[FM12] One more time - moonwalking my way through 'mo clubs

[noikeee]

Copa Libertadores Final 2nd leg

Sergio Palacios was finally back to full fitness so I played him as AMC with Luis Salinas brought back to MC and Lisandro Recalde dropped from the side. No other changes were made to the starting lineup.

At the beginning it looked like a familiar pattern from the 1st leg match - absolutely f*ck all happening. No shots at all were exchanged by either side until the 26th minute, when, just like in the first leg, the home side took the lead. Salinas lost the ball in midfield and a quick sequence of passes put Camilo one-on-one with the keeper, and he buried it. From that moment on, suddenly an all-time great epic match would take form. Corinthians were buoyed by the goal and started dominating, with Camilo playing an absolute blinder - minutes later from the goal he hit the post, then took the 2nd goal in a corner.

We were shattered after a dismal half and now behind in the tie, but came on differently after the break, thanks to a team talk gone well this time, and a tactical switch to my attacking plan B. We were decisively more positive and Sergio Palacios hit the bar, but then it appeared that we ran out of legs. Both our forwards Morales and Galván were very tired and Corinthians started dominating again, Camilo hit the bar too. I was desperate and brought in Jorge Correa first for AMC then switched him upfront for a radical 4-3-3, 3 central forwards formation, for the final 10 minutes. I'm not sure it was the formation but in a glimpse of utter inspiration down the left, all 3 used subs Alejandro Bergese, Jorge Correa and Lisandro Recalde combined for the young midfielder to belt in a low long range shot in the 89th minute. Tie equalized and into extra time!!!

I switched back to our plan A, the patient 4-3-1-2, hoping we could get the game to penalties, but we now had the psychological advantage and started dealing blows in Corinthians' defence. Correa and Morales both showed up unmarked on the keeper's face but missed. Then in the 105th, a cross from Alejandro Bergese found the head of Bruno Galván and the teenage forward did magic on the Libertadores yet again, scoring our 2nd goal. Corinthians came at us during the second half of extra-time but it was too late and we managed to hold onto it. Champions of South America!!! Left-back Alejandro Bergese was MOM despite starting on the bench thanks to his 2 assists.

I'm absolutely delighted, not only I completed my ultimate challenge with the club, we also did it on the most epic of ways, with a massive comeback on away soil after looking dominated by the opposition in various parts of the match, one very late goal to take it to extra time, and 2 teenagers (Recalde, Galván) scoring the goals. This was good enough for a Hollywood script - the kind of match that makes FM so rewarding and intense.

Now excuse me whilst I go parade with the lads on the streets of Mendoza.

[Animosama]

Man congrats

[AK22]

Absolutely brilliant! Well done!

Nothing quite like winning a dramatic final with an extra time goal.

[noikeee]

Man congrats

Absolutely brilliant! Well done!

Nothing quite like winning a dramatic final with an extra time goal.

Thanks.

However, to poo in our party, just a couple of days later Bruno Galván went:

This is a quirk of my rule that ended up selling a player under a slightly unrealistic too cheap price. We're now in great financial shape, and Bruno was criminally undervalued by the game, so we end up selling one of South American's great up-and-coming stars by just 6.25M€. Annoying, but this is the way I choose to play. We already found a replacement albeit he's an older lad at 23 years old - Alan Coca.

Right next, we get no pre-season friendlies at all this time, I don't even think the players got to go on holiday. No we get to play another continental trophy, the Recopa Sudamericana against our favourite opponents Lanús.

[noikeee]

Recopa Sudamericana Final 1st leg

The South American equivalent of the UEFA Supercup has a weird rule - it pairs the holders of the Copa Sudamericana vs.. the previous holders of the Copa Libertadores. This probably suits the competition fine this time, otherwise we'd be playing ourselves as we won both trophies in 2021/22, of course - instead we play Lanús who won the 2020/21 Libertadores.

In squad news there was one huge comeback for us and an equally huge debut: target man Nicolás Netto finally came back after a few months out injured, and midfield maestro Enrique Moreyra made his club debut vs the team that let him go.

We started pretty damn well, and with unquestionable efficiency - Norberto Morales and Luis Salinas manufactured two goals on their own in our first two chances in the first half. We did reach half-time cornered in our half as Lanús reacted, but recovered well in the 2nd half, and D'Ippoliti added a third as he converted Enrique Moreyra's corner.

No doubt the results flatters us a lot, but we won't complain as it's probably another trophy on the bag. We head over to Lanús for the 2nd leg with a huge 3 goal advantage.

[noikeee]

Recopa Sudamericana Final 2nd leg

One lineup change ahead of this - dazzling striker Norberto Morales picked up a fairly serious injury that will stop him for 2 months due to specialist treatment, Jorge Correa started upfront instead.

It was a very nice first half for us, as Netto scored his first goal since his return from injury, then Enrique Moreyra scored his first goal for the club against his former club, converting a spotkick committed over Contreras who went on a marauding run from right-back. Unfortunately in-between Netto got injured again, so his return was very short-lived - he will be sent to a specialist for 2 months too, like Morales.

The 2nd half was in theory just a needless requirement to be met, but bloody hell Lanús suddenly came at us. Romero scored with an header, Pertosa on a counter, Puerta scored a beautiful lob over our keeper Bastianini in-off-the-post, and in the final minute Salazar scored an owngoal. We ended the game scared they'd score another and tie the match but they didn't. We get another trophy and massive relief too, after nearly choking spectacularly.

[noikeee]

As if we hadn't lost enough players already recently...

I am very very very very annoyed. Not just because the chairman took it when we're already swimming in money, as I'd have had to accept under my rule anyway, but because this comes after the transfer window has shut in Argentina. So now I am suddenly lacking midfielders when I've just spent all of pre-season offloading midfielders.

Thanks Paulo for 2 classy seasons for the club during which you've improved your game massively, you will be a star.

[jackyb1989]

Congrats on the cup double!

Now you are losing these players and have won the Libertadores, any thoughts about moving on?

[noikeee]

Congrats on the cup double!

Now you are losing these players and have won the Libertadores, any thoughts about moving on?

Yes - the plan is to finally go back to Europe at the end of the season. I definitely want to contest the Club World Cup first though!

[noikeee]

Pre-season 2022

Transfers

The screenie cuts off 3 deals that happened before the season update day (sales of Brunt Lewis and Rojas, signing of Moreyra).

This was a pre-season of very big sales, namely the 3 I've extensively discussed earlier: the asking-price-rule moves of Santiago Brunt Lewis (São Paulo, 7.25M€) and Bruno Galván (Bayern, 6.25M€), and the chairman-accepted move of Paulo Fernández (Benfica, 7.5M€). I sold quite a few more players though - experienced MC Luis Rojas went to San Lorenzo for 230K, centre-back Mauricio Pent to Gimnasia LP for 375K, mexican midfielder Nicolás Nieto (who was out on loan last year) to FC Vaslui for a huge fee of 4M€.

Then there were the loans - Fabián Pasini went on a 2M€ loan again in what's proving to be a hugely lucrative yearly business; right-back Lucas Villafañez, midfielder Diego Silvero and centre-back Richard Alvarez all went on paid loans too, whereas youngsters Emanuel Gutiérrez and Jonathan Berrutti went on traditional loans to gain experience. Veteran centre-back Emanuel Aguilera who was here on loan last year, retired.

This time we didn't hire as many players as we usually do, although still made a few deals including two record-breaking fees for the club:

Enrique Moreyra (MC) (6M€) - This immensely classy midfielder fits in nicely to replace Santiago Brunt Lewis, and weakens our opponents Lanús considerably as well. God of set pieces, incredibly determined and with impeccably refined technique, he is one of the best players in the Argentine league at the moment.

Gabriel Cabrera (DM / MC) - Very nice player to have as a secondary option, may have to step up to a regular starting position now that Paulo Fernández was sold at the last minute unexpectedly.

Mateo Musacchio (DC / SW) - This experienced centre-back spent many years in Italy playing for AC Milan and has 5 caps for Argentina. At the age of 32 he seems to be in decline already physically, but I risked a 2-year contract anyway as his reading of the game is very good.

José Luis Bentos (ST / AMC) - The next big thing upfront, he is the future successor of Norberto Morales as the pacey advanced forward. Aged 17 he is probably Uruguay's biggest prospect within his age range. Not ready to be a regular option yet for us, but will get some playing time thanks to an injury crisis we're currently suffering from.

Alan Coca (ST/ AMC) (6.75M€) - As if to demonstrate how flawed my rule is, I paid more for Galván's replacement than I got from Galván's unwanted sale itself. He does not have Galván's monster potential, but has heaps of current ability as a superbly determined, giant target man - indeed, my staff rate him higher than Netto!!

Carlos Mazzoli (DM)

Ricardo García (DC / DR)

Lucas Ceresetto (ST / AMR)

Finances

Wow, we're absolutely loaded with cash now. 14.6M€ says the bank balance, and we're yet to get a lot of monthly instalments from the big sales of Benítez (still), Brunt Lewis and Fernández. However, the wage bill is starting to get really big too - 490K€/month.

The full squad for the 2022-2023 season

Slightly lightweight on midfield with the unexpected sale of Fernández, that is the only major flaw as otherwise we managed to replace the other 2 big sales decently (Moreyra for Brunt Lewis, and Coca for Galván). That being said I don't think we're any stronger than last year.

It may look as if I have too many strikers but youngsters Ceresetto, Vázquez and Bentos play for the reserves; and we're having a massive injury crisis upfront so we do need them momentarily.

Fixtures

With a pre-season full of continental competitions to play, we only ever did one friendly, against our reserves to keep up match fitness ahead of the Libertadores matches - it was an underwhelming 1-0 win.

In the Libertadores, we salvaged a very difficult tie against Lanús in the semis in the second leg with a single Galván goal away, after a poor 1-1 result at home. That set us up for our first ever Libertadores final vs Corinthians. A very dull match at home in the 1st leg was again rescued by a sole Galván goal, but the 2nd leg was a epic match as we trailed by 2 goals early on, then cameback with a 89th minute tie equalizer, plus an extra time winning goal by that kid again, Galván. INDEPENDIENTE RIVADAVIA ARE SOUTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONS!

Next up was another trophy to be won, the Recopa Sudamericana. We were quite fortunate to beat Lanús 3-0 in the first leg which gave us a massive advantage. It was tie over as soon as we scored twice away, but in a dismal second half we conceded 4 and almost threw the cup away - but still won. INDEPENDIENTE RIVADAVIA CLAIM THE RECOPA SUDAMERICANA!

Meanwhile the new league season started, with the Apertura. It was a glorious first day as we beat Belgrano 5-0 with Alan Coca scoring on his debut, and we backed that up with 2 thrilling comeback wins from a losing 1-0 position, first vs title rivals Boca, then away at Tigre with a very tired squad - quite a good start to the season.

Player on focus

Alejandro Bergese (DL) - The season is too short for a pattern to emerge yet in players, but Bergese has the highest av.rating yet (despite usually being a backup to Salazar), and got MOM in the all-important 2nd leg of the Libertadores final with 2 assists.

Word out too to Bruno Galván's goals in the Libertadores who were so key to the trophy, he may have gone very early at the age of 18 to Bayern but really made a mark in the only season he played for the club.

Competitions

Primera División - Torneo Apertura:

Copa Argentina: nothing scheduled yet.

Copa Sudamericana: I think we're in this? Probably will enter directly after the preliminary rounds.

Copa Libertadores (2021/22): winners after beating Corinthians 3-2 aggregate after extra time in the final.

Recopa Sudamericana: winers after beating Lanús 5-4 aggregate.

Summary

Great time for the club as we claimed the biggest trophy in South America then a Supercup-type one as well. The attentions now turn to the Apertura, as I'm very eager to try to retain the title of Argentinian champions for more than 6 months.

Unfortunately we're in the middle of a big injury crisis - upfront Netto, Morales (our 2 usual starters), Vázquez and Ceresetto are all out for a lengthy period of time, as well as right-backs Andrés Fernández and Iván Ruiz. This seriously unsettles any hopes of fighting for more than one competition at the moment, which probably means we'll focus on the Apertura and neglect the Sudamericana this time.

[Animosama]

nice trophy wins. What are your getting any facilities or stadium upgrades ?

[berty1978]

Congrats on winning the Libertadores, and I admire your honesty on the selling of players, do you negotiate to a reasonable amount or accept offers straight off? Annoying your chairman sold Fernandez after the window shut though.

[deltablue]

Well done holding off Lanus' strong fightback.

[B.W.G]

Congrats on claiming the Libertadores and the Recopa,although it is a massive shame to see you lose your players courtesy of your chairman!

[noikeee]

nice trophy wins. What are your getting any facilities or stadium upgrades ?

The youth facilities upgrade is taking an insanely long time to get completed, now it's estimated for 2024; whereas they've just agreed to a training facilities upgrade also. I still think the stadium's a little early, we've only packed it for the continental finals IIRC.

Congrats on winning the Libertadores, and I admire your honesty on the selling of players, do you negotiate to a reasonable amount or accept offers straight off? Annoying your chairman sold Fernandez after the window shut though.

Not so honest, I did ignore the rule on Morales before the Libertadores final, and ended up never selling him. I tried to offer him out later for what would be his new maximum price, 11M instead of 9M (his value increased meanwhile), but only Boca tried to loan him which isn't going to happen.

I accept straight off if a bid's over the selling price as per the rule. If not, then I negotiate to it.

Well done holding off Lanus' strong fightback.

Congrats on claiming the Libertadores and the Recopa,although it is a massive shame to see you lose your players courtesy of your chairman!

Cheers. I was more annoyed by the timing of the bid than by the chairman interference really. Makes no sense to me why Argentina shuts off the transfer window in mid August.

[noikeee]

Contreras makes the national team

Our first international for Argentina! (barring players who attained his caps in the past and joined us past their peak, like Mateo Musacchio). Fully deserved, and shows how dramatically we're improving in reputation - now 3rd most reputable club in Argentina. Goalkeeper Gerardo Bastianini was also called up but didn't make the match squad.

[Nobby_McDonald]

So you're not really champions now?

[cerud]

Wow, you really lined the trophy cabinet this year!

[deltablue]

Makes no sense to me why Argentina shuts off the transfer window in mid August.

South America rarely does make sense. You only seem to get a few weeks of transfer window from the reset date in Uruguay, or at least did last year.

[noikeee]

So you're not really champions now?

Not sure if serious.

We're reigning champions of Argentina (Clausura) and South America (Libertadores). It's just that Argentina hands out titles every 6 months rather than every year. First half of the season is the Apertura championship (aka opening stage), second half is Clausura (aka closing stage).

Continental competitions also run in a similar fashion of first half of the season having the Copa Sudamericana, second half the Copa Libertadores, but the Libertadores is deemed more important whereas the Sudamericana is akin to the Europa League. On that front we won both just to be sure. (and the supercup afterwards, which is the Recopa Sudamericana).

Wow, you really lined the trophy cabinet this year!

Yeah once we broke our duck with the Sudamericana we started getting some, 4 trophies in about 1 year wasn't bad given we'd never won anything (2nd tier league title doesn't count). We still missed out on Apertura and the Copa Argentina though - potentially a team on course for a clean sweep in Argentina could win as many as 7 trophies in a season, including the Club World Cup.

South America rarely does make sense. You only seem to get a few weeks of transfer window from the reset date in Uruguay, or at least did last year.

I think the idea is to shut off the transfer window before the league starts, which would be a commendable idea, except Europe's window running out for longer completely ruins it - so we get 2 weeks of being totally unprotected in case a bid comes in from Europe.

[deltablue]

I think the idea is to shut off the transfer window before the league starts, which would be a commendable idea, except Europe's window running out for longer completely ruins it - so we get 2 weeks of being totally unprotected in case a bid comes in from Europe.

I remember there being an argument a couple of years ago about that being introduced in England, based on the fact that Bolton (who ended up getting relegated) hammered a QPR team on the opening day that hadn't really made any signings yet, while everyone else would face a very different and far stronger side, which the journalist considered to be unfair. However if QPR, or any other club were still much weaker in the first game or two that's their own fault, and their own business. With leagues starting at different times, I'd prefer to stick to having deadlines the same for different nations as much as possible (even though that would obviously be different depending on season calenders and stuff).

[noikeee]

September-October 2022

Fixtures

September didn't start particularly well in the league as we drew at home to Gimnasia LP, an easy fixture, but gradually we progressed back into form, just about winning difficult matches vs Argentinos and Independiente after struggling a bit, and then showing some convincing football by smashing Colón 4-1 away. This led us to our 2nd points dropping match at the always difficult travel to Lanús, we could've won it but Enrique Moreyra this time missed a penalty vs his former team!

A very easy 4-0 at Arsenal preceded a very strange home match vs Rosario: Moreyra again was on the spotlight for all the bad reasons as he got sent off in the very first minute with an horrendous tackle, yet we crushed them with 4 first half goals (then conceded 2 past the break). We then beat Instituto, and lost points surprisingly at Dep. Merlo, before the big local derby. Godoy Cruz were 2nd, we were 1st, this set up probably the most important derby of the last few years, and despite our awful record vs them, this time we beat them 3-0 at their home, a fantastic win for both the rivalry and what it means for the championship hopes. Also, Netto finally came back from injury and scored!

Meanwhile the Sudamericana started, despite the fact I'm not bothering that much with it this time. We were paired with Depor Táchira from Venezuela and nearly messed up in the first leg but managed to turn it from 1-0 to 1-2; this was followed by an easy 2nd leg, Morales also scoring his first goals in his first match back from injury.

Player on focus

Alan Coca (ST) - Looks like I may have to keep on the bench a guy that scored 42 goals for me last year on not even a full season (Netto), because Alan has stole his place with a bang. 8 goals so far in a very promising start to his Rivadavia career.

Also on a high have been attacking midfielder Luis Salinas (7 goals! and 6 assists), and centre-back Juan D'Ippoliti.

Competitions

Primera División - Torneo Apertura:

Copa Argentina: facing lower league Barracas Central in the 5th round in December.

Copa Sudamericana: it's the battle of the Independientes as we face domestic title rivals Independiente (of Buenos Aires) in the quarter-final.

Summary

This has been a great start, we have benefited from a slightly saner sequence of fixture to establish a championship lead, despite the injury crisis - which is now pretty much at its end. If we could hang undefeated on so far, we should be even stronger from here onwards. We should retain the title of Argentina champions if we do not lose more than 3 points to Independiente in the remaining 6 fixtures (and Godoy Cruz or Boca don't pull off spectacular comebacks).

[noikeee]

Copa Sudamericana Semi-Final 1st leg

After an absolutely thrilling quarter-final vs Independiente which finished with a 6-6 aggregate score, then decided on penalties on our favour, fate decided we'd face another domestic rivals in Boca Juniors next. Funnily enough, we faced them at this exact stage last year and beat them 4-0 4-4. This time plenty of key players were out due to a clash with international fixtures, the likes of Salinas, Contreras, Bastianini and Salazar all out, Boca as well without their star man Victor Benvenuto.

It was a tougher match than the scoreline suggests, we got the goal early by Coca in a set piece but Boca worryingly were creating a lot of one-on-ones (our backup keeper JJ Cristaldo had a great day handling them) so I decided to go all catenaccio-meets-tiki-taka to counter that: defensive strategy, no pressing, play narrower. It's a great plan B I've been increasingly using to retain loads of sterile possession to make sure the opponents don't have the ball. They STILL had one-on-ones so I brought in a 3rd centre-back even after they got a red card. Meanwhile we had scored again through a great Morales solo run to make it 2-0.

Looking good for making the final again! Good news is Alan Coca's injury isn't serious.

[cerud]

Looking great in the league! A final in the Copa Sudamericana would be good for the reputation again as well.

[noikeee]

Looking great in the league! A final in the Copa Sudamericana would be good for the reputation again as well.

The reputation boost already happened last year with the Sudamericana+Libertadores+Clausura trophies, at the start of the season we were the worst rep team in the league I think, ended up as the 3rd biggest club in Argentina.

[noikeee]

Copa Sudamericana Semi-Final 2nd leg

All main players were back available for this tie, apart from Alan Coca still recovering, but we have the luxury of being able to replace him with Netto anyway.

We are extremely fortunate to have gone through, after being utterly, completely massacred the entire match thanks to an abysmal performance. Centre-back Cristian Lema scored twice on corners in the first half, then we just hung on there for the whole match despite Boca continuously having chances - and the one-on-ones were constant despite us playing with 3 CBs all of the second half. It went to penalties, and in there we were fortunate once more, winning yet another shootout thanks to scoring all of ours when Boca missed 2 of theirs.

Brazilian side Cruzeiro will be our opponents in the final as we look to retain our Sudamericana title.

[B.W.G]

Doing well in the league,hopefully you can keep the chasing pack away from you.Good luck in the final against Cruzeiro

[noikeee]

Doing well in the league,hopefully you can keep the chasing pack away from you.Good luck in the final against Cruzeiro

It's going even better now that Independiente lost points twice, a win over Unión in the next match will give us the title. Tks.

[noikeee]

Copa Sudamericana Final 1st leg

We enter this final on maximum strength with the only lingering problem being right-back Andrés Fernandez still injured. Coca gets the nod to start upfront instead of Netto, whereas our opponents line-up in an unusual 3 central forwards formation. Cruzeiro are a decent side, 8th in the Brazilian league, but lack any major superstars.

A very strange first half ensued. I thought the 3 forwards would cause havoc in our defense and lead to a hectic match, instead only 3 shots were attempted in the first 45 minutes, and all went our way: Salinas hit the post, Coca scored from a header, and Recalde tapped in another goal in a set piece as well. 0-2 half-time.

The 2nd half was a little more agitated, we besieged Cruzeiro for a while but failed to score again, then for the final 10 minutes or so Cruzeiro woke up and had a few good chances, yet we surprised them on the counter in the very last minute of injury time, Morales assisting substitute Nicolás Netto for yet another key goal from the big man. Enrique Moreyra picked up the MOM award with a good showing in midfield.

This will have been a very underwhelming match for the neutrals, but what matters is we have pretty much our name in the trophy already for another year - 2nd leg to come yet though.

[noikeee]

Apertura title decider #1

With Independiente having lost points a couple of times and us having games in hand, a win over Unión next would clinch the title, as the table looked like this:

Unfortunately we choked. A few players were tired from the Sudamericana trip to Brazil, and I rotated. The first half was even and we got a few scares from Unión but no goals were scored. At half-time I brought in the likes of Raúl Santos and Norberto Morales then also Marcelo Contreras, but still, despite dominating a little more, we ever failed to get the goal. It was a lame 0-0 and the prepared party at our stadium was ruined.

It's not over mathematically, but we just need 1 point now from the remaining 2 fixtures: away at All Boys then away again at Newell's.

[noikeee]

Copa Sudamericana Final 2nd leg

No news in terms of squad selection, we line up exactly the same way for this 2nd leg match, with our opponents also very similar.

If there were still any doubts after our big 3-0 win in Brazil, they were utterly destroyed in a crazy first half where our forwards' aim was just spot on. Indeed, for a maniac short period of 10 minutes the spectators witnessed 5 goals. Morales and Coca scored the first 2 through intricate moves down the middle, Salinas scored a lovely shot from outside the area, Coca then knocked in a cross by Alejandro Bergese, and Salinas dribbled through the middle to make it 5-0. Cruzeiro then got one in a counter, too.

The second half was a lot quieter but at the very end a cross by substitute Israel Salazar met the head of Alan Coca who got his hat-trick. 6-1!!

The news items I got are very telling in terms of club reputation - we're no longer underdogs and are actually expected to fight for these honours. Still, I am quite glad we managed to retain the trophy. Attention now turns to the final 2 Apertura matches as well as the FIFA Club World Cup!

[noikeee]

Apertura title decider #2

Our second shot at clinching the Apertura title (hence retaining the tag of Argentinian champions) would come in a trip to Buenos Aires to face All Boys - just a draw would seal it this time.

It seemed as if we had caught the same bug that froze us for the previous match vs Unión, as we were pretty poor in the first half and the home side had a couple chances including hitting the bar. We were hanging on to a 0-0 that was enough for us though, and in the second half it got even better as the goals came - a low shot by Morales and a header by Netto in a corner. Moreyra got a red card in the very last minute, but it wasn't enough to ruin the party this time.

We are now the proud holders of: Apertura, Clausura, Copa Sudamericana, Copa Libertadores and Recopa Sudamericana. The only possible trophies that escape us are the Copa Argentina and the FIFA Club World Cup - and the latter is about to be played right next. Mexico's America are the semi-finals opponents, then possibly Real Madrid or ES Tunis in the final.

[noikeee]

FIFA Club World Cup Semi-Final

We were again on full strength with the same lineup as the Sudamericana final, facing a strong North American champion side of América, capable of challenging us despite our slight favouritism.

It looked like we were on course for an easy win with early goals from Salinas (lovely shot from outside the area) and an owngoal (deflected in from Alan Coca's shot) when I turned to the defensive plan B to hold on for the 2nd half. It nearly backfired as América got a late goal and seriously pressured us late on, I'll probably not repeat this tactical switch again.

In the final in Rabat (this competition is being held in the very unlikely location of Morocco!) we will be facing Champions League winners Real Madrid.

[noikeee]

FIFA Club World Cup Final

So here it comes - the club's biggest ever match, the chance to become world champions. No surprises on our side, same 11 as we've fielded in pretty much every big tie lately. Real Madrid are packed full of world class players as expected, but their biggest danger comes from the right flank in Brazilian superstar Jamelão.

Real started strongly, but then suddenly Morales got a break, keeper saved, ball fell to Salinas who put it into an empty net. A couple of minutes later, we put on another very quick move and Salinas assisted Coca by the floor for the big man to score. We had a 2 goal cushion over Real Madrid!! Real progressively recovered, and eventually scored too as Nakagaki crossed into Jamelão's successful header. 2-1 at half-time.

I was expecting Real to continue to pressure us after the break, but to my shock we were well on top for quite a while, and eventually got another goal in the break, Coca assisting Morales for 3-1. Real finally reacted by hitting the post through Varane, we did as well through Mauricio Rodriguez, and the game fizzled out to a deserved if shocking 3-1 win. Champions of the world!!! Alan Coca was man of the match.

Massive win for us, as nothing's ever going to beat this for this club really. I think my job is finished here - but will probably stick around for the remainder of the season to contest the Libertadores again, and have a go at the one trophy I haven't won, the Copa Argentina.

[Animosama]

You made it look easy

[noikeee]

You made it look easy

It actually feels a little underwhelming, I was expecting a bit more of a challenge! Don't want to sound cocky, but after some 30 seasons of FM12 (this + my previous career) it's as if there's no secrets to the game anymore.

As for a challenge, well... yet another player goes:

Contreras is the next man to earn a move

He has gone a long way. Arrived here as a 18yo centre-back with loads of potential but who couldn't really hold on to a starting place behind the established duo of Jonathan Maidana and David Abraham. Yet during the next 3.5 years, he progressed along with the club's rise from newcomers to the premier division to one of South America's top clubs - assimilating a new position of right-back remarkably well, so much he recently became a regular starter for the Argentina national team.

Marcelo fully deserves the move to Italy, and with the bids from Porto and Torino both immediately surpassing the price stipulated by my rule, I immediately accepted, even if they were partially made of monthly instalments.

[cerud]

Congrats on the Club World Cup! Taking on Real Madrid seems easy

[deltablue]

Well done on such easy wins over Madrid and Cruzeiro, even if you just squeaked past the previous Sudamericana rounds.

[berty1978]

Well done on winning another title and Copa Sudamerica, but beating Real in the CWC final is some achievement.

[B.W.G]

Congrats on destroying Cruzeiro in the Sudamericana final,winning the Apertura as well as beat Real Madrid in the Club World Cup final

[noikeee]

Congrats on the Club World Cup! Taking on Real Madrid seems easy

Well done on such easy wins over Madrid and Cruzeiro, even if you just squeaked past the previous Sudamericana rounds.

Well done on winning another title and Copa Sudamerica, but beating Real in the CWC final is some achievement.

Congrats on destroying Cruzeiro in the Sudamericana final,winning the Apertura as well as beat Real Madrid in the Club World Cup final

Tks all!

[noikeee]

This transfer window is starting to get a bit too much

Losing Contreras was already enough of a blow, now the loss of Salinas too is pretty damaging, the lad was having an absolutely wonderful season and may very well be our most dangerous attacking player. It's yet another transfer under my rule of selling players, and comes at inconvenient timing as we cannot hire any more players this transfer window.

We will be considerably weakened now for the Libertadores, and are lucky we didn't lose Enrique Moreyra too as Milan came in with an enquiry but wouldn't splash the 10.5M€ necessary.

[noikeee]

November 2022-January 2023

Transfers

This transfer window was marked obviously by the 2 very big sales of DR/DC Marcelo Contreras (Torino, 11M€) and MC/AMC Luis Salinas (Spartak Moscow, 9.75M€) - which raises this season's transfer sales income to a record of 42.5M€, whilst Contreras' move becomes the most profitable we've ever made, too.

But we hired 2 lads as well, one defender and one midfielder, they do not match perfectly as replacements but were necessary in terms of ensuring squad depth:

Daniel Rambert (MC) (3.6M€) - 19yo midfielder who will fight for a place but may not be fully ready yet, I'm not sure if we overpaid for him but he has a fair bit of potential.

Richard Rodríguez (DL / DR) (1.8M€) - This lad will almost certainly be just a backup which puts his price tag into question, but I needed another option for both full-back positions, he also is fairly young (22) and has Argentinian 2nd nationality despite being Uruguayan.

Fixtures

I pretty much covered all of this already, but let's go through them again. First, the Sudamericana. We were paired with Independiente in the quarters, and a poor showing defensively away gave us our first defeat of the season in a hectic 4-2 match - but then we met the exact same scoreline at home. Penalties saved us, into the semis then to face Boca. And there it was the same story but in reverse, 2-0 win at home if a bit lucky, then 2-0 defeat away (again lucky not to concede more), with penalties saving us once again. The final was against Cruzeiro and in there we just put on another gear and utterly demolished them in a massive 9-1 aggregate win. COPA SUDAMERICANA RETAINED!

Then the league. We did our part by beating Vélez and Banfield at home then Racing away, our opponents Independiente lost points so we were then given 3 chances to clinch the title. We missed it choking at home to Unión uncharacteristically, but then did the job at All Boys. LEAGUE CHAMPIONS AGAIN! There was still 1 match to go and we nearly lost at Newell's playing a reserve team, but equalized to confirm us as undefeated champions.

If December was going great with 2 titles won, it was about to get better as we entered the Club World Cup. We almost messed up vs América in the semis but just about held on at the end, then were up against Real Madrid in the final. I stood incredulously as my team played at their very best and beat Real fair and square 3-1! CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!

Meanwhile the cup started as well, and we shrugged Barracas Central as expected, whereas we entertained ourselves with friendlies throughout January.

Player on focus

Luis Salinas (AMC) - I am really very annoyed he left as he was the engine behind the 3 titles we just won. We may rotate forwards with Netto, Morales, Coca all starring very highly but just behind them we suffer when Salinas isn't available. 13 goals and 10 assists including a brace in the Sudamericana final, then goals in both Club World Cup matches - the lad just had an absolutely brilliant half-season for us.

Competitions

Primera División - Torneo Apertura:

Copa Argentina: into the 6th round to play Unión at home.

Copa Sudamericana: winners after beating Cruzeiro 9-1 aggregate in the final.

FIFA Club World Cup: winners after beating Real Madrid 3-1 in the final.

Summary

Well I thought we've had a successful enough year already, but then December topped all of our achievements yet - retaining 2 trophies plus becoming champions of the world. There isn't really anything more I can do here at the club, but I will still have a go at the Clausura and the Libertadores and see out the season before leaving, albeit I'm a bit worried we will miss Contreras and specially Salinas, those 2 were absolutely key players for us.

[Animosama]

Hmmm , what are you facilities like now ?

[noikeee]

Hmmm , what are you facilities like now ?

Still the same, I play slowly you know. Facilities aren't really that important anymore now that I'm committed to leaving in a few months time.

[cerud]

So...Champions, Champions, Champions What's next?

[AK22]

Some magnificent results there, especially the double-header against Cruzeiro. And then you beat Real Madrid too!

I suspect your work is done here now?

[noikeee]

So...Champions, Champions, Champions What's next?

Hopefully the continuation of that pattern in the remaining trophies, we've started well there (Clausura and Libertadores).

Some magnificent results there, especially the double-header against Cruzeiro. And then you beat Real Madrid too!

I suspect your work is done here now?

Yeah, it's the remainder of the season then I'm out. I could conceivably motivate myself for longer, through the challenge of having to rebuild my squad every year as I continuously sell my best players, but there's just not much further the club can go from here.

[Nobby_McDonald]

I hope you go somewhere where the league is easier to understand.

[noikeee]

I hope you go somewhere where the league is easier to understand.

I promise I will, none of my available exit options are particularly odd.