th) vs. Southampton (4-2-9, 14 pts., 17th)

Southampton has really fallen off the last couple years. After a string of top-half finishes, they wound up 13th a year ago and this year they are totally falling apart and are just a point clear of the bottom three. They're on their second manager of the season and their new man lost his debut 0-2 at home to Bournemouth. So... we should keep our string of strong results going here if we play up to the level we have been lately. We are without Chris van Eijden at left back for this one due to yellow cards. In terms of average rating he's been our best player, posting a 7.32 rating in the league.

Two days before the match we also lose another starter, as Claudio Navarro goes down with a twisted knee and will miss 10-12 days. This being December in Premier League, we have a packed schedule over the next few weeks, so this will be a four-game absence. Lee Wilding gets the start in his spot.

We dominate this match. Lee Burton scores in the 11th to put us up, then gets a second late in the opening half, and we wind up cruising, 2-0. It's our fifth straight clean sheet and we're undefeated in the league in our last five. The win moves us up to 7th in the league.

[trman73]

December 21, 2030 - Premier League: Tottenham (6-1-9, 19 pts., 14th) vs. Leicester (7-4-5, 25 pts., 7th)

Speaking of teams that have fallen off the map, Spurs have gone from Premier League champions to a non-factor in just a few seasons, and they are really poor this year. It's already cost them their manager, and their new head man is Thomas Tuchel, who was fired from... Southampton, our last opponent.

I learn this week that two of our players, Mohamed Alaoui and Rolando Vieira (who has become our starting center midfielder), will miss nearly a month to play in the African Cup of Nations tournament in a few weeks. I can't say I'm thrilled at that, although I'm happy for them to represent their countries (I guess).

We get off to our second consecutive great start, this time with a goal by Lee Wilding just six minutes in. But just under 10 minutes later Tottenham does what no team has been able to do in a month: they score, and tie it 1-1. We're the better team for the remainder of the half, but remain tied at the break.

The majority of the second half is a collection of poor passes and near misses for us, and it looks like we'll come away from this one with a draw. But in the 77th, Burton finds Wilding with a great pass right in front of the net, and he scores his second of the match to give us the 2-1 lead. This time we don't allow Spurs to equalize, and we win our third straight league match. We're now 4-2-0 in our last six in the EPL.

[john1]

Superb run in last  6 matches  

[trman73]

Hey John/Bane, thanks! Except...

December 26, 2030 - Premier League: Leicester (8-4-5, 28 pts., 7th) vs. Wolves (11-2-4, 35 pts., 3rd)

It's Boxing Day and the day kicks off with a battle of the top two teams in the league as Man City (39 pts., 1st) visits Arsenal (37 pts., 2nd). But of the remainder of the matches, ours is probably the most exciting. As surprising as we've been in the first half of the season, Wolves has really been the story of the year thus far. Since being promoted in 2025, these guys have not finished higher than 12th. But they are absolutely shocking the experts this season with their third-place position. They are also in the semis of the EFL Cup. They've won eight of their last nine matches overall, so these are probably the two hottest teams in the league facing off in this one. With a win here and on the road against Stoke in our next match, we'll complete the first half of the season in good position to qualify for Europa League.

We go down in this one in the 33rd minute and we trail in a match for the first time in more than a month. It remains 0-1 at halftime, and in the second half we're not putting up too much of a fight offensively. But in the 83rd, Walter Morales' innocent-looking cross from the right side finds the most unlikely foot, that of Michael Platt, who lost his starting attacking midfielder spot and was on as a sub, and he puts it in to tie it! The game ends in a 1-1 draw, and we get at least a point from yet another quality side.

[trman73]

December 28, 2030 - Premier League: Stoke (8-6-4, 30 pts., 6th) vs. Leicester (8-5-5, 29 pts., 7th)

This match will close out the first half of my first Premier League campaign, and it's against the team just ahead of us in the standings. Stoke is another team playing over its head a bit this year, as they have not finished above 9th in any season since this save started. With a win here we'll finish the first half of the season in 6th place, and a loss could drop us down to as low as 9th. We're without Cesar Meneses for this one, as he's on load from Stoke and can't play against them. Since this match comes just two days after our draw with Wolves, I also rest a couple other guys, especially since we've got an absolutely packed schedule coming up with the start of the FA Cup and our semifinal EFL Cup matchups with Wolves.

I don't have a good feeling about this match, but we hold our own, and it ends in a 0-0 draw in which neither team really gets any momentum and our best chance comes in the final moments, but it's knocked away. This was a poor match between two tired teams.

[trman73]

Leicester City Mid-Season Report

Premier League

It's certainly been a good first half in my initial run in Premier League. Here's where things stand in the league 19 matches in...

The board asked me to avoid a relegation battle, and the media had us barely surviving the drop, but we're in 7th place halfway through and we're on an eight-match unbeaten streak after a very so-so first quarter of the year. If we had just avoided those last-minute goals by United and Liverpool, we'd be in 6th. But we had good wins against West Ham and Newcastle, managed draws against four of the six teams ahead of us (City, Chelsea, Wolves and Stoke), and have beaten the teams we should beat (save for Bournemouth).

Stats-wise, we're 12th in the league with just 25 goals, but defensively we're third, allowing just 16, two more than Arsenal and one more than league leaders Man City.

So I'm pleased thus far, and I'll give us a grade of A-.

EFL Cup

Following an expected home win over Stevenage, we knocked off Liverpool, Chelsea, and Blackburn to find ourselves in the semifinals. We get Wolves in the semis and then United likely awaits us if we survive that. But it's been a good run in this tournament, so we get an A here.

FA Cup

This one hasn't started yet but the draw for the third round was a few weeks back and we drew Kidderminster, a Vanarama National League side.

First-Half Most Valuable Player: DL Chris van Eijden

The 30-year-old Dutchman is having his finest season this year, posting a 7.31 rating in all competitions and a 7.29 in EPL. We have to give this award to a defender, as defense has been our calling card thus far, so he gets it as our strongest member of the back line. Runners-Up: MC Jean-Paul Meert, one of my signings, has started all but one of our matches and has a 7.12 rating in league play. And GK Christy Smyth is tied for second in the league with eight shutouts, continuing my personal tradition of great goalkeeping in this save.

Second-Half Outlook

With the transfer window opening again in just a few days, I do continue to have some needs. Neither of the attacking midfielders that I brought in, Gary Smyth or Michael Platt, have been very good, and there are a couple guys I have my eye on. We can also stand to grab an additional midfielder to man the middle, as both Ronaldo Vieira and Timothy Fosu-Mensah are old and are not that great.

But overall, I'm feeling good about where we are. I predicted 10-10-18 for us this season. We'd have to totally fall apart to wind up with that record. I think we continue to struggle against the upper-level teams in the second half, but I do think we can collect 60 points and then hope that gets us into Europa League.

[trman73]

December 31, 2030 - Premier League: Huddersfield (6-6-7, 24 pts., 13th) vs. Leicester (8-6-5, 30 pts., 7th)

Huddersfield has held its own here during the first half of the season and they certainly look like they'll stay up for a fourth straight year. Still, this is a team we need to beat.

We're in another one of those runs where no one is scoring in our games, and we play to a 0-0 first half. But in the 57th, Michael Platt, perhaps sensing he's about to be replaced by an incoming transfer, hits Burton with a nice lead pass and Burton puts it away to give us the 1-0 lead. Less than 10 minutes later Vieira finds Burton for his second, and we're cruising. The two goals are one more than we need, and we win, 2-0 to end 2030 on a positive note.

[trman73]

With the transfer window open I make two offers: one for a former central defender of mine at Juventus, Valentino Condric. I brought him in my second year there and while he didn't see much time, he's still valued at $17 million and would be a good addition. I may not actually turn the transfer offer into an actual offer for him as I need time to think about it. Center defense is a strength of ours, but I do like this guy.

I also make an offer for a 24-year-old Spanish attacking midfielder from Everton, Jose Antonio. He's free at the end of the year, so the offer is a small one: $1.5 million with incentives down the road, which is accepted. I offer him a $3 million salary and will wait to see if he accepts. As for outgoings, I don't list anyone except the guys who were listed in the summer window and who I didn't get any offers for.

January 4, 2031 - FA Cup, Third Round: Leicester vs. Kidderminster

My first FA Cup kicks off with a match against a Kidderminster team that should be absolutely no threat to us. We start a whole slate of reserves for this one.

The match goes about as expected. Michael Platt and Les Burton get first-half goals and it's basically over. Burton gets another in the second half and we call off the dogs with 30 minutes to go. Stephen Farrar doesn't get the memo though, and the central midfielder, who's been the only player on my squad complaining about playing time, scores in his first start of the year to make it 4-0. That ends the scoring, and it's an easy stroll to the fourth round for us.

Following the match, the fourth round draw is held, and we get another home match, this time against a Premier League side, Middlesbrough.

[trman73]

January 8, 2031 - Premier League: Leicester (9-6-5, 33 pts., 6th) vs. West Ham (7-5-8, 26 pts., 10th)

West Ham has rebounded from a miserable start to be back to the top half of the table. Ideally I'd love for them to fire Paul Hurst at the end of the year and I swoop in and take this job after one successful season at Leicester. We can do our part to make that happen by getting a win here. Unfortunately we're down both our starters at center defender now as Mohamed Alaoui is off playing in the African Cup of Nations for Morocco. Ronaldo Vieira is also gone playing in that tournament. They are expected to miss our next nine matches.

Still, we're on an 11-match unbeaten streak and West Ham is hardly a powerhouse, so we'll see.

It's a back-and-forth first half, but right before the break we get a beautiful goal as Claudio Navarro leads Michael Platt for a goal, and it's 1-0 for us. Things are progressing just fine through the second half, until the 70th, when a total defensive breakdown by us leads to a 3-on-1 opportunity, and West Ham takes advantage to tie it. We get a couple good chances in the closing moments, but West Ham holds and it ends in a 1-1 draw. We fall back to 7th, and to make matters worse, Walter Morales goes down for 4-5 weeks with a sprained ankle. That's now 75% of our regular starting defense out for at least the next month.

[trman73]

January 11, 2031 - Premier League: Manchester United (12-3-6, 39 pts., 4th) vs. Leicester (9-7-5, 34 pts., 7th)

United got off to a terrible start in the league and at one point was down in 14th. But they are 10-1-1 in their last 12 EPL matches and are the hottest team in the league right now. They beat us on a goal with just seconds to go early in the year, and I'd love to get some revenge here, but we're without the majority of our starting defense, and even though we're a better club than we were back in August, I'm not sure we can keep our impressive points streak alive against these guys.

Prior to this match I complete the move for Jose Antonio from Everton.

He should make his way into the starting lineup quickly, but Michael Platt is playing his best football of the season right now, so I start him in this one, with Antonio as the reserve and Gary Smyth not among the seven subs today.

Both teams have great chances in the very first minute as Burton has a point blank shot saved and then United marches down the field and hits the crossbar with its first shot. We come right back down the field and in the third minute Michael Platt continues to show me that he's not ready for the bench quite yet by firing a shot from outside the box past the keeper to give us the 1-0 lead! But United comes right back less than five minutes later and ties it on a corner kick, and it looks like we may have a repeat of the 4-3 slugfest from our first meeting. Things settle down after those early goals, but in the 37th United takes the lead when their forward makes a move on backup central defender Roberto Valle and scores. The first-half scoring isn't finished, however, as Platt again makes something happen in the 42nd, finding Burton for a pretty goal to tie it. Then we steal a pass on United's next possession, and Jean-Paul Meert scores to give us the 3-2 lead! The half ends and it indeed is another offensive showcase.

In the 64th Pedro Borges, who scored three goals in the first match against us, gets on the board and ties the game 3-3. I just can't hold a lead against these guys. I will absolutely take a draw on the road here, so we go into defensive mode. But United's pressure is relentless, and in the 83rd they get van Eijden to commit a foul in the box for a penalty, which they convert for the 4-3 lead. We switch to attack mode, but the tying goal never comes, and our undefeated streak ends at 12 with the 4-3 loss. We score six goals in our two league matches with United, and come away with zero points. Very frustrating. Hopefully we will see these guys one more time in the final of the EFL Cup.

 

[john1]

Really unlucky to lose against Man Utd  

[trman73]

January 15, 2031 - EFL Cup Semifinal, Leg 1: Leicester vs. Wolves

We drew with Wolves in our EPL matchup a few weeks ago, but I'm not feeling that good about this with our defense just conceding four to United. Wolves have fallen off a bit in the league and are now down to 5th. But they are still dangerous, and we need to bring it, particularly on defense here in this first home leg.

Well, we do what we need to do in this one, I guess. It's a boring 0-0 draw and neither team really distinguishes itself in the match. Unfortunately, we also lose striker Claudio Navarro for 2-3 weeks to a groin strain, adding to our list of casualties.

[trman73]

January 18, 2031 - Premier League: Leicester (9-7-6, 34 pts., 7th) vs. Fulham (3-7-12, 16 pts., 20th)

We are without no less than seven starters for this game. Alaoui and Vieira are still on international duty, Navarro joins Walter Morales and Enrico Pazzaglio on the shelf with injuries, van Eijden is suspended, and Jean-Paul Meert got nicked up in the Wolves match and is not at full strength, so we won't test things with him. Wow. I consider pulling a young defender, Nathan O'Donnell, from his loan at Colchester, but they are in first place in League One, and I don't want to do that to them. So we've got just six subs for this one.

Luckily, Fulham is terrible and we should get a home result even without the majority of our first team. The team chasing us for the last Europa League spot, Everton, hosts Manchester United this week, so hopefully they'll go down to defeat and we can pad what is right now just a one-point cushion. We've got a run of three matches starting today that we should win even short-handed.

Sure enough, we got off to a hot start as a corner from Les Burton finds Lee Wilding and he nails it to put us up, 1-0. Wilding gets another in the 84th, and we wind up needing it, as Fulham scores late but can't mount any further attack and we win, 2-1.

[trman73]

I'm playing this next match while watching Burnley stun Chelsea in the EPL real-life opener. So glad football is back for the next nine months.

Anyone want to post predictions?

I'll go with this...

Man City takes the title, with United second, Chelsea third, and Spurs fourth. Arsenal and Liverpool make Europa League, and I am going to take West Ham, with Joe Hart having a bounce-back year in his return to EPL and Chicharito having a strong season, to sneak into 7th. Wishful thinking perhaps, but I really like my team heading into the year. I'll take Brighton, Huddersfield (although a great start for them today) and I'm going to go crazy here and take Crystal Palace as the third team to fall to the Championship.

Anyway... back to what really matters...

January 21, 2031 - Premier League: Bournemouth (8-4-11, 28 pts., 12th) vs. Leicester (10-7-6, 37 pts., 6th)

Everton managed a draw with United in its last match, but lowly Burnley did us a big favor by beating Stoke 1-0 at home, so we jump the Potters into 6th in the table. We get Jean-Paul Meert back in midfield for this one but are without Michael Platt, who has the flu. Jose Antonio, our newest acquisition, gets his first start at attacking midfielder. We're still without the rest of the injured players, and van Eijden is serving the second match of his suspension. I'm still confident of getting a result against a struggling Bournemouth team here.

It's a scoreless first half where we get very few chances and Bournemouth is the better team. In the 61st minute they get a corner, and we commit a foul for a penalty kick, which they convert to go up, 1-0. Maybe all of the missing starters are finally catching up to us, or maybe Bournemouth just has our number this season, as they beat us 2-0 at our place earlier in the year. Regardless, the result is all that matters, and we don't get one. Burton misses on a good chance in the 87th and Bill Armson sees his rebound shot saved, and that's our last legitimate threat. We get no points from two matches with Bournemouth, and this one may come back to haunt us when the final points are tallied in the table at the end of the year.

Bad loss. We now have just one win in our last five matches overall.

The big news on this day is not anything that happened in Premier League, but instead it's Brentford's amazing 3-0 win over Manchester United in the first leg of their EFL Cup semifinal. This really gives us incentive to go out and take it to Wolves in our second leg next week.

Edited August 12, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

January 25, 2031 - Premier League: Leicester (10-7-7, 37 pts., 6th) vs. Middlesbrough (8-4-12, 28 pts., 14th)

We need a rebound win here against Middlesbrough. We get Chris van Eijden back for this one, and Michael Platt is back from his illness, so he also returns. But I do some lineup tweaking, moving Timothy Fosu-Mensah from center midfielder to center defender to replace Antonio Valle, who has not been good as Alaoui's replacement. Meneses moves into Fosu-Mensah's spot in the middle of the midfield, and Francesco Sabatini earns a start in Meneses' spot on the right side of the midfield. I also make a transfer offer for 30-year-old defender Sam Austin from Tottenham, and consider an offer for a forward as well as the window closes in less than a week.

It's a 0-0 first half but we come out right after the break and score as Wilding gets a great feed from Platt to make it 1-0. It looks like we're going to get back in the win column, but in the 73rd, Smyth does not make a clean save on a Middlesbrough shot, and they score on the rebound to tie it. That's how it ends, and we are giving away points left and right here as that's now 1-2-2 in our last five league matches.

[trman73]

January 29, 2031 - EFL Cup Semifinal, Leg 2: Wolves vs. Leicester (tied 0-0)

We have a legitimate shot to win this tournament if we get a result here and miracle Brentford can hold off Man United at Old Tratford. Wolves are reeling right now and are just 1-6-3 in their last 10 overall matches, although they are still 5th in the EPL. We're a skeleton crew once again for this one as Meneses and Antonio can't play in cup matches for us, so it's mix-and-match time again. We need to get one goal and then hope the defense can hold, and we'll be on to the final. Penalty taking is a real weakness on our squad, so a second 0-0 game will likely mean doom for us.

The Brentford-United match is the day before ours, and United absolutely blitzes the Bees, 5-0, to end the dream run. Too bad. So United awaits the winner of this match in the Final.

Wolves come out and score early to put us in a hole, but really that goal isn't too big of a deal. And at the end of the half Michael Platt equalizes with a pretty goal, and we just need to hang on for 45 minutes without conceding and we're on to the Final.

We don't do that at all. Just a couple minutes into the second half Wolves retakes the lead, and then in the 68th they score again to make it 3-1. It's slipping away from us fast here. We can't come back, and we're out of the EFL Cup. Wolves will face Manchester United in the Final.

[trman73]

Prior to our FA Cup match is the end of the transfer window, and we wind up with two new acquisitions. First, we complete the deal for Sam Austin from Tottenham, then we get a 22-year-old striker who wasn't finding his way into Man U's lineup, John Jones. Austin is basically insurance and Jones is a replacement for Bill Armson, who has frankly been terrible for us and who I will move at the end of the season.

Good lord, in training this week Christy Smyth goes down with a thigh strain and will miss at least the next two matches. Things are falling apart for us quickly.

February 1, 2031 - FA Cup, Fourth Round: Leicester vs. Middlesbrough

We're not playing well and we need to get it together against a Middlesbrough team that we drew with last week. We're now 1-3-3 in our last seven overall. Thankfully we get Ronaldo Vieira back in our midfield and Mohamed Alaoui on defense as Guinnea-Bissau and Morocco both flamed out of the African Cup of Nations and they're' home after the group stage. Alaoui needs rest and he'll get it for this match, although he's a sub. For the first time in forever, we get a full week off after this match, which is very much needed.

Our miserable run continues as Middlesbrough's Michael Robinson scores two goals in a 90-second span in the 14th and 15th minutes, and we're down 2-0 at the break. For the first time as their head coach, I tear into the team at the break and tell them that their pride is at stake here.

Maybe that talk lights a fire under the guys, because two minutes into the second half we get a goal from Lee Wilding to cut it to 2-1. But the fire goes out after that, and we never get that second goal. We lose, 2-1. We are now out of both cup competitions, and we've lost three of our last four matches. Something needs to change here, and fast. We've got 13 matches left in our season.

[trman73]

February 8, 2031 - Premier League: Leicester (10-8-7, 38 pts., 7th) vs. Everton (10-8-7, 38 pts., 8th)

This is a huge match. Us, Everton, and Newcastle all have 38 points, but our +8 goal differential gives us the slimmest of leads over each of them (Everton is +6; Newcastle is +2). We get some good news on the injury from as Walter Morales is back at right defender, Mohamed Alaoui is in the center, and Claudio Navarro is back at forward (although Lee Wilding was really good in his absence). So for injuries, Christy Smyth will miss this match in goal, and Pazzaglia is still a few weeks away on defense. I desperately need my keeper, Jose Valinotti, to have a better match here. We need a win in this match to stop the bleeding and to maintain our top-seven standing (Stoke has not taken much advantage of our current poor form, as they are just a point up on us in sixth).

We play another scoreless first half, and then a disturbing trend continues as we concede our seventh goal from a corner (and 10th on a set piece overall) in the 53nd minute, and we're down again. They add another 10 minutes later, our suddenly feeble offense mounts little challenge, and the 2-0 loss drops us to 9th in the league. Time for a team meeting.

[trman73]

February 15, 2031 - Premier League: Newcastle (11-6-9, 39 pts., 8th) vs. Leicester (10-8-8, 38 pts., 9th)

We desperately need to get out of this funk. I haven't had a bad run like this since back right before I was fired by Genoa in 2019. There's no danger of that happening here, not with the low bar set by the board in the pre-season, but with a loss today our chances for Europa League take a massive hit. We're now three points back of Everton for seventh, with Newcastle between us. I do hold a team meeting midweek, probably my first one since the Genoa days as well. I never gave team talks on the eve of a big match, as I prefer the guys to treat matches that can clinch trophies as just another game, and that seems to have worked for me. The team responds well to my talk in the locker room, but we'll see what happens on the field.

We get Christy Smyth back for this one, and we need him. But Alaoui still needs rest, so newcomer Sam Austin starts at central defender. I also re-insert Wilding at forward over Claudio Navarro, who has really tailed off. We've got to have this match.

We get off to a quality start as in the 22nd minute a cross from Walter Morales finds Michael Platt, who continues his great second half by scoring to put us up 1-0. We need to hold this lead, and we do at the half. Things are going great late into the match until the 89th, when a long, long pass from their own end isn't defended properly and Newscastle walks right in and puts it past Smyth to tie it. You have got to be kidding me. We dominate for 88+ minutes just to draw.

Or do we?

In the 91st minute, with just three minutes of stoppage time called, van Eijden crosses a ball and it finds Les Burton, who nails it!!! We hang on and win our most important match of the season, 2-1. What a finish!!!

Edited August 13, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

March 1, 2031 - Premier League: Leicester (11-8-8, 41 pts., 8th) vs. Liverpool (9-10-8, 37 pts., 10th)

We got back on track against Newcastle, and now we need to separate ourselves from the teams below us and keep the pressure on Everton and Stoke for that Europa League slot. Sam Austin impressed in his debut on defense, so I pair him with Alaoui for this one, and Damon Delgado, who played well for us in the absence of Pazzaglia, heads to the bench. Pazzaglia will be back for our next match against Watford, so we'll be back at full strength on defense.

Liverpool is continuing its run of mediocre seasons this year, but with a win they'll be just a point back of us. We need this one. They're stingy defensively, giving up a league-low 24 goals, just three fewer than us.

We're officially back on track. In the 30th, a corner from Burton finds Alaoui, and he puts us up 1-0. Just over a minute later, we go up 2-0 on a goal that Michael Platt sets up for Wilding. It's 2-0 at the break, and when Wilding gets us another in the 55th, this one's over. We just miss the clean sheet as Liverpool scores in the 90th, but this is our best overall performance in a long time.

[trman73]

With 10 games to go in the season, the table looks like this...

Newcastle has fallen back as they are on a current 0-2-2 stretch. We are actually closer to 5th than to 9th, and with a good finish we can most certainly qualify for Europa League. Our final quarter of the season sees us play this schedule:

• Home: Arsenal, City, Derby, Stoke, Spurs
• Road: Watford, Burnley, Chelsea, Southampton, Wolves

One competition is over, and that's the EFL Cup, which was won on penalties by... Wolves. So they win their first trophy as an EPL side since 1960. Good for them.

As for us, I can see wins against Watford, Burnley, Southampton and Derby. That gets us to 56. If we can somehow get three points from the City, Arsenal, and Chelsea matches, that's 59. And that leaves a bad Spurs team at home, Stoke, and Wolves. I think we can get to 60, and I think we can sneak into Europa League.

[trman73]

March 8, 2031 - Premier League: Watford (5-7-16, 22 pts., 19th) vs. Leicester (12-8-8, 44 pts., 8th)

If we're going to do what I described above, we've got to beat this terrible Watford team. They've got a ton of work to do to stay up. I would actually say that this is my second-favorite real-life EPL team, so I root for them in the game as well. But not today. Today we need to take care of these guys.

We trudge along in the first half and Watford's keeper makes a couple of great saves to keep it scoreless at the break. But we finally break through in the 57th, as Meert finds Meneses for just his second goal of the season to put us up. Three minutes later Lee Wilding makes it 2-0, and that all but closes the book on Watford. we get our first clean sheet in nine matches, and win our third straight.

[Tajerio]

Any chance we can get a screenshot of Chelsea's Victor Bounou?  33 in 28 in the Premier League's really something.

[trman73]

March 15, 2031 - Premier League: Leicester (13-8-8, 47 pts., 8th) vs. Arsenal (17-7-5, 58 pts., 3rd)

At this point, with nine to go, every match is huge. But this one is particularly important as I feel it's our best chance at a result from the Arsenal/City/Chelsea matches we have as three of our next four. We're now just a point back of Stoke for 6th and tied with Everton for 7th, behind on the second tiebreaker, goals scored, 44 to 39.

I am playing this morning while cheering on my Hammers in their opener vs. Manchester United.

We get Enrico Pazzaglia back for this one, but Sam Austin is has played incredibly well in his three starts, so he remains in. So does Lee Wilding. We've got to go with what's been working.

Arsenal gets the majority of the chances in the early going, but in the 43rd we take advantage of one of our rare chances as Wilding finds Burton all alone in the center of the box and he scores to give us the 1-0 lead. We hold that lead at the half and this would be a huge result for us if we can hold it for 45 more minutes. But just two minutes into the second half, Smyth mishandles a save and the rebound shot bounces off Ronaldo Vieira for an own goal, and we're tied. But we're playing well and I have a good feeling that we can get another goal past them.

I'm wrong. Instead, in the 77th, it's Arsenal that gets the tie-breaking goal, and we don't get the equalizer. Our three-game winning streak is over, and we drop a point back of Everton, which draws against Watford at home (!).

[trman73]

Hey Tajerio, yeah, check this guy out. Just a beast this year. He's really made a leap. Came in on a $99 million fee a few years ago.

Chelsea actually leads the league in goals by a wide margin with 70.

Edited August 13, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

March 22, 2031 - Premier League: Burnley (4-12-14, 24 pts., 19th) vs. Leicester (13-8-9, 47 pts., 8th)

We've got to have this one with Man City and Chelsea coming up as our next two matches. I want to rebound from the Arsenal defeat so let's just get to it.

We rebound. We get a first-half goal from Michael Platt on a penalty kick after Burton is brought down in the box. That's all the scoring as we allow no shots on goal and win, 1-0. Stoke and Everton both draw, so we gain ground and move up to 6th, although Stoke has a game in hand.

We now get three full weeks off before the stretch run.

[trman73]

April 12, 2031 - Premier League: Leicester (14-8-9, 50 pts., 6th) vs. Manchester City (23-3-5, 72 pts., 1st)

City has a nine-point lead in the league and it certainly looks like they will win their third straight title. With seven to go, we are in a huge battle for one of the Europa League spots. We're currently 6th, tied with Stoke (with the goal differential lead), a point up on Everton, and two points up on a Newcastle team that's rebounded from its slump. These next two games will tell a big part of the story for us down the stretch, as we've got City at home then hit the road to face a very, very good Chelsea team. Those are the top two teams in the league right now. Obviously none of the teams chasing us face as daunting of a task as ours, so we need some luck, and some help.

Thankfully we emerge from the long break injury-free, so City will get our starting team. We've won four of five, but this is a massive test for us. Even just a point would basically be a victory. Burnley does us a favor in the Friday match by drawing with Everton, 2-2. Newcastle hosts Arsenal (3rd) today, and Stoke is on the road against West Ham (11th).

Yikes. City gets on the board first with a goal in the seventh minute, but we pull even in the 21st on a goal from Lee Wilding. But just a minute later, Walter Morales gets sent off with his second yellow card, and things completely fall apart. City scores twice after that in the first half to go up 3-1 at the break, then adds another early in the second half to make it 4-1. Our dream of getting three points from the three top teams now comes down to a road opportunity at Chelsea next week. We also get fined $32,000 for getting six yellow cards in the match and "failing to control our players."

[john1]

Tough result against Man City. Hope you ca get Europa League spot!

[trman73]

April 19, 2031 - Premier League: Chelsea (19-9-4, 68 pts., 2nd) vs. Leicester (14-8-10, 50 pts., 7th)

Okay, six games to go and nothing's even close to decided in terms of the Europa League spots...

Maybe not nothing, exactly, as it certainly looks like either Wolves or United will take one of those positions. But just one point separates sixth from ninth right now, making our next match all the more crucial. And we'll play it without two of our key defenders, as Morales is gone thanks to the red card against City, and Chris van Eijden is suspended for the third time this season thanks to yellow card accumulation. This hurts, as Chelsea has scored a league-high 77 goals on the year, and they have the man who looks like he will be the Player of the Year in Premier League, Victor Bounou, who has an incredible 34 goals in 29 matches. I do not have a good feeling about this at all, and once again have to hope that we get some help, this time from United (playing Stoke), City (playing Everton) and Burnley (playing Newcastle).

Well, it looks like we're going to go 0-for-3 in these matches against the league leaders, as Chelsea scores one in the 6th and again in the 38th to go up 2-0 at the break. That's all they need, and they win it 2-0. Stoke draws with United, Everton gets a huge win against Man City, and Newcastle beats Burnley. A nightmare week, and we're down to 9th.

We now have five matches to get back on track against some teams that we should defeat.

Edited August 13, 2017 by trman73

[john1]

You can still do it!

[trman73]

April 27, 2031 - Premier League: Leicester (14-8-11, 50 pts., 9th) vs. Derby (7-5-21, 26 pts., 18th)

Stoke and Everton each play midweek matches, with Stoke winning and Everton drawing with Chelsea, so we need a win here to remain a point back of each of them. Newcastle has Man city this week, so we've got a chance to keep things bunched up in those 6-9 spots with a win against this bad Derby team. We need to take advantage of having the weakest opponent this week. van Eijden is still out for this one, but everyone else is ready to roll.

Things are made a little more complicated in terms of Europa League qualification with Fulham beating Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinals. If they win this thing, that leaves just two spots for the 5th and 6th place finishers, and would make things a lot more difficult for us. So we need to handle Derby and then a poor Southampton team on the road next week, and see where we are with three to go.

We grab an early goal in the 13th from jean-Paul Meert. Then right before the half Derby foul us right outside the box, and Burton slams in the free kick to make it 2-0. It looks like Derby is just the tonic we need. We don't need a third goal, but we get a third goal, as Claudio Navarro scores in the 74th. We win, 3-0, and are back on track.

[trman73]

Thanks John! It's going to be close.

This close, with four to go...

[trman73]

May 4, 2031 - Premier League: Southampton (10-6-18, 36 pts., 16th) vs. Leicester (15-8-11, 53 pts., 9th)

We can get into the math around the possibilities for us to sneak into the top seven, or just leave it at this: we need this match to make the home game against Stoke next week a determining matchup for Europa League qualification. Stoke and Everton each have bottom-dwellers this week, while Newcastle visits a Chelsea team that needs a win to have any hopes of catching Man City for the league title. So if form holds, we can leapfrog them and be a point behind Stoke and Everton. van Eijden is serving the third game of his three-game suspension (that's six total games suspended this year for him), but once again we have our full squad except for him.

We are the last game of this week so we already know what happens in the league: as expected, Everton and Stoke win and Newcastle loses. So we're in 8th with a win today.

This one's over quickly. Sam Austin scores his first goal for us on a corner kick from Wilding in the 5th, Wilding sets up Burton with a goal in the 9th, and then he gets his third assist of the half with another setup for Wilding, and it's 3-0 in the 33rd. Burton returns the favor to Wilding in the 56th, and we're building our goal differential up in this one, which is huge. Southampton gets one back, but it's a dominating 4-1 win. We jump Newcastle and set up an enormous match next week with Stoke.

[trman73]

May 12, 2031 - Premier League: Leicester (16-8-11, 56 pts., 8th) vs. Stoke (15-12-8, 57 pts., 7th)

We are again the last match of the week this week, so we'll know where we stand heading into our most important match of the year. We drew 0-0 with Stoke in our first matchup, but I have a feeling someone is going to come out of this one with a win. We've dominated two poor opponents in our last two matches, and so have they. Finally Chris van Eijden is back from his suspension, so we have our complete lineup in place for this one, except for the Stoke loaner Meneses, who is actually slumping anyway. Sabatini starts in his spot.

Everton and Newcastle both win their matches, so we desperately need to win this one. Man City continues to stumble, falling to an already-relegated Watford and leaving the door open for Chelsea, which is now just two points back with two to go. We also know that the lowest we can finish in the league is 9th, as Liverpool cannot catch us. Regardless of how these last three games play out, it will be our best finish in eight years.

It's a tense first half and neither team generates much offense. But in the second half, we come to life. Michael Platt takes advantage of a bad clearance to fire in a strike from 25 yards out to put us up 1-0, and the floodgates open as we start getting good chances. We break through again in the 81st as Meert leads Platt with a pass and he scores again! That's it for Stoke, and we win a huge match, 2-0. The victory puts us up to 7th with two games to go, and suddenly next week's game with Wolves could actually move us into fourth in the league!

[trman73]

May 17, 2031 - Premier League: Wolves (17-9-10, 60 pts., 5th) vs. Leicester (17-8-11, 59 pts., 7th)

The math is a lot simpler now than it was last week. If we win our final two matches, we're in Europa League, as we'll pass Wolves and will finish no less than 6th. There's a chance for us to move into that coveted 4th spot, but we'll need to win out and have United drop points to either West Ham or Middlesbrough. But we can only worry about this match right now. Wolves are not in danger of missing out on Europe since they won the EFL Cup, but given where they were earlier in the year, they've got to be disappointed in how they're finishing. They are just 2-1-4 in their last seven. This is our fourth time playing them this year: we drew in our earlier EPL match, drew the first EFL Cup semifinal leg, and they took it to us pretty good in that second leg.

One team comes out on fire in the first half... and it's not us. Wolves score quickly in the 4th minute, then add another in the 39th and we're down 0-2 at the break. I tell the team to show me something else, and switch to attack mode. We need this match. But it looks like Wolves will just not be denied as they score two minutes into the second half, and I see this whole thing slipping away from us. It will take a miracle to get back into this one, and we haven't really done miracles. The scoreboard flashes that Stoke leads Everton, 2-0. Ugh.

Throughout the course of this career, I feel like my teams have played really well in the biggest games. That's not the case here. This is a hugely disappointing loss, as Wolves score again in the 70th and we fall with probably our worst effort of the season. We fall to ninth place with a home match against Spurs to end the season, and we're going to need to jump two teams on the final day to have a shot at Europa League. The (admittedly long shot) dream of Champions League is over.

[trman73]

May 25, 2031 - Premier League: Leicester (17-8-12, 59 pts., 8th) vs. Tottenham (12-9-16, 45 pts., 13th)

Well, it comes down to the final day...

Lots of things going on. City clinches with a win, but if they falter against relegated Burnley, Chelsea can take it with a road win over Arsenal. The Gunners are locked in at third. Wolves go to Champions League with a win over Everton, or they leave the door open for United to sneak into that final spot.

As for Europa League, United is in control of its fate, as is Everton. That Everton-Wolves match will have a role in determining both Champions League and Europa League qualification. For us, we need to beat Spurs, and hope for Wolves and Newcastle to beat Everton and Stoke, respectively. I actually feel like both of those things will happen, and that somehow, we squeak into that 6th spot when all is said and done.

Regardless of what happens here, I have thoroughly enjoyed my first season managing Leicester and managing in Premier League. After the boredom of dominating with Juventus, taking over this team and overachieving, but not too much, has been great.

Let's play the last 90 minutes of the year!

Wed dominate the early going but can't find the back of the net. In the 35th, we finally do, as Michael Platt finds Lee Wilding for a goal, and as of this moment we are up to 6th. But we can't hold the lead until halftime, as Spurs equalize in the 45th minute, and at halftime it's 1-1. We're back to 8th.

In the 74th minute, Wilding gets the easiest opportunity of his life on a breakaway, but his shot is saved, and it's starting to look like we'll come up short. But in the 81st, Platt passes to Meert who hits a streaking Wilding and he atones, putting us up 2-1 and moving us up to 7th! We just need to hang on for 10 minutes.

And we do! We hang on for the 2-1 win and then check the scoreboard. Everton beats Wolves, 3-0, allowing United to finish 4th. Wolves finish 5th, Everton 6th.

And... Newcastle and Stoke draw, 0-0! We finish 7th, and now have to cross our fingers and hope for a City win in the FA Cup final over Fulham.

A quality (although nerve-wracking) finish to a positive campaign.

[trman73]

We still have one more big thing happening in England that has a direct effect on us, although we are hopeless to affect its outcome. Fulham has a chance to break our hearts with a win in the FA Cup final over Manchester City. I consider attending the game, but decide against it. And after playing to a 1-1 first half, City scores twice in the second half and wins, 3-1. And Leicester City will play in the Euro Cup!

The big news from around Europe is a shocking result in Spain, as Atletico Madrid is relegated from La Liga after not finishing out of the top half since 2005. Yikes.

The other big news is from Serie A, where Juventus has a fantastic season but trails Inter, 92 points to 90, heading into the final matches of the season. Incredibly, Inter loses its final match, but so does Juventus, and for the first time in eight years, Juventus does not win Serie A.

As for the cups, West Ham made a valiant run to Euro Cup Final but got destroyed by Leverkusen, 3-0. And in the big one (in which, it must be noted, Juventus was knocked out of by City in the first knockout round), Bayern defeats OM, 2-1, to win its first Champions League crown since 2018.