[FM11] Ingolstadt, Outgolstadt, In, Out, In, Out, Shake It All About...

[Deisler26]

My current fixture list is

6.4.2023 - Olympique Marseille (A) Europa League Quarter Final Leg 1

9.4.2023 - Sporting CP (H) Liga Sagres

13.4.2023 - Olympique Marseille (H) Europa League Quarter Final Leg 2

15.4.2023 - FC Porto (A) Liga Sagres

18.4.2023 - GD Chaves (A) Taça de Portugal Semi Final Leg 2

23.4.2023 - Academica (H) Liga Sagres

I think I may have to abandon any league winning ideas....

[Deisler26]

17 May 2023

Europa League Final

Villa Park, Birmingham

Att: 42,640

U.D Leiria 5 - 1 Real Madrid

Rui Sousa 31, 38...........Carlos Alberto 6

Jordan Stephenson 47

Carlos Amaro 60

Kris Oliver o.g 90+4

The booming sound of the PA heralded our walk onto the pitch for the start of the Europa League Final. As we exited the tunnel, there was just a wall of noise as over 20,000 Leiria fans screamed to see their heroes play. After our Second Round win, we were paired with Olympique Marseille in the Quarter Final. In the first leg, Gonçarlo Moreno scored with a rasping 25 yard strike only to have us pegged back later in the half to finish 1-1. In the second leg at home, we were seconds from extra time when, in the 96th minute, Jordan Stephenson rammed home the ball from 10 yards to put us in the Semi Final against Everton. We were in the middle of a major fixture pileup, so I decided to concentrate on the Europa League and play the kids/backup in the league so as to be fresh for the matches. This paid off as we humped Everton 4-0 in the first leg at home. Rui Sousa, Pedro Pedroso, José Francisco Salinas and Miguel Veloso all netting to make the second leg close to a formality and it was so, as we drew 1-1 in Liverpool. An own goal credited to Valente was cancelled out by a Rui Sousa strike to send us through to the Final, 5-1 on aggregate.

I made one small change due to the need for as much skill as possible in the side, André Santos dropped to the bench, José Francisco Salinas moved over, Pedro Pedroso was moved into the middle, Jordan Stephenson went out on the left and Rui Sousa came in up front. the team lined up like so.

The whistle went and we kicked off the 2023 Europa League Final! The game started badly however as a great passing move saw a R.Madrid player break the offside trap and net low in the corner on 6 mins. 0-1 and I was thinking of our last appearance in this Final, when the same happened and we lost. However, I made sure we kept the ball a bit more to get our confidence up and on 31 mins, we were rewarded as a good cross from the left by Stephenson was sidefooted home by Rui Sousa. 1-1 and we were back in it. Madrid seemed to deflate after this and on 38 mins, another break, this time down the right by Amaral, saw the resulting cross met by Rui Sousa. His first touch took him away from the keeper and his second was used to knock the ball into an empty net. 2-1. Valente made a good save on HT, clawing away a piledriver from the Madrid player. The whistle sounded and we were 2-1 up at HT.

I told the team I was pleased with them and sent them back out, no need for any subs just yet. Barely a minute into the second half, a short pass on the halfway line by Stephenson found Amaro. His driving run had him at the edge of the area about to pull the trigger when a fantastic saving tackle from the Madrid player knocked the ball away from him. However, the ball fell into the path of the still-running Jordan Stephenson who netted from the left hand edge of the area past a badly stranded keeper. 3-1 and I was in absolute heaven in the dugout. Another good save by Valente led to a counter-attack where Salinas was upended on the edge of the box on 59 mins. The resulting free-kick struck Carlos Amaro and utterly bamboozled the keeper, who watched it fly into the opposite corner for 4-1. I then shut us down, even at 4-1, they were still dangerous. However, apart from trading long shots, the game had just settled down. The last action of the game was on the stroke of full-time when Amaral got free down the right and hit a high, looping cross towards the far post where Jordan Stephenson was steaming in. His header hit the post, but bounced in off the Madrid keeper for the final humilation for Real Madrid as that own-goal made it 5-1 and the game for us. The whistle blew seconds later and I sprinted out of the dugout to celebrate with my players, the glory of winning the Europa League after coming so close 5 years ago!

[Deisler26]

21 May 2023

Taça de Portugal Final

Estádio Nacional, Lisbon

Att: 51,000

Sporting CP 1 - 3 U.D Leiria

Luis Castillo 53...................Rui Sousa 7

.......................................Carlos Amaro 25

.......................................Deco 70

We walked out into the bright sunshine of the National stadium and basked in the roar and adulation of our fans in the sold-out ground. We had both the Europa League and Liga ZON Sagres trophies on show before the game and this seemed to spur the team on, I didn't even need to give much of a pep talk. Just reminded them of all the fans outside. Only two changes from the Europa Final, Gonçarlo Moreno came into the side for the injured Salinas and young Luis Campos was given a place on the bench. We lined up as so.

We kicked off with a roar and with the crowd urging us on, drew first blood. On 7 minutes, a ball down the right channel by Deco saw Rui Sousa outpace the defender, take a touch and hammer the ball into the far corner. 1-0 up already. The crowd celebrated loudly and we applauded as we made our way back to the centre circle. Some trading of long shots then occurred before a moment that would be engraved in every Leiria fan's heart and the history of the Taça de Portugal. Carlos Amaro picked up a short pass just inside our own half. Shimmying past a bemused defender, Amaro hared towards goal, chased by the entire Sporting defence. He got into the area before steadying himself and then emphatically finishing past the advancing keeper. 2-0 and what a goal!. This seemed to take the life out of Sporting and we got to half-time without major incident, only a routine save from Valente giving any hint of attacking prowess.

So HT came and I told them not to get complacent and to seal the deal. They didn't seem to listen as on 53 mins, a sizzling 25 yard strike from the edge of the area by the Sporting striker thundered into the net, hitting the underside of the bar on the way in. I was livid and shouted at the team to work harder. They seemed to listen and raised their game to continue making it a stalemate. On 73 mins, a great passing manoeuvre saw Sousa set Deco free inside the area and he finished with aplomb to make it 3-1 and game over. There was just enough time left for Mauricio to get the game's first yellow on 89 mins, but as the whistle blew, we celebrated a fantastic Treble! Not bad for my first (half) season back!

[video=youtube;Upf00uk91H4]

Amaro's wonder goal

[AK22]

Amazing result against Real Madrid, well done!

[Deisler26]

Amazing result against Real Madrid, well done!

Thanks man, appreciated! Yeah, they seemed to not be interested really? Perhaps it was the magic of team talks?

[Deisler26]

U.D Leiria

Season 2022-23 Review

We won the Liga ZON Sagres by a single point in the end. We only dropped five points in the whole of 2023, a 0-1 defeat to SC Braga in the 94th minute after playing the kids in readiness for the Europa League and a 2-2 draw with FC Porto for exactly the same reason. I had a real log jam of fixtures and a lot of players who were tired, so I had a heck of a lot of juggling to do. Luckily, I came out of it in the best shape possible, including three 5-1 wins against Academica, Leixoes and Portimonese. The best was yet to come as we spanked an under-par Boavista 8-0 with Rui Sousa hitting 4! I was still 4 points behind with 3 games to go, however Porto's run-in was D-L-W. Most tellingly, they lost 1-3 to SC Braga on the weekend I disposed of SL Benfica 1-0 with a lone Carlos Amaro goal. The title was sealed with a 1-0 win over Vit Setúbal on that last day, capping a remarkable comeback from 10th in the Liga at one point. I also received this note in my mailbox which was a nice thing to get. Carlos Amaro took home the Liga Sagres Most MoM Award, Rui Sousa took home the Liga Sagres Top Goalscorer award, Pedro Pedroso took home the Portuguese National Player Of The Year and an on-loan Jorge Lima Pereira won the Liga Orangina Player of The Year for his efforts on loan to Real SC.

Taça de Portugal Beat GD Chaves 5-1 on aggregate in the Semi Finals before dispatching of Sporting CP in the Final

Europa League A struggle through the group ignited us to go all the way and beat R.Madrid in the final in a stunningly one-sided result

Bwin Cup: The Bwin Cup Third Round landed us with an easy group, or so I thought. We were to play Vit. Setubal, Vit. Guimaraes and Portimonense. Setubal were dispatched 2-0 by goals from Rui Sousa and José Francisco Salinas.. The next match against Vit. Guimaraes was a tight affair in which we came form behind to secure a 1-1 draw. This meant that we had the same goal difference as Guimaraes, but they had scored (and conceded) one more than us. It was down to our final game and despite battering at the Portimonense door all game, a 3-0 win wasn't enough as Guimaraes also won 3-0 to put us out of the Cup at the Third Round Stage.

[B.W.G]

Congrats on the treble

[john1]

Well done dude What formation are you using with Leiria?

[archanios]

Three trophies in one season.. Not bad, not bad at all!

[Deisler26]

Well done dude What formation are you using with Leiria?

[Deisler26]

Three trophies in one season.. Not bad, not bad at all!

Congrats on the treble

Thanks guys. Much appreciated.

[Deisler26]

12 August 2023

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica

Att: 42,865

Sporting CP 0 - 3 U.D Leiria

.......................................Gonçarlo Moreno 1, 45+1

.......................................Miguel Carabajal 35

Fireworks and a wall of noise greeted us as we exited the tunnel to begin the traditional Portuguese season's curtain raiser, the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, pitching us against last year's losing Taça de Portugal finalists, Sporting CP. This was to be my first full season back in charge and I was determined to continue our great run in Portugal. Team-wise, Mauricio, my first choice centre back was injured for this game, so José Coelho came in as his replacement. English left-back Stephen Blake came in for the departed André Mendes to complete the defence. 'New' signing Miguel Carabajal took the spot of the recently retired Miguel Veloso and making his full first team debut for me, Alexandre Araújo in the Joao Moutinho slot. Rui Sousa was chosen up front this time in front of Stephenson. The team that ran out was:

The whistle went and we kicked off. It took 35 seconds for us to make our mark, as some neat play down the left led to Pedroso cutting in from the right and firing a shot against the post. The ball rebounded out and came straight to Gonçarlo Moreno who fired home on the volley. A minute in and we were coating already. Sousa screwed a TERRIBLE effort wide on 9 mins and we were totally outplaying Sporting. I slowed the game down simply as we could and just looked at finishing the game. They gave us a flash of their capabilities on 24 mins as a tame shot from wide out was easily saved by Valente. On 35 mins, a break from a Sporting freekick saw Sousa rampaging down the right, his cutback inside and cross saw Miguel Carabajal arriving late in the six-yard box to finish up a great counter-attacking move. 2-0. The game and Sporting hearts were broken in first half ET as great attacking play saw Sousa dropping deep to lay off the ball to a fast-moving Gonçarlo Moreno, who's first touch took him into the area and second one saw him stroke the ball into the far corner. 3-0 at HT and it was all over.

On HT, Pedroso was struggling, so I brought Jordan Stephenson on to play on the left. After HT, the game became a training exercise in keep-ball. Sporting began to get more and more frustrating, earning three yellows for frustrated tackles, rather then dirty ones. Joaquim Correia came on for the tiring Stephen Blake. They had a sniff of goal on 70 mins when the striker twisted and turned and fired in a low shot which Valente tipped round the post in a routine save. The resulting corner saw a Sporting player make a weak header straight into Valente's arms. These three shots were their sum total of shots for the ENTIRE game. Finally, I subbed Araújo for José Francisco Salinas on 79 mins. The Sporting fans had started leaving at HT and by the end, their half of the ground was deserted was we celebrated our Supertaça win.

[Spav]

The boss is back at Leiria!!

[AK22]

Great season with Leiria What do you think of your chances in the Champions League next season?

[Deisler26]

The boss is back at Leiria!!

Great season with Leiria What do you think of your chances in the Champions League next season?

Cheers guys! My chances in the CL next year... well, if I don't get anyone big, I should make the quarters.

[Deisler26]

U.D Leiria

Transfer Window Review

1 September 2023

RESULTS

Our only Liga ZON Sagres game this month was our home opener against Santa Clara. A nervy start due to the tiredness of the squad meant that we controlled the match without actually creating much. Santa Clara themselves only had one shot all game, a weak effort easily saved by Valente. On 43 mins, a cross by Amaral into the near post was converted by Rui Sousa. Our second goal came on 58 mins as a goal-kick was cleared back into the Santa Clara half. Rui Sousa outpaced the defence, took a touch and fired the ball into the net past the advancing keeper. 2-0 and we were on our way to three points.

Supertaça: A dominant 3-0 meant we won the Supertaça at a canter

UEFA Champions League We were put in a group with Olympique Lyonnais, Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic. This looked to be our hardest group of all. Still, with our triumph last season, I was confident of making the Knockout rounds somehow.

TRANSFERS

Another load of players joined the cause. I brought back Paulo Assunção for £2.2m from Everton. However, we received £440k back in a 20% sell-on clause for him. Also returning was Miguel Carabajal for £4.8m from Aston Villa. We also received £960k from Villa in a 20% sell-on clause too. A lot of youth came into the club in José Furtado (AMR, £2.2m, Boavista); Nuno Soares (DM, £400k, Maritimo); Daniel Santos (GK, £650k) and José Friere (M/AML, £825k) from SL Benfica; Sérgio Lopes (D/DM/MC, £400k) and João Riberio (ST, £1.6m) from FC Porto. Finally, we brought in Sérgio Marafona (MC, £1.5m) and Tiago Castro (DLC/DM/MLC, £875k) from Sporting CP.

Outgoing were Luís Mateus (DC, 1.FC Köln, £2.4m), Paolo Mastroieni (DM, FC Barcelona, £2.3m) and André Barros (GK, £1.2m, Bristol City). I also have an approach for André Mendes from Everton. The offer was so good that the chairman took matters into his own hands and accepted the £4.8m offer. I tried to offer a new contract to him, but there was no option available and so he was sold over my head. Finally, ST André Esteves was sent out on loan to Hamburger SV for the season.

[Deisler26]

1 September 2023

UEFA European Super Cup

Stade Louis II, Monaco

Att: 16,629

Manchester United 0 - 1e U.D Leiria

Efe Babalona s/o 59...............................Rui Sousa 99

Sebastián Garro s/o 72...........................Mauricio s/o 45+2

The bright lights of Monaco greeted us as we touched down ahead of our first ever European Super Cup clash with Manchester United. We'd previously lost in the Europa League Final against them in 2017 so this was a chance to get (sort of) revenge. I went with a very attacking formation again, the 4-1-2-3, bringing in Joaquim Soares up front for Pedro Pedroso. The team lined up like this:

We kicked off and within two mins, Joaquim Soares had a great chance saved point blank by the Utd keeper. Barely a minute after that, a weak effort from Man Utd was saved easily by Valente. A high-octane start however, settled until the 27th minute when Soares' low shot was saved well at the foot of the post by the keeper. Both teams were probing well, with Utd forcing Valente into another good save on 33 mins. The Utd keeper then produced a terrific point-blank save from Soares on 43 mins. Finally that half, in injury time, Mauricio was dismissed for his second bookable offence. On came José Coelho for Joaquim Soares

HT and I told them to do it for the fans watching at the game and at home. Second half started with a bang as Utd had the ball in the net on 47 mins from a deep infield cross. However, the striker was fractionally offside. On 55 mins, a stinging daisycutter from Sousa was fumbled round the post by the keeper. 4 mins later, the referee evened up the teams by dismissing a United player for his second booking of the match. On 70 mins, I subbed the tiring Santos and Amaro for Alexander Araújo and Gonçarlo Moreno. Worse was to come for United on 72 mins, as the ref then gave their player a straight red for using an elbow in a tackle. 9 vs 10. The referee would go on to give 11 yellows throughout the match along with the three reds! On 82 mins, Jordan Stephenson found himself wide left all alone, but his good shot was stopped by the keeper and palmed behind for a corner. The resulting corner saw Rui Bento's looping header being frantically cleared off the line. FT in normal time and we were excited to get this far.

I told them there was no pressure on them now and they should just enjoy it. First half of ET started slowly. However, on 99 mins, a shot from the right by Sousa was parried out by the keeper. Stephenson picked the ball up and laid it back to Stephen Blake. The left-back's cross into the area fell at the feet of the unmarked Rui Sousa who sidefooted home a cushioned volley. 1-0. Pandemonium in the stands. Utd tore into us after that goal and had a shot on 101 mins sail just wide after great play in the middle.

Second haf of ET saw Utd faulter as their lack of numbers and condition began to show. Just after the restart, a long ball found Sousa in the clear, but his hurried shot was tipped wide. On 113 mins, a run by Stephenson saw his shot across goal tipped wide too. Final action of the half was Rui Bento's header thundering against the cross bar on 118 mins from a good corner. The final whistle blew and we celebrated winning the European Super Cup!

[Deisler26]

U.D Leiria

Transfer Window Review

1 February 2024

RESULTS

Liga ZON Sagres: We kicked off September with a 2-1 win over Benfica. A missed penalty by José Francisco Salinason 15 mins didn't faze us as Joaquim Soares hit a double before a late reply. Our next game was our first and ONLY points dropped in a 0-0 draw with Vit. Guimarães. All the play, none of the finishing. We also ended up only conceding 4 goals in 15 games too. The late Benfica reply, an early ice-breaker in a 2-1 derby win against Academica, the opener in a 3-1 win against Vit. Setúbal and a leveller at 1-1 in a 3-1 win over Sporting CP. We had two 4-0 wins, versus Portimonense and Boavista, the latter live on TV. Next were a number of 3-0 wins, against Gil Vicente, SC Beira-Mar and Nacional de Madeira. The rest were numerous 2-0 and 1-0 wins and gave us a 6 point lead over FC Porto, who we'd beaten 2-0 with goals from Rui Sousa and a José Francisco Salinas penalty.

European Super Cup: A fiery encounter led to three red cards and a 1-0 win over Man Utd

Taça de Portugal: We kicked off our Third Round clash with Cesarense with a full backup/youth squad. After 90 mins, we were dead-locked at 0-0. I brought on José Francisco Salinas and Jordan Stephenson for Alexandré Araújo and Joaquim Soares. And it was Jordan Stephenson who broke the deadlock in some style, netting a hat-trick in extra-time to help us to a 3-0 win. The next round saw us paired up with affiliate club Real SC. With them shorn of our loan players and us playing the youth again, we ran out a comfortable, yet boring 1-0 win. Tie of the round in the Fifth Round as we faced Benfica. Two goals in the last three minutes put the seal on a 3-0 win, Rui Sousa getting the first. Maritimo were also dispatched 3-0 in the Sixth Round. Their sending off coming as they were already 2-0 down from two goals by Paulo Assunção. André Santos setting the seal on it in the 58th minute.

UEFA Champions League: We kicked our group off by drawing 1-1 with Olympique Lyonnais, stretching our winless streak against them to 5 games. We then came back twice to draw 2-2 with Celtic. Deco and Rui Bento scoring for us. A cold night in the Ukraine provided us with our first win as we beat Shakhtar Donesk 2-1, thanks to an o.g and a Jordan Stephenson goal. The return leg was a 1-1 draw, thanks to Jordan Stephenson's late leveller. We finally beat Olympique Lyonnais with a 2-1 win at home in the penultimate game! A by-now de rigeur 1-1 draw with Celtic meant we qualified in 1st place for the first time in our Champions League history!.

Bwin Cup We started the Third Round Group Stage with a 1-1 draw with rivals Academica. I rested a lot of key players for this game as I didn't feel it was massively important. Next up was a 2-1 win over Belenenses. This put us in the same position as last season, a goal less than the team above me and in the same points.

TRANSFERS

No players came in and my chairman sold English left-back Stephen Blake over my head to West Ham for £5.75m, leaving Juan Francisco Castillo as the only non-Portuguese player at the club.

[Deisler26]

30 March 2024

Bwin Cup Final

Estádio Municipal de Aveiro, Aveiro

Att: 30,000

U.D Leiria 5 - 1 FC Porto

Rui Sousa 9, 41, 55.........Daniel Zuiverloon 68

José Francisco Salinas 36(pen)

Pedro Pedroso 43

A dry, warm day greeted us in Aveiro for our Bwin Cup Final match with FC Porto. Having won our last group stage match against SC Beira-Mar, 4-0 with goals from Rui Sousa, Alexandre Araújo (2) and André Santos . This put us into the Semi Final against Sporting CP. However, the game did not go according to plan as we struggled mightily, conceded a penalty and then a goal early on and no matter what we did, we were sluggish and off the pace. I threw everything forward on 60 mins and were rewarded on 82 mins when Mauricio headed home from a corner. We then attacked with renewed hope and Pedro Pedroso sealed it with a low finish on 91 mins. which put us through into the Final. I'd rested my cup final team for the 5-0 drubbing of Gil Vicente and sent out the following team:

We kicked off and it wasn't long before we made the breakthrough. A beautiful through ball by Salinas saw Rui Sousa run on and score to put us 1-0 up on 9 mins. Porto came right back into it and it took a stunning point-blank stop from Valente to prevent them equalising on 10 mins. On 23 mins, a good Porto corner saw a flick header drop agonisingly over the bar with Valente stranded. On 36 mins, Carlos Amaro picked up the ball around 25 yards out and began a mazy run through the defence which finished in a low shot that was beaten out by the keeper. As Amaro collected the rebound, he had his ankles tapped and he went down. Penalty! José Francisco Salinas stepped up and slotted home to make it 2-0. Barely 5 mins later, Pedro Pedroso found himself on the left edge of the area after a wonderful passing move. His square pass let in Rui Sousa to roll in his second off the post. 3-0 and we were rampant. There was still time for more as on 43 mins, a great turn and shot was palmed away by the Porto keeper straight into the path of Pedro Pedroso who gleefully slammed the ball home into the open goal.

HT came and I told the team I was pleased with them. No subs were needed and we were back out into the sunlight. On 54 mins, a hurried clearance found Salinas and his through ball back in found Rui Sousa who finished emphatically for his hat-trick. 5-0 and this was dream land. We were going through them like a hot knife through butter and on 60 mins, Amaral saw his rasping shot pushed behind by the Porto keeper. However, on 68 mins, Porto clawed one back, a deep free-kick was headed home to make it 5-1. That goal took the wind out of our sails and we played out the rest of the game without incident.

[Deisler26]

9 April 2024

UEFA Champions League Quarter Final, Leg 2

Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria

Att: 23,687

U.D Leiria 3(3) - (6)3 Arsenal

Jordan Stephenson 8, 39, 50............Adam Hlousek 21

.................................................Federico Moro 32

.................................................Aaron Keane 85

On a cold windy night in Leiria, we took to the field to finish off our furthest ever run in the Champions League with the second leg of our Quarter Final clash with Arsenal. Our First Knockout Round matchup was against Real Madrid C.F. Despite our 5-1 win in the Europa League Final last year, I was not looking forward to the prospect of facing them here. Still a great 1-1 draw away in the Bernabéu, with Jordan Stephenson netting the away goal on 69 mins, set us up for the home match. We set up to play to our strengths and walked away with a stunning 3-1 win. Carlos Amaro

. Mauricio headed home on 51 mins to give us breathing room and José Francisco Salinas netted a penalty in the 73rd minute to make it safe. Madrid got one back in the 84th minute, but it was too late by then. This put us in the Quarter Finals against Arsenal. However, we were absolutely schooled in the first leg at the Emirates, losing 0-3 and should have been more.

However, for this second leg, we were even more in trouble as we had Aimar Basauri and Miguel Carabajal suspended for the second leg and Rui Sousa, Bruno Amaral, Gonçarlo Moreno and Carlos Amaro all out injured. Carlos Costa was down in fitness too, so he would have been a risk. So in for his European debut came Tiago Castro, an 18 year old left back who had only played some cup football for us. Joaquim Correia came in at right back, Paulo Assunção came in on the right wing, André Santos came into the midfield and Fabio Días took Amaro's role. Coming into the subs bench were another two European debutants, 19 year old midfielder Juan Francisco Castillo and 17 year old striker Joao Riberio. We lined up like so.

The game kicked off and on 8 minutes, we improbably took the lead! Some neat passing play saw Días roll a ball into the path of Jordan Stephenson who dinked his shot over the sprawling keeper. 1-0 and I couldn't believe it. We were outplaying Arsenal at home and doing it well. However, a long ball over the top on 21 mins saw the Arsenal striker one-on-one with Valente, Valente's great save unfortunately gave up a rebound that the Arsenal AMC, the top goalscorer in the UCL this season, netted easily. 1-1. Normal service was resumed 10 mins later as a short pass into the box from the wing found the feet of the Arsenal player who turned and bobbled a shot into the far corner. 1-2 and the game was taking on a more familiar feel. However, on 39 mins, a quick break by us saw Assunção's through ball run onto by Jordan Stephenson, who outpaced the defence, rounded the keeper and stroked home. 2-2. Wow.

At HT, I told the guys I was pleased with their work and sent them back out. And 5 mins into the second half, we struck again! A poorly cleared corner was played back in by Correia. Jordan Stephenson beat the offside trap, collected the ball and lifted his shot over the keeper for his hat-trick and a fantastic 3-2 lead. Unbelievable, Jeff! We were playing very well and Arsenal were looking very complacent, despite their talent. A triple substitution came on 71 mins, Tiago Castro had struggled for his Euro debut, unsurprisingly and a barely-fit Carlos Costa came on. Salinas was subbed to bring on Juan Francisco Castillo for his Euro debut, along with Joao Riberio for hat-trick hero Jordan Stephenson. The final twist in the tale was Arsenal equalising on 85 mins with an easy tap-in after a wonderful, mazy run down the right. The whistle went and it was a great result, if not overall.

[Deisler26]

21 May 2024

Taça de Portugal Final

Estádio Nacional, Lisbon

Att: 51,000

U.D Leiria 2 - 1 SC Braga

Rui Sousa 12..................Ricardo 85

Jordan Stephenson 15

A dry, cool day in the capital saw us face off against our eternal cup enemies, it seemed, in the form of SC Braga. We'd faced them in the 2021 Taça de Portugal final and won, but an amazing 5 times in the Bwin Cup Final. We had sailed into the final, beating local rivals Academica 6-0 on aggregate and with only Pedroso and Bento injured or missing, the team that took to the field was a familiar one

We kicked off and immediately began to dominate. However, we had the sum total of 4 shots on target. 4. In the whole game. It was a disgrace. We took the lead on 12 mins. A laser-guided through ball from deep by Salinas found Rui Sousa who banged it into the net from 6 yards. We then doubled our advantage with a 15th minute wonder goal from Jordan Stephenson. A good pass by Amaro set Sousa free, however he was bodychecked by the Braga defender around 30 yards out, to the right of the goal. Up stepped Stephenson and curled a low, dipping venomous left foot strike just inside the near post. 2-0 and we were coasting. We managed one more on target in the first half, a rasping shot from 25 yards by Carabajal that the keeper did well to tip round the post.

HT came and went and the second half played out pretty much the same as the first. We were dominating, racking up 60% possession overall. However, our cutting edge just wasn't there. Shots went wide and over, but we couldn't seem to get another. Carabajal was booked in the 53rd minute for a foul and that was it, until the 85th minute, when totally against the run of play, a Braga corner was headed home by their defender. We quickly went up the other end after the restart and the Braga keeper made a fine stop from Sousa, but the whistle went and we'd won another Taça de Portugal

[video=youtube;T2oWnmaBkuU]

Jordan Stephenson's wonder goal

[Deisler26]

U.D Leiria

Season 2023-24 Review

It was a record breaking season in Liga ZON Sagres for us this season; going unbeaten, amassing a league record number of points and breaking our own defensive record with only 7 goals conceded. Just 4 points were dropped in 0-0 draws with Benfica and FC Porto. We conceded goals in a 2-1 win over Vit Guimaraes, who themselves, qualified for the Champions League this season. Mauricio netting two headers in that game. We also conceded one to Boavista in a 4-1 spanking, Eduardo Figueriedo with a hat-trick in that one. Finally, we conceded the 7th and final goal of the season in the final match, destroying Sporting CP 6-1 with goals from Rui Sousa, José Francisco Salinas, Carlos Amaro, Joaquim Soares and an own goal. Let's hope I can get this run for as long as possible.

Bwin Cup: We took home the trophy again with an epic 5-1 humping of FC Porto

UEFA Champions League: A first time run past the First Knockout round saw us unceremoniously dumped out 6-3 on aggregate by Arsenal in the Quarter Finals

European Super Cup: A fiery 1-0 extra time win over Man Utd

Taça de Portugal: A totally dominant win over SC Braga completed our Quadruple

This was our Goal of the Season. What a way to score your first ever goal for the club!

[video=youtube;WmcYmpNlN6k]

[AK22]

Good result against Porto, and a fantastic season overall You're definitely the best side in Portugal now, and by a long way too!

Bad luck against Arsenal in the Champions League, but getting to the QFs is still a solid achievement for a Portuguese club

[Deisler26]

Good result against Porto, and a fantastic season overall You're definitely the best side in Portugal now, and by a long way too!

Bad luck against Arsenal in the Champions League, but getting to the QFs is still a solid achievement for a Portuguese club

Thanks man. Yeah, the QF's was good, but I want to win it before FM12

[Deisler26]

10 August 2024

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica

Att: 24,269

U.D Leiria 6 - 0 SC Braga

Jordan Stephenson 21, 69, 87

Carlos Amaro 31

Miguel Carabajal 56(pen)

Daniel Feliciano o/g 61

A gloriously warm evening greeted us as we took the field for the 2024-25 season traditional curtain-raiser, the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. Our opponents were long time foes, SC Braga and we were looking forward to a good game. In order to get the best out of my attacking players, I moved Jordan Stephenson to the left wing and played Rui Sousa up front. Other than that, we were set in stone and lined up as so.

We kicked off and, after dominating as usual, we took the lead on 21 mins. Sousa broke down the right, cut inside at the byline and stood up a beautiful floated cross for Jordan Stephenson to bullet home a downward header. 10 mins later, we were 2-0 up. A free-kick deep in their half was touched on to Carabajal who slipped in Carlos Amaro, who struck low under the keeper. We reached HT with this lead and a massive sense of superiority.

I told the guys I was pleased with their efforts and sent them back out. It took 10 mins for us to increase our lead. Sousa slipped his marker and hared into the Braga box, however, his cute square ball to Stephenson saw him invite the foul. Penalty! Miguel Carabajal stepped up and buried the pen. 3-0 and they were dead and buried. 5 mins later we were at it again! A laser-guided through ball by Amaro found Rui Sousa who's slightly wide rocket shot was fumbled into the net by the Braga keeper. 4-0 and it was all getting a little grisly for Braga. Goal 5 on 69 mins was just a comedy of errors. A corner was badly clearly and fed back into Amaral on the edge of the area, his diagonal pass picked out Jordan Stephenson, whose shot came back off the post, off the keeper and rolled along the line before a scuffed clearance sent the ball back to Stephenson who then buried from a tight angle. 5-0. The icing on the cake came on 87 mins, as Stephenson started the move, cutting inside and laying off to Carabajal, whose quick pass found Sousa with his back to goal. He then flicked the ball left into the path of the onrushing Jordan Stephenson to thunder home from 20 yards to complete his hat-trick and Braga's humilation. 6-0 it finished.

[Deisler26]

U.D Leiria

Transfer Window Review

1 September 2024

NEWS

We garnered a slew of awards last season. Rui Sousa won Liga ZON Sagres Player of the Year and Portuguese National Player of the Year. Young DC José Coelho won Liga ZON Sagres Young Player of the Year and Liga ZON Sagres Central Defender of the Year. Flavio Valente won Liga ZON Sagres Goalkeeper of the Year. Aimar Basauri won Liga ZON Sagres Full-Back of the Year. Finally, I won Liga ZON Sagres Manager of the Year. I also got this lovely message which took me completely by surprise. Carlos Costa's first ever goal for us was also voted Liga ZON Sagres Goal Of The Season

[video=youtube;WmcYmpNlN6k]

RESULTS

Our only Liga ZON Sagres game this month was our home opener against Boavista. A quick start was needed to shut up the noisy away fans and we got it on 12 mins, Stephenson charging down a clearance and starting a passing move up that ended with Amaro putting through Rui Sousa to net. Sousa netted again on 37 mins, great work down the left by COsta and Stephenson saw the ball swept low into the six-yard box, where Sousa was waiting to pounce. 2-0. He completed his hatrick on 40 mins, as Stephenson cut in, fed Amaro who, in turn, fed Sousa and he turned and lashed into the roof of the net. The game was totally over just after half-time as Jordan Stephenson netted the fourth with a climbing header that went in via the far post after good work down the right.

Supertaça: A dominant 6-0 win over Braga meant we won the Supertaça with some ease

UEFA Champions League We were put in a group with Chelsea, Schalke and FC Kobenhaven. I'm sure this was ACTUALLY a Chelsea Champions League group IRL at some point too... (bar me, obviously)

TRANSFERS

Only three youth players in this season so far. DC Carlos Valverde and D/WBL Luis Alexandre from FC Porto for £1.8m and £1.3m respectively. Finally, DM Júlio Barros came in from Benfica for £1.8m.

Outgoings were interesting. I decided to try and shake the side up slightly, so I sold ST Joaquim Soares to Bologna for a whopping £7.75m. Also moving was AMLC Pedro Pedroso, off to Hamburger SV for £5m. That, plus numerous loans out of backup and over 19 players was the sum total of our dealings.

[Deisler26]

Now I only have one German youth player that came through my Academy left who isn't Portuguese in the ENTIRE team

[Deisler26]

Now I have a new latop and have got over my FM11 problems, it's time to wave bye-bye to Leiria and that career. It was my most enjoyable career ever, not my most successful, but I did love it. I won titles, cups, European titles and individual glories too. I rewrote almost all the Leiria records and managed some Leiria legends in Jordan Stephenson, Carlos Amaro, Aimar Basauri and Mauricio. So I'll be taking on Leiria when it comes to FM12 and also picking up a shirt from there too! So I thought I'd leave you with my four greatest hits over my career and my top 5 goals.

TOP GOALS

5.

: A cracking long-range free kick

4.

: A vicious, dipping blast that flies past the keeper from near on 40 yards

3.

: A lovely move leads to Salinas slamming the ball home from inside the area

2.

: A Goal Of The Season winner from full back Costa, who also made it his first goal for the club

1.

: Stephenson netted the 100th goal of his career with this absoulte beauty, on his way to becoming Leiria's greatest ever goalscorer.

[Raware]

A nice round-up to a great career and probably right to have your best player, Jordan Stephenson as your number one highlight. I didn't actually know that you had Kim Kallstrom on your books at one time :o. He has to be one of my all-time favourite FM players; him and Kennedy Bakircioglu

[AK22]

Good place to end an eventful career. As I've said previously, that result over Sporting is the stuff dreams are made of

Will be looking forward to seeing how you get on with Leiria on FM12.

[Deisler26]

Thanks guys. Really appreciated.

Raware: I got Kim on a free and he played on until 37, then became one of my staff. He was with me all the way until my 'resignation', but then wouldn't come back.