All of Life, All of the Game

[Tikka Mezzala]

Just caught up with this. What can I say: it's a real benchmark for writing FM fan fiction. I'm thinking about starting a story for FM21, creating a backstory before the release. I'll definitely be taking inspiration from this and some of the other excellent works on the forum. 

Looking forward to the next instalment. 

[EvilDave]

That's very kind of you to say so, although given some of the forum greats I'm not sure I'd consider myself a benchmark! I hope you continue to enjoy, and I look forward to your own tale as it develops...
--

The pressure was also on the Danes, who were playing for a public desperate to reach another tournament after missing out on the last three major competitions – unacceptable for a nation eager to relive the glory days of Danish Dynamite and the Laudrup brothers. Parken was packed to the rafters for the crucial Group E encounter, and the Swiss knew they could take nothing for granted against a side with a huge opportunity of their own. Dolberg, himself fired up after costing his team in their last encounter, fired the first shot of the game just wide after three minutes, and the decisive encounter was underway.

Shortly after the 10 minute mark, Danish captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg played a pass between Laporte and Elvedi which ran just a fraction too far for Dolberg, and immediately Burki looked to set Nuhiu away down the Swiss left. The Barcelona man cut inside past one man, jinked past a second, and then fired a shot from the edge of the area which clipped the outside of the far post on its way out for a goal kick. That goal kick was won in the air by von Gunten, collected by Embolo, and after a scrappy tangle of legs on the edge of the Danish box, the ball squirmed loose for Albian Ajeti to sweep in opportunistically from the penalty spot. First blood to the Swiss.

There was still plenty of time to go however, and the Danes were not about to roll over and watch their own World Cup dream go up in flames. As Switzerland instinctively dropped their intensity having taken the lead, so the hosts upped their own and immediately pushed for the equaliser. Dolberg continued to be a menace in the final third, pulling defenders around and creating space for his team-mates as well as opportunities for himself. With half an hour gone, his cushioned volley allowed Jacob Bruun Larsen a clear run at goal, and he made no mistake with a driven finish beneath the dive of Burki to tie the game going into the break.

While the draw would be sufficient for the Swiss, the Danish hosts needed another to keep top spot in play, and so it was little surprise that they were the more attacking of the two teams as the second half got underway. Embolo and Nuhiu remained a constant threat on the break, but it was the home side who looked more likely to grab a second goal, and with 67 minutes on the clock that is exactly what happened, Dolberg’s movement in the box leaving him free to tap in a cross from the left and leave the visiting defenders pointing at each other in exasperation at losing their man. If things remained at 2-1, Switzerland would need a win at home to Georgia to guarantee qualification, while Denmark would be firmly back in the hunt.

Raphael gambled, withdrawing Denis Zakaria from the deeper midfield position and introducing Mael Marques from the bench as a second central striker, shifting to a 4-2-4 formation in a bid to force an equaliser, and as the Danes responded with defensive reinforcements, the confusion brought about by the reorganisation provided the chance they needed. Two centre backs left Ajeti to the another, the Leipzig forward flicked a pass round the corner into the path of Nuhiu, and the rising star of Swiss football hammered a shot high into the corner of the net with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Immediately Raphael responded, the 4-2-4 quickly reverted back to the usual 4-3-3 with Ajeti dropping into midfield and the wingers withdrawn, and despite Denmark throwing men forward in the dying moments, the well-set Swiss defence stood firm in the face of the onslaught. Even the indefatigable Dolberg could not force another opening, and on the solitary occasion Bruun Larsen did get a look at goal, Burki was comfortably equal to the effort. At the final whistle, Raphael rushed onto the field to congratulate his men – Switzerland were going to the 2026 World Cup.

With the pressure released, the final qualifier at home to Georgia had absolutely nothing riding on it for either side – Georgia would wind up in equal fourth, behind Iceland on goal difference alone – and the game itself turned into a party for the fans at St Jakobspark. Noah Okafor opened the scoring in a rare start on the left wing ahead of Nuhiu, and while Georgi Levtadze equalised soon after, Marques headed in a second and set up von Gunten for the third all before the break. Into the second half, Jose Manuel Jimenez grabbed the pick of the bunch with a 30-yard thunderbolt, before a second for Levtadze added a coat of respectability to the final score. All of which meant that Switzerland emerged on top of Group E, four points ahead of Denmark, who edged out Wales by virtue of winning their final-day clash in Copenhagen. Iceland and Georgia followed in fourth and fifth respectively, with Kazakhstan bringing up the rear as expected. Ultimately, the seeding turned out to be entirely accurate, although that would have rather downplayed the drama that unfolded on the field.

With the qualification process over, Raphael and Elise could finally take something of a break before World Cup fever well and truly set in – taking a brief holiday before settling back into the rhythm of international management. Between matchday scouting, meetings with the Swiss FA, and regular contact with a number of players across the national team setup, Raphael was at long last able to take a look around the footballing world, reflect on the achievement of making the World Cup, and wait for the draw for the finals themselves.

When December rolled round, the Lavergnes joined the Swiss delegation in Toronto for FIFA’s pre-World Cup celebration, which of course culminated with the draw for the 2026 tournament. With a new 48-team format to be ironed out, explained and then populated, the notoriously drawn-out ceremony was even more convoluted than usual, lasting several hours and testing the patience of even the presenters themselves.

The upshot of such a laborious process was that Switzerland were drawn as the top seed in Group I, alongside World Cup regulars Australia and the lesser-spotted Peru, who had scraped through as the final South American qualifier. Neither opponent would provide an easy win for Raphael’s men, but with only one of the three sides being eliminated, the odds were in their favour for progression to the knockout stages. Officially, the Swiss FA were hopeful of a spot in the last 16. Privately, the manager wanted to be in contention much later than that.

[EvilDave]

Of course, the build-up to the World Cup was far from straightforward. There were the transfer rumours affecting two of his best players – Thibauld Renaud being linked with, and eventually completing, a move from Stuttgart to Milan, and Avdyl Nuhiu turning down a huge bid from Manchester United to lure him away from Barcelona. There was the constant media speculation around his squad, piling the pressure on a number of young players as well as Raphael personally. There was the failure of the Swiss FA to arrange a friendly against South American opposition, settling instead for Morocco in addition to a trip to Scotland. And then, unrelated to Switzerland, there was still time for a late PR battle between FIFA and the NFL over the use of stadiums in the USA. Nevertheless, the first and perhaps most important decision Raphael had to make related to the second issue, and the selection of the 23 men who would represent the Swiss at the World Cup.

In many ways, it was not too difficult a decision for the manager to make. Over the course of the qualification campaign, Raphael had called a total of 32 players up to the national side, with only 25 of them seeing action – and some of those only in the Iceland/Kazakhstan double-header. As far as the core of the team was concerned, and certainly with regard to the first team, there was a clear consensus as to who would be involved. That said, there were a few big decisions to be made, not least because of injuries suffered but not one but two important players in the side.

In midfield, Michael Frey had passed his peak at the age of 31, was remained a starter more often than not, having rediscovered his form in a struggling Malaga side after leaving Atletico Madrid. However, with a month of the season remaining, he had broken his ankle in a league game against Espanyol, denying him the chance to take part in the World Cup. In similar fashion, Leipzig’s Albian Ajeti, who had arguably fallen behind Mael Marques as Raphael’s preferred central striker, had injured his hamstring in training, and would not be fit until the last 16 at the earliest. It was not a risk Raphael was willing to take.

That automatically cut two from the manager’s extended squad of 30 – and he saw little point in introducing new faces that he was not seriously considering at this stage – which meant five further players had to be given bad news. For left-back Francois Daniel and centre-back Jean-Francois Klaus, aged 20 and 22 respectively, their time would come again. For Atalanta striker Nishan Burkart, it was perhaps confirmation that he was unlikely to fit into Raphael’s system. For Silvan Widmer and Noah Okafor – a man Lavergne had sided during his club career – it was perhaps more of a surprise.

Widmer maybe less so – at 33, his best days were behind him, and Silvan Hefti had taken his starting berth over the past couple of years. It was a little harsh to deprive him of one final tournament, but his replacement had been showing excellent club form, and had been around the national side for some time. Okafor, on the other hand, didn’t take the news well. He had struggled to break into the Hamburg team and dropped off statistically, but it was his air of complacency that had convinced Raphael to gamble. At only 26 the international door was by no means closed, but he would have to do some serious work to force his way back in given the talent taking his place.

All of which meant that Raphael had one or two surprises in his 23 man squad, officially announced after a 3-1 win over Morocco and goalless draw in Scotland, contained one or two surprises, but no genuine shocks. In goal would be Roman Burki, at 35 approaching his final tournament but still producing excellent form for Valencia, supported by two younger keepers in Basel’s Noel Voegli and Young Boys’ Ivo Oliver. At 22 and 21, those two were the future of Swiss goalkeeping, and would pick up hugely valuable experience.

At right-back, Silvan Hefti would be first choice, with Widmar’s replacement being Basel’s Kreshnik Hajrizi, who at 27 had 18 caps picked up over several years, and came into the side on the back of a strong domestic campaign. On the left flank, Ricardo Rodriguez was still going strong at 33, starting more than 20 games for Real Madrid after a shock move from PSV after the European Championships, and would bring top level experience to the side. Supporting him was Elrich Elvedi, the first of several Servette youth products in the side now plying his trade at Red Bull Salzburg, who would get his fair share of minutes to try and keep the veteran suitably fresh.

In the centre of defence, Raphael was very confident in the four men travelling across the Atlantic. Arsenal’s Cedric Laporte was one of world football’s finest centre-backs, equally comfortable in the air and on the ground, and an excellent passer to boot. Nico Elvedi was a stalwart of Borussia Monchengladbach and a leading Bundesliga defender, while Jan Bamert of Lazio was another man in the prime of his career and comfortable starting. As was Jose Henrique, whose excellent form for Basel had earned him a move to Lyon in the previous summer, where he had slotted straight into the starting line-up. Central defence was one area where Switzerland compared favourably with the very best teams in the world.

In the deeper midfield role, Elvedi’s Gladbach team-mate Denis Zakaria provided the more destructive option, with another former Basel youngster – now of Villarreal after a €14m deal – in Jose Manuel Jimenez offering a creative, playmaking option in front of the defence. Henrique was also capable of stepping forward into an anchor role here, and so Raphael had options for different styles and levels of experience.

The left side of the central pairing was largely the more conservative of the two, combining both offensive and defensive duties and providing cover in both halves of the field. Basel’s Alessio von Gunten was Raphael’s preferred starter with Frey out injured, and at 24 had matured into a fine all-round midfielder – with rumours of a move to Serie A refusing to die down. Coming into the squad in place of Frey was another man based in Italy, the exciting but raw Alex Hoffman of Bologna. Just 20 years old, he was capable of moments of game-breaking brilliance, but lacked the consistency that his manager would have liked to see – for that reason, he was likely to start on the bench more often than not.

On the right and more creative side of things, Thibauld Renaud was the playmaking hub of the Swiss team. Having brought him through at Servette and then taken him to Stuttgart, Raphael was surprised he hadn’t yet made the move to one of Europe’s elite clubs - the Milan move would go through after the tournament - but he was more than capable of performing at that level. Nantes’ Ingo Voigt was a capable backup, providing more steel when required over the flair of Renaud, and possessed the temperament of a man much older than his 26 years.

To the wings then, and the left hand side contained two of Switzerland’s most exciting players. The undisputed starter was Avdyl Nuhiu, now aged 25 and one third of Barcelona’s fearsome front three. One of the world’s finest wingers and a prolific goalscorer, his pace along would terrify defences at the World Cup. Supporting him, and preferred to Okafor, was the uncapped 18-year-old Fabrizio Lisi. Having come through at Servette, the lightning-fast teenager had burst straight into the first team, and the rumour mill had already linked him with moves to the Bundesliga after less than two seasons of senior football. He remained far from the finished article, but posed a big enough threat for Raphael to gamble on his potential for the tournament.

On the right, Breel Embolo was an excellent foil for Nuhiu. Still at Stuttgart and in the prime of his career at 29, he remained a lethal finisher and supreme physical presence, capable of leading and finishing a counter-attack in equal measure. The other option available to him – and a backup on the left if required – was Southampton’s Sascha Zwingli, a more creative wide player and a very dangerous crosser of the ball. Along with the centre of defence, the wings were arguably Switzerland’s strongest position.

That left the central striker position, and with Ajeti out it left Mael Marques – another former Servette starlet and current Stuttgart starter – as the first choice forward. Both clinical and creative, he possessed a little less pace than the wide men, but would need very few opportunities to find the net. An alternative option, and a man blessed with remarkable physical attributes, was Anderlecht’s 22-year-old striker Bruno Bickel. He only had three caps to his name, all from the bench, but had the ability to bully defenders in the air if a more direct approach was required. Embolo and even Nuhiu were also capable of leading the line if desired, and so Raphael was more than content with his attacking options.

All in all, Lavergne was satisfied with his Switzerland side. Of course there was room for improvement – and there always would be, such is the nature of the international game – but on reflection it was a stronger side than the team that had gone so close at the European Championships. The core of that squad had matured and grown together, the additions brought good options to the table, and the blend of youth and experience felt well balanced. With two warm-up games up, all that remained was to go through the final preparations and actually travel to the United States. Switzerland would be based in Dallas, with their group games taking place both there and in Houston, and Peru and Australia waited in the Texan heat. With all the build-up complete, it was time for the football to do the talking.

[EvilDave]

By the time Switzerland got round to kicking off their World Cup campaign, there had already been a couple of significant shocks. Two of the three host nations had got their tournaments up and running, and while 2022 runners-up Mexico had brushed aside China with a 3-0 victory, the United States had plunged themselves into crisis with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of debutants Burkina Faso, and would need a positive result against Ukraine to escape the group. Elsewhere, defending champions Italy had laid down a marker with a 5-0 win over a poor Iranian side, and already the party was in full swing.

With one win almost guaranteeing progress to the knockout stages in the new 48-team format, Raphael sent a full-strength Switzerland out to face Peru in the opening game of Group I. With the eventual champions facing seven games over the course of a month, he was hoping to use an element of rotation in the second group game if safe passage was secured, and so getting three points on the board early would be crucial.

Peru had scraped into the World Cup, claiming the final COMNEBOL berth behind Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Colombia. They had at least avoided the need for a play-off spot, but it was hard to argue that their qualification had been fortuitous at worst and unconvincing at best. While they undoubtedly had the potential to cause a shock, the Swiss were favourites, especially with a full-strength line-up. That looked to have been recognised by Peruvian boss Adrian Sanchez, who lined his men up in a defensive 4-5-1 designed to stifle rather than create. To call it limited would have been kind.

Indeed, from the kick-off Peru seemed content to drop deep into their own half and concede possession to Raphael’s side, very wary of the Swiss pace on the break and so unwilling to commit men forward. After the first 20 minutes, the Europeans had seen 73% of possession, but had struggled to break down their opponents, a single Marques effort drawing a save from Miguel Barbagelata. That percentage remained largely static as the first half drew to a close, with Peru doing a good job of frustrating the favourites and denying them even a sniff of goal.

However, in the second half it became apparent that Peru could not keep up with Switzerland’s increasingly quick passing, the midfield trio of Jimenez, von Gunten and Renaud growing in confidence as the Peruvian pressure began to drop. With 20 minutes to play Raphael switched out von Gunten for Alex Hoffman, and the 20-year-old added an urgency to the midfield, driving forward with the ball as well as looking for the killer pass. As the clock ticked into the final 10 minutes, a turn and dart from Hoffman caused panic in the opposing defence, Carlos Ascues missed a crucial tackle, and the Bologna man lifted a pass towards Avdyl Nuhiu cutting in from the left wing. The Barcelona star chested the ball into his path before drilling a cross along the six-yard line, and substitute Bruno Bickel tapped in his first international goal after getting ahead of his man at the near post. At that point Peru had little choice but to try and play, and after a particularly disjointed attack late on Jimenez seized on a loose ball to set Embolo away, and the Stuttgart man finished emphatically to wrap up the win.

All three points provided the perfect start for the Swiss, and the second matchday would work out perfectly for them. An improved Peru managed to both attack and score against an Australian side who had previously taken the lead, and the 1-1 draw meant that Switzerland were guaranteed a top two spot in the group. All that was left was to settle the issue of top spot and an improved seeding for the round of 32. A draw would be sufficient after Australia’s draw, but Raphael would be looking for the win and to lay down a marker with a rotated line-up.

[Tikka Mezzala]

Burkina Faso. To be fair, there's a few decent players in their ranks. I had a couple with ASEC Mimosas, and I think there's a really good centre back called Tapsoba who plays in Germany. 

[EvilDave]

The expanded World Cups throw up all sorts of qualifiers, it's wonderfully mad. Not sure I agree with the IRL decision, but it makes for FM fun!
--

 

Accordingly, Raphael shuffled his pack emphatically. Burki started in front of an all-new back four in Hajrizi, Henrique, Bamert and Elrich Elvedi, while Zakaria and Hoffman replaced Jimenez and Renaud in the midfield. Breel Embolo kept his place on the right, as did Marques up front, but the left wing saw an international debut for 18-year-old Fabrizio Lisi, with the eyes of the world curious to see how the rocket-propelled teenager would cope with the pressure of a World Cup debut.

To the delight of his manager, he coped brilliantly. A cross-field ball from Hajrizi found him in half a yard of space with just five minutes on the clock, and in the blink of an eye he had left Aussie right-back Gethin Jones in his wake, driving hard to the byline before cutting the ball back for Marques to sidefoot home. Less than 10 minutes later it was Hoffman’s turn to pick out the teenager, and this time he elected to cut inside the hapless Jones before fizzing in a shot which veteran Matt Ryan did well to palm over for a corner. The set-piece was cleared, but Australia’s ageing defence was already creaking.

What they did have in their favour was a youthful midfield, led by the central pair of Jon Hooper and Matthew Lorenzi operating in a classic creator/destroyer partnership. As Switzerland would soon find out, the former also possessed a mean free-kick, and in the 32^nd minute it was only the frame of Roman Burki’s goal that denied Australia a leveller. Two minutes before the interval, the AZ starlet curled in a cross from a set-piece on the right, and this time it was the referee’s whistle that kept Burki’s sheet clean – although the push on Bamert was one of the more obvious fouls of the evening.

At half-time Raphael replaced Embolo with Sascha Zwingli, and the Southampton man was given instructions to swap wings intermittently with the talented Lisi. With Jones having a torrid time at right-back, the Swiss boss intended to see if he could exploit the lack of pace on the left-hand side of defence, patrolled by 35-year-old Jason Davidson. Within seconds of the restart Lisi did just that, standing a cross up to the far post where Marques was unlucky to only hit the side netting. Back on the right a few moments later, the teenager drew a foul which saw Jones pick up a long-awaited booking, and Zwingli curled in a free-kick which was headed powerfully into the top corner by Denis Zakaria to double the Swiss lead.

The second goal gave Raphael the confidence to withdraw Marques and Renaud, meaning that all 10 outfield players from the opening game would get something of a rest before the first knockout round. Bickel and Voigt were the two to make their entrance, and the first of the two was instrumental in setting up Switzerland’s third goal of the game, flicking a header into space for fellow substitute Zwingli to run on to a crash in a powerful half-volley which all but secured the victory. For Australia, it meant they were staring down the barrel of elimination, but the fine margins of the three-team group stage worked out in their favour – a mistimed challenge from goalscorer Bamert gave Sydney FC’s Alan Spesic the chance to pull one back from the penalty spot, and his successful effort meant that when the final whistle blew, they progressed ahead of Peru by a solitary goal scored. It was immaterial to Raphael and a jubilant Swiss side however, and they were able to look to the next round with confidence.

[tenthreeleader]

Excellent result, Dave, surpassed only by the writing.

[EvilDave]

Thanks 10-3, it's been a good campaign for our man so far. Glad you're still enjoying proceedings!
Just a quick heads-up to say I'm moving house tomorrow, so this may be the last post for a little while as we settle in and get things sorted. Hopefully it won't take long, but you never know.
--

 

That next round would come against Japan, who bounced back from a 3-1 defeat by Germany with a stylish victory over Costa Rica to book their spot in the last 32. Switzerland would be favourites, but up against one of the world’s best midfielders – Liverpool’s Hajime Furuya, who had amassed 84 caps at the age of just 24 – they could not afford to take anything for granted. If that was in any doubt, Raphael’s side would have been convinced the previous evening, when the Ivory Coast stunned co-hosts Mexico with an extra time victory. Should they conquer the Japanese, it would be the Ivorians in the last 16 for Switzerland.

After two games with two very different line-ups, Switzerland took to the field with something of a hybrid line-up to take on Japan. Burki remained in goal, Cedric Laporte returned to partner Jose Henrique in the centre of defence, with Silvan Hefti coming back in on the right and Elrich Elvedi continuing on the left. Zakaria took the base of the midfield behind the usual pair of von Gunten and Renaud, while Lisi dropped to the bench to allow the first-choice wing pair of Embolo and Nuhiu to team up once more. At the point of the attack, the physicality of Bruno Bickel was preferred to Mael Marques, and the Swiss were ready to go.

So too were the Japanese, and full of confidence after their win over Costa Rica they flew out of the blocks at full speed, a fast passing game and intense press causing Switzerland all manner of problems in the early stages. The one area Raphael had been unsure about was his defensive quartet, and his gamble on an untried combination did not pay off. Just after the quarter hour mark, the dangerous Furuya drifted into space, rolled a delightful pass between Henrique and Hefti, and Kei Sawada finished calmly beneath the goalkeeper to give Japan a surprise lead. Switzerland attempted to get back on terms quickly as first Bickel and then Embolo tested the hands of Kazuhiro Tanaka, but the underdogs held firm as the first half continued.

The Swiss were not yet worried, but there was a nervousness about them even in attack. Bickel snatched at a volley when well-positioned, succeeding only in sending the shot wide from 14 yards, and then the usually dependable Renaud misread the run of Nuhiu with the Barcelona man in acres of space, sending his man harmlessly over the goal line. The first half came to a conclusion with a speculative effort from range off the boot of von Gunten, and at the interval it remained Japan 1-0 Switzerland.

With the pressure on in the changing room, Raphael had to walk the line between tearing into his team after a lacklustre display, and giving them the belief to overturn the deficit. Tactically, Bickel was instructed to operate as a more conventional target man in a bid to occupy the Japanese centre-backs and create room for the wingers, while a quiet word was had with Renaud, who was far removed from his usual composed self.

And yet for all his managerial manoeuvring, it was a stroke of fortune that ultimately put the Swiss back on track. Six minutes after the restart, an innocuous ball into the box from Renaud was inexplicably handled by veteran full-back Gotoku Sakai, and Renaud himself placed the ball on the sport, took a few steps back and then drilled the penalty low to the goalkeeper’s left to restore parity and cause a huge sigh of relief back home. Showing a confidence that came with the favourites tag, the Stuttgart man rushed to grab the ball and get things going once more, and from nothing the momentum was very much with the men in red.

With that momentum came pressure, and in less than 10 minutes the Japanese caved in. Nuhiu bulled his man down the left and cut the ball back for Bickel, only for a defensive touch to divert it away from the Anderlecht man. However, timing his run to perfection was none other than Renaud, and arguably the worst player on the pitch in the first half grabbed his second goal of the game with a composed finish past the dive of Tanaka. Despite a brilliant first period, Japan found themselves behind.

And to complete the turnaround, the third goal duly arrived. Marques replaced Bickel on the hour, and in the 72^nd minute linked up well with fellow substitute Lisi before bending the ball around the goalkeeper and into the top corner of the net. With the result sealed, Renaud came off to a standing ovation from the Los Angeles crowd, while Jimenez replaced Zakaria at the base of the midfield. The changes in personnel made no difference at either end, and after an almighty scare in the first 45 minutes, a moment of madness from Japan had turned things around for the Swiss, Raphael’s men booking a last 16 clash with the Ivory Coast in Monterrey –  the one and only time in the tournament that Switzerland would line up in Mexico.

With the FA’s expectations now met, Raphael’s own expectations – and, of course, those of the Swiss public – were the ones that mattered. The Ivorians had upset Mexico in the last round and denied the co-hosts a last 16 clash in front of a home crowd, but once again Switzerland would be favourites to progress and reach the quarter finals. That would see them meet either Argentina or Belgium in the last eight – by far the most difficult game of their run so far – and thereafter they would truly be among the world’s elite. Finding the balance between ensuring victory in the next game and preparing for subsequent efforts was the quandary ahead of the Swiss manager, and he would have to earn his money as the World Cup approached its business end.

[bigmattb28]

Another good chapter Dave, keep it up

[EvilDave]

Thanks Matt, much appreciated. After an unwanted hiatus, this is now back - it may slow down a little in the coming weeks, but I'm keen to pick Raphael's story up once again.
--

With Alessio von Gunten taking a slight knock against Japan, Lavergne was forced into handing Alex Hoffman a start against Les Elephants, with Ricardo Rodriguez brought in at left-back in place of Elrich Elvedi. Nico Elvedi resumed his defensive partnership with Laporte in the heart of the back line, while Marques came back in for Bickel at the tip of the spear. It was as close to a first-choice team as Switzerland has fielded since their opening fixture against Peru, and from this point on it was unlikely that Raphael would be doing any unforced shuffling of his pack.

Ivory Coast, with former Servette winger Jeremie Boga among their 23, had been impressive in their run to the last 16. A win over New Zealand and draw with Uruguay had seen them win their group without conceding a goal, before fighting back from a goal down against Mexico to win in extra time. They lacked the star power of previous Ivorian teams – Fulham goalkeeper Thomas Bamba was now tracked by Real Madrid while veteran Franck Kessie was already a fixture at the Bernabeu and the star of the national side – but possessed plenty of talent playing at a top level across Europe, and would be a huge challenge for a Swiss side that had struggled in the early stages against Japan.

In the opening stages however, those extra 30 minutes against Mexico – even with an additional day’s rest – seemed to be taking their toll on the Ivorian side. Instead of the attacking fluency which had characterised their play so far, they settled into a rather stodgy rhythm that did not make for entertaining viewing. Switzerland were not dominating possession as they had against a defensive Peru, but their opponents produced precious little in the opening stages. Even by the half hour mark, neither penalty area had seen more than the odd flash of action, and commentators in a multitude of languages were bemoaning the lack of action.

The remainder of the half was also played out in an unattractive midfield battle, and there was even a smattering of boos from the Monterrey crowd when the Italian referee blew for the interval. Raphael could not really fault his team – their orange-shirted opponents had simply not let them play – and instead set about finding some creativity to break down the Ivorians. Jimenez for Zakaria at the base of midfield was deemed to be the change most likely to make difference, and the two sides returned for another 45 minutes in the Mexican heat.

With little changing despite the introduction of Jimenez, at the 65 minute mark Raphael again turned to his bench. Off came Mael Marques, on went young winger Fabrizio Lisi, and his manager’s hand gestures saw the newcomer take up a spot on the left, Nuhiu move over to the right, and Breel Embolo look to take up the central striking role between the two Ivorian centre backs. Evidently it had been determined that pace was now the key factor, and Lisi’s introduction brought it in spades.

As time ticked on, pace did indeed prove key. A foul on Kessie in the centre circle allowed Charles Kouakou the chance to drive at the Swiss defence, and the young midfielder slid a path though to Souleymane Diallo on the Ivorian left. His first touch looked to take him inside Hefti, but Elvedi read it from centre-back and swept the ball off his toes to Jimenez. A raking ball down the right sent Nuhiu away on the wing, and after breaking clear of Didier Ouattara he burst into the area looking to square the ball to Embolo. As Bamba raced out of his goal to meet him, the goalkeeper left the tightest of angles between him and his near post, and Embolo expertly guided a shot through the gap to put his side into the lead with 12 minutes remaining.

Those still watching would have hoped for something of a reaction from the Ivorians, but it simply seemed beyond them – as if their legs simply had no more to offer. There would be criticism of them back home given they had played just three games prior to the clash, but that would make no difference whatsoever on the field. With no pressure coming from their opponents, Switzerland could simply coast through the closing stages and book their place in the World Cup quarter finals. At this point, every side remaining thought they had a chance, and the Swiss were no different.

[EvilDave]

To make it any further, they would have to deal with one of world football’s genuine superpowers in Argentina. La Albiceleste had been very much substance over style in the early stages of the tournament, with three single-goal wins against opposition they would have expected to cruise by. However, in their own last 16 clash against Belgium, the first top-level side they had come across, the Argentines had gone through the gears, blowing their opponents away with a comfortable 3-1 victory. If they were indeed hitting form at the right time, they had the ability to make Switzerland’s lives very difficult indeed.

For the quarter-final, the Swiss side had to make quite the journey. From their Texan base, Raphael and his men travelled almost the entire length of the United States to CenturyLink Field in Seattle in order to take on Argentina. The reigning Copa America champions had set themselves up in Toronto and so had another huge distance to travel, and so while both sides were inconvenienced, neither had an excuse. After the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the world’s finest sides were once again traversing vast distances in their bid for glory.

Across the field from Switzerland were undoubtedly one of football’s finest sides. True to form over recent decades, the South Americans boasted some of the world’s greatest attacking talents – Arsenal’s Paulo Dybala, Real Madrid’s Antonio Galletti, Inter’s Juan Fabbini – and yet also a defence which had its weaknesses. In goal was 34-year-old Emiliano Martinez, who at club level was in danger of losing his starting spot at Wolves, Granada’s Juan Foyth, and Wolfsburg full-back Daniel Santa Fe, who none of whom were quite at the level being shown at the other end of the field. They would start as favourites, but Raphael and his staff were confident that they were not completely outmatched.

And as if by magic, the lack of pace shown by Santa Fe led directly to the opening goal, and not at the first time of trying. Avdyl Nuhiu had been given specific instructions to look to run in behind down the Swiss left, and once Renaud found his passing range, the gap between Santa Fe and Foyth was a regular target for attack. With 12 minutes on the clock, the Stuttgart man found his spot, slid in the Barcelona winger, and while Martinez did well to block the shot, he was powerless to prevent Marques knocking in the rebound for an early Swiss lead. Already the upset looked on.

But Argentina were not in the quarter-finals of the World Cup without the talent to overcome their lack of defensive fortitude. Straight from the restart, Dybala pirouetted his way past the challenge of Cedric Laporte, rolled a pass into the path of Galetti, and took the return ball first-time with a rocket of a shot with crashed off Roman Burki’s post before the goalkeeper could move. Five minutes later, Frederico Lopez lifted a cross into the area, Silvan Hefti’s header was only half clear, and Dybala caressed a volley into the bottom corner of the net to level the scores. Argentina were clearly here to play.

Play they did, and as the half went on they only grew in confidence. As the two minutes of injury time drew to a conclusion, a late tackle on Fabbini from Nico Elvedi saw the Monchengladbach man cautioned, the Argentine winger forced to leave the field with his injury, and a free-kick awarded 20 yards from goal. There was only ever going to be one man to take the set piece, and Dybala duly obliged with a textbook effort over the wall and into the top corner. It was one of the goals of the tournament, and gave his side a 2-1 half-time lead.

When the two sides emerged for the second period, it was Switzerland who looked to push forward. Forced to play catch-up, Denis Zakaria was replaced by Jose Manuel Jimenez in the deeper midfield role, and the move to try and take advantage of the slow Santa Fe was bolstered by having Nuhiu switch wings with Embolo on an occasional basis. Within five minutes of the restart, the two wingers combined to create a chance, the Barca man laying the ball off for von Gunten to drive just wide, and the game remained in the balance.

Indeed, the injury to Fabbini seemed to have disrupted Argentina’s game more than anyone would have anticipated, and with a key supply line to Dybala interrupted, they struggled to find their rhythm. With the Swiss press growing in intensity as they chased the game it seemed that they were losing the midfield battle, and Raphael’s side saw their possession count increase as the second half progressed. Burki became something of a spectator as his side pushed for the leveller, and they looked more and more likely to score.

While the pressure mounted, Argentina dropped deeper, and inadvertently removed the Swiss pace advantage – with no space in behind, their wingers had nowhere to run. Time looked to be running out, and despite his defenders being busy, Martinez in goal looked reasonably comfortable. Until the 86^th minute, when a speculative effort from substitute Alex Hoffman struck a defender closing down and ricocheted kindly for Embolo, who placed his shot past the stricken goalkeeper to send the game into extra time.

This time it was Switzerland in the ascendancy, and with Argentina unsure whether to stick or twist, they continued to press their favoured opponents. Renaud began to find pockets of space against tiring opponents, and in following the simple principle of letting the ball do the work, was able to stretch a weary defence. Whilst Argentina had impressed in their win over Belgium, they had exerted a great deal of energy – in a narrow win against Ivory Coast the Swiss had endured a much lower tempo, and so looked the fresher of the two sides in the additional half hour.

And so it proved, to the delight of the Swiss players, staff, fans and nation. Three minutes before the extra time interval another sprayed pass from Renaud found fellow Servette graduate Marques, who in turn laid a ball round the corner to substitute winger Sascha Zwingli. His first touch gave him space, and his second hammered a shot past Martinez at his near post for a 3-2 lead. Two minutes after the break, with Argentina committed to the attack in search of an equaliser, a long diagonal ball from centre-back Laporte set Embolo away down the right, and in a straight race with the defence there was only ever going to be one winner. His finish was low and true, the scoreboard ticked over to 4-2, and in their finest performance of the tournament thus far, Switzerland had booked a spot in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup.

[EvilDave]

Switzerland, a nation of just nine million people, a nation who had only made it to the quarter-finals on one previous occasion – as hosts, and courtesy of a highly unusual format – and who had never been considered one of the global game’s elite sides, now sat just two games from glory. The Swiss media, somewhat reserved by some standards, kicked into overdrive. The eyes of the world turned to the new underdogs as they continued their incredible march to the final, every step a new twist in their narrative. For many, even those who had seen their run to the European final two years earlier, this was scarcely believable.

Between Raphael’s side and an historic World Cup final were none other than Brazil. A nation of more than 200 million, a nation with no fewer than five World Cup titles to their name, home to some of the greatest players to have ever lived, which had defined the game for generations and which lived and breathed football like no other. That very same Brazil, once again in the latter stages of the greatest show on Earth, would line up against Switzerland in a World Cup semi-final. Whoever emerged victorious from the encounter would face one of Germany – conquerors of the Swiss at Euro 2024 – and France, looking for their third global title.

Before the game even kicked off, Switzerland had an advantage. Their victory over Brazil’s arch rivals had been followed by a swift flight back to Texas, as their semi-final was scheduled to take places in Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, just a short journey from the Swiss tournament base. Brazil meanwhile, would fly in from New York, a somewhat presumptuous choice of facilities given that the final itself would be played in the city. If it paid off, it would no doubt be worth it, but in the meantime Raphael would take any advantage presented to him. In an interview given to FIFA’s internal media house on the eve of the game, the Swiss boss made his intentions very clear indeed:

“Everybody has Brazil as the favourite, and perhaps they should – it’s Brazil, and we all know their history, their talent, the passion of the nation. But they are the ones under pressure here, everyone expects them to win. We have played very well so far, I’ve been really pleased with the level from the players, and we’ll be looking to play our game again tomorrow.

“We know all about the dangers of the Brazil team, but I think they will have something to fear from us as well. We will play with confidence, with no pressure, and with immense pride in what we have achieved. But we aren’t satisfied just with a semi-final. We are playing to win.”

Almost 100,000 people packed in to the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys for the first of the two semi-finals, with Brazilian yellow the preferred colour of most of the neutral fans. That said, several fans of other nations – including Argentina, vanquished in the previous round – had remained to back the Swiss, and so there were plenty of red shirts in the stands cheering on the underdog. The anthems played, the players shook hands, and when Gabriel Jesus rolled the ball to Rodrygo, the semi-final clash was finally underway.

Immediately the favourites looked to take control of the game, and in the opening three minutes Switzerland barely touched the ball. Brazil, nominally lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, pushed their full-backs higher up the pitch to add to their numbers in the centre of the park, and their clever passing triangles made it difficult for the Swiss trio of Zakaria, von Gunten and Renaud to get a foot on the ball. The deeper of Brazil’s central pair, Manchester City stalwart Cristaldo, found himself with time on the ball on a regular basis, and it was clear from the outset that he would be looking to dictate the play for the Selecao.

When Switzerland did finally win possession, their strategy was much the same as it had been in the previous round – limit the time afforded to the Brazilians, and look for the ball in behind the attacking full-backs. With Nuhiu and Embolo constantly making the run, Raphael hoped their threat would either neutralise the danger presented by Leo and Anderson Wagner, or take advantage of the large spaces between them and their goalkeeper. In the early stages, Zakaria swept a beautiful pass to the right for Embolo to chase, only to be beaten by a lunging Wagner at the crucial moment. Still, it gave his side hope that they could create chances against such a formidable opponent.

With little more than 20 minutes played, Zakaria elected to feed von Gunten rather than play the pass himself, but an ill-advised turn put the Basel man in big trouble. The ball was swept off his toes, and as he crumpled in a desperate attempt to draw the foul, Douglas Luiz strode forward, played in his Real Madrid team-mate Rodrygo, and raced over to celebrate as the shot flew past Burki to put the favourites a goal to the good.

Von Gunten was visibly pained by his part in the goal, and the next time he got the ball he seemed determined to atone for the error. A swift one-two with Marques dropping deep saw him in a yard of space some 30 yards from goal, and he took aim at the top corner of Alisson’s goal. The slightest of flicks off the back of a turning defender saw the ball swerve in the air. The goalkeeper, already committed to his right, somehow managed to shift his momentum back left, and with an arching dive succeeded in flicking the goalbound effort over the crossbar for a corner. It was a superb effort, but not close enough for the equaliser.

From the corner, veteran Marquinhos easily cleared, and suddenly the Swiss defence found themselves racing to get back in the face of a rapid Brazilian counter. Cristaldo’s raking ball found Jesus, who carried it 30 yards before crossing for Rodrygo. As the scorer of the opening goal looked to hammer home a second, Cedric Laporte slid in with a perfectly-timed challenge to knock the ball back into the arms of a grateful Burki, and somehow the Swiss had escaped the danger.

It looked for all the world as if they had made it to the break just a single goal down, the single minute of injury time signalled by the Canadian official all but expired with the ball with Ricardo Rodriguez in the left-back position. With Brazil ready to walk off the field, the 33-year-old sent a long diagonal towards the right wing, where Anderson Wagner was caught ball-watching. As the pass dropped over his head, Embolo latched onto it, surged into the penalty area, and slotted a cool finish between the legs of Alisson to stun the favourites and level the semi-final as the referee’s whistle blew for the break. From nowhere, Switzerland were back on level terms.

[EvilDave]

At the interval, Raphael found that a difficult decision was made for him. Alessio von Gunten, at fault for the opening goal, hobbled into the dressing room with a grimace on his face. A brief moment with the physio confirmed that it wasn’t worth the risk, and a substitution which would have felt harsh in other circumstances was forced upon the Swiss midfield. Jose Manuel Jimenez would take his place and drop deeper to sit alongside Zakaria, inverting the usual triangle in a bid to relieve the midfield pressure and create more time on the ball. Otherwise, it was more of the same for the second period.

It was more of the same from Brazil too, Luis Felipe’s side aggrieved by the shock equaliser and determined to get themselves back in the ascendancy. Cristaldo fired a shot over Burki’s bar within moments of the restart, and the pattern was set – intricate football from the favourites, countered by dangerous Swiss breaks down the flanks. With neither team willing to concede an inch, a fascinating battle emerged on a warm Dallas evening.

At the same point in the game – the 64^th minute, to be precise, both managers went to the bench. Raphael sent on the raw pace of teenager Fabrizio Lisi in place of the unusually quiet Nuhiu, while Felipe Luis opted for a change of shape – Jesus shifted from his left wing position to join Rodrygo up front, and right winger Octavio was withdrawn in favour of Lucas Paqueta, shifting to a classical Brazilian 4-2-2-2 in the process. Five minutes later, Elrich Elvedi replaced the tiring Rodriguez at left-back for Switzerland, and both teams looked for the winner that would send them to the World Cup final.

First, Lisi thought he had found it. In a moment that came close to catapulting the Servette youngster into global superstardom, he twisted and turned his way past two men on the edge of the area before squeezing in a shot which beat Alisson but rolled millimetres wide of the far post. Then, with the Swiss defence still adjusting to the new shape lining up against them, Paqueta found half a yard of freedom. He played in Leo racing in on the overlap down the right, and his cross was flicked deftly in at the near post by the predatory Jesus with less than 20 minutes still to play to put on Brazilian foot in the final.

Raphael rolled his final dice, replacing Zakaria with striker Bruno Bickel and signalling a switch to 4-2-4 in a bid to pile on the pressure. Into the final five minutes, Embolo sent in a low cross which the substitute very nearly got a foot to, and after a brief scramble it was launched clear by Marquinhos. Jesus flicked a header into space before beating Silvan Hefti in a footrace, and he slid a pass across the 18-yard line for Rodrygo to fire home, Burki unable to scramble across and make the save. It was harsh on the Swiss, who had not deserved to lose by two, but it was the end of the game as a contest, and the end of a remarkable run from Raphael’s side. When the final whistle blew, it was Brazil who had earned their spot in the World Cup final, where they would take on France in a repeat of the 1998 showpiece.

For Raphael Lavergne, it was the end of a road longer than he had even dared to dream of. Having taken his country to within a penalty shoot-out of European glory, he had now led them to the final four of the biggest tournament of all, and deservedly so. Now, as he and Elise had determined two years beforehand, was the time to bow out.

The day after the 3-1 defeat, he announced his imminent departure first to the coaching staff, then to the players, and then finally to the media. The response was a mixture of understanding, upset and disbelief that the mastermind behind their most successful spell as a nation would walk away, but on the whole there were very few critical voices. Indeed, once the news was made public, Raphael ignored several calls from clubs around the world eager to secure his services.

That could wait. Next on Raphael’s list was some long-awaited time out with his wife, and a period of reflection before jumping back into the spotlight. He would enjoy that spotlight for one more game, and the dreaded third-place playoff brought with a satisfying sense of closure – having lost to the Germans in the European Championship final on penalties, Switzerland were able to return the favour at the World Cup, Sascha Zwingli netting the winning spot-kick after a 1-1 draw. Then, after watching Brazil claim their sixth world crown with victory over France, it was all over. Home was next on the agenda, and not a moment too soon.

[mark wilson27]

Is this the end or are you going elsewhere?????

[EvilDave]

There'll be more to come from Raphael soon - his story isn't over just yet!

[EvilDave]

Ajax. Porto. Atletico Madrid. Chelsea. Paris Saint-Germain. They were not the only clubs who made approaches to at least offer an interview to Raphael Lavergne in the aftermath of the World Cup, but they were probably the biggest. But as the fallout from the tournament shook up the managerial landscape, the now former Switzerland manager was preoccupied with altogether different scenery. With time on their hands and a desire to escape in their hearts, Raphael and Elise booked themselves a private hiking tour of Georgia’s Svaneti region – where no-one was likely to see them, and the handful of people they did meet were unlikely to recognise them. It would be a full month away in the Caucasus mountains, and a month solely to themselves.

With their legs aching and their lungs full of fresh mountain air, the pair returned to Geneva with far greater clarity over their future. At just 48 years old there was no question of retirement, but it would need to be a special job indeed to tempt Raphael back into management so soon. The plan was a simple one – while maintaining some contact with the footballing world, they would take a few months to themselves to recharge, spend some time visiting their children in France and Germany, and take stock before returning to the fray.

And despite being tempted by an offer from Roma in late October – the Italians had endured a true terrible start to the season, and the rebuild was an intriguing project – Raphael remained true to his word. He and Elise spent three weeks in Paris with Sophia and were in the French capital when Roma’s offer arrived, before heading to Munich and their older son Stefan. Being a big football fan himself, Stefan took his father to watch Bayern in a dismal 2-0 defeat at previous club Stuttgart, and the senior Lavergnes headed back across the Swiss border three days later.

A few weeks down the line, Raphael travelled to Munich again – this time alone. After more dropped points in the following games, Marcelino saw his contract terminated after little over two years in charge of the Bavarian giants. As a former Champions League-winning player, success as a Bundesliga manager, and one of the highest-profile managers not currently employed, Raphael was already prominent in the board’s thinking. When they learned he had family in the area, and had recently been spotted at the Allianz Arena, they were quick to invite him to interview.

With Elise’s blessing, he answered their call. After the first half of the Bundesliga season, Bayern were sat as low as 4^th – unacceptable for Germany’s biggest club – a full seven points behind the leading pair of Schalke and Leipzig. Their squad was undoubtedly strong enough to challenge for the title, and while there would be funds available for the new manager to use, the real issues were tactical and psychological. Gone was the swagger of past Bayern teams, and recovering that was top of the priority list.

In truth, the negotiations were short and sweet. After Marcelino’s failings the board were not overly keen to commit long-term, so compromised by offering an 18-month package with a slightly increased salary, and the option of a third season. Expectations were high – this was Bayern, after all – but with room to manoeuvre in the transfer and wage budgets, the club was prepared to back their man. Two weeks before Christmas, Raphael Lavergne was announced as the new manager of Bayern Munich to the surprise of absolutely no-one, and just like that his time away from football was well and truly over.

One week into his new job, Raphael was exhausted. He had personally conducted several interviews for the backroom team he was assembling, and spent hours poring over scout reports and video footage of potential targets. His players had been brought in for additional tactical sessions in order to get used to their new manager’s preferred way of playing, and also for a bit of light-hearted team bonding in a bid to recapture some of the togetherness which seemed to have been lost under the previous regime. It seemed to work, but not nearly as well as the extra two days of holiday that Raphael handed out to the whole team. Sometimes, the simple things are the most effective.

[EvilDave]

By the time the Bundesliga emerged from hibernation, Bayern had made moves. For the first time in his managerial career, Raphael had opted to line up in something other than his usual 4-3-3/4-5-1 hybrid, choosing instead to send his men out in a 4-4-2 with a narrow midfield diamond. That meant wingers would need to be either repurposed and sold off, and the centre of the park bolstered accordingly. As such, three high-profile players found themselves leaving Munich for pastures new.

The first was no surprise. Kingsley Coman had been frozen out under Marcelino, had issued a transfer request before Raphael’s arrival, and had expressed an interest in returning to France. So, when PSG came in with a bid of €32m for the 30-year-old, it pleased everyone. Also leaving after a long time on the sidelines was Timothy Tillman, a veteran of the Bayern bench purchased for the Leverkusen first team at the cost of €21m.

However, the biggest news was also the longest-running saga. Eliud Gutierrez, the star of the US national team, was a left winger by trade and yet very capable of playing behind the two strikers. But when Barcelona expressed their interest, the global superstar had only one club in mind, and it was no longer Bayern Munich. The deal took some time to put together, but when the papers were eventually signed, the Bavarians were a massive €71m richer. It was by far the biggest deal of the window.

Those three transfers left a significant amount for Raphael to play with, and he moved quickly to recruit. The number 10 role, almost a third striker in the new system, was the sticking point in his squad, with only Kai Havertz a natural in the role. Havertz was a very good option indeed, but a top quality alternative was something he was keen to bring in, and bring one in he did – Dutch international Daan Jacobs, approaching the prime of his career at 25, swapped London for Munich in leaving Spurs for a fee of €40m. On the same day, to a huge smaller fanfare, 20-year-old left-back Mats Helwig arrived from Stuttgart for just €6m in a move that pre-empted the retirement of 34-year-old David Alaba, and for the time being the first-team squad was complete.

But there was one move still to be done, the difficulty of the negotiations meaning that Raphael’s man would not arrive until the end of the campaign. Marko Pjaca had been identified as a possible weakness in the side at 31 and declining, and the new manager wanted a world class replacement. At just 19, Lubos Dvorak was already an elite central midfielder with room to grow – the only problem being he had been snapped up at 18 by Chelsea. With the Londoners far from keen to see their prize youngster move on, a €38m deal was finally signed to bring the Czech star to the Allianz in time for next season. Raphael would just have to wait.

Not that the rest of the team was about to hang around and wait for the youngster to come in and upstage them. In Raphael’s first competitive game in charge, at home to midtable Hannover, the new tactical system seemed to click instantly. Within five minutes a surging run from left-back Cristian Gentile earned a penalty, which Alexander Isak confidently powered home. Midway through the half Thomas Becker – the man most threatened by Dvorak’s arrival – fed Havertz for an easy second, and a firm header from Spanish striker Xavier Esteva made it 3-0 before the break. Havertz grabbed a second after the interval before Bayern dropped the tempo, and Hannover were comfortably beaten. It was the perfect start.

The momentum only grew from there, and with four more games before a European interlude, Raphael’s new charges quickly established themselves as the form team in the country. Wolfsburg were beaten 2-0 on their own turf, before the visit of third-place Leipzig. A first Bayern goal from Daan Jacobs was combined with a corner headed in by box-to-box man Tobias Wiesbock, and the three points allowed the Bavarians to leapfrog Red Bull into the top three. The position was cemented with a narrow victory over relegation-threatened Freiburg on the road – another Isak penalty the difference – and then an entertaining affair in Bremen ended with a 4-2 win, Chilean forward Cesar Ledezma replacing the injured Isak and sharing the goals with Esteva. Five games, five wins, and all was looking very good for Lavergne and Bayern. Which was just as well, because the Champions League was calling, and Manchester City were on the way.

[EvilDave]

Under Marcelino, Bayern had made it through their Champions League group – eventually. Having suffered defeat away to Italian champions Inter and then only managing a draw at Spartak Moscow, Bayern went into the final fixture – at home to the Italians – knowing that only a win would guarantee progress to the knockout rounds. Fortunately for them, Spartak did them a huge favour by earning a draw with Lyon, meaning that the goalless draw played out at the Allianz Arena was enough to see Bayern through in second place. Of course, second place meant a tougher draw against a group winner, and Diego Simeone’s Manchester City were the side paired with them. It was as tough a tie as they could have asked for.

To make matters worse, City would have home advantage in the second leg – so when the Mancunians arrived in Germany for the first part of the tie, they were favoured. Not as favoured as they would have been without Bayern’s recent form, but favoured nonetheless. And, to the frustration of the 70,000 fans in attendance, they lived up to their tag. A disciplined performance on the road was given a huge shot in the arm late on when Jose Paulo tripped Prince Modeste in the area and allowed the Frenchmen to score from the spot, giving his side a 1-0 lead and a crucial away goal. When the two teams met in Manchester a few weeks later, Bayern would have a mountain to climb.

Before then, there were domestic matters to deal with. A rare goal from second-choice right-back Mitchell Weiser set Bayern on their way to a 4-1 home win over Hoffenheim, before a trip to fellow title challengers Dortmund beckoned. After just 20 minutes Raphael’s men found themselves a goal down after a cleverly-worked free-kick, but by the interval a goal apiece from Havertz and Isak had turned the tie around. The home side’s frustrations grew after being denied a penalty in the second half, and as they chased the equaliser, a dangerous challenge on substitute midfielder Sergei Britovskiy saw the hosts reduced to 10 men and ended the game as a contest. Three more huge points for a Bayern team quickly gathering steam. Their momentum was somewhat checked in their next outing – a heavily rotated team held goalless by Raphael’s old Stuttgart side – leaving them five points behind leaders Schalke with nine matches left to play.

Back to European business, and a trip to Manchester which appeared to be doomed. An away goal down from the first leg and up against one of world football’s most disciplined managers, very few were betting on anything other than the hosts making progress into the quarter-finals. At least, nobody outside the men in Munich red.

And yet, in one of the most remarkable club performances of Raphael’s managerial career, his team pounced on City from the opening whistle, and did not release their prey until the kill was complete. The goal that levelled the tie came after just 10 minutes, Esteva firing low past Daniel Lemar in the home goal, and from then on the traffic was all one way. Brazilian centre-back Jose Paulo headed in a second on the stroke of half-time after no fewer than six corners in a row, such was the pressure applied by the visitors, and with City chasing the game in the second half, a slick passing counter sliced through a ragged defence to present substitute forward Wojciech Przybylski with the opportunity to put the game to bed. He duly obliged, sweeping the ball past the goalkeeper to make it 3-0, and in the tie of the round, Bayern had completed the comeback of the round. When they were drawn against Porto in the quarter-finals, there were a few in their number who began to dream of European glory.

Back home, the momentum continued. Back-to-back home games against midtable Hertha and troubled St Pauli brought with them eight goals and maximum points to keep the pressure on the two teams above them, and with that the chance to go second when Dortmund stuttered in back-to-back games. A trip to Monchengladbach saw them overcome the Europa League contenders on the back of an Alexander Isak brace, and with half a dozen games remaining, Schalke were firmly in their sights. The leaders had also been winning, but their results had been far less convincing than Bayern’s own victories, and there was no doubt that the pressure was beginning to build.

Both teams had other silverware to chase, as if to complicate matters further. Schalke had actually knocked Bayern out of the DFB Pokal before the winter break, and were in contention for a domestic double. Meanwhile, those in Munich had their sights set on continental success. And the next obstacle in their way took the form of Porto. Once again, the first leg would be at home, and this time they did not want to rely on a miracle away from home.

[EvilDave]

In the previous round against City, the atmosphere for the home game at the Allianz was a little tense – Bayern were, unusually for the home fans, not the favourites ahead of kick-off, and the supporters were unsure of where their team stood given their pre-Christmas struggles. Now, with their team having dropped just two points in 11 league games and vanquished City, the confidence was well and truly back in Bayern’s home stadium. So much so that when defensive midfielder Guus van Aart stabbed in a rebound after a goalmouth scramble, the celebrations seemed to come with expectation. Surely one goal wasn’t all they were getting?

They would be correct, although Porto were not about to be rolled over and eliminated after a single leg. Daan Jacobs rifled in a second goal midway through the second half before seeing a late third chalked off for offside, and Bayern would take a 2-0 lead to the Iberian Peninsula the following week. It looked for all the world as if a single goal for the Germans would be enough to take them through, and that was the aim as the second leg kicked off in the imperious Estadio do Dragao. So, when Ilan Pereira halved the home team’s deficit on the half hour mark, there were a few nerves to be detected in the travelling band of Bavarians.

But their team was on an exceptional run of form, and the confidence that brought could not be understated. Five minutes later, Kai Havertz found Tobias Weisbock rushing into the area from deep, and the young German international guided his shot into the corner of the net from just left of the penalty spot to level the scores on the night and leave Porto needing three more to go through. They scored precisely none of those three, and when Pryzbylski headed in a second in stoppage time the job was done. After losing at home in the first leg of their last-16 tie, Bayern had breezed through their subsequent three games and now found themselves in the semi-finals of the Champions League. If they were to go one step, they would have to repeat their Mancunian heroics – United lie in wait in the final four.

Just a few short days after their win over Porto, Bayern were back in domestic action with a home game against bottom-of-the-table Karlsruhe, who were all but relegated and simply playing for pride. Unfortunately for them, Bayern were not in the mood to allow them anything to be particularly proud of, opening the scoring after just 73 seconds in a real statement of intent. After eight minutes it was 2-0, and when the referee blew for half-time that scoreline had doubled, Isak grabbing himself a first-half hat-trick in a dominant performance. A red card before the hour mark did nothing to help the Karlsruhe cause, and even though the home team dropped the intensity in the second period they still managed to run in three more goals – Jacobs, Ledezma and the lesser-spotted David Alaba all finding the net in the biggest Bundesliga win of the season. It was the perfect boost ahead of a crucial run-in.

Next came the biggest remaining game of the season – away in Gelsenkirchen at the home of league leaders Schalke. A Schalke who, with five games remaining, were just three points clear of Bayern at the top of the table, and with an inferior goal difference thanks to the numbers of goals scored since Raphael had taken over at the Allianz. A Schalke side desperately hoping to be crowned Bundesliga champions for the first time since 1958, and a Schalke side very much aware of a Bayern side on the charge.

On the back of a 7-0 thrashing, the game should have come at the perfect time for the visitors. However, with a trip to Manchester United coming just three days later, Raphael could not afford simply to send out his strongest team and hope for the best on both occasions. There would need to be crucial selection decisions made, and in the end the Swiss manager elected to leave a handful of his big hitters on the bench in preparation for the Champions League tie. It was a bold call, and one which he would almost certainly pay for if it failed.

Failed would perhaps be a little strong to describe Bayern’s results over the next few days, but the fact of the matter is that neither of the games saw them emerge victorious. With a 1-0 lead in Gelsenkirchen courtesy of a Daan Jacobs free-kick and heading into the final moments, they should have seen out the win – but the ageing legs of David Alaba let Kadri Aksu in behind him at a pivotal point, and the Ghanaian international winger finished with aplomb to not only split the points, but also keep his team on top of the pile with four games remaining.

With that blow fresh in the memory, confidence was not quite as high in the Bayern camp for the flight to Manchester as they might otherwise have been. Whether they had consciously agreed to be a little more reserved than on their last visit or not, that was how they played, and a second-half penalty from Marcus Rashford was the difference over the 90 minutes. Bayern were by no means out of the tie, but without an away goal to their name and with United having a lead to defend, they would need to work hard to deny the Red Devils a place in the Champions League final.

Before the return fixture, there was the small matter of a visit to 6^th-place Bayer Leverkusen to contend, and with just three further matches, every game now felt increasingly important. Undeterred by Schalke’s equaliser in the previous league match, Raphael again risked the wrath of the Bayern fans by rotating his side. In came Mitchell Weiser on the right side of defence, teenage centre-back Fabian Frontzeck, Sergei Britovskiy in the holding role and Cesar Ledezma up front. The men they replaced – Hernan Moreno, Oliver Hock, Wiesbock and Isak respectively – all took their places on the bench, knowing they could be called upon at any moment.

This time, the gamble paid off. A sublime, curling effort from Kai Havertz midway through the first half gave Bayern the lead against his former club, and as Leverkusen chased an equaliser the visitors were able to pick them off twice in quick succession late on, Ledezma finishing the second before setting up strike partner Esteva three minutes later. The hosts did at least grab a consolation, but it mattered little – the three points were Bayern’s. Just as importantly, Schalke stumbled on the road at Hoffenheim and could manage only a 1-1 draw, meaning that with three to play, the gap at the top was now just a single point. Before the title could be resolved however, Bayern had a return fixture with United to contend with.

[EvilDave]

This time, Raphael Lavergne named a full-strength Bayern Munich team – there was little point in leaving anything behind at this juncture. Manchester United, with the exception of the suspended Jose Gimenez, were also at full strength, and high on confidence after a 4-1 win over West Ham a few days earlier. The two teams lined up under the Allianz Arena lights, the Champions League theme tune sent shivers down the spines of many in the capacity crowd, and the two teams resumed their battle for a place in the biggest game in club football.

From the outset, the home side looked to quickly cancel out Rashford’s first leg penalty. In the opening exchanges, it was Bayern on the attack against a determined United defence, and that was the way it remained for much of the first half – the black shirts of the visitors holding firm under duress. With 38 minutes on the clock, Thomas Becker collected the ball deep and whipped a pass to Cristian Gentile in full flight down the left. He shaped to cross, checked inside Luciano Fontana, and went down under the Argentine full-back’s attempted recovery tackle. After a VAR check which seemed to last an eternity, the Slovenian referee decided to award a penalty. Isak sent Spanish veteran David de Gea the wrong way from the spot, and Rashford’s penalty was quite literally cancelled out. When the half-time whistle blew, the tie remained finely balanced at 1-1, with everything very much still to play for.

Having been under pressure for most of the first period, United found it difficult to break out of their shell as the second got underway. Very quickly they seemed to settle into a shape set up for the counter rather than outright attack, allowing Bayern the lion’s share of the ball. While the possession was harmless for the most part, the width provided by Gentile and Moreno pushing on from full-back ensured that spaces did emerge from time to time, and the 57^th minute was one such occasion. Kai Havertz drifted into a half-space to the right of the area and clipped a ball towards the penalty spot, which Michael Claus managed to get to first. However, his header was primarily off his shoulder, and instead of clearing the penalty area dropped invitingly just a couple of yards away. One instinctive swing of Xavier Esteva’s boot later, and Bayern found themselves with a 2-1 aggregate lead.

Strangely enough, although extra time was now ruled out, very little changed in the complexion of the tie due to the simple fact that a single Manchester United goal would send the visitors through. With nothing to lose at this point, Zinedine Zidane’s side made a decisive shift to a more attacking system, and within minutes were putting pressure on Samuel Casado’s goal. Martin Gunnarsson tested the Spaniard’s hands with a stinging drive, Luca Fossati tried his luck from range, and a Rashford header moments later saw United double their shot tally within a three-minute spell.

More attempts were not long in coming, and eventually one paid off. Rashford cut in off the left wing and drew a defender before playing the pass, and Gunnarsson did superbly well to hold off Jose Paulo before rolling his man and sending a shot creeping into the far corner of the net. The travelling Englishmen roared in celebration as the remainder of the stands fell silent, and with 17 minutes remaining, the pendulum had swung back to the Red Devils.

But pendulums are inclined to swing, and this one had not finished yet. Just three minutes after Gunnarsson had given United the away goal advantage, he missed a golden opportunity to put them ahead on aggregate, scuffing a volley into the arms of Casado. The Spanish goalkeeper found van Aart with a quick throw at the base of midfield, and the Dutchman instinctively looked wide only to see both full-backs well marked. Turning back inside, he instead fizzed a 50-yard pass low into the feet of Esteva, who had taken up a position with his back to goal 20 yards out. With a single touch, the striker flicked a pass with the outside of his boot beyond his man and into the area, where Alexander Isak collected the ball with his first touch and lifted a cool finish over de Gea with his second. 3-1 on the night, 3-2 on aggregate, and Bayern were back in the lead.

Despite the English side’s best efforts, it was where they would stay. After coming back from a home defeat against the blue half of Manchester, Bayern had overturned an away defeat against the red half to book a place in the Champions League final, a statement which would have seemed farfetched at best with Marcelino at the helm. Raphael’s impact was undeniable, and there was a real confidence around the club that the European title was heading to Munich. The following evening, a 1-1 draw in Madrid was sufficient to see PSG – one of the sides the Bayern boss had turned down before taking on his current role – into the final at the expense of Real, and the stage was set. All that remained to be seen was whether or not Bayern would go into the game as domestic champions.

[EvilDave]

Heading into the final three games of the Bundeliga season, the equation for Bayern was simple – earn one more point than Schalke, and the title was theirs. Realistically, that meant three wins from three and good deal of hope, but while the hope was out of their hands, they were more than capable of the victories. First on ticket were midtable Koln at the Allianz, and with the entire club still on a high from the United game, Bayern dominated. The opening goal took half an hour to arrive, Jacobs feeding Przybylski to finish from close range, but the Dutchman quickly added a second to give the hosts a welcome cushion. Into the second half, Marko Pjaca curled in on a rare start, and a late consolation from the visitors made no difference whatsoever. With Schalke winning against Hertha in Berlin, the solitary point remained between them.

A full week later, Bayern headed to lowly Frankfurt continuing their bid for the title, only to fall behind to a calamitous own goal from young holding man Matthias Klaus after just eight minutes. The goal emboldened the hosts, and for a brief spell it looked as if Bayern were in genuine trouble – especially when word filtered through of Schalke taking the lead against Hannover. If the scores remained the same, the league trophy would be presented in Gelsenkirchen at the full-time whistle.

But this was a Bayern side that had fought back against better teams than Frankfurt, and Raphael had no hesitation in throwing caution to the wind against a side sat down in 14^th in the league table. Before the half time whistle blew, both Isak and Havertz had rattled the woodwork, and it seemed only a matter of time before the leveller arrived.

Arrive it did, a classic passing interchange ending with a ball to the wing, a cross from Gentile on the left, and a thumping volley from Cesar Ledezma that burst past the goalkeeper before he could react. One goal still meant a three-point gap to Schalke, and so there was no let-up from the visitors, and very quickly the game became one of Bayern attack against Frankfurt defence. The latter performed admirably if fortuitously at times, but they could not hold out for the full 90 minutes, and with 84 minutes on the clock, Havertz found Isak inside the area, and the Swedish striker powered a shot in off the far post to finally grab the points. Schalke’s 1-0 lead against Hannover stood up, meaning that the Bundesliga title would go down to the final day of the season.

Bayern would wrap up their league campaign at home to Hamburg, who were already guaranteed 8^th place after an impressive season by their standards, but who were itching to cap a strong year with a rare victory against their rivals. All the while, Bavarian eyes would also be on Bremen, where Schalke would take on 9th-place Werder knowing that victory, regardless of Bayern’s result, would secure a first title in almost 70 years. TV channels were stationed at both grounds, as was a replica of the Bundesliga trophy, and the scene was set. By the end of the day, one of the two sides would be crowned champions of Germany.

Inside three minutes, Alexander Isak sent in a shot which needed palming over the bar, and the Allianz Arena roared their men forward. Havertz drifted in a corner, Jose Paulo powered a header wide, and already the home side were knocking at the door. Hamburg, despite a good year and a deep run in the DFB Pokal, were evidently second best on the field, and looked to be clinging on from an early stage. On the North Sea coast, things were a lot more balanced in the opening exchanges, with the home side equal to a tense Schalke side. First blood on Super Saturday went instead to Munich, who took the lead after 24 minutes when the fourth Havertz corner of the game was bundled over the line by Thomas Becker. It was not pretty, but it definitely counted.

That goal put Bayern in pole position, but Schalke were not about to let them drive off into the distance. Five minutes from the end of the first half, Sebastian Jung stabbed in from close range to give his side the lead in both the game and the league table, and at half time in both matches, the title challengers led by a single goal. As it stood, Bayern could score another hundred goals and still finish empty-handed – they could do no more.

[EvilDave]

Although the atmosphere at the Allianz remained tense – fans spending as much time on their phones as watching the action before them – the pressure had lifted from the Bayern players’ shoulders. They began the second half with a freedom that Hamburg simply couldn’t deal with, and there was a smile on the face of Raphael Lavergne on the sideline as Xavier Esteva finished a flowing passing move with a first-time half-volley into the corner of the net, and at 2-0 the game seemed all but done. Less than 10 minutes later, substitute Daan Jacobs bent in a third from the edge of the area, and there was little doubt. Attention turned firmly to Bremen, where Schalke still led by a single goal with 25 minutes remaining.

They still led with 20 minutes to go, but the body language of players and staff alike was far from confident. Manager Marco Rose was a picture of nerves on the touchline, while on the field his players were beginning to make mistakes – simple passes misplaced, clearances skewed out of play. Werder, cheered forward by a home crowd eager to see their side play kingmaker, grew in stature, and sure enough they took the ascendancy. Spanish playmaker Jesus Rosales saw more and more of the ball, and the blue shirts of Schalke dropped deeper in retreat. Hundreds of miles to the south in Munich, a penalty from Alexander Isak gave Bayern a 4-0 leader over Hamburg.

Five minutes later, the Bavarian faithful burst into celebration once more, but it there was no fifth goal on the Allianz turf. Back in Bremen, a missed tackle on the edge of the box had allowed Maxi Eggestein a sight of goal, and the midfielder had hit a rising drive beyond the dive of the goalkeeper and into the back of the Schalke net. With 13 minutes plus injury time to play, the title was now heading to Munich, and their fans were not about to turn down the chance to celebrate.

If Schalke had been feeling the pressure beforehand, the goal turned up the heat on Rose and his side. With less than a quarter of the game remaining, Die Konigsblauen had little choice but to abandon any semblance of caution in search of a winner, all the while knowing that a second goal for their hosts would put an emphatic end to their title bid. Every conceivable risk had to be taken at this stage, and that was not a position anybody wanted to find themselves in.

As Bayern eased to a 4-0 victory, Schalke were on the brink of panic. They did succeed in creating a couple of half chances to claw back some of the momentum from their hosts, but the sense of urgency – of history slipping from within their grasps – was suffocating. A promising free-kick sailed too close to the Bremen goalkeeper, a free header drifted harmlessly wide, and even the ever-threatening Jung, his side’s top scorer in the Bundesliga, could only send a shot dribbling into the arms of the keeper. Schalke’s title bid was ticking away, and there were not too many options left open to them.

In the 86^th minute, Schalke won another corner. The ball was swung in from the right-hand side, headed clear, and then clipped back from the wing. Timo Weber called his defenders out of the way before punching the ball away into the path of Rosales, and as the Spaniard turned away from his own goal, the field opened up ahead of him. Schalke had left just two men back, and he could already see four of his team-mates racing forward on the counter. Eggestein was the option, and he carried the ball into the opposing half at pace, taking one of the two defenders with him on an angle away from goal. A stop-start motion bought him the space he needed to pick a pass, and Nils Cornet had no hope of covering all the options. He committed to one – Hans Gross – only for the midfielder to step over the ball and leave it for Maurice Charlier, who took a touch to settle himself before crushing the dreams of every single Schalke fan with a single swing of his boot.

The final whistle in Bremen was a whole minute behind that in Munich, but the celebrations had already begun. Bayern’s 15^th win in 17 Ruckrunde games had been decisive, their form since their new manager’s appointment imperious, and their success entirely deserved. Bayern would never be the most popular champions, but there could be very few who would argue they had not earned their latest title, having clawed their way from seven points back at the halfway stage. There was sympathy for Schalke – not least from Raphael himself, who paid tribute to their challenge in his post-match interview – but the day and the season, belonged to Bayern.

It was a triumphant return to his former club for their Swiss supremo, who had more than justified both his appointment and the sales of high-profile Gutierrez and Coman. Already a favourite for his treble-winning antics as a player, he was now firmly embedded in the hearts of all who followed Die Bayern. Perhaps even more remarkably, his first half season had the potential to get even better.

[EvilDave]

Benfica’s magnificent Estadio da Luz would be the host of the 2027 Champions League final, and it was a fitting setting for the biggest game in club football. UEFA, often criticised for their unnecessary pageantry, had left pre-match celebrations in the hands of local organisers, and they put on a spectacular show for the capacity crowd in Lisbon. When the bright golden light faded from the pitch, the two teams walked out past the famous trophy to line up for the equally famous anthem, and after the handshakes, team photographs and rather archaic pennant exchange between the two captains, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-German got the action underway.

On the Bayern bench, Raphael Lavergne had not been forced into too many difficult decisions during his team selection. His side were in excellent, had just been crowned champions of Germany after a 17-game unbeaten run, and were high on confidence. Spanish goalkeeper Samuel Casado took his place in goal behind a back four on Cristian Gentile on the left, Oliver Hock and Jose Paulo in the centre and Hernan Moreno on the right. Guus van Aart sat at the base of a midfield diamond with Thomas Becker and Tobias Weisbock in the centre and Kai Havertz at the tip, while Xavier Esteva and Alexander Isak started up front. It was his strongest side, the 11 men who had earned them their place in the final, and in whom their manager has complete trust.

Lining up against them were Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG, champions of France once again and in the hunt for their second European crown in three seasons. They set up in the 4-3-3 that Raphael had employed to such good effect with Switzerland – Cedric Arbogast, the only Frenchman in the starting line-up, started in goal behind a left-to-right back four of Uzbek national team star Muhammed Sharipov, Brazilian pair Acassio and Marquinhos and Turkish international Ersin Aydin, Portuguese duo Renato Sanches and Luis Samarra sat ahead of Wilfred Ndidi in midfield, and up front Hirving Lozano and Goncalo Guedes flanked Spanish striker David Perez. It was a difficult game to call, both sides were more than capable of lifting the trophy, and the talent on display was phenomenal. With the stakes as high as they could be, it would be the team that best dealt with the pressure that would emerge victorious.

It was the Parisiens who had the first real attack of the game, Sanches playing in countryman Guedes for a drilled shot which Casado dealt with easily enough at his near post. The ball soon came back into the Bayern half however, and Guedes this time found himself looking to create, beating Gentile on the outside and whipping in a cross that Perez couldn’t quite get his head to. It was a bright start, but it did not yield the all-important goal.

Meanwhile, Bayern were taking a moment longer to familiarise themselves with the situation, and their possession was a little less dynamic. Becker and van Aart slowed things down in a bid to get a better view of the state of play, and the latter decided that Wiesbock was the best option for a pass. He committed a man before finding Havertz, and the midfield spearhead fizzed an effort into the arms of Arbogast from 20 yards out. It was a sighter – PSG had been warned.

If the first period of the game was lacking in goalmouth action, it did not make for an easy few minutes for the officials. Guedes and Lozano in particular seemed prone to hitting the deck at the slightest hint of pressure, and Spanish referee Ramon Corella was constantly having to determine whether an offence had actually been committed. More often than not he decided in favour of the German side, much to Pochettino’s indignation on the touchline. However, with the scoreboard reading 32 minutes, Renato Sanches was indeed fouled, and from the resulting free-kick Marquinhos beat his man in the area to head narrowly wide from an excellent position.

That would be the last major incident of a cagey first half, with neither side at their fluid best, and perhaps suffering a little stage fright under the gaze of the sporting world. Neither manager chose to make a change at the interval, and within four minutes of the restart the picture was changed dramatically. Karl Havertz spun his man 25 yards from goal before playing a pass to Isak, and the Swede’s return ball allowed him to shoot without breaking his stride. The shot bent from inside to out, evaded the head of Acassio, and nestled in the back of Cedric Arbogast’s net. Bayern Munich were 40 minutes away from being crowned European champions.

[EvilDave]

PSG were not about to go down with a fight however, and immediately Pochettino turned to his bench. The ineffectual Lozano was replaced by Argentine winger Cristian Pavon, while Luis Samarra was replaced by the vision and guile of a 35-year-old Kevin de Bruyne in what would be his final game before retirement. His manager obviously believed he still had to key to unlock even the toughest defence, and was banking on a fairytale finale to a glittering career.

His faith was far from misplaced. While the Belgian maestro’s physical abilities were far from their peak, his ability with the ball at his feet had not diminished. Around 15 minutes after coming on, de Bruyne curled a 30-yard pass between three Bayern defenders and into the path of Perez, who took a touch before burying the finish beyond his compatriot Casado to tie the game. It was a beautiful pass worthy of the occasion, and with 25 minutes remaining the game was once again all square. This time it was Raphael’s turn to make a change – Daan Jacobs replacing Becker in the centre of midfield – and with very little between the teams, they got underway once more.

This time, parity lasted just five minutes. A quick exchange of passes in the centre of the park resulting in the ball being sprayed right to Moreno bursting into space, and as he entered the penalty area he attempted a cross which looked to have bounced down off the hand of Sharipov. The Spanish officials made no moves to award a spotkick, but it mattered little – the Argentine full-back had the presence of mind to continue play, collecting the ball and squaring it for Alexander Isak to lash home from seven yards out. Replays showed a penalty should have been awarded, but nobody in Bayern colours was complaining – they were moments from yet more glory.

Pochettino twisted one more time, replacing Sharipov with Serbian forward Nenad Livakovic and moving to an attacking 3-4-3 system with Guedes pushing up to effectively play as wide striker, and Raphael issued his instructions in response. Livakovic’s first involvement was a foul on Jose Paulo which allowed Bayern to clear their lines, and all eyes were on the clock as the Germans looked to see out the remaining minutes of play.

With six of those minutes remaining, they killed more time with a substitution, Kai Havertz sacrificed for a second holding man in Matthias Klaus in a bid to add a greater defensive presence to the team, and it looked to have done the trick. But everyone in the Estadio da Luz knew that PSG would get one chance, and in the third and final minute of the allotted stoppage time, they were right.

It started with goalkeeper Arbogast racing 35 yards from his goal to take a free-kick after Isak was carelessly caught offside. His kick was high and long, dropping towards a crowd of bodies on the edge of the Bayern penalty area, where Livakovic won a highly contested header to direct it to a team-mate. Goncalo Guedes collected the ball, feinted to shoot to get past Hock and into the area, and then sent a low effort goalwards. The recovering Hock stretched out a leg and deflected the shot with the underside of his thigh, sending the ball towards the near post with Casado heading towards the far. As the Portuguese winger’s arms lifted in celebration, a roar went up from the German fans – Guus van Aart, retreating towards his own goal, had cleared the ball with a desperate sliding lunge. The subsequent throw-in came to naught, and when Jose Paulo launched a clearance towards the halfway line, that was it. Ramon Corella’s whistle brought the game to an end, and crowned Raphael Lavergne and Bayern Munich as European champions.

Their French opponents collected their runners-up medals with bowed heads and weary legs, before Bayern took to the stage. Oliver Hock, the centre-back who had joined the club at just eight years of age and now wore the captain’s armband at 24, raised the Champions League trophy high into the Lisbon night to the deafening cheers of his team-mates, and eventually the cup made its way to the manager for his own moment of glory. He could now add Europe’s premier title to the Europa League crown won at Stuttgart, and in just six months had turned a giant of a club completely around. For Raphael Lavergne and Bayern, things could hardly look any better.

[EvilDave]

As German and European champions, Bayern found themselves at a crossroads over the summer – did they continue with the same squad that had earned them such great success, or look to invest heavily in a bid to widen the gap to their competitors? In the end, Raphael and his scouting team settled on evolution rather than revolution, a decision aided by the fact that Lukas Dvorak, a €38m midfield steal from Chelsea, would be arriving six months after the deal was confirmed.

Leaving the team were two expected departures – the retiring David Alaba and 32-year-old Marko Pjaca, who headed to Everton for a fee of €11m – and one who was not as heavily anticipated. Cesar Ledezma had been the ideal rotation striker in Raphael’s 4-4-2 diamond, alternating with both Alexander Isak and Xavier Esteva to keep the frontline fresh. However, Atletico Madrid were interested in making the Chilean their main man, and at €45m, the price was good enough. That would mean Bayern were a striker light, and so needed to go shopping.

In the place of Ledezma, Raphael spent big - €60m to be precise – on a man he had first encountered during his time as manager of Switzerland. At Euro 2024, Johannes Buchler had burst onto the scene as an 18-year-old supersub for the victorious German team, and since then had matured into one of the finest young strikers in the world. Blessed with supreme pace and a keen eye for goal, it was easy to see why Hoffenheim demanded such a high price for him, but given that he was the ideal option as the more advanced of Bayern’s two strikers, it was a price the club were willing to pay to prise him from a domestic rival.

The only other signing of the summer was rather less celebrated, but important in other ways – Samuel Casado had played every single minute for Bayern the previous year, and with the Spaniard now 30, Raphael’s mind began to turn to his succession plan as well as the event of injury. With the club’s youth ranks drawing a goalkeeping blank, he instead sent €8m to Dinamo Moscow for 22-year-old Georgi Badilashvili, who was already starting for his native Georgia and looked to have a ceiling high enough to one day take the starting gloves for the European champions. Otherwise, it was a relatively quiet summer.

And in truth, it was a relatively quiet season. With the team already well suited to Raphael’s tactics, the additional talent of Dvorak and Buchler gelling well with the exceptional players already in the squad, and their usual title rivals no doubt demoralised by the way in which Bayern had forced their way back the previous year, the Bavarian giants began the 2027/28 campaign in superb form. The first nine games of the season were all won by a minimum two-goal margin, and even when Dortmund managed a 3-3 draw in a pulsating Klassiker, there was no danger of Bayern actually suffering defeat. In addition to serene progress through the early stages of the Pokal and a 16-point success in a Champions League group of Lyon, Benfica and CSKA Moscow, Raphael’s men reached the winter break not only on top of the Bundesliga, but unbeaten across all competitions – collecting the DFL Supercup against Pokal winners Leipzig and European equivalent across Parma at the beginning of the season – and largely unchallenged. Just two draws in the league, a surprise draw against Wolfsburg adding to the Dortmund tie, meant that Christmas came and went with Bayern a full 10 points clear at the top of the table, and all but certain of retaining their Bundesliga crown.

[EvilDave]

With no changes to the side over January, Bayern continued their relentless march into the new year. Zenit were dispatched 5-1 on aggregate in the Champions League last 16 before Schalke forced a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their quarter-final in Gelsenkirchen. Despite the hiccup, a Buchler double was sufficient to see them through in the home leg, and it seemed as if nothing could get in the way of another Bavarian march.

That was certainly true on the home front, with Raphael masterminding back-to-back 4-0 wins over Schalke and Stuttgart either side of another convincing win in the last eight of the DFB Pokal at Hamburg. Still no side had managed to take more than a single point from a clash with the defending champions, and their lead continued to grow – by the second week of April, with the likes of Isak, Havertz and new boy Buchler in superb scoring form, the inevitable happened. Dortmund lost 2-0 at Leverkusen, a double from Daan Jacobs brushed Freiburg aside, and Bayern were crowned champions a full seven games before the end of the season.

Back in the Champions League, Arsenal were the side that stood between Bayern and a second successive European final, with the first leg at the Allianz. A 74^th-minute penalty from Alexander Isak proved the difference in a 2-1 win, and so Bayern headed to the Emirates as favourites to progress. A battling Arsenal had other ideas however and when Paulo Dybala swept in on the hour mark, the Gunners led 3-2 on aggregate and were half an hour away from the comeback win. They got as close as eight minutes only to be thwarted by a superb Dvorak free-kick, and while Bayern had lost a game for the first time all season, they had at the very least forced extra time.

Unfortunately for them and their travelling fans, that would be all they managed. Cesar Guimaraes stole in behind Moreno with five minutes of the 30 remaining, and his cross was turned by substitute Achraf Massouidi to send the Londoners through to the European final. It was the first game Raphael’s side had lost since the semi-final stage the previous year and came as something of a jolt to the system – with his side so dominant, how much was his management actually making a difference?

With European disappointment in the rear view mirror, an unfocused Bayern meandered to the end of the season, drawing two of their final four games to finish the campaign with a record of 28 wins, six draws and not a single defeat in the Bundesliga – a remarkable achievement which would go down in history as one of the best ever. Days after the final league game, Raphael took his team to the national stadium in Berlin for a 4-1 thrashing of Hoffenheim in the Pokal final – Buchler netting a hat-trick against his former club – and there was little denying that Bayern had completed one of the finest domestic seasons Germany had ever seen. Had Arsenal – who went on to defeat Juventus in the final – not ruined their Champions League campaign, there would have been nothing left for Bayern to achieve.

All of which posed the question – what was left for Raphael to do? This was not an ageing squad in need of an overhaul, nor was there a domestic rival that needing overtaking. The Champions League had been conquered once already, the Bundesliga was there for the taking, and even an unbeaten season had already been ticked off the achievement list. His 18-month contract was up, the optional extension beckoned – but did he actually want to trigger it?

[EvilDave]

After lengthy conversations that lasted long into several nights, the Lavergnes decided that no, he didn’t. Bayern no longer presented a challenge, and while Raphael was more than ready to continue working, no seemed as good a time as any to take a step back and recharge before jumping back in. He had done so for a few months after the World Cup, a genuine sabbatical felt long overdue. Managers of old may have mocked a man of merely 50 for wanting a year out, but a man of his standing in the game had no worries about his image and so, expressing his thanks and his apologies to Bayern president Oliver Kahn, he declined the offer of the contract extension. After all, he had a wedding to help organise.

Two years into her Parisien studies, Sophia Lavergne had met and fallen for a Dutch politics student two years her senior. The two of them had moved quickly beyond the initial infatuation and towards a genuine relationship, and it survived despite the pressures of her studies and his moving back to the Netherlands and running, successfully despite his youth, for a seat on the Rotterdam city council. Raphael may not have agreed with the liberal edge of his social democratic views, but he could not help but admire the young man’s principles, and had no doubt he would make a fine husband for his daughter. And so, two days after he had travelled to Munich to speak to Raphael and Elise in person, Robin van der Linde proposed to Sophia.

The wedding was to be held in Geneva – this, rather than any of the detail, had been Sophia’s main insistence, and so with both the bride- and groom-to-be travelling internationally to arrange things, it made practical sense for Sophia’s parents to help out where they could. A date was set for two weeks before Christmas – eight months to the day after the proposal, and in as low-key a way as possible given the identity of Sophia’s father, the two were wed in a small chapel just a stone’s throw from the banks of the icy Lake Geneva, before a crowd of family and close friends. It was a joyous occasion without exception, and Raphael had no shame in his tears of happiness.

With the new Mr and Mrs van der Linde away on their Japanese honeymoon, Raphael and Elise found their lives a great deal quieter in the days following the wedding – something that neither of them objected to. The past few months had been almost as busy as anything Raphael had experienced during his playing or managerial careers, and the calm after the storm was a welcome respite. Whereas on previous breaks the pair had travelled to various mountain ranges to stretch their legs, this time they were prepared to take things a bit more slowly as they understandably pondered their lives past and future.

As they talked and talked, one thing became apparent – while both of them were more than satisfied with the footballing life and world, they could not imagine Raphael managing at club level for the rest of his working life. The stress was too high, and there would come a point at which the mental burden of the day-to-day pressure would simply not be worth it. International work would be a possibility – they could see why so many national bosses were in the latter stages of their career – but the club grind into their 60s just didn’t appeal.

Not satisfied with this as a conclusion, Elise gently nudged her husband to a resolution, for his own sake as well as her own. Having worked his way from Servette to Bayern via Stuttgart and Switzerland, Raphael Lavergne determined that he would take on one final club role. There were ample possibilities after that point, from returning to the international scene to full-blown retirement – but club management would not be one of them. The two of them were agreed. Whatever came next, wherever that may be, it would be his farewell tour of club football.

The destination remained unknown at this point, but there was no shortage of suitors. There were calls from England, from Spain, an ambitious call from Red Bull Salzburg across the Austrian border, and there were offers from the international circuit to boot. In the end, his club of choice were by far the most persistent – making initial contact in January with their form wobbling, enquiring again when dismissing their boss in March, and coming a third time weeks before the end of the season with their interim replacement looking for first team opportunities elsewhere. It was this third call, with their vision clearly set out and a full pre-season available to revamp the playing squad, that the timing felt right.

[EvilDave]

In the grand scheme of things, the Lavergnes' latest move continued their theme of never moving too far in one go. So far they been based in Geneva, Stuttgart, Geneva once more, and Munich. Whilst this would be their first venture outside of a German-speaking nation, they were hardly heading to the back of beyond. They were both confident that Milan would very quickly feel like home. Besides which, the Swiss expat community was hardly hard to find.

The pair were taken in quickly by their fellow countrymen, and combined with Raphael’s footballing contacts, got them set up in no time with a beautiful home in Saronno, a small town to the north of city roughly halfway to Como. Close enough to Milan’s training complex to make the daily commute bearable while far enough from the city centre to provide an oasis of calm from the Italian football frenzy. Having signed the contract just days after the end of the season, Elise’s eagerness to set up home for the next three years allowed Raphael to get straight into what he did best – assembling a squad to take on a nation.

Milan were, to put it bluntly, in a mess. They had last won the Scudetto eight years ago in 2021, and had been four years without even qualifying for the Champions League – a failure which had contributed in part to Italy’s slide down UEFA’s coefficient table and losing a spot at the top table. In the meantime, Juventus and arch-rivals Inter had dominated Serie A, which in turn had become one of Europe’s most competitive leagues – in recent years, every one of Napoli, Roma, Fiorentina and billionaire-backed Parma had been involved in a title challenge. Milan had not, and that was not acceptable to the Rossoneri faithful. Less acceptable still was last season’s 9^th place finish.

All of which meant that Raphael’s job was easily defined as a rebuild. With the ownership group understandably cautious about throwing good money after bad, the new man in charge needed to sell in order to craft a new team in his image. One week of post-season training, specifically requested by the incoming manager to allow him to gauge the level of his team, and hour upon hour of video footage, meant that over the summer he knew exactly who could be sacrificed.

A total of 18 players left Milan over the summer, although the overwhelming majority of them were simply released from the club’s bloated youth teams. Of the five leaving for money, the biggest sale was striker Mattia Cannistra, who at 25 was no closer to the first team than he was at 18, and yet somehow fetched a fee of €3m from Serie B Perugia. It was far from a controversial move – he had only lasted so long at the San Siro by virtue of his homegrown status at the club.

Also leaving – and crucially cutting almost €200k per week from the wage bill – was 32-year-old Aaron Martin, the Spanish left-back who had lost his place in his first team. Once one of the world’s best in his position, his physical decline had been rapid, and so Valencia’s offer to take his salary off Raphael’s hands was quickly accepted. The first major sale for real money, €14m to be precise, came from Benfica for Elisio Andre, a Brazilian holding man who at 30 was losing resale value – not to mention that Raphael’s proposed new system would render him redundant.

The last two big sales were Algerian winger Bilal Boutobba and French midfielder Bruno Gervais-Laine – a combined €44m coming in from Lille and PSG respectively – meaning that, with €60m raised through sales and the wage bill significantly slashed, Raphael had around €75m to play with. Tempted though he was to spend the entire sum on a single player – Spurs’ Italy wing-back Canio Greco was probably the best replacement for Martin in the world, and was interested, but a fee of €100m+ was too much of a gamble for even Raphael. It would have been a statement, but far from sensible, even if the owners had agreed.

Instead, he reshaped the squad. His research and observations led Raphael to the conclusion that a 3-4-3 was the best way to both get the best out of the players at his disposal, and take advantage of the weaknesses he believed he had found in some of his rivals. That meant central defence was a priority – he wanted six capable starters and had just four – and so his first pair of signings were a potential starting duo. Both Italian, both from the Iberian Peninsula, and both with room to grow, the two nevertheless came at different prices. Osasuna had set 19-year-old Piergiorgio Manisera’s release clause at just over €3m, while Sporting drove a much harder bargain for Stefano Mastronardi, the national team starter costing €26m. At just 24, it was a price worth paying for a first team signing.

The left wing-back slot was also an urgent need, with competition needed for 20-year-old Austrian Johannes Winter. After several enquiries were turned down, Raphael’s knowledge of the Swiss game and contacts in the national set-up came up trumps. Sergio Gaspar was breaking into the first team picture at just 20, and was still plying his trade at Basel. For €11m, that would all change. A slightly smaller fee of €8.5m went to Genoa for the services of promising goalkeeper Giulio Bianchi – who promptly left on loan to Pescara in Serie B – and there was a single signing left.

At the 2026 World Cup Raphael had gambled, leaving Noah Okafor at home in favour of an 18-year-old speed demon who had broken into Servette’s first team with ease. Six months later he had moved to Sampdoria, and now it was time for his to be reunited with the man who gave him his big break. For €18m, plus a few performance-based add-ons and small sell-on fee, Fabrizio Lisi was now a Milan player. With veteran Diego Jota another strong option on the left wing, the position suddenly became one of the club’s strongest.

With business done for the summer and no European qualifiers, all that was left for the new-look Milan was a low-key tour of Austria, far from the prying eyes of the media accompanying the continent’s elite in the USA and Far East. Three semi-pro sides and Bundesliga side SV Ried were comfortably swept aside, and before they knew it, the Serie A season was upon them. After a full year away from the game, Raphael Lavergne was back in the dugout.

[EvilDave]

The fixture list could hardly have thrown up a kinder opening game for the new Milan manager. Away from the demands of the San Siro faithful, taking on newly-promoted Reggina on the opening day of the new Serie A campaign. Reggina had come up through the play-offs, scraping into the promotion picture in the final weeks of the season before emerging as surprising winners. They had recruited several new players over the summer who were continuing to gel, and on paper Milan were big favourites.

It was the ideal game, therefore, for Raphael to wheel out the 3-4-3 in competitive play. Alex Meret sat behind a back three of new signing Mastronardi in the centre, Armando Tagliapetra on the left and Dutchman Kay den Otter on the right – the former instructed to push into midfield in possession and provide an additional option.

Gaspar got his debut in the left wing-back slot, inverting the role and underlapping fellow newcomer Fabrizio Lisi ahead of him. On the opposite flank, 21-year-old Miroslav Stojanovic would operate more conventionally, hugging the touchline while his winger, Marco Rossi, looked to drift infield and wreak havoc behind lone striker and Austrian star Mario Saurer.

That left the midfield pair, which would be made up of the more physical specimen of Turkish international Hasan Aydin, and another 28-year-old that Raphael was very familiar with, managing the creative Thibauld Renaud at his third club after handing the Swiss playmaker his professional debut more than a decade earlier at Servette. With three at the back and the wing-backs covering if needed, Raphael believed the new system to have enough defensive backup to risk just two men in the centre – especially with the two men in question of the calibre of Aydin and Renaud.

The two of them, as expected, were more than enough for lowly Reggina, whose new signings had arrived later in the window than Raphael’s and for whom team cohesion was an obvious issue. The central pair controlled the game from the opening moments, and it did not take long for Milan to get off the mark. Renaud was at the heart of things, finding Rossi breaking infield, who in turn slipped in Saurer for an easy finish inside the area. Before the break Lisi added a debut goal to a strong performance, and in the second half a Renaud free-kick was flicked beyond the goalkeeper by substitute centre-back Luis Ribeiro to complete a comfortable victory for the Rossoneri.

The calendar remained kind for the next couple of games, although the training schedule was not as pleasant for new signing Lisi, who strained a calf muscle and would miss his first opportunity to line up at the San Siro. Even without their quickest signing of the summer, Brescia were defeated 2-0 in front of more than 75,000 in Milan to make it two from two without conceding a single goal. That clean sheet was broken in the next game at Atalanta took a first half lead in Bergamo, but right wing-back Stojanovic proved the unlikely hero – first winning a penalty converted by Diego Jota and then firing in a low cross which Saurer skilfully diverted beyond the goalkeeper to turnaround. The Serbian’s two assists made the difference, and after three games Milan were being talked about as unlikely title contenders.

That status would be tested in game four however, as the first of the big guns lined up across the field from Raphael’s men. Parma, fuelled by wealthy owners and still reeling after missing out on Champions League football by a single point last season, were one of Italian football’s rising forces, and after two wins and a draw, the scalp of Milan would go a long way to cementing them as a title challenger themselves.

If three wins from three had heightened expectations, the Parma game dampened them somewhat emphatically. A headed opener from Saurer had the Rossoneri faithful in high spirits, but the joy was shortlived. By half time I Crociati were back on terms, and the second half could only be described as a disaster for Raphael’s men. Latvian striker Edgars Ivanovs beat Meret to make it 2-1, moments later Aydin picked up a second yellow card to reduce his side to 10 men, and in the final 10 minutes Ivanovs grabbed his second and laid on Parma’s fourth to turn a worrying defeat into an embarrassing rout. After being hailed as Milan’s new king, Raphael quickly found himself on the receiving end of some vicious criticism.

A battling 1-1 draw away at Napoli performed the odd combination of reassuring fans that they wouldn’t be a whipping boy for the top sides, but also saw them disappointed by dropped points for the second game in a row. For most teams that had finished 9^th in the previous season, 10 points of a possible 15 at the start of a new campaign would be promising enough. Milan, however, were not most teams, and already a few dissenting voices were making themselves heard. If he wasn’t already aware of how big a job he had taken on, Raphael was quickly being told.