Einmal Löwe, immer Löwe - a(nother) 1860 story

[Dalbeider]

Jun 3rd 2028

Özcan gets a callup for a couple of friendlies with Turkey. Looks like they didn't qualify for the Euros, which is sad considering how easy entry into this tournament usually is...

Jun 4th 2028

Our other internationals have been playing some friendlies here and there to prepare for the big competitions coming soon, but Rodríguez and Mexico had a somewhat more serious fixture in the third place playoff of the CONCACAF Nations League, which they won against El Salvador with the young midfielder looking good off the bench.

Jun 10th 2028

Sapmaz has a breakout game with Turkey U21, scoring once and assisting once in a 5-0 win over Estonia, while Özcan also scored with the senior team, also against Estonia. Meanwhile Venezuela and Mexico start the Copa America playing against each other, and Caraballo's team surprises Rodríguez's in a 1-0 win, with the winger doing well in the whole game and Rodríguez having a tough time and eventually being substituted.

The summer transfer window is drawing closer, so it's a good time to take a look at what we have and what we need. Depth chart, deploy!

GK: Kretzschmar/Englisch/???

DR: Baldé/Gerometta?/???
DL: Svensson?/Sánchez/???
DCx2: Lang/Casas/Stjepanovic?/Hadzic

DM: Vuskovic??/Thiago/???
MCx2: Miranda/Rodríguez/Da Silva?/Karlsen/???

AMR: Maldini?/Sapmaz/???
AML: Marcos Paulo/Caraballo
ST: Rijkhoff/Özcan?/???

There's a lot of uncertainty going on regarding our squad right now. The only position that's unlikely to see any change is, for once, the left winger, where Marcos Paulo and Caraballo should repeat after combining for sixteen goals this season. The rest can and most likely will change depending on what happens in the sales department.

On goal Kretzschmar seems to not be attracting any attention right now, but that could change at any time. Young Englisch is arriving in July, but it's likely we'll sign another young prospect (ideally with a bit more present quality) in this position who'll compete with him for the cup keeper role in the coming years. One of them might even leave on loan.

Defense could see movement in all positions. Gerometta is a very likely sale, he's twenty-eight already and most likely the "worst" player in the whole squad if we count both current and future ability. He won't bring much money in, but with that and our current transfer budget we should have no trouble finding a young replacement to rotate with Baldé. Same on the left, only we're not particularly willing to sell Svensson. The problem here is his contract demands are too high and his transfer value is rising, with big teams like Arsenal already tracking him. A very likely "forced" sale which should net us around €20M, and we already have a very interesting young Mexican in our crosshairs should this happen. The least likely defensive sale is Stjepanovic due to only Bournemouth being interested, but any English team can afford the approximately €25-30M we'll ask for him, so if they come with a bid he'll most likely leave, assuming he wants to. Casas is a very solid player for his position, and we can find another young player for half that money without issue.

In midfield the big question mark is Vuskovic, of course. Barcelona, Porto, Real Madrid, Bayern, and Dortmund follow his steps right now, with more big teams from all over Europe likely to join. He has a €34M release clause which we'll expect to receive in full, and with Thiago already here (chased by Real Sociedad, though) as a very solid replacement and bet for the future, we wouldn't need to spend much to find another young defensive midfielder with promise. In more advanced roles Da Silva is a likely exit, although not guaranteed. If he does leave, that's where most of the money we make with Vuskovic is likely to go, as we need a solid option there to rotate with Miranda and Rodríguez. Karlsen will remain as the fourth option.

The left wing of our attack won't change as mentioned unless we receive really good offers for Marcos Paulo, but there might be improvements made on the right. Maldini has been solid but irregular, Sapmaz is still a work in progress, and we really need a quality player here to complement our very good options elsewhere up front. Money pending, it's possible we sell Maldini and sign someone better, but it'll probably be the last piece of the puzzle to be filled and will depend heavily on profits made on others, since we don't expect to get much for the Italian. As for our strikers, we'll see if we can afford to extend Özcan's loan given Inter's demands, and Rijkhoff is likely to stay as his suitors seem to have lost interest recently. If Özcan doesn't stay we'll need to find someone of his approximate level, either on loan or on a permanent deal, and that'll cost a pretty penny.

Jun 11th 2028

Almost €31M in profits this year, nice. €4.6M fly away as taxes, though, which isn't as nice. We also confirm a new sponsorship for our youth team which basically doubles the income from the previous one. Not a big chunk of money by any means, but still a sign that our status in the game is increasing steadily.

Jun 12th 2028

Wow, starting early... Arsenal offer €12M for Svensson right off the bat. We want to get as much as possible out of him so we try to negotiate a higher fee, given we know for certain a team of Arsenal's size can afford it. And of course, when we propose a €20M deal they accept it outright. That was easy. Now to sign a replacement...

Jun 13th 2028

Karlsen grabs himself a goal with Norway U21 in a solid performance against Croatia. Meanwhile, our soon-to-be-ex-left back Svensson has a pretty mediocre game with Sweden in a 1-1 draw against Ireland in the Euros, Caraballo scores an assist with Venezuela but sees his team fall 2-4 to Uruguay, and Rodríguez does well with only thirteen minutes of play in Mexico's 2-1 win over Bolivia.

Robert Lewandowski retires, but just because he wants to. Even in his last season at thirty-nine years old this monster of a striker managed to score 21 in 22 league games with Bayern, and finished as the Bundesliga's third top goalscorer despite practically not featuring in the final third of the season. An absolute legend of the sport with over five hundred goals scored in his career, Bayern are sure to miss him in the future. We, not so much!

Jun 14th 2028

Another upgrade to the club's youth facilities will be starting in August, to be finished two months later at a cost of €4.65M. We can afford it.

Great show by Stjepanovic in the Euros against the hosts, Italy. The game ended in a 2-2 draw, but the center-back did well on defense and even scored the first goal of the game.

Jun 16th 2028

Only two days later Bournemouth come with a... strange offer for Stjepanovic. They only offer €1.1M in cash and a 20% of future profits, but also a direct replacement (and downgrade) in center-back Nathan Wood. We're not particularly interested in signing a 26yo center-back who might not even be better than Casas and Stjepanovic doesn't care much about Bournemouth, so offer rejected.

Mexico's presence in the Copa America might be shorter than expected considering their disastrous performance against Paraguay, losing 4-0. Rodríguez was one of the few players to come out of that fixture with any credit left.

Jun 18th 2028

The Bundesliga end of season review recognizes 1860 München as the overachievers of the season, because of course.

Meanwhile, in Italy, Stjepanovic completes another notable performance with Serbia, being the leader of their defense in an easy 4-0 win over Iceland. With this result they steal the top spot of their group in a three-way tie with Wales and Italy, all with five points, and in which the Italians lose out due to having the worst tie breaker of the three. They'll still qualify as one of the best third-placed teams, but still.

Jun 19th 2028

Next season's expectations are set, and as previously discussed, the board want us to qualify for the Conference League in the Bundesliga and for us to reach the group stage in the Champions League, already guaranteed to happen. Another big change is in the DFB Pokal, though, in which they now want us to reach the quarterfinals. Let's hope we don't get another murder draw in the second round...

0-0 draw for Venezuela against Chile in the Copa America, with Caraballo playing the whole game but being mostly inconsequential. A bit later Rodríguez does much better with Mexico, scoring his team's one and only goal in a 1-1 draw that gives them hopes of qualifying for the quarterfinals if they can beat Chile in the last game of the group stage.

Jun 21st 2028

Poor show by Svensson in Sweden's 1-2 defeat against England in the last match of the group stage of the Euros. So far the biggest news is seeing the world champions Portugal out of the reckoning after finishing third in their group behind Germany and Austria, plus Spain failing to win a single point in a group with France, Poland, and Albania.

Jun 22nd 2028

First public show of interest in Vuskovic coming from Dortmund. I'd very much prefer to sell him to someone outside the Bundesliga, but given his release clause it's likely we won't get a choice in the matter.

Mexico did it, and so did Rodríguez! The midfielder came off the bench in the final twenty minutes to set up Mexico's winner against Chile, and thus secure a place in the quarterfinals. Venezuela lost to Paraguay with thirty good minutes from Caraballo off the bench, but still qualified.

Jun 24th 2028

Well, looks like the Bundesliga will start with a bang this year. Not right away, we'll be traveling to Nürnberg for our debut, but right after that Bayern will be coming to Grünwalder Strasse for probably the last time, since we expect to have our new stadium built by the end of the season. We'll follow the Münchner Derby with an away match against Leipzig, and then Gladbach, Stuttgart, and Leverkusen in quick succession. Talk about a trial by fire...

That's it for Stjepanovic and Serbia in the Euros, after losing 1-0 against Croatia in the knockout stage with the center-back coming off the bench in the final fifteen minutes to little impact.

Jun 26th 2028

Svensson confirms his transfer to Arsenal after he was granted a work permit. We'll get €20M for him, of which €2.8M will go to Young Boys and €11.5M into our transfer kitty. A successful business for sure, and a solid player with some really good matches in the year and a half he spent with us, he'll sure be hard to replace but we'll try our best. You can't fight against English money, even less if you're a still small club like ours.

Jun 29th 2028

Time for the elections, in which once again none of the candidates has any original thoughts within the lot of them. Herr Dippel is running for a third term, so might as well vote for him if everyone's gonna be doing the same thing he's done, right?

Vuskovic and Hadzic are now considered homegrown and trained at the club, yay! That should make registration for the Champions League easier, assuming they stay. Which is a lot of assuming in Vuskovic's case...

Jun 30th 2028

Yep, no surprises there, Dippel wins again and we'll keep our president for a couple more years.

Contracts expire and players are released, including former prospects Morgalla and Ergül plus Laurin Ulrich, who didn't manage to establish himself in the first team despite enough playing opportunities and stalled dramatically in his development. We could've re-signed him to maybe make a small profit off him, but really, not much point to it anymore.

And just before he also has to leave to return to Milan, we agree to an extension of Özcan's loan in very similar terms to those Inter demanded earlier: full wages, €425k monthly fee, and a mandatory transfer worth €19M come June 2029. Honestly, this is a bargain for a player of Özcan's quality, not to mention we get to pay it in "installments" of sorts. If he performs as well as he did for most of last season he'll be absolutely worth the expense.

[Dalbeider]

Jul 1st 2028

Transfer window opens, bringing with it Svensson's departure and Englisch's arrival, for now.

Bad game for Caraballo with Venezuela, but his team did the unthinkable and defeated Brazil in the Copa America quarterfinals on penalties.

Jul 2nd 2028

No such luck for Mexico, who lost 1-0 to Ecuador with Rodríguez only playing half an hour off the bench and having little impact. He'll be returning just in time to start the preseason with us. Who needs holidays anyway.

And on the topic of Mexico and its players, here's Svensson replacement, coming all the way from Chivas de Guadalajara: 22yo César Magaña, two times capped with Mexico, joins in a transfer worth €9.75M plus a 30% of future profits with a contract that, most notably, doesn't include any release clauses but which rewards him with star-worthy wages. And he *is* a star, don't get me wrong, despite his young age. Already as good or better than Svensson, he still has potential to improve even further and become one of the best players in the world in his position. Extremely quick, brave, and with steel-like concentration, he's more defensive-minded than Svensson but is still far from useless going forward, and his penchant for long-range passes makes him a good fit for our tactics, since that particular movement created many chances for us in the past. An absolute bargain for half the money we got for Svensson.

Jul 4th 2028

The transfer window doesn't start in earnest until you have to swat silly offers away, particularly Wolfsburg's. The almost-relegated team think €7.25M is enough for us to part with Baldé, which is a very obvious mistake, particularly considering the player doesn't want to go there at all.

Ecuador end Venezuela's dream in the semifinals of the Copa America with another 1-0 win, and thus become the ones to send both our players home. Caraballo had another stinker of a game despite playing it all.

Jul 8th 2028

Rijkhoff signs a new contract after only one year with us. Yes, it's early, but he's one of our best players and we need to keep those if we're to continue improving. He'll earn €54k per week now, which will rise to a staggering €76k once he collects his fifth cap for the Netherlands (two so far). A release clause worth €48M is also attached, which I wouldn't mind too much being triggered. An expensive deal, sure, but one that needed to be made. And besides, we can afford it now that we have so much surplus transfer funds we can divert to wages. And that's before selling any big hitters besides Svensson so far!

* * *

FC Hansa Rostock vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly)

We quickstart our preseason with our now traditional trip to Rostock to play against our affiliates, who incidentally just relegated from the 3.Liga. We might need to look for a new one... Caraballo is still in the Copa America to play the third-place playoff with Mexico, so Jô will play in midfield in the second half, moving Karlsen to the left. Lang only needs two minutes to score the first, heading in a set piece taken by Miranda, then Rijkhoff adds another in a corner kick and we're off to a good start. We're completely dominating in set pieces today, and soon Lang grabs his second and our third in yet another corner kick, netting Miranda his third assist in seventeen minutes. A fourth header by Marcos Paulo becomes the another goal following a great cross by Maldini, and after that we start taking things a bit more patiently and, despite a few more good chances, we don't score again, and in fact allow Hansa to get one back in the 80th after a lightning-quick counter finished by Diambou.

FC Hansa Rostock 1 (Mamady Diambou 80)
TSV 1860 München 4 (Niklas Lang 2 17, Julian Rijkhoff 13, Marcos Paulo 22)

Jul 9th 2028

Caraballo didn't take part in the third-place playoff in the end, which Venezuela lost against Uruguay. Argentina won the tournament with a 2-1 win over Ecuador.

The European Championship also finished today with Germany's victory, beating Belgium 2-0 in the final. Ireland made it all the way to the semifinals but lost to Belgium on penalties, while Germany destroyed the hosts 4-0 in the other semifinal. 35-year-old Lukaku ended as the top goalscorer of the tournament ahead of Moukoko and Depay, while Stjepanovic's partner Vlahovic was chosen as the best player of the tournament.

Jul 11th 2028

New arrival Magaña gets a callup from Mexico to take part in the Olympics. Somewhat surprising that Rodríguez isn't included despite being of the right age.

Welp, here we go: Real Madrid offer a bit over €29M for Vuskovic plus a 30% of future profits. This is not quite the value of his release clause, but that future fee could become extremely tasty if his value continues to skyrocket. We try to negotiate for a higher upfront payment, but they just withdraw the offer. Huh.

At the same time Köln try their luck with a €17.5M offer for Thiago, who has no interest in them and will most certainly not be allowed to leave unless someone pays *much* more than that with Vuskovic's future so uncertain.

Jul 12th 2028

ES Exincourt Taillecourt vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly)

Our first training camp friendly is against an amateur French team who happen to be near St. Gallen and agree to be our punching bag for today. Magaña's departure for the Olympics leaves us one left back short of a full rotation, although that doesn't affect us much when it comes to grabbing an early lead, courtesy of Rodríguez. Marcos Paulo soon heads in a cross by Baldé to make it two, then misses a penalty committed on Rijkhoff while Rodríguez scores his second and our third from a loose ball inside the box. Things start snowballing from there and Vuskovic, Maldini (thrice), Lang, Rodríguez and Rijkhoff make the result a resounding 10-0 at halftime. The second half brings a few more thanks to Stjepanovic, Özcan, Sapmaz (with a hattrick), and Caraballo, not quite breaking our record of twenty but coming quite close. Not much history to this game otherwise.

ES Exincourt Taillecourt 0
TSV 1860 München 16 (Jair Rodríguez 7 18 40, Marcos Paulo 13, Darko Vuskovic 20, Daniel Maldini 26 45+1 45+3p, Niklas Lang 29, Julian Rikhoff 41, Mateja Stjepanovic 58, Vedat Özcan 61, Can Sapmaz 68 74 83, Rodrigo Caraballo 71)

Jul 14th 2028

Preseason injury for Maldini, and it's a pretty serious abdominal strain that will keep him out of training for around four weeks.

Jul 15th 2028

Two signings confirmed today, the first of which is one for the future, both regarding his ability and his time of arrival: 17yo Argentinian midfielder Ezequiel Beltramone will join on a free transfer when his current contract with Atlante runs out in January. A very promising youngster, he brings a profile we don't really have in our squad right now: the pure destroyer. His passing and creativity are average at best, but he's hard-working and determined. Needs to buff up a bit, not to mention polish all his technical skills, but he has all the time in the world to do so. Don't expect to see him in the first team any time soon, though.

The other signing is also a young player, but he both comes immediately and straight into the first team: 19yo Croatian right back Tomislav Javorcic joins from Hajduk Split (Vuskovic's former team, funnily enough) in exchange for €5.25M, his release clause. Already two times senior international for Croatia, Javorcic comes as a straight-up replacement for Gerometta, who will be sold in the near future. Extremely strong both physically and mentally and with a mean tackle, he's a defensive monster who still has to polish his attacking skills, but still can do a good job going forward when needed. He'll rotate with Baldé as our starter in that position, and depending on his performances and development he might even become our default starter sooner rather than later. He's also very versatile, perfectly capable of playing on the left or even as a defensive midfielder if needed. Absolute bargain of a price, too, and his wages are very low for a player of his level at only €18k, set to rise to €23.5k after his fifth cap. He comes with a release clause attached, but it's a €70M one which would be enough to finance a whole transfer window just by itself, so I'm not too worried. Worth mentioning his estimated market value immediately after arrival is thought to be between €45M and €65M. This might be the best piece of business of my life...

Konyaspor immediately come offering €2M for Gerometta, which is a very fair price for him. Accepted, and the right back is likely to be leaving the club soon.

Jul 16th 2028

Real Club Celta de Vigo vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly)

A bit of a strange fixture for our second training camp game, Celta just happened to be having their own camp nearby and agreed to set up a friendly. A team that finished sixth in LaLiga last season is sure to be a more serious test of our real abilities. We start the game moving the ball around until Da Silva finds a gap to assist Rodríguez through, and the young midfielder doesn't miss and scores the 0-1. It's not a particularly exciting game otherwise, and despite dominating play clearly in the first half we don't create any more clear chances, nor goals of course. More of the same in the second half despite having a very young midfield with Thiago, Karlsen, and Jô playing together, and Miranda smashes a direct free kick into the woodwork in our best chance to grab a second. The result doesn't change, but we can be happy with our performance, I think.

Real Club Celta de Vigo 0
TSV 1860 München 1 (Jair Rodríguez 10)

[Dalbeider]

Jul 18th 2028

Gerometta confirms his move to Konyaspor in exchange for €2M, of which 10% go to the player and the rest straight into our transfer budget. A very solid right back since his arrival four years ago, first on loan and then on a permanent deal after our promotion to the Bundesliga, he was good for us while we were fighting for survival, but now that we're aiming for bigger things he falls a bit short in ability, and considering his age it was the perfect moment to replace him. Let's hope Javorcic gives us at least as much as Gerometta did during this time.

Today we also confirm an agreement with 2.Bundesliga side Dynamo Dresden to become our new affiliate club. A strong mid-table club in the second tier, they have top-notch facilities and a lot of history to their name, and hopefully will allow us to find a place where our best-looking prospects can find some play time on loan.

Jul 20th 2028

FC Schaffhausen vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly)

Finally, a more traditional training camp friendly against a second tier Swiss team like Schaffhausen. It's also, surprisingly, the game in which we have the most trouble finding our first goal, and it takes us until the 35th for Rodríguez, once again, to score after a great cross by Marcos Paulo. The siege continues into the second half, although once again with few chances and even less goals. It has to be a mistake by their right back that allows Özcan to steal the ball inside the box and score the 0-2 with ease. That's all we manage, though, and we end the camp with a very short win, but a win nonetheless.

FC Schaffhausen 0
TSV 1860 München 2 (Jair Rodríguez 35, Vedat Özcan 67)

* * *

Magaña's first game in the Olympics isn't particularly brilliant, and Mexico lose to Spain 0-1.

Jul 22nd 2028

Our full backs keep attracting attention, and now it's Sánchez who receives offers from Mainz and Fenerbahçe, both far from enough to consider selling him.

Jul 23rd 2028

Much better for Magaña in his second match at the Olympics. Not only did Mexico win easily against South Africa, the left back assisted in one of the three goals they scored.

And the DFB Pokal is once again back with its first round draw. Our ball appears in second place of all the teams involved, pairing us against SC Hessen Dreieich, another team playing in the Hessenliga and which shouldn't give us any kind of trouble.

Jul 24th 2028

Just before our next friendly game we finalize the signing of our new backup keeper: coming from Dortmund in exchange for €6.75M upfront, €1.3M after fifty league appearances, and a 35% of future profits, we welcome 22yo Kevin Rexhepi, thirty times capped for the German U21 national team and one of the (if not the) best young keepers in the nation. Might sound like a lot for a backup keeper, but the goal with Rexhepi's signing is to have more than adequate cover in case Kretzschmar ends up leaving in the future, and also as his natural replacement once our long-time goalkeeper starts growing older. Like Kretzschmar, Rexhepi is an instinctive keeper with great reflexes and fantastic ability in one-on-ones, while also being very solid in the air. He comes with a backup role, expecting to play in the cup and maybe in the occasional league match but little more, and with reasonable wages of €38k per week, plus no release clauses.

* * *

Chemnitzer FC vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly)

Back home after our trip to Switzerland, we now take a short detour to Chemnitz for another low-intensity friendly to get our legs in working order. This time we get our early goal through Marcos Paulo, well assisted by Rijkhoff's nod, but our attack stalls afterwards and the result remains the same until half time. We look better in the second half and get close to our second many times, but it's only in the final minutes of the game that Özcan finishes a low cross by Caraballo to finally double our lead. The winger then assists Miranda so the midfielder, playing on the right today, can round up our win with a third just before full time, only for Chemnitz to claw it back in injury time through Bruk.

Chemnitzer FC 1 (Yigal Bruk 90+3)
TSV 1860 München 3 (Marcos Paulo 5, Vedat Özcan 85, Matías Miranda 89)

Jul 25th 2028

After a while without movement surrounding Vuskovic, Manchester City offer €26M plus 30% future profits for him. Once again we try to negotiate a higher fee, this time stopping just short of his release clause, and it works: €33.5M plus 30% future profits accepted, and off he goes into one of the best teams in the planet. Let's see who we can get with all that money...

Jul 26th 2028

Another good game for Magaña with Mexico U23, helping his team to a 1-0 win over Iraq which qualifies them to the quarterfinals as first of their group, thanks to Spain's surprise defeat against South Africa.

Jul 29th 2028

Real Madrid return with a €32.5M plus 30% future profits offer for Vuskovic, but as the player seems set on moving to City there's no point in accepting a slightly worse offer than theirs. Meanwhile Freiburg try a cheeky €3M offer for Marcos Paulo, which is about half what we'd need to even start talking.

Minor hamstring injury for Javorcic, who nonetheless will miss our final friendly and will be a last-second decision for our DFB Pokal debut.

Fellow new full back Magaña continues his successful campaign with Mexico in the Olympics, easily defeating Canada in the quarterfinals with a solid defensive presence by our new youngster.

Jul 30th 2028

TSV 1860 München vs. Arsenal (Friendly)

Our last friendly of the preseason will be a real test of our abilities and our chances of making it far in the Champions League. Arsenal are a very strong squad that should give us a taste of what we'll soon find in the top European competition. They show their quality in the first minutes with some dangerous chances, although for the most part we control the game and keep them in their own half. It's a very even first half overall, though, with neither team dominating clearly, and we reach the halfway point without goals. Odegaard misses a sitter in the first minute of the second half, and so does Karlsen one minute later, setting up an interesting second half in which Arsenal finally take the lead in the 62nd, with El Hadji Adamdu tapping in a cross by Ilaix Moriba, but we respond immediatly through Thiago, who finishes a good passing play after a great assist by Caraballo. Miranda then sets Karlsen up for the 2-1 with a short pass into the box that the midfielder doesn't waste, but which ends up flagged as offside by the linesman. In the end it's Ricci who steals the ball in midfield after a bad pass by Thiago and surprises Rexhepi with a 25-yard effort, scoring the 1-2 for Arsenal ten minutes before the end, but in injury time Miranda answers with an equally outrageous finish from distance after a good recovery by Baldé, and the game ends in a fair and very encouraging draw.

TSV 1860 München 2 (Thiago 63, Matías Miranda 90+2)
Arsenal 2 (Patrick El Hadji Adamdu 62, Samuele Ricci 80)

[Dalbeider]

Aug 2nd 2028

Mexico's run in the Olympics ended in the semifinals, where Brazil made short work out of them. Magaña couldn't cope with the quality of the Brazilian side, and now will have to play for the bronze medal in the consolation final.

Aug 3rd 2028

After being granted a work permit, Darko Vuskovic agrees a €33.5M move to Manchester City, shattering our previous record for biggest fee received. Hajduk get a huge payday out of this deal with over €8.5M going their way, while our transfer budget will increase in €17.5M, which should be enough to find a proper replacement. Vuskovic has most likely been our best purchase to date, a player who despite his young age ruled our midfield from behind in our best years in the Bundesliga, performing to a high level and multiplying his value until the best teams in the continent came knocking to bring him to the top of the game. The 30% of future profits clause we included in the deal is very likely to return to us in the future, assuming City don't just make him a household item and keep him forever. A huge loss, but also a huge return of investment. His replacement should be on his way soon...

Aug 5th 2028

Bronze medal for Mexico and Magaña in the end. The left back had a solid game before being substituted 61 minutes into a complete destruction of Argentina, who were on the wrong end of a 4-0 drubbing. Great tournament for Mexico and Magaña in general.

Aug 6th 2028

Freiburg have finally reached the point where we are willing to listen to their offers for Marcos Paulo, and after some give and take we settle on a €7.5M deal for the Portuguese winger, who seems to be keen on the move. Another player we need to replace, joy...

At least Vuskovic's place has already been filled: we sign 22yo French midfielder Aymeric Meunier from Standard Liège for €22.5M in cash, which trigger his release clause. A perfect replacement for the departed Croatian, Meunier is a (very slightly) cheaper alternative with similar characteristics: hard-working, good passer and defender, lots of creativity from the back, and very strong physically and mentally. Multiple times U21 international, Meunier still has some room for improvement and will share the starting place at the anchor of our midfield with Thiago, earning €37.5k per week and expecting a progressive increase in playing time as years pass. Our most expensive purchase to date if we don't count Özcan's loan fee as part of his transfer, let's hope it turns out half as well as Vuskovic did.

* * *

SC Hessen Dreieich vs. TSV 1860 München (DFB Pokal 1st round)

It's been two years in a row now that we've had more trouble than expected to get past the mandatory minnows in the first round of the cup, always struggling to score the goals we deserved. Hopefully we've learned our lesson already and we won't encounter that same problem today...

* * *

DREIEICH (4-4-2): Patrick Sander (GK); Kolja Herrmann (DR), Maximilian Faller (DCr), Lamar Yarbrough (DCl), Marc Wachs (DL); Shawn Blum (MR), Nico Reiger (MCr), Issaka Mouhaman (MCl), Eric Onos (ML); Enis Bunjaki (STr), Leon Burggraf (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Manu Sánchez (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Martin Karlsen (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)

* * *

Meunier arrives just in time for today's game, but he's exhausted after a recent game with Standard and sits this one out. Same thing for Magaña, just landed from Los Angeles, who also rests today while Rexhepi and Javorcic get their debuts. We start the game attacking, of course, and just one look at Dreieich's defense already tells us this won't be like our previous first round matchups. Caraballo soon confirms this gut feeling when he curls a low shot from the edge of the box to beat Sander and score the 0-1 just four minutes into the game, assisted by Rodríguez and following some shambolic attempts at clearing the ball out by Dreieich's defenders.

With the lead achieved we now can take our time and look for the best chances, and it isn't long before Thiago decides that's boring and finds the top left corner of Dreieich's goal from 20 yards away, scoring a beautiful 0-2 and gifting Rodríguez another coincidental assist. In the 21st the attacking midfielder tries to join the goalscorers' ranks, but sends his finish over the bar after a good run by Caraballo. Özcan also fails to score the third eight minutes later after a long clearance by Thiago leaves him on the run ahead of the defense, his finish deflected over the bar by the keeper. Thiago also sends another 25-yarder over the bar seconds later, then Sander blocks another attempt by Özcan from the edge of the box, powerful and well-placed but not enough to get through.

In the 40th minute a play by Özcan and Caraballo down the left ends with Rodríguez in control, and the midfielder completes his assist hattrick with a beautiful cross into the box so Sapmaz can get ahead of his marker and volley it into the net. A knock to Casas and a weak header by Caraballo saved by Sander later, the first half ends with us clearly ahead.

HALF TIME - 0-3

Stjepanovic replaces Casas as a precaution in half time, and we go right back at it, although without the same intensity we had in the first half. We spend twenty minutes being a bit too conservative for my tastes, with only a curler by Karlsen that misses the target by half a meter or so to break the boredom. The young midfielder soon leaves his place to Jô, who gets his first team debut, while Baldé comes in Javorcic's place after a solid debut.

Our relaxation becomes such that Dreieich even start attacking, and in one of their first real chances Blum gathers the ball in the right wing, leaves Sánchez behind, and crosses into the box so Bunjaki can get ahead of our half-asleep defenders and tap the ball past Rexhepi and score the 1-3. Bunjaki even scores a second after yet another cross by Blum, but this time he's meters offside and the goal never makes it to the board. That one finally wakes us up, and in a spark of genius Caraballo sends a ball ahead of Özcan so the striker can drive his way into the box, face Sander, and score the 1-4 with a placed finish. Crisis averted.

In the final ten minutes we seem to recover our spirit, and soon Sapmaz is tripped inside the box by Wachs for a clear penalty that Manu Sánchez tries to turn into our fifth, but which Sander deflects wide with a remarkable save. The keeper also does well to hold a header by Hadzic in a corner kick not even one minute later, and thus makes sure that the final score remains a reasonable one. Easy win, and onto the next round.

* * *

SC Hessen Dreieich 1 (Enis Bunjaki 70)
TSV 1860 München 4 (Rodrigo Caraballo 4, Thiago 12, Can Sapmaz 40, Vedat Özcan 80)

- - -

Easy as expected, and no struggles to score this time, although our show of overconfidence in the second half wasn't particularly nice to see. Thankfully we fixed it in the end and got ourselves a pretty respectable result, with Rodríguez as our best performer tonight with three assists in the first half. Rexhepi and Javorcic looked solid in their debuts, although neither had much work to do for the most part.

[Dalbeider]

Aug 9th 2028

Marcos Paulo agrees to a €7.5M transfer to Freiburg, sending €4.6M into our remaining budget and a bit over €1M to his previous club Olympiakos. Another profitable signing for us, the Portuguese had a terrible first year but improved by leaps and bounds in his second, particularly in the goalscoring department. Although to be fair, it'd be difficult to do it worse than he did in his first season with us, at least when it comes to scoring goals... Still, a very solid player if never a star, he gave us some extra punch in a historically problematic left wing but, being already twenty-seven, his value would only get lower from here on so it was the right moment to cash out. Finding a replacement for him might be a bit difficult, though, we'll have to dig a bit into places our scouts haven't scoured just yet to find someone good enough and affordable.

Aug 10th 2028

Another sale I wasn't planning on making but which I might be forced into due to player interest and a bid too good to refuse: Stuttgart offer €5.5M for Manu Sánchez, whose value is less than half that and is also on an expiring contract. He has been quite good for us, but like Marcos Paulo, it's the right time to get some value out of him before better players force him out of the squad. Accepted, and yet again we have to find a new left back...

Aug 12th 2028

DFB Pokal second round draw, and once again we get Bundesliga opposition, although much easier in comparison this time: Wolfsburg at home. We'll be expected to win this one and progress one step closer to our quarterfinals goal.

* * *

1.FC Nürnberg vs. TSV 1860 München (Bundesliga, 1/34)

And the party starts again. A trip to Nürnberg isn't the most exciting of first fixtures, but we go into this with the extra pressure of knowing we're facing Bayern and Leipzig immediately after, so if we want to have a good start to the season we're basically required to get a win here. Considering we're expected to compete for European qualification for the first time we can't afford to fall too far back.

* * *

NÜRNBERG (4-4-2): Leo Reislöhner (GK); Nicholas Mickelson (DR), Lee Han-Bum (DCr), Armel Bella-Kotchap (DCl), Omar Campos (DL); Bénie Traoré (MR), Mads Bidstrup (MCr), Ilai Madmon (MCl), Lars Kehl (ML); Facundo Farías (STr), Manuel Wintzheimer (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

Maldini returns to action after his injury, although he'll need some time to get up to speed with the rest. Meunier and Magaña get their debuts today, while Nürnberg don't look dramatically different from their last year selves. We do well in the early minutes to get around their high pressing lines, and in the fourth minute a long passing play ends with Maldini receiving inside the box and trying a placed shot that hits the root of Reislöhner's post and bounces away. It's a slow match, though, with both teams smothering each other in midfield and making passing play difficult.

We seem to slowly win the midfield battle and start stockpiling possession numbers, although with very little in attack to show for them. There are no more shots on either goal until the 30th minute, when an overload on the right wing generates an indecision in Nürnberg's defense and the ball is badly cleared towards the heart of the box, where Rijkhoff tries to hit it in first time but somehow manages to miss the basically unguarded goal. Nürnberg's first attack comes in the 36th, and only because we make it easy for them: Baldé dawdles on the ball in a dangerous position, Madmon steals then quickly crosses towards Farias, who has an incredibly easy time finishing and scoring the 1-0. We don't generate any reply in the minutes that remain of the first half, and go to the dressing room trailing.

HALF TIME - 1-0

We look sharper out of the showers, and we only need a few seconds for Rijkhoff to assist Rodríguez on the run through the center, but the finish is forced and Reislöhner manages a good block. It doesn't seem to last, though, and soon Nürnberg close the gaps once again and watch us move the ball around ineffectively minute after minute. Meunier joins the attack in the 57th with a good-looking flat shot from distance that the keeper turns around the post with some difficulty, and two minutes later Rijkhoff tries to head a cross by Baldé but the result is weak and easy for Reislöhner.

We try something different then, bringing Da Silva and Javorcic in for Maldini and Magaña and moving Miranda to the right wing so we can overload the center. Karlsen also replaces an irrelevant Caraballo a bit later, still without any visible results to our tactical movement. We finally see something in the 74th, when Javorcic barges into the box to head a cross by Baldé into the keeper's hands, but that's everything we can create in the remainder of the game while Nürnberg just sit back and defend with everything. An unexpected and very dangerous defeat to start the season with.

* * *

1.FC Nürnberg 1 (Facundo Farías 36)
TSV 1860 München 0

- - -

I didn't like that one bit, no. Yes, Nürnberg were extremely lucky to score in what was basically their only chance in the whole game, but their defensive work was fantastic today and made us look completely toothless upfront. And now there's a very good chance that we'll end the first three fixtures of the season with zero points. Fun.

[Dalbeider]

Aug 15th 2028

Huh, I didn't see this coming... Marco Rose left the German national team after winning the Euros to join Juventus, and now Klopp has left Dortmund to become the new national manager. And guess who's being linked with the Dortmund empty seat? That's right, myself. Still a no, but we can't go any higher than this unless Nagelsmann leaves Bayern for whatever reason.

Aug 18th 2028

Pff, Freiburg think that just because we sold Marcos Paulo to them we're gonna accept any offer they make? Because €11.25M for Kretzschmar is nowhere close to enough, I'm afraid. Not to mention he doesn't want to go there.

In the meantime, one player who does leave for another German team is Manu Sánchez, who completes his €5.5M transfer to Stuttgart. A very solid performer since his arrival two years and a half ago, his case is similar to Marcos Paulo's in that he's twenty-even and in contract year, so this is the most we're gonna be getting for him. The arrival of Magaña and Javorcic also means his minutes will be more limited than ever, so it's probably better to sell him now and find a young replacement who can develop with us. Not looking forward playing against him, though... Approximately one million goes to his former team Levante, and €2.7M are added to our budget, which grows to €14M. We have to sign a left winger and a left back with that money, hmm.

Aug 19th 2028

TSV 1860 München vs. FC Bayern München (Bundesliga, 2/34)

Here comes the big one. Not particularly happy to go into this fixture after a defeat in Nürnberg but oh well, we'll have to deal with it. We all know Nagelsmann's Bayern, we've seen what they can do when they're at their best and even when they aren't, so anything we might get today is a very welcome bonus. About time we had a decent day against them, too...

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)
BAYERN (4-2-3-1): Aaron Ramsdale (GK); Joshua Kimmich (DR), Dayot Upamecano (DCr), Nordi Mukiele (DCl), Alphonso Davies (DL); Sandro Tonali (MCr), Leon Goretzka (MCl); Yousouffa Moukoko (AMR), Kai Havertz (AMC), Leroy Sané (AML); Victor Aniorte (ST)

* * *

Only three changes from our last game, bringing out what should be on paper our strongest eleven currently. Bayern start young Spaniard Aniorte, just bought from Valencia, ahead of Fati, and have lost Werner (to Leipzig) and Damsgaard (to City) during the summer without any other notable purchases. They start pushing from the start, but Caraballo manages to escape from the pressure in the second minute and initiate a good attack that Maldini almost finishes, but ends up being blocked by Davies in the very last moment, with the fans already about to celebrate. 

And that's the difference between us and Bayern: a very similar play ends with a cross towards Aniorte, who's also blocked at the last instant by Lang, but here the rebound falls to Moukoko and the superstar forward only needs to push it over the line to score the 0-1. Two minutes later Davies wins a divided ball against Javorcic near the corner flag, sends a cross towards the near post, and Aniorte gets there first to tap it in and make it 0-2. Just like that, game already looking decided.

We're not dead yet, though, and Maldini soon sets Özcan up for a good run into the box, but once again a last-second tackle by Mukiele prevents what looked like a certain goal. A bit later Caraballo tries luck from the edge of the box but sends the ball well over, while on the other end a cross by Kimmich is headed by Aniorte into Kretzschmar's hands. Our patience is finally rewarded in the 40th minute, when Ramsdale, Mukiele, and Upamecano seem to enjoy passing the ball among themselves until the latter miskicks his pass and Özcan intercepts, shooting immediately past Ramsdale to score the 1-2, and the first goal we manage to score against Bayern in way too many years. We still have time for Maldini to head a cross by Caraballo straight at Ramsdale, and the first half ends with the feeling that we shouldn't be losing this game.

HALF TIME - 1-2

Bayern still dominate possession clearly in the second half, but it's been a while now since Kretzschmar last had any problems to deal with. A ball lost in midfield by Miranda almost changes that, but thankfully Aniorte shoots horribly wide when a goal looked certain. Fifteen minutes in we give Maldini the rest he requires and bring Sapmaz in his place, while Baldé replaces a very lost-looking Magaña and moves Javorcic to the left, again as an inverted wingback to help in our midfield. An indecision between Javorcic and Stjepanovic generates another chance for Aniorte, but this time it's Kretzschmar who blocks his finish to keep the game alive for a bit longer. Moukoko then heads the corner kick wide, somehow winning the jump against Lang.

Our bad luck with interceptions continues with Stjepanovic cuts a pass by Aniorte towards Moukoko, but the ball ends up dead in the middle of nowhere and allows its initial target to collect anyway and shoot into Kretzschmar's save. In the 67th Tonali collects the ball in midfield and sends a long pass towards power sub Ansu Fati, who dribbles past Baldé and places a perfect little shot into the back of the net for the 1-3. We have to go for broke now, and soon Sapmaz finds Javorcic in a dangerous position inside the box, but the full back is not a finisher and his attempt at a lob over Ramsdale shows.

A very tired Miranda leaves the field for Da Silva as we try to regroup and create some danger, but instead what happens is that Stjepanovic clears a set piece as far as Aniorte, the forward sends a perfect ball into the box, Fati is the only one who reads it, and scores the 1-4 with an acrobatic kick. And with that, it's game over. Bayern slow down play and only a run by Moukoko generats some danger that Kretzschmar smothers with a good save, while our best attacks come through Sapmaz but never quite reach Ramsdale's domain. In the end, another big defeat to add to the pile.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 1 (Vedat Özcan 40)
FC Bayern München 4 (Yousouffa Moukoko 12, Victor Aniorte 15, Ansu Fati 67 72)

- - -

Bayern must be the luckiest team in existence. Not because of the result, no, they clearly deserved the win, but how is it that rebounds always go their way, that their early chances always go in even when the defense do their utmost to stop them? Guess that's what they call "quality", huh. Still, can't be too angry, we were their match for forty-five minutes and didn't deserve to go to half time losing, and in the second half they just punched through with sheer firepower and that was it. Let's hope Leipzig give us some chance to score some points, because otherwise we'll be in deep trouble.

[Dalbeider]

Aug 22nd 2028

When it rains it pours. Bayern offer a very low €7.5M for Kretzschmar, and of course the player is extremely willing to move to our neighbors. Still, that fee is nowhere close to enough so it's not worth negotiating just yet. Rejected, even though I expect the player won't be happy about this.

Huh, that didn't go down as badly as I thought. Kretzschmar is obviously not happy, but I manage to convince him to stay with the oldest trick in the book: money. A raise to €47.5k weekly wages without any other outrageous clauses attached is all it takes to get him to sign a new contract. Assuming no other temptations appear in the meantime, that is...

Aug 23rd 2028

Time for more international callups. Özcan is the first to receive his from Turkey, now managed by Roberto Mancini. Dortmund's new manager is Stefano Pioli, incidentally.

Aug 24th 2028

With such an eventful summer I'd almost forgotten about the Champions League. The draw takes place today, and our presence there grants us €14.8M right out of the bat. Of course we're fourth seeds, what else could we expect, and we get what's possibly the toughest group in the whole competition: Juventus, Real Madrid, Newcastle. If we get a single point out of this I'll be a happy camper.

Aug 25th 2028

Stjepanovic, Hadzic, and Rijkhoff join Özcan in our international host. No Javorcic, somewhat surprisingly. Caraballo will also be joining Venezuela.

And just one day before our next match our new left winger arrives in the shape of 20-year-old Argentinian forward Jonatan Basualdo, who joins from Mexican side Tijuana in exchange for a flat €6.5M fee. A natural striker who can play equally well on the left or as a central attacking midfielder, Basualdo brings both tons of potential and a very interesting present thanks to his great technique and flair, good vision and passing, more than adequate finishing, and pretty good physical stats. Probably not as good as Marcos Paulo was right now, but sure to surpass him in the very near future. We'll have a very interesting rotation on that position with him and Caraballo, two players with a very bright future. His initial five-year contract is for €35k per week, set to rise to €47k after 20 league games, and comes with a €25M release clause.

Aug 26th 2028

RasenBallsport Leipzig vs. TSV 1860 München (Bundesliga, 3/34)

This train has no brakes and is never gonna stop. At least with Leipzig we have the dubious advantage of having won against them in our last meeting, but that was a meaningless game in which the only thing in play was whether they'd finish second or third in the Bundesliga, and we still had to perform at our best in defense to keep them from beating us to a pulp. Let's see if we can repeat it...

* * *

RB LEIPZIG (4-2-3-1): Bartlomiej Dragowski (GK); Wilfried Singo (DR), Kamil Piatkowski (DCr), Felix Uduokhai (DCl), Julián Aude (DL); Paulo Bernardo (MCr), Jakub Moder (MCl); Francisco Conceiçao (AMR), Nedim Bajrami (AMC), Fábio Carvalho (AML); Patson Daka (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Tomislav Javorcic (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Aymeric Meunier (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

Kretzschmar celebrates the signing of his new and improved contract today, while new guy Basualdo played just two days ago with his former team and isn't quite ready to debut just yet. Today we experiment a bit with Meunier in a more advanced role and Javorcic as a normal left back, while Leipzig surprisingly don't have their new signing Timo Werner nor veteran star Musa Barrow anywhere in their game squad, nor Nübel on goal for that matter. They still start strong, with Moder breaking through the left side of the attack three minutes in and passing back towards Carvalho, who sends his shot into the root of the post.

Their domination continues in the next few minutes, although we do well to defend and prevent any further clear chances. The best they create in those early minutes is a shot by Singo from the edge of the box, well palmed behind by Kretzschmar, and a header by a thoroughly unmarked Moder that sails over the bar. Daka follows it up with another high header, this one a bit closer, but after that we manage to stop their attacks for a while and catch a breath. Forget about attacking, we have our hands full just staying alive.

Daka puts the fear in our hearts again in the 27th, volleying a cross from the left by Carvalho into the post, and that's two bonks for Leipzig today so far. Our first attack that goes anywhere comes in the 30th, and that "anywhere" is the corner flag, since Caraballo's finish is deflected behind by Singo. That corner kick taken by Rodríguez reaches Lang and the center back claws one woodwork hit back with his header into the crossbar and behind. Leipzig answer with a very wide effort from distance by Bajrami, then an equally wide volley by Carvalho which probably looked quite cool in pictures otherwise. A last-ditch tackle by Lang to prevent a dangerous finish by Daka in injury time is the last action of the first half. Still alive.

HALF TIME - 0-0

Our defense keeps the good work up during the early second half, not conceding even the slightest of chances until the 59th, when a cross by Aude towards Daka ends in a comfortable save for Kretzschmar. Maldini replaces a tired and ineffective Caraballo soon after, and Kretzschmar denies Daka yet again after the forward gets a touch into a somewhat awkward cross by Bajrami. Özcan and Miranda replace Rijkhoff and Rodríguez, hoping they'll be a bit more involved in play in the final half hour.

Substitute Andrew Moran gives us a new scare in the 70th, breaking through the center with no one following but flunking his finish so bad Kretzschmar doesn't even have to move and instead just watches it go wide. It's their first chance in a long while, though, and it takes them six more to create another, yet another cross towards Daka who once again can't find the target with his header. And then, somehow, their attack short-circuits completely. Maybe anxiety got to them, but in the following fifteen minutes we're comfortable enough to even launch a few attacks of our own, sadly without consequence. The last chance of the game is, funnily enough, for Miranda, who controls a goal kick between the center-backs and runs into the box, but is forced to shoot with his right foot and can't put Dragowski in any trouble. A very valuable, if lucky, draw.

* * *

RasenBallsport Leipzig 0
TSV 1860 München 0

- - -

I'll take it happily and sing the praises of parking the bus until my throat hurts. Baldé, Kretzschmar, and Lang held us together today with a fantastic defensive display. The rest were... there, I suppose, but they did their job of not letting Leipzig score. One point more than we expected, and at least we're not blank after three games, yay?

[Dalbeider]

Aug 28th 2028

Groin strain for Hadzic, who goes down in training just before leaving with Bosnia. He'll be out of the game for three to four weeks, thankfully most of that time spent in an international break.

Aug 29th 2028

Kretzschmar takes the goal in the Team of the Week, our first appearance of the season.

Meanwhile, more bad news coming from the medical room: Baldé has pulled knee ligaments and will miss training for two to three weeks. Like Hadzic, luckily he'll be back soon after the international break and miss a couple of games at most, the most important one our Champions League debut against Real Madrid.

Aug 31st 2028

Transfer window closing day! We still have some outstanding business to do, so it'll probably be a fun day for a change. Not to mention the many incoming bids we'll most likely have to deal with one way or another... Incoming transfers will at the very least include one new left back, which is already in advanced talks and should be finished during the day. Anything else will have to wait to see if anyone leaves. We most likely won't be forcing anyone out today (so probably Maldini and Da Silva will stay in the end), but we'll keep our eyes open for any potential deal that appears.

We start the day with an offer for one of our youngsters, Jô. The young Brazilian has attracted Leverkusen's attention, and after some haggling they agree to a deal worth €1.5M upfront, €1M in installments, €525k after 10 league games with the first team, and a 40% of future profits. Not a bad deal for a 20-year-old with lots of promise but who might or might not pan out in the end. If he does, fantastic, I'm sure that 40% will be beneficial for us in the future. Meanwhile we can invest the extra cash in some other youngster and continue the circle. His sale is confirmed within the hour.

Bayern seem desperate to sign a keeper after missing out on Kretzschmar. I've already seen them make bids for Vandevoordt and Horn, and I've probably missed a few...

Meanwhile we finalize the signing of our new left back, and it's another Spaniard to take Sánchez's place: 25yo Jesús Vázquez joins from Genoa on a deal worth €3M, 20% of future profits, and €500k after 50 league games. A player very much in the vein of Sánchez and bought in similar circumstances, Vázquez is a solid all-around wing back who can cover the whole left wing if allowed to. Still with a small potential for improvement, we sign him to be a more ready-made player to complement our youngsters and give them a break when they need it. Expects to be a squad player and his wages are reasonable for that role, only €24.5k per week.

Time for today's silly offer, with Fiorentina once again dropping by with a cheeky loan offer for Baldé which includes a mandatory future fee of only €5.5M. No way, no how. Other than him only Stjepanovic seems to attract some attention today, with Sevilla apparently interested but not making any moves just yet. We still have some money to spend, so maybe we'll go for a new midfielder or right winger...

Nah, nothing in the end. All the options that improved on our current players were too expensive. We'll revisit these positions in January if need be. Window closes without further incident, with only Franzke's loan to Münster left to finalize before midnight, since the 2.Bundesliga's window closes a bit later. Maldini and Da Silva stay at least for four more months.

Sep 1st 2028

Having international players has the downside that sometimes they go down with injuries while playing with their national teams. This just happened to Özcan, who'll miss two to three weeks with the traditional and always annoying pulled ankle ligaments sustained only twenty minutes into Turkey's game against Montenegro. On the flipside, Caraballo had a great game in Venezuela's 2-1 win over Bolivia, scoring one goal (his first at senior level) and assisting in the other. Venezuela have it tough to qualify for the World Cup, though, this was their first win in seven games... Rijkhoff also got himself in the scoreboard off the bench with the Netherlands, also his first, in an easy 4-0 over Poland, and gets himself one match closer to a hefty wage rise.

Sep 6th 2028

Three more caps off the bench for Caraballo, Rijkhoff, and Stjepanovic, all performing really well in what little time they had available, and Caraballo even adding another decisive assist to his resume, this one being worth a win over Perú.

Sep 10th 2028

TSV 1860 München (15th) vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach (18th) (Bundesliga, 4/34)

There's some consolation in the fact that Gladbach, the most in-form team in the second half of last season and who just happen to be right ahead of us in the schedule list this year, have done as bad or slightly worse than us in these first three fixtures, having followed the obvious losses against Bayern and Leipzig with a home defeat against Stuttgart. They're still a tough nut to crack, as they showed in our last meeting, and they've purchased some very interesting players this summer. Both teams need a win, and I hope it'll be us who get it.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)
GLADBACH (4-4-2 diamond narrow): Nico Mantl (GK); Brandon Soppy (DR), Nico Elvedi (DCr), Igor Diveev (DCl), Luca Netz (DL); Bali Mumba (DM), Antoni Milambo (MCr), Mike Kleijn (MCl), Aarao (AMC); Jonas Wind (STr), Marcus Thuram (STl)

* * *

Debuts for Basualdo and Vázquez today, with an eye on our midweek game in three days against Real Madrid (ow) and Stuttgart's visit in six. Gladbach have landed Mantl to improve their goal and a very dangerous-looking attacking midfielder in Aarao, but otherwise keep the same core from last year and use it to push us in the early minutes of the game, with Milambo wasting their first chance five minutes in with a weak finish that Kretzschmar just gathers off the grass with little effort. The keeper has to work a bit harder to tip over the bar a header by Netz in a corner kick, though, and we buckle up to endure an early barrage of high pressing that keeps us in our own half and makes it hard to hold onto the ball for long.

We manage to limit their chances for a while, with only Wind testing Kretzschmar from distance in the 21st minute, then Diveev heading another corner kick into the keeper's hands. Kretzschmar then kicks the ball long towards Rijkhoff, who watches as Soppy and Netz can't agree on who has to clear it and just sneaks between them to steal the ball and dribble past Mantl to score the 1-0 in our very first arrival at Gladbach's goal. Football is easy.

The visitors try to restart their siege, but now they lack conviction and their shots are few and with little danger. Meanwhile Basualdo gives the fans a first taste of his quality with a good cross towards Rijkhoff, who heads it straight at Mantl with little space to arm a convincing finish. Kleijn answers with a high ball from distance in the 33rd minute, but after that the game settles in an uneasy calm that lasts until the end of the half, much to our delight at the result.

HALF TIME - 1-0

I hope we enjoyed it, because it doesn't last long into the second half: cross by Soppy towards Thuram, the finish is parried by Kretzschmar, but the loose ball goes straight to Wind, who rifles it in from close to draw the game only two minutes after kick off. It could be worse, too, because Thuram scores another in the 55th but VAR's unfailing eyes see his offside position and call it off. Caraballo and Sapmaz come into the game just a couple of minutes later, since our wings have been pretty ineffective so far, and a while later it's Karlsen who takes to the pitch in Rodríguez's place.

Gladbach keep looking for another goal, mostly through Soppy, who's dominating his wing basically on his own, and his crosses towards Thuram, who keeps finding Kretzschmar in the way of his headers. Our attack is basically nonexistent despite a very disappointing result, and we reach the final fifteen minutes with not particularly good future prospects. It looks even more grim when Aarao breaks through the center completely alone and runs at Kretzschmar in the 78th minute, but thankfully his finish is poor and the keeper saves with relative ease.

In the final ten minutes, however, we manage to slowly steal the ball back and go looking for goals seriously for the first time in a long while. And three minutes before the 90th we strike gold: bad pass by Thuram that Sapmaz intercepts and a counterattack is generated, with the winger combining with Javorcic down the right before passing the ball into the heart of the box where Miranda arrives to blast it in on the run and score the 2-1. Gladbach change their shape to a 4-3-3 like ours after that, but before they've had time to settle Miranda gathers the ball in midfield, attracts Soppy's attention, then passes it ahead of the now freed Caraballo, who just faces Mantl and puts it in calmly to make it 3-1 just as the clock strikes the hour. Gladbach's luck doesn't improve in injury time, and the last chance of the game is a direct free kick that Wind smashes into the post. First win of the season, and something to start building upon.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 3 (Julian Rijkhoff 22, Matías Miranda 87, Rodrigo Caraballo 90)
Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 (Jonas Wind 47)

- - -

For all the times I've lambasted our finishing, today I have to praise our forwards for putting in basically every chance they had. Those three goals came off six shots total, five of those on target, and after Gladbach had us on the ropes for most of the game. Kretzschmar once again kept us alive long enough for us to find the way through, and had it taken a bit longer we might've drawn or lost this easily. Still, not gonna give back the points, sorry, we need them quite a bit.

Incidentally, that was Rijkhoff's tenth league goal for us since he signed for real, which means €1.5M going Dortmund's way. I'm sure they need them much more than us...

[Dalbeider]

Sep 12th 2028

Triple presence in the Team of the Week for Kretzschmar (second in a row), Miranda, and Sapmaz.

Our participation in the Champions League means our kids get to play in the Youth League too, which is great. And even greater is the fact that they managed to steal a point from Real Madrid's youngsters in their debut with a 1-1 draw. And that's with one of our weaker generations of youth in recent memory...

Sep 13th 2028

TSV 1860 München vs. Real Madrid C.F. (Champions League group G, 1/6)

That's one heck of a welcoming committee for our Champions League debut, I guess. Zidane's Real Madrid might not be the unstoppable force they once were, but they're still easily one of the top eight teams in Europe right now, and with a monster like Mbappé as their striker well supported by other lesser stars elsewhere in the squad they're likely to tear us apart. Then again we're facing Bayern every now and then in the Bundesliga, it's not like we're not used to being outmatched like this...

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)
REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Thibaud Courtois (GK); Davide Calabria (DR), Éder Militao (DCr), Trevoh Chalobah (DCl), Isak Jóhannesson (DL); Eduardo Camavinga (DM), Fede Valverde (MCr), David Alaba (MCl); Yeremy Pino (AMR), Justin Kluivert (AML), Kylian Mbappé (ST)

* * *

Still without Hadzic, Baldé, and Özcan, so our rotation options are somewhat limited today, and the likes of Javorcic and Rijkhoff are likely to need some rest at some point without a clear replacement. Real's eleven is, of course, terrifying, although seeing Alaba in midfield kinda rubs me the wrong way... Somehow we get the first shot at goal with one of Caraballo's traditional benders, although this one ends up going wide to Courtois' left. After that both attacks go quiet, with Real sitting surprisingly deep given their status as the huge favorites today. Their first chance comes in the 16th and it's due to an individual movement by Mbappé, who dribbles past Lang but can't get his shot past Kretzschmar.

One minute later, though, Jóhannesson sends an inocuous-looking cross towards Pino and the winger places a perfect header into the post and in to open the score for Los Merengues. Despite the goal, though, we're still not being dominated like Bayern usually do, and Madrid's few approaches in the following minutes come from mistakes or balls lost in dangerous positions. None of them are particularly dangerous, though, except perhaps an attempt by Calabria that Magaña blocks with a well-timed tackle. A distant direct free kick by Alaba that Kretzschmar saves with some trouble in the 42nd minute is the last chance of a surprisingly quiet first half.

HALF TIME - 0-1

Real don't really seem too bothered to push us too hard, and only produce a weak finish by Kluivert after a long, slow passing play around our box that Kretzschmar holds without any issues. In the 57th, though, Pino filters a pass across our defense and into the space on the left that Kluivert runs to occupy, and the forward doesn't miss this time, placing his finish well beyond Kretzschmar's reach to make it 0-2. That's more like it.

We make a few changes then, placing Miranda in Sapmaz's place on the right and replacing Rijkhoff with Basualdo, who gets to play in his natural position today. We have possession, but little else, and after a while we decide to give Caraballo a rest and put Karlsen on the left in his place. Real still keep us at bay with ease and generate some danger in a double chance for Casemiro and Pino in the 76th after a corner kick, both finishes well parried by Kretzschmar. 

A wide effort by Camavinga from the edge of the box is their next attempt, but it comes already with full time looming a couple of minutes away. We get the last chances with a good cross by Basualdo that Miranda heads into Courtois' easy save and a curling shot by the attacking midfielder that goes wide seconds later, already in injury time, and shortly after the game ends in defeat, but a relatively easy to swallow one.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 0
Real Madrid C.F. 2 (Yeremy Pino 17, Justin Kluivert 57)

- - -

I mean, what else could we expect? Real Madrid are a few hundred times better than us, and Mbappé probably earns more than half our squad put together, yet he did basically nothing today. It was the wingers who did the job in the end for them, while we played a very credible game, with little in the way of attack because of course we were being defensive, plus Real did their best to make sure we kept the ball in harmless positions most of the time. Still, not a bad performance by any means, and it actually gives me hope of maybe stealing a point or two from other group games. Juve beat Newcastle 2-1 in Turin, thus setting up the Magpies as our "rival" for the third place, which would be our most "realistic" goal in this group.

[Dalbeider]

Sep 16th 2028

TSV 1860 München (11th) vs. VfB Stuttgart (5th) (Bundesliga, 5/34)

Good start for Stuttgart so far, hanging out with the big guys in the noble zone of the table and with a couple of good results already to their name. They're still a team we haven't lost against in our last five meetings, so I have a good feeling about this one. We need to be winning these games if we want to return to Europe anyway, and we must profit from these consecutive home games to regain some of the lost ground as soon as possible.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Martin Karlsen (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)
STUTTGART (4-2-3-1): Finn Dahmen (GK); Waldemar Anton (DR), Elías Machuca (DCr), Hrvoje Smolcic (DCl), Fabian Nürnberger (DL); Shinta Appelkamp (MCr), Orel Mangala (MCl); Aleksander Andresen (AMR), Ismaël Gharbi (AMC), Konrad de la Fuente (AML); Borja Mayoral (ST)

* * *

Baldé is finally back in action, and Karlsen gets his first start of the year to give Rodríguez some rest. Manu Sánchez is in the bench for Stuttgart, as he's been in all Bundesliga games so far since his signing, since Markus Gisdol seems to be somewhat resistant to change considering how close his lineup is to the one we met last time. They start strong, though, with Gharbi blasting one from distance and sending it over the bar just twelve seconds into the game. Nürnberger tries again in the 9th minute with the same result, only much worse, but their third attempt through Appelkamp goes much better and Kretzschmar has to punch it away. We're struggling a lot to keep the ball and advance so far.

An injury to Konrad de la Fuente messes up with Stuttgart's plans, but they keep giving us trouble through Andresen, who tries a flat low shot that almost (but not quite) surprises Kretzschmar. A weak header by Tshibangu, Konrad's replacement, doesn't give the keeper any more headaches, and in the 30th minute we once again strike against the flow of the game with Rijkhoff entering the box and falling to a very borderline tackle by Smolcic which, after VAR intervention, turns into a penalty kick. Miranda scores from the spot, and the lead is ours in our first real approach of the game.

Stuttgart go right back at it with a quick attack down the right that transitions towards the left in a final pass by Mayoral towards Tshibangu who, unmarked, manages to miss the target completely and shoots wide. After that, though, we start playing a bit better and keeping the ball more, and all the visitors can produce is a weak header by Gharbi that goes nowhere before the first half ends.

HALF TIME - 1-0

The trend continues in the second half, with possession slowly shifting towards us but Stuttgart still managing to produce danger that our defense solves with timely blocks and good positioning. Our first actual attacking play that ends in a real chance comes through Rijkhoff assisting Karlsen on the run, although the youngster misses the target by a few inches with his finish. Sapmaz and Javorcic join the game a bit later, giving our out-of-shape right wing a refresher. Stuttgart then hit us back with a great run by Anton and a pass back towards Andresen, who shoots wide, but the game seems to be turning more and more in our favor as time goes on.

Mayoral tries a header after a cross by Anton in the 67th minute, but it lacks punch and Kretzschmar has no trouble catching it. Meanwhile we give Rijkhoff a breather and bring Caraballo in, once again moving Basualdo to the center. Appelkamp gives our keeper some trouble once again from distance, this time with a direct free kick Kretzschmar has to tip wide, but after that things quiet down in attack on both sides of the pitch, something we like very much given the circumstances. The game stumbles into its final minutes, Stuttgart fail to create any more danger, and we steal a lucky win, once again.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 1 (Matías Miranda 31p)
VfB Stuttgart 0

- - -

Extremely lucky once again. That penalty came from out of nowhere, and it's conversion was our only shot on target in the whole game, yet we took a lead we didn't quite deserve and used it to improve somewhat, limiting Stuttgart much more in attack from then on and actually having a few attacks of our own for a change. I'll take the points once again for sure, but we really need to improve our play in general, we're struggling way too much to generate danger, or simply to have an acceptable possession rate. Gonna guess the big squad turnover has something to do with this...

Today's edition of "results no one expected" brings to you: Wolfsburg 5-1 Dortmund. With Vidovic scoring all five. Geez. Wolfsburg's first win of the season, too... Elsewhere, Gladbach beat Leverkusen and leave them dead last with only two points. Never thought I'd see both Leverkusen and Gladbach in the relegation zone at any point of the year, really. Never thought I'd see Nürnberg tied on top with Bayern, either.

[Dalbeider]

Sep 19th 2028

Just recovered from his previous injury and now Özcan is suffering from blisters, sigh. He'll be out for a few days but might make it for our game against Leverkusen on Saturday.

Sep 23rd 2028

Bayer 04 Leverkusen (18th) vs. TSV 1860 München (8th) (Bundesliga, 6/34)

Simeone must be wondering how he ended up in this situation. Granted, their start hasn't been the easiest either, having also played against Bayern and Leipzig, but losing to Gladbach and drawing to Wolfsburg aren't exactly stellar results either. And considering our recent results against them (DFB Pokal meeting notwithstanding) we should have a good chance of a win here. Hopefully without lucky shenanigans this time.

* * *

LEVERKUSEN (4-4-2): Yassine Aamri (GK); Gonçalo Esteves (DR), Jonathan Tah (DCr), Oier Gil (DCl), Jefté (DL); Moussa Diaby (MR), Florian Wirtz (MCr), Eyüp Aydin (MCl), Sergey Varfolomeev (ML); Reinaldo Junio (STr), Tunay Can (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

Huh, a 4-4-2. Not very Simeone-like, that one. Might have something to do with their struggles so far, although the fact that they sold Vandevoordt and Saliba to Bayern and Lucas Júnior to Everton might be more important... Their replacements look more than capable enough, though, so it might be a problem of getting used to their new time, just like us. As for us, Hadzic gets his first start of the season while Özcan doesn't make the team in the end.

For a change it's us with the initiative at the start, and soon Javorcic finds Rijkhoff with a good cross that the striker heads into Aamri's hands as a first test of the young Belgian's abilities. Leverkusen rely on counters because of course, but both defenses end up imposing their strength over the attacks, and time passes without any other clear or clear-ish chances coming. In the 21st, though, it's a mistake by those same defenders that give us the opener: Tah mistimes a pass, Rijkhoff intercepts, and after gaining some space he shoots a 20-yarder into the top left corner of Aamri's goal to make it 0-1. Great goal.

We remain attacking after taking the lead, and Rodríguez and Rijkhoff enjoy good chances for a second that only good last-second defending prevent from reaching Aamri. Hadzic also charges down a shot by Reinaldo Junio in the 29th to prevent any scares, just as Leverkusen start attacking a bit more seriously. Reinaldo Junio himself has a great chance to score the 1-1 in the 35th when a long ball by Aydin leaves him alone against Kretzschmar, but the winger-cum-striker can't find the target and shoots narrowly wide. After that we strengthen our control on the ball and deny them any further chances until the first forty-five minutes run out.

HALF TIME - 0-1

The second half starts with a terrible finish by Varfolomeev after a good-looking counterattack down the left flank for Leverkusen, but we seem to have things under control until a very uncharacteristic thing happens: Kretzschmar miskicks a clearance, Can intercepts, and his header turns into a perfect assist towards Reinaldo Junio, who just happens to collect the ball inside the box and rifle it in unopposed. Oops.

We don't make much progress in the minutes that follow, so we bring Maldini and Da Silva in to try and change things a bit. Lang comes in a while later to rest a clearly unfit Hadzic, but his first intervention directly leads to trouble, as he misses an easy header to clear a cross from the right by Esteves and allows an easy finish for sub Pirani, who scores the 2-1 and completes Leverkusen's comeback.

We don't really show any kind of reaction afterwards, failing to create any danger until the 79th minute, when we finally send a good cross into the box through Javorcic but Rijkhoff is impeded by Aydin inside the box, leading to a penalty kick. Da Silva once again takes responsibility and buries it from the spot, and now we have ten minutes to look for the winner. The final minutes bring a worrying knock on Rijkhoff, who nonetheless plays out what remains of the game. In the final minute of regulation a shot by Tunay Can hits Lang, the ball then ricochets onto Kretzschmar as he attempted a save, and it ends up rolling into the net for a silly own goal and the 3-2. There's no miracle recovery in injury time, and we end up paying some of our debts to karma in the end.

* * *

Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3 (Reinaldo Junio 51, Gabriel Pirani 68, Tom Kretzschmar 90og)
TSV 1860 München 2 (Julian Rijkhoff 21, Florent Da Silva 80p)

- - -

Well, that certainly was a Leverkusen-1860. Lots of twists and turns, last minute drama, and many goals. Too bad we were on the losing side this time. The match was even, and in the first half we played our best football of the season so far, but we're still below where we should be and it's showing in our results, particularly when it comes to generating chances from attacks that don't involve interceptions or lucky happenings. We need to improve and fast.

[Dalbeider]

Sep 26th 2028

Newcastle United vs. TSV 1860 München (Champions League group G, 2/6)

Both losing teams in the first fixture of the group stage face to face, with a clear advantage for Newcastle since a) they play in St. James Park, and b) they're the current second best team in the strongest league in the world. They're still our most likely target for scoring maybe a point or two, so we'll try our best to get something out of this.

* * *

NEWCASTLE (4-3-3): Édouard Mendy (GK); Devyne Rensch (DR), Pascal Struijk (DCr), Aymeric Laporte (DCl), Angeliño (DL); James Ward-Prowse (DM), Dani Olmo (MCr), André-Franck Zambo Anguissa (MCl); Diogo Henrique (AMR), Tobias Gulliksen (AML), Gabriel Jesus (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

Mandatory rotation of almost our whole squad today, including Özcan's first appearance of the season outside of the DFB Pokal. Newcastle feature a few players with Bundesliga past, like Dani Olmo, Angeliño, or Gabriel Jesus, so we have a good idea of what we're exactly playing against. The match starts quite even, with Newcastle having a bit more possession but neither attack managing any early breakthroughs. The first chance of the game comes from a direct free kick that Miranda takes towards the top corner and Mendy swats away, but that's already in the 21st minute of the game.

It takes eleven more minutes for the next one, and it only comes because Mendy fails spectacularly when trying to grab an innocuous-looking cross by Vázquez. The ball falls on Maldini's feet and the winger scores easily, but VAR notices his offside position and in the end nothing changes. Newcastle don't approach Kretzschmar with danger until the 36th, but when they do it's for real: long passing play that ends with a pass into space towards Gulliksen, the left winger crosses low towards the center, and Gabriel Jesus smashes it in to give the Magpies the lead.

Another run by Gulliksen two minutes later ends with Olmo shooting a bender from distance that Kretzschmar tips wide, as Newcastle seem to want to keep the momentum going until the end of the half. Laporte keeps the pressure up with a high header in the resulting corner kick, but after that things calm down once again and the result remains until the halfway point.

HALF TIME - 1-0

We start the second half with a scare when Basualdo loses the ball in midfield and a quick pass forward leaves Gabriel Jesus alone in the box, although thankfully the striker ends up shooting wide. A good block by Casas stops him from finishing a cross by Rensch a bit later, and by now it's clear we need to change things around if we want a chance. In come Sapmaz, Caraballo, and Thiago, moving Basualdo to the center and pushing Meunier forward into a more attacking role.

Things slow down after that at least, with only a run by super-sub Hirving Lozano that ends in a badly high finish breaking the monotony. In the 72nd minute we finally get something going with a low cross by Baldé towards Caraballo, who breaks the offside trap but fails to finish properly, shooting straight at Mendy. Newcastle answer with a high ball from distance by Diogo Henrique that almost goes over the whole stand behind the goal, then Kretzschmar saves and holds a dangerous direct free kick taken by Ward-Prowse.

We make a final push for the draw in the final ten minutes, and one before the 90th a quick play down the left leads to a cross by Vázquez and a pretty good finish by Basualdo that Mendy blocks and deflects wide. We keep trying until the end, but we can't generate any more chances and the game ends in a short defeat, but a defeat nonetheless.

* * *

Newcastle United 1 (Gabriel Jesus 36)
TSV 1860 München 0

- - -

Yeah, in case there was any doubt whether we are good enough for this competition or not. Newsflash, we aren't. We gave it our best and actually had a couple good chances to steal a draw today, but Newcastle were better throughout and seemed not too bothered to try harder for a bigger result. Which might bite them in the rearside later on if they end up relying on goal difference to qualify, but hey, their funeral. In the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid destroy Juventus 4-1. Meanwhile, our kids do the same with Newcastle's and win 4-0. Maybe we should be playing them in the big tournament, too...

[Dalbeider]

Sep 27th 2028

More international matches coming up, and our Mexican duo of Magaña and Rodríguez make their national team once again. A couple of days later the usual host of Rijkhoff, Stjepanovic, Özcan, Caraballo, and Hadzic join their respective senior teams, while Javorcic, Meunier, Rexhepi, and Karlsen are called up by their U21 counterparts.

Sep 30th 2028

TSV 1860 München (9th) vs. 1.FC Union Berlin (13th) (Bundesliga, 7/34)

For once the newbies in the division aren't struggling from the start, as demonstrated by Union Berlin's current position and six points. They even got a draw against Bayern, something we haven't managed after four years here... Point is, we can't take this game for granted as we might have in previous seasons, given how close our current forms are to each other. It's still a good chance to find our real level once again, because we've really lost touch with it this season.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)
UNION BERLIN (4-2-3-1): Eric Oelschlägel (GK); Lukas Klünter (DR), Reece Oxford (DCr), Jarrad Branthwaite (DCl), Maximilian Mittelstädt (DL); Rani Khedira (MCr), Robert Wagner (MCl); Andreas Skov Olsen (AMR), Aymen Barkok (AMC), Yerson Chacón (AML), Miguel de la Fuente (ST)

* * *

Somewhat surprisingly, Cambiasso remained as Union manager after their relegation and managed to bounce them back up, and now he's doing pretty well on his return to the top with a quite different eleven than the one we beat two years ago. Once again, almost full rotation from our game against Newcastle to keep our players fresh and ready. For once we take the initiative from the start while Union seem happy to stay behind and wait, and in the 8th minute a long pass from Caraballo towards Sapmaz allows the winger to enter the area, where a challenge by Mittlestädt brings him down: penalty kick, and goal for Da Silva from the spot.

The goal gives us the platform we need to really start playing our game, and soon Sapmaz is generating danger again with a cross that Caraballo heads very wide. Thiago and Da Silva get consecutive finishes blocked by defenders and deflected behind for a corner kick, and in the 22nd a low shot by Rodríguez after another good cross from the right by Sapmaz meets the same fate, eventually cleared out by Khedira. In the 26th a set piece on the right side of the box taken by Rodríguez is headed by Stjepanovic, Oelschlägel manages to block it, but the ball falls back to the center back, who then instead of shooting into the melee in front of him passes it further to the right towards Caraballo, who scores the 2-0 with ease.

Our domination continues after the second goal, although now with less urgency and not as much danger being created. We take our time until the 38th when Javorcic finds himself with space on the right wing, looks up, and passes it low towards Sapmaz, who had drifted towards the center and finds himself in the perfect position to place a finish past the keeper and make it 3-0. Union show no reaction and still allow another chance for Caraballo, who heads a cross by Sapmaz (fantastic in these first forty-five minutes) into Oelschlägel's hands. The first half ends shortly after, putting a lid on our best minutes of the season so far, by far.

HALF TIME - 3-0

We still want more, and early in the second half Lang heads a corner kick downwards but is denied a goal by Oelschlägel going down and saving with confidence. Another set piece ends in a low shot by Da Silva that the keeper also holds, and after a while still with no response from Union we take the chance to bring Basualdo and Karlsen in, resting Caraballo and Rodríguez. That's when the visitors finally show up near Kretzschmar's goal with a shot from distance by Barkok, not particularly good and sailing well over the bar. In the 64th another corner kick leads to another header, this one by Rijkhoff, but also well saved by Oelschlägel, and from that save Union create their first credible attacking play, leading to a great cross by Barkok and a perfect header by Skov Olsen, straight into the top corner to make it 3-1.

Özcan comes in Rijkhoff's place as our final substitution then, and after a few calm minutes a run by Magaña ends with Khedira tripping him, which earns him a second yellow card and an early bath, thus killing whatever hopes of a comeback Union might've had. We go back into attacking mode then, with Stjepanovic marching into midfield and assisting Karlsen, who shoots narrowly over in the 73rd. For the most part we just keep possession and let time do its job, and only in injury time Thiago tries a curling shot that ends up smashing against the woodwork, followed by a wide header by Basualdo. Another wide header by Özcan in a corner kick marks the end of our first easy and clearly deserved win of this Bundesliga season.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 3 (Florent Da Silva 9p, Rodrigo Caraballo 26, Can Sapmaz 38)
1.FC Union Berlin 1 (Andreas Skov Olsen 64, Rani Khedira sent off 71)

- - -

That's more like it. Forty-five minutes that looked very much like we used to, with some of the new signings finally getting into the swing of things. Others are still struggling, though, but I expect most or all of them will get it right sooner or later. Regardless, Union were no match today, and basically didn't even try until it was too late. We still had two helping hands in that early penalty and Khedira's sending off, but I get the feeling we'd have won this just as easily without those. Let's make this our new normal.

[Dalbeider]

Oct 3rd 2028

Rare apperance of Da Silva in the Team of the Week.

Oct 5th 2028

Mexico kickstarts the international games for this window with a 2-0 win over Costa Rica, with Rodriguez playing the whole game and doing well and Magaña being substituted halfway through the second half. The U21 host come next, with a solid Javorcic, a terrible Rehxepi in a shocking 1-2 loss to Bosnia, and Karlsen scoring one goal for Norway against Georgia in an easy win. Özcan, Hadzic, and Caraballo had pretty average performances, while Rijkhoff and Stjepanovic grab themselves a goal apiece, the striker off the bench against Denmark, and the center-back in a full game performance against North Macedonia. Now Rijkhoff and Magaña are one cap away from substantial wage raises, which might sting a bit.

Oct 14th 2028

Hannover 96 (18th) vs. TSV 1860 München (7th) (Bundesliga, 8/34)

Well, at least one of the newly promoted teams is doing well so far, because Hannover sure aren't. They haven't reverted to their woeful relegation selves from a few years back, but being the only winless team in the league must sting anyway. Perfect chance to grab consecutive wins before another set of tough league fixtures, the cup tie against Wolfsburg, and a trip to Torino to visit Juventus.

* * *

HANNOVER (3-2-2-1-2): Alexander Weidinger (GK); Nathan Ferguson (DCr), Laurin Moser (DC), Cédric Kipré (DCl); Shurandy Sambo (WBR), Kevin Velasco (WBL); Ido Shahar (MCr), Finn Ole Becker (MCl); Abdelhamid Sabiri (AMC); Steffen Tigges (STr); Eduard Heise (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)

* * *

Hannover have always tended towards 3-5-2 variants, and the formation they're using on their return to the Bundesliga is not an exception. It helps them dominate possession in the early game, but it doesn't give them much in attack, and we slowly take the ball back from them and start trying to push forward. However, an individual mistake becomes our undoing in the 21st minute, when Magaña loses the ball near the corner flag under pressure from Shahar, who then crosses towards Heise for an easy finish and the 1-0. The worst possible scenario against this kind of formation.

The home team still want more, and five minutes later Tigges heads into the root of the post a cross from the left by Heise, while our attack still hasn't produced a single worthy chance. We finally do in the 35th, thanks to a good through ball by Sapmaz towards Özcan, who tries to shoot first time but sends the ball over. Three minutes later a throw-in near the box brings our center-backs forward, and after moving the ball around for a bit Miranda sends it to Stjepanovic just outside the box, and the Serbian doesn't hesitate to shoot low and placed near the post to beat Weidinger and draw the game. With that and little more, the first half ends.

HALF TIME - 1-1

Two good chances, one on each end of the pitch, are ruled out for clear offsides in the early second half, showing that both teams want to take the lead as soon as possible. The third chance is legal, though, and goes really close when Basualdo assists Rodríguez inside the box and the midfielder shoots into the root of the post and wide, tying the game in woodwork close encounters too. Things slow down again after that chance, though, at least until the 61st minute, when a clearance by Shahar turns into an assist when Hadzic lets Heise get behind him and control the ball, facing Kretzschmar one-on-one and scoring the 2-1.

We need changes now, and in come Vázquez and Casas to remove from the picture the two players guilty in Hannover's goals, while Rijkhoff takes point in Özcan's place. The solution comes from those who played from the start, though: corner kick taken by Miranda and cleared by the defense, Meunier gathers the ball and returns it to Miranda near the edge of the box, and the Argentinian curls one from afar straight into the top corner to draw the game once again. Beautiful finish. But he isn't done yet: just one minute later our pressing puts Hannover's defense in trouble, Miranda intercepts a pass in a dangerous position, then dribbles his way into the box with a burst of speed and shoots past Weidinger to complete a lightning-quick turnaround.

We now have to defend our lead, and soon Sabiri gives us our first test with a run through the center that Kretzschmar prevents from becoming another goal. Sabiri himself tries again with a direct free kick from quite some distance that goes all the way into the top left corner of the frame, where it bounces clear. After that burst, though, their attack seems to dry out and our midfield and defense take over, and we go all the way into injury time with only a weak header by Rijkhoff straight into Weidinger's hands worth reporting. In the final moment, though, Rijkhoff himself sends a perfect ball towards Sapmaz inside the box, and the winger takes the time to pause and look up before sending it towards the center so Rodríguez can hit it on the run and seal the game for good, seconds before the referee signals for the end.

* * *

Hannover 96 2 (Eduard Heise 21 61)
TSV 1860 München 4 (Mateja Stjepanovic 38, Matías Miranda 70 71, Jair Rodríguez 90+5)

- - -

Ah, so that's why Hannover are so low on points: they can't defend worth a damn even with three center-backs. They really gave us a match in midfield and attack, but as soon as we started pushing them they folded like a house of cards. Miranda was key today, though, I don't think we get out of this alive without his double moment of genius in the exactly right moment. Another game which we probably should've lost or drawn by the numbers, but hey, I'll take it. At least we're being effective with the few chances we do create. Elsewhere, Dortmund lose at home against Leipzig for their third defeat in the league already and their fourth consecutive game without winning, six if we count all competitions. Pioli isn't having a good start, that's for sure... Most importantly, we're now fifth, back to where we want to be.

[Dalbeider]

Oct 17th 2028

Obviously enough, Miranda in the Team of the Week.

* * *

Juventus F.C. vs. TSV 1860 München (Champions League group G, 3/6)

Because we can't have too many "easy" games in a row, let's go play Juventus in their stadium, why not. Funnily enough they share a stadium sponsor with Bayern, so this Allianz Stadium might have some fake memories implanted in it for us, some of them good, most of them not so much. Regadless, Juve are the current two-time Italian champions and their squad is terrifying, so yeah, most likely another defeat, but we'll give it our best effort.

* * *

JUVENTUS (4-3-1-2 narrow): Diogo Costa (GK); Anders Gade (DR), Matthijs De Ligt (DCr), Andy Pelmard (DCl), Marc Cucurella (DL); Rodri (MCr), Manuel Locatelli (MC), Nicolò Rovella (MCl); Dejan Kulusevski (AMC); Federico Chiesa (STr), Dusan Vlahovic (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

The 4-3-1-2 isn't the most common of formations, but it seems to be doing well for Marco Rose's Juve so far, mostly thanks to that scary pair of Chiesa and Vlahovic upfront. We rotate most of the squad once again, an easy decision considering HSV are coming to Grünwalder Strasse this weekend. And yep, a bit over two minutes in and Gade sends a deep free kick into the box, Vlahovic gets there before Lang, and one easy finish later Juventus are already ahead despite calls for an offside position that just wasn't there, close as it was.

Lang isn't having the best of evenings today: three minutes later a long kick ahead by Diogo Costa flies over the head of our center-back and Vlahovic, once again, gathers it and runs at Kretzschmar for an easy 2-0. But the funny thing is, we're playing really well outside of those two mistakes, having the ball and bringing it to dangerous places. We finally get our reward in the 9th minute when Miranda assists Maldini with a subtle touch towards the space behind Cucurella and the winger chips it over the keeper to score on his return to Italy after a long while. Game on.

When you're playing against Vlahovic, though, you can't afford to be too aggressive, as we once again rediscover in the 14th when the striker gets free from Lang yet again, chasing and catching a cross from deep by Gade to finish and score the 3-1 with a precise, placed finish. Lightning quick hattrick for Vlahovic, and after that things finally slow down a bit, giving the fans and the players a few minutes to catch their breaths before Locatelli tries to restart hostilities with a 20-yarder that Kretzschmar barely manages to tip wide, only for Gade to then head the corner kick over the bar.

Lang redeems himself a little bit with two timely blocks to two more chances for Vlahovic, the second once again caused by the center-back misjudging the flight of a long clearance by Juve's keeper. A wide shot from the edge of the box by Rovella follows, and soon after Kulusevski heads a cross by Cucurella into the crossbar while our good play from the first few minutes seems to have evaporated, to the point that we have to be glad the first half ends without us conceding any more goals.

HALF TIME - 3-1

Juventus seem to take it a bit easier in the second half, not really pushing us too hard and only trying luck via Locatelli's narrowly high twenty-yarder in the 59th minute. Karlsen, Meunier, and Ozcan come into the game soon after, removing the underperforming Rijkhoff and Da Silva and giving Miranda a well-earned rest. Özcan finally gets a shot in for us in the 69th, heading over the bar a cross by Baldé, and six minutes later the striker has a much better one, collecting from Meunier near the penalty spot and shooting into Diogo Costa's deflection, from which a corner kick gives Lang another chance at redemption that the center-back heads wide. Probably our best minutes of the game.

Juve react with another cross towards Vlahovic, whose header this time is easy for Kretzschmar, and so we enter the final ten minutes of the game. Casas then goes down to block a dangerous finish by Sesko, while on the other end it's Lang again heading a corner kick, much better this time and forcing Diogo Costa into a difficult block. Then, in the 86th minute, another corner kick flies towards Özcan's head, and the striker nods it towards the center so Casas can smash it in and make it 3-2, giving us a chance at a last minute dramatic recovery. But sadly, it's not to be, and Juventus close the gaps well to prevent any injury time shenanigans, securing their win in our best performance in the Champions League so far.

* * *

Juventus F.C. 3 (Dusan Vlahovic 2 5 14)
TSV 1860 München 2 (Daniel Maldini 9, Arnau Casas 86)

- - -

Well played, no rewards. We had some very good minutes today, particularly at the start of the game and in the final half-hour, but those mistakes by Lang when dealing with a monster striker like Vlahovic cost us dearly. It's a shame, because I have the feeling if we'd kept it closer until the end we might've managed to steal something from here, but alas. Zero out of nine, mostly as expected, and now we have little to play other than honor and prize money. And maybe an outside chance at the third place if Newcastle mess up spectacularly, too, since their defeat at home against Real Madrid makes qualifying a tough ask for them.

[Dalbeider]

Oct 18th 2028

Youth facilities upgrade finished! Next up are the training facilities, who will be receiving a €2.2M-worth makeover starting in December. We're still €56M in the black, but our monthly losses are big enough to make investing much more than this a risky endeavor. We'll wait until next year when our new stadium is finished, and then we can go ham and bring this club to a Bundesliga-worthy level on all aspects.

Oct 22nd 2028

TSV 1860 München (5th) vs. Hamburger SV (11th) (Bundesliga, 9/34)

This crazy season has seen many teams playing very much against expectations. Some, like Wolfsburg and Nürnberg, are doing much better than expected, but that also means some other teams must tumble down the table to fill the gaps left there. Enter HSV, who so far are having a very mediocre season with negative goal difference, nowhere close the heights of the last two years. A good chance to give one of our main rivals for European qualification a gentle push futher down the table.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)
HSV (4-2-3-1): Yoshiaki Ichikawa (GK); Stefan Strauss (DR), Ludmiany Boto (DCr), Justin Janitzek (DCl), Andrii Buleza (DL); Ron Schallenberg (MCr), Ludovic Reis (MCl); Mazinho (AMR), Ömer Beyaz (AMC), Xavier Amaechi (AML); Dimitris Paligeorgos (ST)

* * *

Quite a few changes in HSV's lineup since we last met them, which is weird considering how well they were doing lately. Then again the same can be said about us, turnover happens whether one wants it or not... We start quite well today, with good possession rates and bottling HSV in their own half, although with little to show for it after ten minutes of trying. In the 14th we finally find a gap with Miranda, Rodríguez, and Basualdo connecting so the latter can shoot low and with power, but only as far as the root of the post of Ichikawa's goal. Feeling good, though.

HSV try their first serious attack in the 23rd minute with Amaechi assisting ex-Bayern kid Paligeorgos with a neat through ball and Kretzschmar denying the Greek striker. The game is still slow and boring for the spectators, though, and it goes all the way until the 37th minute for another shot on goal to appear, with Paligeorgos heading a cross by Amaechi, wide this time. Their next attack comes three minutes later and from the opposite wing, where Mazinho leaves Magaña for dead before assisting Schallenberg, who places his finish perfectly to score the 0-1. Not feeling so good now.

We answer quickly, creating a nice attack down the right flank with Rodríguez finally crossing for Rijkhoff's placed header, well saved by Ichikawa. There's very little left of the first half afterwards, though, and we don't have time to tie the score before it ends.

HALF TIME - 0-1

We continue right where we left after the break, soon creating a good chance with Miranda assisting Rodríguez, who can't give his shot enough power to beat Ichikawa. The keeper does well again in the 50th to block a finish by Sapmaz following a good pass into space by Rijkhoff, and it looks like we're finally finding our rhythm. Sapmaz has been pretty poor all game long, though, so he's soon replaced by Maldini. Once again our early fluster seems to fade with time, though, and HSV start pushing forward again until in the 66th minute Amaechi and Paligeorgos connect again, this time with a quick passing play through the center, and the striker shoots from a somewhat dubious position (VAR said OK) to score the 0-2. We're in trouble now.

Baldé and Caraballo come in as our last ditch effort to try and salvage something from this game, but our improvement is marginal and HSV still have the best chances, once again through Paligeorgos, who smashes his finish on Kretzschmar's body after a great pass by today substitute Schade, who then goes on to head the corner kick very wide. Our attack and midfield flatline almost completely, and the few times we manage to build up something Ichikawa ends up denying us, like with another finish by Rodríguez in the 84th after a great assist from Caraballo. Seconds later, though, Rijkhoff manages to get his head to the corner kick that shot provoked and send it into the net, and we're back in with a shout with five to play.

Rijkhoff himself has our next chance four minutes later, heading a cross by Baldé from a very difficult position yet still only missing the target by inches, the ball licking the upside of the bar. We pour forward with everything in injury time, but other than a couple of counterattacks by HSV that don't go anywhere too dangerous, the game doesn't have any further goalscoring chances. An unexpected setback.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 1 (Julian Rijkhoff 85)
Hamburger SV 2 (Ron Schallenberg 40, Dimitris Paligeorgos 65)

- - -

Worth noting that this Paligeorgos kid was our main alternative to Özcan should we fail to secure his loan for this season... Oh well, that certainly didn't go as we wanted it to, despite some good minutes at the start of each half. It was a close game, but this time we didn't put our chances in and HSV did, as almost always when we play them. We've had similar games go our way lately, so karma owed us a few knocks, I guess.

* * *

| Pos | Team                | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | GD    | Pts   | Form  | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st | FC Bayern           | 9     | 7     | 2     | 0     | 31    | 8     | 23    | 23    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd | Nürnberg            | 9     | 7     | 2     | 0     | 19    | 9     | 10    | 23    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd | RB Leipzig          | 9     | 6     | 3     | 0     | 23    | 7     | 16    | 21    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th | Hertha BSC          | 9     | 5     | 2     | 2     | 15    | 12    | 3     | 17    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th | Borussia Dortmund   | 9     | 4     | 2     | 3     | 17    | 16    | 1     | 14    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th | 1860 München        | 9     | 4     | 1     | 4     | 15    | 14    | 1     | 13    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th | Wolfsburg           | 9     | 2     | 6     | 1     | 16    | 12    | 4     | 12    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th | Freiburg            | 9     | 3     | 3     | 3     | 13    | 11    | 2     | 12    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 9th | Köln                | 9     | 3     | 3     | 3     | 11    | 10    | 1     | 12    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th| Hamburg             | 9     | 3     | 3     | 3     | 12    | 16    | -4    | 12    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th| Stuttgart           | 9     | 3     | 2     | 4     | 14    | 11    | 3     | 11    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th| Bayer Leverkusen    | 9     | 2     | 4     | 3     | 12    | 16    | -4    | 10    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th| Frankfurt           | 9     | 2     | 2     | 5     | 8     | 18    | -10   | 8     |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th| Union Berlin        | 9     | 1     | 4     | 4     | 11    | 19    | -8    | 7     |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th| Fortuna Düsseldorf  | 9     | 1     | 4     | 4     | 9     | 17    | -8    | 7     |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th| Borussia M'gladbach | 9     | 2     | 1     | 6     | 12    | 21    | -9    | 7     |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th| Mainz               | 9     | 1     | 2     | 6     | 10    | 16    | -6    | 5     |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th| Hannover 96         | 9     | 0     | 4     | 5     | 10    | 25    | -15   | 4     |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

And despite what's probably our worst start of the season in the Bundesliga with the exception of our first one we're still right in the middle of things. Of course the problem is that there are eight teams within four points around that part of the table, though, so elbows are gonna be flying soon to fight for space, and we'll need to start winning consistently if we want to stay there in the long term. We'll also need our new signings to start performing, Meunier and Vázquez are the only ones who're playing at an acceptable level, while the likes of Javorcic, Magaña, and Basualdo have been disastrous so far.

At the top we see the usual three of Bayern, Leipzig, and... wait, Nürnberg?! Suddenly I feel much better about that first defeat against them... Hertha seem to have recovered from a couple of mediocre years and are a good look for a run into Europe this year, while Dortmund's start has been absolutely unacceptable for a team of their level. Not as bad as Gladbach's, though, although considering they were thereabouts one year ago and finished 6th in the end I wouldn't count them out just yet. Hannover remain winless, Mainz aren't exactly looking too bright, but the bottom part is also extremely tight and not too far away from the midtable in points. We'll see how it looks in a couple of months...

* * *

PLAYER STATS
============

Average rating (min. 3 games played):

Arnau Casas               7.15 (5(1) apps)
Matías Miranda            7.09 (9(2) apps)
Aymeric Meunier           7.08 (7(1) apps)
Thierno Baldé             7.05 (5(3) apps)
Mateja Stjepanovic        7.02 (8(1) apps)

Goals:

Matías Miranda            4 goals
Rodrigo Caraballo         3
Julian Rijkhoff           3
Can Sapmaz                2
Vedat Özcan               2
Florent Da Silva          2

Assists:

Matías Miranda            4 assists
Jair Rodríguez            3
Can Sapmaz                2
6 players                 1

 

[Dalbeider]

Oct 25th 2028

TSV 1860 München vs. VfL Wolfsburg (DFB Pokal 2nd round)

Back to the cup with the promised tie against Wolfsburg, one of the positive surprises of the season so far. Currently seventh and only one point behind us, they've proven to be extremely hard to beat (only one loss, against Union Berlin of all teams) but also not particularly adept at winning themselves (six draws in nine games!). They've played Dortmund, Leverkusen, and HSV and haven't lost to either, and Vidovic is in the goalscoring form of his life with nine goals in nine apps, five of those against Dortmund in a famous 5-1 win. This will be tough.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM), Martin Karlsen (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)
WOLFSBURG (4-2-3-1): Klevis Gjini (GK); Felix Passlack (DR), Moritz Jenz (DCr), Otan Kabak (DCl), Gianluca Frabotta (DL); Maximilian Arnold (MCr), Gianluca Busio (MCl); Piotr Starzynski (AMR), Luka Ivanusec (AMC), Jovane Cabral (AML), Gabriel Vidovic (ST)

* * *

Full rotation once again, like almost always when the fixture list becomes this packed. Our starting eleven should be good enough for today, though, and hopefully we can profit from Wolfsburg's tired legs since they keep most of their usual starters today. We look good in possession in the first minutes as we push Wolfsburg back and start looking for gaps to prod at, and nine minutes in we find one: Da Silva drops to the left and sends a long pass into space across the pitch and into the box, where Karlsen runs ahead of the defense and hits it with his less good right foot into the post and in. Nice.

Ivanusec tries to go for a quick reply from Wolfsburg with a run from the left into the middle and a powerful shot that goes wide but not by too much, but we quickly hit them back through Özcan assisting through a gap in the center of their defense and Maldini finishing, this time finding his shot parried by Gjini. The keeper also does well to save Özcan's header in the corner kick that follows, then Vidovic has a great chance after a low cross from Frabotta, but sends his finish over the bar. 

The game's a bit too open for my tastes so we try a slower pace in the following minutes, to good effect: our possession rate increases even further and we deny Wolfsburg chances for a long while, creating a few of our own like a point-blank header by Özcan that Gjini somehow manages to block when the fans were already ready to celebrate our second. We go all the way into injury time without further incident, and Jovane has the last chance of the first half with a turnaround shot that goes over Rexhepi's goal. Ahead and looking good at half time.

HALF TIME - 1-0

The first fifteen minutes of the second half have absolutely zero work for the keepers other than maybe a few passes and clearances here and there, and that's perfectly fine for us. After a while we start resting some tired players like Maldini, giving Sapmaz half an hour to make an impression. Things remain the same, so it's Basualdo's turn to come in Caraballo's place, while Javorcic replaces a solid but exhausted Baldé. Twenty minutes to go, and still nothing is happening.

A corner kick in the 75th finally brings some excitement to the table with a high header by Kabak, and one minute later it's our turn with a pass into space by Javorvic ahead of Karlsen, who tries his good left foot this time but manages a much worse finish as a result, easy for Gjini to hold. Karlsen then goes on to create another good chance with a pass forward towards Basulado, who sees Passlack nick the ball away from him as he was getting ready to shoot, then takes his revenge with a beautiful pass across the box towards Sapmaz, once again denied by Gjini with a great dive to cover all the goal with his body. 

The keeper does well again with a much easier finish, a weak header by Özcan, but the second looks like it could arrive at any second. And in injury time it does: great pass from deep by Karlsen towards Basualdo, and the forward finally grabs his first for 1860 with a great finish over Gjini's rush to seal the tie and secure our place in the third round.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 2 (Martin Karlsen 9, Jonatan Basualdo 90+1)
VfL Wolfsburg 0

- - -

Might be our best game of the season so far? If it isn't it's certainly close. We were solid throughout, allowed very little danger from Wolfsburg, and completely nullified their danger man. From there it was just a matter of time and taking our chances, and Karlsen did well both finishing and assisting today, a cry for more minutes from the youngster for sure. Very happy for Basualdo, too, the kid had been looking a bit lost until now but this goal should give him confidence. One more game and we can call our cup campaign a success. Leipzig are out today after losing to Gladbach, too, which is always good news.

[Dalbeider]

Oct 27th 2028

DFB Pokal third round draw and ouch: Leverkusen away. Not the worst possible tie for sure (there's a Bayern-Nürnberg in this round, for reference) but considering how they destroyed us last season in the second round... Oh well, games against Leverkusen are always fun and can go either way, usually quite hard at that. We'll give it our best.

Oct 29th 2028

Borussia Dortmund (5th) vs. TSV 1860 München (6th) (Bundesliga, 10/34)

And with this we're done with the "top three" until 2029, yay. Not like Dortmund are anywhere close a top three team this year, though: only one point ahead of us, with almost neutral goal difference, and having suffered a few humiliating results in just nine fixtures already, they aren't quite the team they used to be but their best players are still scary and capable of destroying us on a good day. Or an average day, at that.

* * *

DORTMUND (4-2-3-1): Gregor Kobel (GK); Mohamed Simakan (DR), Niklas Süle (DCr), Manuel Akanji (DCl), Arthur Theate (DL); Hamed Traoré (MCr), Angelo Stiller (MCl); Samuel Chukwueze (AMR), Giovanni Reyna (AMC), Adam Hlozek (AML), Luka Jovic (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

The change from Klopp's 4-3-3 to Pioli's 4-2-3-1 might have something to do with their shaky performances so far, although this new formation allows them to play Reyna where he's the most dangerous. We bring back our league eleven in full today, hoping that Javorcic builds upon a good performance in the cup and keeps Hlozek away from Kretzschmar today. Of course there are other dangerous players in Dortmund's forward line, as Chukwueze demonstrates six minutes in receiving from Reyna and shooting low, thankfully deflected wide by Kretzschmar. Hlozec then gets his first chance with a wide header in a corner kick, and we get ready to endure the usual siege.

Somehow, though, it's not that bad. We have a decent amount of possession and use it to gain some breathing space, and Dortmund don't exactly bombard us with chances left and right. The first twenty-five minutes are surprisingly calm, and it's only in the 30th that Jovic tests Kretzschmar again with a low shot from distance that the keeper saves without issue. The thing with Dortmund, though, is that they need very little to score: 36th minute, Süle brings the ball into midfield and tries a vertical pass towards Chukwueze, and the winger turns on his speed boosters and blasts the ball with power past a helpless Kretzschmar to score the 1-0. Afterwards neither team tries their luck again until the first half ends.

HALF TIME - 1-0

The second half starts with a blocked shot by Jovic, just to remind us who's in charge here. It's just an isolated scare, though, and the following minutes continue with little presence of either attacking force, until we decide to change things around and bring Maldini, Caraballo, and Karlsen into the game. Another shot by Jovic in the 61st after a good run by Simakan ends in a great-looking fingertip save by Kretzschmar, who also holds with ease a header by Hlozek a few minutes later. Our attack is still nowhere to be seen.

A wide shot by Jeong Woo-yeong in the 72nd is Dortmund's next approach, but they don't look in any rush to score a second and seem happy to keep the game under control and test us from time to time to see if the bell rings. Chukwueze is the next one to follow this five minutes later, heading a cross from the left into Kretzschmar's hands, and Hlozek mirrors the play two minutes later, although this time he heads the ball off-target. Then it's finally our turn, and a great combination between Rijkhoff and Caraballo ends with the former shooting over the bar in the 79th, our best approach of the game so far.

We want more like that in the final ten minutes, and soon enough Rijkhoff gathers a loose ball inside the box and shoots into Akanji's legs just to keep this brief momentum going. An offside shot by Caraballo that Kobel saves nonetheless follows, and for a while we almost look like deserving of a draw. We manage to bottle Dortmund inside their own half and one minute before the 90th a great chance comes from a cross by Magaña towards Karlsen, who sees his finish miraculously deflected wide by Kobel. Jovic then wastes a counterattack with a wide shot from way too far away, but they don't get to regret it since injury time comes and goes without any more chances for us. A decent show, but still no cigar.

* * *

Borussia Dortmund 1 (Samuel Chukwueze 36)
TSV 1860 München 0

- - -

In normal circumstances I'd be happy with our performance and call the result a given, but it feels worse when Dortmund were so pedestrian for most of the game, Chukwueze aside, and we had a couple of really good chances to steal a point in the final minutes. Kobel really saved them today, although it begs the question if we could've started our attacking spree earlier than that. Oh well, with this we're done with the nightmare fixtures until January and we can focus now on collecting as many points as possible from the more winnable ones remaining. Down to 8th, but that should be temporary. Emphasis on should. Incidentally, first Nürnberg defeat of the season! In Düsseldorf, of all places... Bayern now runaway leaders.

[Dalbeider]

Nov 1st 2028

The usual suspects get another round of international callups, including Magaña and Rijkhoff, both one cap away from increasing their weekly wages by a lot.

Meanwhile our kids keep doing really well in the Youth League, beating Juve 3-0 to avenge their defeat in Torino and topping the group with seven points. Not bad at all.

* * *

TSV 1860 München vs. Juventus F.C. (Champions League group G, 4/6)

Happy birthday to me! Here's my gift, a game against Juventus! Yay! ...But seriously, not exactly a pleasant evening with cake and champagne, but I'm in the wrong business if I don't enjoy these occasions for all they're worth. Besides, Juve didn't exactly overawe us last time we played them and they come into this after a Serie A loss against Napoli, so we might have a chance at getting something here. It'd help a lot if we're to make a late push for the third place, too. One can dream.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM), Martin Karlsen (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)
JUVENTUS (4-3-1-2 narrow): Wladimiro Falcone (GK); Nahuel Molina (DR), Matthijs De Ligt (DCr), Diogo Leite (DCl), Marc Cucurella (DL); Rodri (MCr), Nicolò Rovella (MC), Manuel Locatelli (MCl); Dejan Kulusevski (AMC); Federico Chiesa (STr), Dusan Vlahovic (STl)

* * *

And once again almost full team rotation, repeating the same team that beat Wolfsburg in the cup with the exception of Kretzschmar on goal and Meunier in the anchor. Juve are without Diogo Costa, their starting goalkeeper, and while veteran backup Falcone is a very decent alternative he's certainly not a star. We start the game trying to test him through Karlsen, who nonetheless fails in that objective as his finish is blocked by De Ligt before it can reach the keeper. Caraballo then tries luck from distance but also fails (and hard) to find the target, but it's a good sign that we're getting shots in so quickly.

Things quickly turn around, though, as Juventus establish themselves and start dominating possession with their superior numbers in midfield. Vlahovic squanders two decent chances that end up not mattering because he was offside in both, as he is in his third one that he actually manages to score only for VAR to disallow it. His first legal chance doesn't come until the 41st and it's a weak header to a cross by Molina that Kretzschmar has zero problems saving. Meanwhile, Karlsen manages to take a low shot from distance in injury time that Falcone has some trouble tipping wide, and thus we end the first time as we started it: attacking, but no goals.

HALF TIME - 0-0

The first real chance of the game comes four minutes into the second half when Vlahovic receives a pass on the left side of the box and crosses low towards Kulusevski, who shoots from very close but still can't get past a well-positioned Kretzschmar. On the other end Caraballo gets a shot blocked by Molina after Özcan intercepts a bad clearance, then Vlahovic answers with a direct free kick that Kretzschmar deflects behind for a corner kick and Casas goes down in the 59th to block a dangerous run by Chiesa before he got a chance to finish.

Rijkhoff and Javorcic soon enter the game in Özcan's and Baldé's places, but in the 62nd Juve finally find the way through thanks to a long pass into space by Rodri towards, who else, Vlahovic, who outruns Hadzic and sidesteps his way around Kretzschmar to score the 0-1. We then bring Miranda in Maldini's place and try to look for a way back into the game, and actually manage to create a chance for the Argentinian to head a cross by Javorcic straight into Falcone's hands, but that's obviously not enough. Meanwhile Kulusevski also gets a header in, only in his case it goes straight into the crossbar. Differences. 

A corner kick soon after features a grea header by Diogo Leite that Kretzschmar parries and a finish on the rebound by De Ligt that Vázquez somehow stops with his whole body. A knock to the left back leaves him somewhat knackered for the final ten minutes, but other than a corner kick that Gade heads and Kretzschmar saves with ease Juve don't give us much trouble in that final period. Well, they prevent us from attacking at all, which is enough trouble considering the result, but still. Rodri follows it up with a dangerous shot from just inside the box that Kretzschmar parries excellently, but the final chance falls to us in a set piece that Miranda sends into the box from the right wing and Casas heads just over. Seconds later the match is over, as are most of our dreams of surviving in Europe somehow.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 0
Juventus F.C. 1 (Dusan Vlahovic 62)

- - -

Short result, yes, but this time Juve did walk all over us, and only an excellent game by Kretzschmar prevented a much bigger loss. Vlahovic is just too much for us to handle, it seems... With this we're officially out of the Champions League, but there's still a chance for us to get into the Europa League. That'll require beating Newcastle at home and hoping that they fail to pick any points against Juventus. Again, one can dream...

[Dalbeider]

Nov 2nd 2028

Welp, more problems: Magaña is unhappy because he feels he should be starting more games. He's been terrible so far, so it's not like he deserves it, and when told so he just gets angrier and leaves. Sigh.

Nov 4th 2028

TSV 1860 München (8th) vs. 1.FSV Mainz 05 (14th) (Bundesliga, 11/34)

Let's forget about Europe for a while now and focus on what really matters, which is the Bundesliga and getting back on track as soon as possible. Mainz look like a good target for a win, considering they're just one point above the drop right now and have been there or thereabouts for most of the season. We'll still need to show a much better face than we've done lately, though, Wolfsburg game aside.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)
MAINZ (4-2-3-1): Jonas Vatne Brauti (GK); Joe Scally (DR), Eduard Löwen (DCr), Márton Dárdai (DCl), Mathias Farnes Gabrielsen (DL); Frank Hennig (MCr), Syver Aas (MCl); Noel López (AMR), Mohammed Diomandé (AMC), Paulos Abraham (AML); Alessio Besio (ST)

* * *

I've been very tempted to play our 4-2-3-1 deep formation for this game, but in the end Meunier and Da Silva being short on fitness after playing the whole game against Juventus ruled it out. Few changes from last year in Mainz's lineup, with the goalkeeper being the major one. We look good from the moment we get the ball rolling, and within one minute Land and Basualdo already have had two dangerous finishes stopped by the defense. The third one is a header by Özcan in a corner kick that Vatne Brauti parries via pure reflexes, and we proceed to completely dominate the early game while Mainz do their best to survive the onslaught.

After a while our attack starts to stutter, and Mainz take the chance to launch a dangerous counterattack in the 13th minute that Besio ends up blasting well over the bar, while Thiago seems to struggle a bit with a minor injury afterwards. A header by the striker after a good play and cross by Scally is an easy catch for Kretzschmar, and while possession is still mostly ours, we don't seem to know what to do with it. In the 20th we finally find a way through thanks to Basualdo and his quick pass into space towards Rodríguez, who sees the keeper completely out of position and tries a quick lob, but ends up with a horribly high finish that makes more than a few fans (and at least one manager) groan in desperation.

And then we get lucky: Magaña, once again having a very average game so far, sends a cross towards Özcan that the striker can't quite catch, but instead hits Dárdai's back and rolls past the line for the 1-0. That works, I guess. Mainz answer again through Scally running the wing and Besio heading it softly into Kretzschmar's arms, while Thiago needs some assistance with his knock once again. Scally gets into a dangeorus position once again in the 41st and this time tries a powerful shot that can't quite find the target, and four minutes later Kretzschmar is required to perform his magic in a one-on-one with Besio after a long pass behind the defense, a call the keeper answers with his usual quality. Thanks to that we keep our lead until halftime.

HALF TIME - 1-0

Meunier replaces the struggling Thiago before the ball gets rolling again, and we start the second half with Miranda smashing a direct free kick into the defensive fence. Mainz are still very dangerous on the break and through their attacking full backs, but for the most part we manage to contain them. Rijkhoff and Da Silva come into the game a bit later to replace Özcan and Sapmaz, once again moving Miranda to the right wing, and in the 67th the striker makes our decision correct: Rodríguez sees him free inside the box, and Rijkhoff collects the pass and places the finish past Vatne Brauti to double our lead and give us some space to breathe.

Mainz take a bit to react to this punch to the gut, and when they do is, once again, through Scally sending a cross into the box so Carstensen can head it over the bar. Their attacking ideas seem to have run out, though, and we easily control the game without allowing any scares into the final five minutes, where Rijkhoff gathers the ball away from the goal and sees Miranda's run towards the center, finding the attacking midfielder with a pinpoint pass so he can finish the job with his usual quality and score the 3-0. That's game over, and Mainz capitulate and let us keep the ball until the actual end of the game.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 3 (Márton Dárdai 23og, Julian Rijkhoff 67, Matías Miranda 86)
1.FSV Mainz 05 0

- - -

That's more like it. We were probably a bit lucky to score this many, and the own goal certainly helped us along the way when it looked like Mainz were starting to get dangerous, but in general we had the game under control and only Scally's reckless runs down the right and Besio's speed through the center gave us some trouble today. Good team performance, wonderful impact from Rijkhoff off the bench, and Miranda once again showing he's still the best player in this team when things require finesse. Up to seventh, and let's not go any lower than that from now on, please.

[Dalbeider]

Nov 9th 2028

Full game performances for Magaña and Rodríguez in Mexico's 3-0 friendly win over Cuba, with the midfielder providing an assist and Magaña getting himself a pre-agreed wage hike to €48.5k per week after his fifth cap. Let's hope that's enough to get rid of his unhappiness... Rijkhoff does the same one day later, playing 71 minutes and doing well with the Netherlands, and now he's earning €76k per week. Ouch. There are also appearances for Hadzic, Javorcic, and Stjepanovic, although they don't do as well nor earn themselves any extra money, thank the gods. Then Özcan comes and scores two for Turkey against Scotland, taking the cake as the best performance for this window. Now please score them with us, too.

Nov 16th 2028

Loads of players announce their upcoming retirement during these days, mostly in the Premier League. The most notable names include Van Dijk, Eriksen, Koke, and Rüdiger. The old guard is slowly disappearing...

Nov 18th 2028

Eintracht Frankfurt (16th) vs. TSV 1860 München (7th) (Bundesliga, 12/34)

Yep, Eintracht aren't having a fun year either. Only two wins and two draws is a poor baggage after eleven games, and their position in the playoff place and deep in the relegation battle reflects that. We can't afford to drop points against teams below us, and even less against a team we haven't lost against in our last four meetings.

* * *

EINTRACHT (4-4-2): Boyko Raychev (GK); Kevin Mbabu (DR), Marvin Friedrich (DCr), Jackson Porozo (DCl), Matthew Sorinola (DL); André Franco (MR), Lewis Cook (MCr), Toma Basic (MCl), Bryan Mbeumo (ML); Datro Fofana (STr), Joe Gelhardt (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

Eintracht look basically the same as always, except for the lack of Timo Horn on goal and for the very unusual for them flat 4-4-2. We mix and match our starting eleven a bit to leave some of the most tired internationals out, but still manage to produce a pretty good-looking squad that gets another early lucky break when Rijkhoff (it's always him, isn't it?) is pushed down to the ground inside the box by Porozo as he was getting ready to get his head to a corner kick. The penalty is obvious, and Miranda scores his sixth of the season already from the spot with only a bit over two minutes played.

Very little happens until the 11th minute, when Basualdo's cross is nodded into Rijkhoff's path by Maldini, but the striker can't get a clean shot due to Friedrich's interference and it's an easy save for Raychev. Other than that it's mostly us controlling the game and Eintracht trying and failing to launch a counter here and there. Maldini provides Rijkhoff with another good chance in the 27th minute, this time with a more traditional cross-into-header routine, and Raychev has to work hard to tip the ball over. We follow that up with a long passing play that Maldini ends with a cheeky finish looking for the gap between the keeper and the near post, but Raychev sees it coming and saves well.

In the 31st we get a bit closer when Maldini once again assists Rijkhoff, this time with a low cross that the striker uses to, er, strike the post with this finish. We've been deserving a second for a while now, while Eintracht still haven't managed a single shot at goal. And finally, in the 34th, a quick combination through the center with Rodríguez, Maldini, Rijkhoff, and Basualdo involved ends with a nod from the Dutchman and a powerful finish by Basualdo, ripping a new hole in the net to score the 0-2. Maldini almost makes it three with a good header generated by Magaña's cross near the end of the half, but Raychev dives well to divert it wide, and there's still room for Basualdo to send narrowly wide a 20-yarder in injury time. Complete domination so far.

HALF TIME - 0-2

Eintracht can't do much worse than their first half performance, so they try to push forward a bit more now, and soon substitute Daina test Kretzschmar for the first time with a centered shot that the keeper holds without issue. We're still firmly in command, though, and now we use our possession to calm things down and make sure they don't get any momentum going. We still find time to try a few attacking plays, with Maldini weakly heading a cross by Thiago straight at Raychev in our best one of the first fifteen minutes of the half.

Miranda and Basualdo are made to rest and recover early, bringing Da Silva and Sapmaz in their places, and not much later Rijkhoff assists Rodríguez inside the box, the midfielder gets his shot parried by Raychev, and Maldini is comfortably first to the rebound and just pushes it over for the 0-3, almost too easy. Meunier then replaces Rodríguez and we settle down for a pleasant final stretch of the game.

A high shot by substitute Arrey-Mbi in a set piece come the 71st minute gives Eintracht some attacking presence, but the fans have had it with them today and start leaving the stadium in droves. Da Silva responds with an equally high ball from distance, and Maldini's direct free kick in the 77th meets the same fate. We get to see our old friend Erik Tallig playing for Eintracht in the final quarter, but all he can do is watch Sapmaz smash a clear-cut chance into Raychev's body in the 79th, following a fantastic assist by Maldini, excellent today. In the 80th Gelhardt has a real chance after a long ball into space that Kretzschmar solves with his usual cold-blooded goalkeeping, then Sapmaz gets another good chance parried by the keeper after a great run and pass by Rijkhoff. Third time's not the charm for the winger either, and a great ball from Meunier goes to waste with time almost over. A final high ball by Gelhard in injury time seals one of our best performances so far this season.

* * *

Eintracht Frankfurt 0
TSV 1860 München 3 (Matías Miranda 3p, Jonatan Basualdo 34, Daniel Maldini 66)

- - -

Now we're talking. This is the kind of game I want to see us play when we're facing weaker teams: complete domination, good finishing, and a clear win when it's all said and done. We could've scored a couple more today, but three is more than good enough. First really good game from Basualdo, Miranda remains excellent, and Magaña is once again the worst player on the pitch despite not having to deal with much defensively speaking. Fifth now, thanks to Hertha and Stuttgart both losing today. Bayern also drop their first points in a while in a 1-1 draw away to Köln, which allows Nürnberg to creep closer and Leipzig to catch up with them.

[Dalbeider]

Nov 21st 2028

Kretzschmar, Casas, and Maldini make the Team of the Week this time.

* * *

TSV 1860 München vs. Newcastle United (Champions League group G, 5/6)

Decisive game today, since we need to beat Newcastle if we want to have any chance at making it to the Europa League. They're at three points while we're at zero, so a win here puts us level with them and goal difference should make the rest. Then again we travel to Madrid for our final fixture while Newcastle host Juventus, and if they get a single point in that fixture we're out anyway, so even winning today might not be enough. Eh, let's do our part first and then wait and see.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Florent Da Silva (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)
NEWCASTLE (4-3-3): Édouard Mendy (GK); Vanderson (DR), Pascal Struijk (DCr), Aymeric Laporte (DCl), Devyne Rensch (DL); Julian Weigl (DM), André-Franck Zambo Anguissa (MCr), James Ward-Prowse (MCl); Diogo Henrique (AMR), Roony Bardghji (AML), Gabriel Jesus (ST)

* * *

Of course with a big chunk of the team still recovering from our Saturday game we need to rotate regardless of the game's importance, but regardless, we barely have time to settle down on the pitch when Newcastle get a corner kick and Laporte outjumps Stjepanovic to get his head to it and power the ball into the underside of the bar and in for a quick 0-1. Not according to plan. They do well to hold the ball after the goal and keep the pressure up, with Bardghji having a good run after a long pass from the right that leads him into the box, but his shot is terribly high and Kretzschmar doesn't have to do much.

After that they switch to a more conservative style, keeping possession at most times and not letting us play our game at all. Their only shot at goal is a twenty-yarder over the bar by Diogo Henrique in the 23rd minute, but they look completely in control of the situation. Then, two minutes later, we earn a corner kick and Miranda takes it towards the far post as almost always, and Özcan towers above his marker to score the 1-1 in an almost perfect mirror to Laporte's goal from earlier.

Newcastle stick to the plan and remain calm in possession, soon creating a chance for Gabriel Jesus that Stjepanovic blocks in the last moment. Özcan has other plans, though, and in the 29th intercepts a throw-in near Newcastle's box and tries a surprising shot from distance that Mendy saves with relative ease. The visitors get a goal disallowed two minutes later due to Gabriel Jesus's obvious offside position, but otherwise is a quite even final third to the first half, with only minor chances on both goals, and the 1-1 remains until half time.

HALF TIME - 1-1

Things remain roughly the same in the second half, although Newcastle look a bit sharper going forward now, and soon Weigl forces Kretzschmar into an spectacular flying save to tip wide a bending 30-yard missile. Ward-Prowse then sends way over a promising finish from just inside the box after an elaborate passing play, and it's soon obvious we're gonna need to change things around if we want to win this. In come Thiago and Basualdo for Da Silva and Caraballo, with the Brazilian taking the anchor and Meunier pushing forward.

We manage to slow down the game a bit and regain a certain degree of possession, although Bardghji still has a fantastic chance following a through ball from Anguissa that the winger somehow manages to send clearly wide almost unopposed. Rodríguez then replaces a tired Miranda as our most attacking-minded midfielder, and now the game evens out even further, with neither team gaining any decisive advantage and only a high and wide shot by Diogo Henrique in the 78th minute to keep the fans entertained.

We make a push for it in the final ten minutes, knowing that a draw is practically worthless for us, but that leads to mistake which leads to counterattacks for Newcastle, and our defenders end up having to work harder to prevent dangerous finishes by Gabriel Jesus and Scott during that time. Scott has a fantastic chance for the 1-2 in the 90th minute after a great cross from the right by Vanderson, but he fails to find the target with his finish and the ball goes very narrowly wide to the right of Kretzschmar's goal. We do get a final second chance through a cross by Vázquez that Meunier heads wide, but that's not enough to give us the win we needed. Out of Europe, now for real.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 1 (Vedat Özcan 25)
Newcastle United 1 (Aymeric Laporte 3)

- - -

Not bad I guess, particularly in the first half. In the second we struggled a lot to create anything no matter what we tried, and Newcastle had more than enough chances to take the three points today, but we endured and at least managed to score our first point in the competition, which is worth a decent chunk of money at the very least. Guess we can relax in the Bernabéu and just have fun now. Time to focus on the domestic tournaments and see if we can return here next year, hopefully with a less murderous group.

[Dalbeider]

Nov 25th 2028

TSV 1860 München (5th) vs. Sport-Club Freiburg (11th) (Bundesliga, 13/34)

Another team having a disappointing season, Freiburg started well but then they lost four straight and plummetted down the table. They finally stopped that downfall last week by beating Gladbach, but that's not exactly a great achievement considering how Gladbach have been playing so far. Then you look at the table a bit more closely and notice they're only four points behind us... Regardless, we're in good form, and we should keep winning.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)
FREIBURG (4-2-3-1): Timo Horn (GK); Hugo Siquet (DR), Linus Gechter (DCr), Yangel Herrera (DCl), Christian Günter (DL); Maximilian Eggstein (MCr), Peter Jano (MCl); Akinkunmi Amoo (AMR), Lazar Samardzic (AMC), Sead Haksabanovic (AML), Nicolai Skoglund (ST)

* * *

Miranda gets a well-deserved rest today, since we want him as fresh as possible for the two upcoming league games in the next seven days. Freiburg have quietly collected a handful of ex-1860 players, of which Gechter starts today and Majetschak and Lomónaco wait for their chance in the bench. Both teams trade a few minor blows in the first few minutes, but in the 7th we mount an attack down the left flank and Basualdo sends a cross into the box for Rijkhoff that Gechter intercepts. However, the ball ends up loose, the striker gets to it first, and he's able to find Rodríguez so the midfielder can place it right next to the post and into the back of the net.

Freiburg try to go for the instant reply with a steal by Haksabanovic and a finish by Skoglund that Casas intercepts and knocks behind for a corner kick that Samardzic then heads just over. We try to slow the game down a bit to alleviate the pressure, and that seems to work just fine: the following minutes have us holding the ball and preventing any more chances, and we manage to continue doing this until the end of the first half. Not particularly pleasant for the fans to watch, though.

HALF TIME - 1-0

The second half continues the trend, and twenty minutes quickly go by without the keepers having to do any shotstopping at all. Karlsen and Hadzic get some minutes off the bench then, replacing Lang and Da Silva, and suddenly out of nowhere Rodríguez drops to the right wing following after a header by Maldini, then crosses into the heart of the box so Rijkhoff can jump above Gechter and head it in. Football is simple sometimes.

Rijkhoff gets some rest after his goal and Özcan comes in to play the final stretch, in which nothing else happens until Thiago tries a pass over the defense towards Rodríguez's run in the 84th minute, a run that sadly ends short due to Herrera's interception. Another pass into space, this time by Basualdo, finds Rodríguez once again free of mark and ready to finish, although this time it's Horn who blocks his shot and tips it wide. By now Freiburg have clearly thrown in the towel, and we coast through what little of the game remains to score an uneventful win.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 2 (Jair Rodríguez 7, Julian Rijkhoff 65)
Sport-Club Freiburg 0

- - -

Man, that was turgid. Good thing Rodríguez and Rijkhoff gave us a bit of a spark, otherwise this might've been the most boring 0-0 draw of all times. Freiburg did absolutely nothing besides those two approaches immediately after our first goal, and we happily let them continue to do so while we pocketed the points. Not the most exciting of matches, but it's worth three points just the same.

[Dalbeider]

Nov 29th 2028

Fortuna Düsseldorf (15th) vs. TSV 1860 München (5th) (Bundesliga, 14/34)

Average Fortuna season so far, really, following the norm they've set in the last couple of years of always hovering riiiight above the relegation zone but never quite falling into it. Playing with fire is fun and all, but more often than not you end up burning yourself eventually...

* * *

DÜSSELDORF (4-4-2): Florian Kastenmeier (GK); Benjamin Henrichs (DR), Christoph Klarer (DCr), Matthias Ginter (DCl), Pietro Beruatto (DL); Marco Richter (MR), Nilson Angulo (MCr), Dennis Geiger (MCl), Fabrice Hartmann (ML); Mamadou Kaly Sené (STr), Rafael Santos Borré (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Matías Miranda (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)

* * *

Mixed rotation today, with Magaña and Da Silva remaining from our previous game. Düsseldorf show a completely new midfield line today, although their other positions remain completely unchanged from last year, which might explain why they keep repeating the same season over and over... They try to push us from the start, but the first shot is still ours, coming from Caraballo and bouncing up and back down into Kastenmeier's hands after hitting a defender's legs. Their lines are so stretched that we keep finding lots of space to pass through, and soon Miranda finds Özcan through one of those lanes, although the striker fails to beat Kastenmeier with his finish.

Sapmaz comes next, once again assisted by Miranda, and once again with the keeper saying no and tipping the ball over. Kastenmeier also blocks a volley by Özcan after a cross from Sapmaz in the 22nd minute, and we seem to have the completely in our hands. The goal should be a matter of time at this point, but our chances dry out in the final fifteen minutes of the half, and come the end of it neither team has managed to break the deadlock, although at least we've tried.

HALF TIME - 0-0

And two minutes into the second half we finally get what we were looking for: long pass down the right from Miranda towards Sapmaz, who runs the length and crosses towards Özcan so the striker doesn't even have to move, just wait for the ball to come and hit it low first time to score the 0-1. Five minutes later another attack down the right ends with Javorcic sending a long pass into the box ahead of Miranda, and the midfielder controls, faces Kastenmeier, and blasts it in right-footed (somehow) to make it two.

The game looks solved now, but Fortuna create their first real chance in the whole game in the 60th minute with a long pass from Klarer towards substitute left winger Hack, and he does good to leave Javorcic behind and place his shot into the root of the post and in, cutting our lead in half. We try to restore it to where it should be immediately through Da Silva's forward pass and Özcan's finish, although the latter ends up going over the bar. A bit later, Stjepanovic complains about some discomfort in his knee and Casas comes in his place, with Karlsen giving Miranda some rest too.

In the 67th minute Sapmaz and Özcan connect through another cross that the striker heads well, but not well enough to beat Kastenmeier. Not much later Sené suffers an injury after a clash with Magaña, leaving Fortuna with only ten men on the pitch since they've already spent all their substitutions. We do bring another one in, though, with Vázquez replacing Magaña himself. Kastenmeier soon has more work to do, once again denying Sapmaz a goal with a good save after another good pass down the right wing by Javorcic, really solid today. 

A corner kick almost turns into a goal by Hadzic, but his header meets the crossbar and the keeper gathers the rebound before anyone can think of pushing it over the line. Next up is Karlsen, who gets his finish blocked by Ginter when it looked almost certain it'd go in, then Özcan hits the crossbar too in another corner kick. Looks like the third doesn't want to come, but finally, three minutes before the 90th, Da Silva finds Sapmaz with another great pass behind the defense and this time the winger manages to place his finish past the keeper and seal the game for good, completing a fantastic individual performance. With that we're satisfied, and we pass our way through the remaining minutes with ease.

* * *

Fortuna Düsseldorf 1 (Robin Hack 60)
TSV 1860 München 3 (Vedat Özcan 47, Matías Miranda 52, Can Sapmaz 87)

- - -

That was comprehensive. Fortuna should consider themselves lucky for such a short result given the merits both teams made throughout the game, really. Our right wing in particular was great today, with all our best chances coming from there in one way or another, and Sapmaz having one of his biannual breakout games. To complete an almost perfect day Dortmund lose at home against HSV and pave our way into the fourth place.

Stjepanovic was the only piece of bad news today, although in the end his injury wasn't that serious: twisted knee, out of the weekend game but might return against Real Madrid in our goodbye to the Champions League.

[Dalbeider]

Dec 2nd 2028

TSV 1860 München (4th) vs. 1.FC Köln (9th) (Bundesliga, 15/34)

Our first top half matchup in a long while, even if it's only just, Köln is the first of three tough fixtures to close the year, with a trip to Berlin to face Hertha and a final home game against Wolfsburg coming next. Köln have been doing roughly as expected so far, something of a novelty in a league with lots of surprising performances this season. A tough team we always have trouble with, but still a team we should be beating given current forms.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)
KÖLN (4-1-4-1): Ersin Destanoglu (GK); Lukas Klostermann (DR), Stephan Ambrosius (DCr), Luca Kilian (DCl), Philipp Max (DL); Anton Stach (DM); Jan Thielmann (MR), Ellyes Skhiri (MCr), Elvis Rexhbecaj (MCl), Talles Magno (ML); Joao Resende (ST)

* * *

Köln start with a very defensive 4-1-4-1 formation today, a far cry from their adventurous 4-4-2 from last season. We send another rotated squad into the pouring rain falling over Munich today, and face a team that's happy to hold the ball in defensive areas until a chance to strike shows up, and it does six minutes in when Resende escapes Lang's attention and gathers a pass from deep, although thankfully he ends up blasting it well over so the scare is minor. We soon equalize possession, though, and slowly but steadily start pushing them into their own half and looking for a gap of our own.

It takes more than a bit of patience, though, but in the 38th minute, after a long time with neither team managing even a single shot at goal, we finally break through with Miranda assisting Rodríguez from deep as the midfielder runs into the box and shoots into Destanoglu's flipping save. That's it, though, and the first half dies off with very little having happened.

HALF TIME - 0-0

The second half doesn't start much better, and it takes us fourteen minutes for Rodríguez to finally find Rijkhoff as it struggles free of Ambrosius' mark and tries a shot from the edge of the box, well deflected over by the keeper. That corner kick almost becomes the 1-0, but Maldini's header happens to go exactly where Destanoglu is and the chance is wasted. Özcan and Da Silva soon replace Rijkhoff and Miranda, but not before Rijkhoff gets another header in to finish a cross by Maldini, easy for the keeper.

Köln then give us another scare in an isolated chance provoked by Skhiri's interception of a mediocre clearance by Lang, thus allowing Resende to once again run at Kretzschmar, this time being more accurate with his finish but still unable to put it past our keeper. That corner kick ends in absolute pandemonium inside our six-yard box, but after many attempts at clearing, finishing, and the gods know what else, the ball ends up flying away from the danger zone. Caraballo then takes Basualdo's place on our left wing, but time keeps passing and our chances don't get any better.

In the 77th our left wing finally gets into the action with Da Silva assisting Caraballo after a quick one-two and the left winger finding Destanoglu in the way of his finish, which ends in another corner kick. Da Silva himself shoots over the bar one minute later, and we enter the final stretch in full desperation mode, throwing everything we have at Köln's defense and hoping something breaks through. Nothing works in the end, though, and Köln get exactly what they came looking for.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 0
1.FC Köln 0

- - -

Ah yes, the good ol' bus parking. Could've been worse, too, those two chances for Resende and that whole mess inside our box after a corner kick were on their own more dangerous than everything we created combined. It still took a few good saves by Destanoglu to keep us from winning this game like we deserved. Oh well, not our best show, but we'll chalk it to the horrid weather and the opposition being tough as nuts.

[Dalbeider]

Dec 3rd 2028

Geez, I wasn't expecting a call from Italy asking about the vacant Inter job today. Guess our forays into Europe have put my name on the forefront for big teams all over the continent. Still no, but thank you for asking.

Dec 5th 2028

Lang and Sapmaz make the Team of the Week for their fantastic performances against Fortuna.

Dec 6th 2028

Real Madrid C.F. vs. TSV 1860 München (Champions League group G, 6/6)

A complete dead rubber for both teams: we're already out, and Real are already guaranteed to finish first after five wins in five games. So this is a good chance to rotate the squad, rest some starters, and get ourselves ready for what remains of the Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal so we can return here as a better team next year.

* * *

REAL MADRID (4-3-3): Josep Martínez (GK); Davide Calabria (DR), Evan N'Dicka (DCr), Trevoh Chalobah (DCl), Isak Jóhannesson (DL); Éder Militao (DM), Fede Valverde (MCr), Eduardo Camavinga (MCl); Leon Bailey (AMR), Yeremy Pino (AML), Kylian Mbappé (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Martin Karlsen (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)

* * *

European debut for Rexhepi, who gets some extra minutes in a spectacular scenery like the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. Real don't pull too many punches, only resting Courtois and Kluivert out of their guaranteed starters, and it takes them only seven minutes to make Mbappé run alone ahead of our defense, his clear chance denied by Rexhepi in an excellent save. Mbappé doesn't miss twice, though, and after another long ball into space by Bailey the superstar forward chips it over Rexhepi to score the 1-0 with only ten minutes played.

Real keep looking for their star with every pass into the box they try, and in the 13th Mbappé shoots wide after another good pass behind the defense by Camavinga. One minute later it's Pino who tries again, and this time Mbappé breaks the offside trap by inches and shoots with power to score the second. Then, after a brief ten minute pause, Bailey once again finds Mbappé with a pass through the center and the striker seals his hattrick with an easy finish. Just in case there was any doubt of who was the best player on the pitch, y'know.

We finally get somewhere close Martínez's goal with a high header by Hadzic in a corner kick, but the home team soon answer with a wide finisy by Pino after a good pass from Valverde. In the 35th Calabria decides to gift us the perfect chance to grab one back with a terrible pass back to his keeper that Özcan intercepts, but N'Dicka has other ideas and tackles the ball away before it can reach Martínez. Camavinga blasts one from the edge of the box well over the bar in the 40th in what becomes the last chance of the half.

HALF TIME - 3-0

The second half is not too eventful, with the first chance falling to us when Sapmaz steals the ball from Pino in the 56th and launches a quick attack and cross towards Caraballo, who volleys it harmlessly over the bar. We try something a bit different then, bringing Miranda to play on the right and Basualdo as our striker, then a bit later Baldé replaces a very out of place Javorcic. I'd happily make at least three or four more substitutions, but alas.

Time passes with little action near the penalty areas, except for this one counterattack Miranda and Basualdo build up in the 78th and that ends in a weak and centered shot by the forward that Martínez has absolutely no problem holding. Three minutes later Basualdo does hit the back of the net after volleying a great lobbed pass from deep by Meunier, but turns out he was offside. Another chance comes in a quick break down the right by Basualdo, who enters the box and passes it back towards Miranda and the midfielder sees his finish parried by an excellent Martínez. Real's first shot of the half is a howler by substitute right back Diego, who sends his shot miles above the target only one minute plus some change before the 90th, and with that and a short injury time the game comes to its end.

* * *

Real Madrid C.F. 3 (Kylian Mbappé 10 14 25)
TSV 1860 München 0

- - -

Mbappé was the difference today, really. We weren't nearly as bad as the result suggests, and our chances in the final third of the game deserved at least one goal, but when you have a striker who just can't miss things are much easier. Still our worst performance of the group stage, and the closest we've been to being completely overrun, so despite very subpar results I think we didn't do a bad job in a competition that's still way to strong for us. We'll return and we'll do better soon.

The worst news of the day, though, is the U19s losing 4-1 against Real Madrid, which combined with Juve's win against Newcastle means our kids are eliminated despite finishing the group with ten points and only two defeats. A huge shame, they deserved better than this.

[Dalbeider]

Dec 7th 2028

A first look at this year's youth intake seems to be... promising? For a change? We have at least five players in different positions that look good enough, and that's a change from the barren emptiness we've been finding in the last three or four seasons. We'll see how it turns out in four months or so...

Dec 9th 2028

Hertha BSC (12th) vs. TSV 1860 München (4th) (Bundesliga, 16/34)

In case you don't remember, here's a quick reminder: Hertha were fourth after nine fixtures. Since then they've scored a grand total of one point in six matches thanks to a draw against Wolfsburg, and haven't won a league game since mid-October when they beat Fortuna. Oh, and they just sacked Panucci, because obviously. Quite the fall from grace for a team I singled out as a pleasant surprise after two mediocre years, huh. Let's see if we can add one more defeat to their streak.

* * *

HERTHA (4-2-3-1): Marco Carnesecchi (GK); Erik Warner (DR), Long Li (DCr), Omar Alderete (DCl), Amar Dedic (DL); Laureano Laconi (MCr), Charles De Ketelaere (MCl); Philipp Meyer (AMR), Miguel Carvalho (AMC), Suat Serdar (AML), Delyan Atanasov (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

The team that couldn't score against Köln returns in full, hoping for a better attacking performance this time. We start on the offensive as expected, and Hertha spring a trap two minutes in with a lightning-quick counterattack by Warner that De Ketelaere finishes with a high header. A warning shot and a clear show of intent, and we respond in kind: Maldini crosses towards the center and Basualdo hits Warner with his finish, the ball deflected a few inches wide of the post. Immediately we follow it up with a short pass from Rijkhoff to Rodríguez inside the box and a shot by the midfielder that Carnesecchi has to tip wide, but then Hertha reply once again through Warner and De Ketelaere, with the midfielder finding Kretzschmar in the way of his finish this time.

The game remains wide open afterwards, with us holding the ball more but Hertha dangerous on the break. A long distance shot by Thiago goes over but not by much in the 16th, and soon after a steal by Rijkhoff leaves him in a great position to score, but Alderete gets in the way and blocks his shot. We keep prodding and generating decent chances, the best of which comes from a cross by Vázquez towards Maldini, who has the whole goal at his disposal but heads it straight at Carnesecchi instead. Things slow down after that, though, and we go all the way into the 44th minute for Rijkhoff to volley over a nod inside the box by Basualdo. The game is ours for the taking, but apparently we can't find a way to grab it.

HALF TIME - 0-0

Maldini has our first shot of the second half, sending it wide following a good combination with Rodríguez down the right. Another one falls to the Italian just two minutes later, this one coming from a cross from the left by Miranda that he ends up heading over. We keep getting close, but never quite hit the cigar. After fifteen minutes Magaña replaces a very subpar Vázquez and Miranda is once again sent to the right wing, with Da Silva replacing Maldini. The experiment backfires, though, and we spend the next ten minutes failing to create anything while Hertha start regaining a bit of their initial counterattacking flair, although still without any real bite to it.

Sapmaz replaces Miranda with twenty to play and we return to our usual look, and suddenly we're back where we left: cross by the winger towards Rodríguez, the midfielder sends it along to Rijkhoff, and the striker once again runs into Carnesecchi with his finish. Hertha keep peppering us with long-range shots and weak headers that give us no real trouble, but keep us from fully committing to the attack. Carnesecchi saves another shot by Rodríguez in the 83rd, but after that and despite our best attempts, we can't put the keeper into any more danger and the game peters out into another goalless draw.

* * *

Hertha BSC 0
TSV 1860 München 0

- - -

Rotten luck today. We had chances to win this game comfortably, but we just couldn't put them in. Maldini's and Rijkhoff's misses today were painful to witness. A missed chance for sure, even more considering that both Dortmund and Nürnberg keep losing points left and right, with both of them managing to lose this week. We do lose the fourth place to HSV, though. This was Kretzschmar's 250th game for the club, by the way, cimenting his status as one of 1860's all-time greats.

[Dalbeider]

Dec 11th 2028

Been a while since the injury bug last bit us in any serious way, but today Maldini suffered an abdominal strain during weight training which will keep him out of the game for four weeks. Good thing the winter break happens to be right in the middle of those four weeks...

Dec 16th 2028

TSV 1860 München (5th) vs. VfL Wolfsburg (11th) (Bundesliga, 17/34)

Last game of the year against a team we already beat handily in the cup. Kinda like Hertha, Wolfsburg have been dropping off lately after a good start to the season, probably because they've now entered the same part of the calendar we're going to enter as soon as the new year arrives, heh. All the reason to get as many points now as we can.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)
WOLFSBURG (4-2-3-1): Klevis Gjini (GK); Felix Passlack (DR), Moritz Jenz (DCr), Carlos Renato (DCl), Gianluca Frabotta (DL); Maximilian Arnold (MCr), Gianluca Busio (MCl); Piotr Starzynski (AMR), Luka Ivanusec (AMC), Jovane Cabral (AML), Gabriel Vidovic (ST)

* * *

New fullbacks and wingers for us today, plus a start for Stjepanovic, who's been complaining a bit lately about wanting to start more games. Meanwhile Wolfsburg repeat almost exactly the same eleven that lost to us two months ago, except for Carlos Renato's presence in defense. They try to press high in the early minutes, but soon we manage to play our way around that and start giving them some trouble. Fourteen minutes in that attacking pressure turns into a real chance when Miranda sends a pass from deep into the box towards Sapmaz's run, allowing the winger to face Gjini one-on-one and calmly place the ball into the net, scoring an early 1-0.

Two minutes later we go right back at it through Sapmaz, creating a play that ends with all our attacking force passing the ball among themselves inside the box looking for a gap before Rijkhoff shoots into Gjini's body for a corner kick. The striker tries again with a header in the 18th, also saved by the keeper only with way less trouble this time. And in the 22nd Miranda takes a free kick from the halfway line into the box, where Sapmaz finds himself in the perfect position to head it in and grab himself a brace, doubling our lead. So far so good.

Our domination continues while Wolfsburg look unable to cope with us, particularly with Miranda constantly switching the ball towards the right for Sapmaz to run into. Their first chance comes in the 37th and is just a blocked shot by Vidovic after a cross by Starzynski, so its danger is very relative. Just to change things a bit we try attacking from the left through Caraballo, and Rijkhoff almost turns his low cross into the third but he ends up smashing his finish into Carlos Renato instead. Then, problems: Sapmaz suffers a game-ending foot injury which forces us to bring Da Silva in and move Miranda to the wing once again. We let the rest of the half pass by without further incident.

HALF TIME - 2-0

Wolfsburg need goals, and they start looking for them early with a volley by Vidovic that Kretzschmar has to deflect over. It's an isolated rarity, though, and the first fifteen minutes of the game go by without any further scares to either goalkeeper until we decide to bring Basualdo and Karlsen into the game, replacing Rodríguez and Caraballo. We proceed to control possession thoroughly and without risking it needlessly, only testing Gjini from time to time with easy headers by Rijkhoff and a few long shots here and there. Wolfsburg don't do much more in attack either, with only a header by Asprilla in the 76th giving Kretzschmar something to do.

That changes two minutes later, when Stenzel wins a header in a corner kick as he charges straight towards the goal, but somehow mishits the ball and sends it a good distance to the left of the target. Thiago and Miranda try and fail to give Gjini something to do with two consecutive long-range efforts in the last five minutes, and in the first seconds of injury time Starzynski finds a way to escape everyone's attention on the right wing and sends a cross to Asprilla, who heads it into the net from point-blank range and gives Wolfsburg hope of a last-second miracle. They don't have the time to do that, though, and the game ends soon afterwards in a deserved win for us.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 2 (Can Sapmaz 14 22)
VfL Wolfsburg 1 (Yaser Asprilla 90+1)

- - -

Short result given how much better than them we were all game long, but oh well. Sapmaz's injury hurt us a lot, because we didn't have anyone who could keep playing the role he'd been playing until then, and which had been key in tearing through Wolfsburg's defense over and over again. His time on the pitch was enough to secure our win, though, with a good part of the credit going to Miranda and his two assists. The second half was pretty bad, though, all things considered.

Sapmaz's injury is also serious, sprained ankle ligaments with a recovery time of four to five weeks, and which leaves us completely devoid of any natural right wingers for our first fixtures of the new year. Ouch.

* * *

| Pos | Team                | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | GD    | Pts   | Form  | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st | RB Leipzig          | 17    | 14    | 3     | 0     | 49    | 12    | 37    | 45    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd | FC Bayern           | 17    | 13    | 3     | 1     | 50    | 14    | 36    | 42    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd | Nürnberg            | 17    | 10    | 3     | 4     | 26    | 20    | 6     | 33    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th | 1860 München        | 17    | 9     | 3     | 5     | 28    | 17    | 11    | 30    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th | Hamburg             | 17    | 8     | 5     | 4     | 28    | 23    | 5     | 29    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th | Borussia Dortmund   | 17    | 8     | 4     | 5     | 31    | 24    | 7     | 28    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th | Stuttgart           | 17    | 7     | 3     | 7     | 25    | 17    | 8     | 24    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th | Bayer Leverkusen    | 17    | 6     | 6     | 5     | 25    | 25    | 0     | 24    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 9th | Köln                | 17    | 6     | 5     | 6     | 18    | 25    | -7    | 23    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th| Freiburg            | 17    | 6     | 4     | 7     | 26    | 25    | 1     | 22    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th| Borussia M'gladbach | 17    | 6     | 2     | 9     | 22    | 31    | -9    | 20    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th| Wolfsburg           | 17    | 4     | 7     | 6     | 26    | 29    | -3    | 19    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th| Hertha BSC          | 17    | 5     | 4     | 8     | 20    | 26    | -6    | 19    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th| Mainz               | 17    | 5     | 2     | 10    | 22    | 31    | -9    | 17    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th| Union Berlin        | 17    | 4     | 4     | 9     | 23    | 35    | -12   | 16    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th| Fortuna Düsseldorf  | 17    | 2     | 5     | 10    | 16    | 34    | -18   | 11    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th| Hannover 96         | 17    | 2     | 5     | 10    | 17    | 39    | -22   | 11    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th| Frankfurt           | 17    | 3     | 2     | 12    | 15    | 40    | -25   | 11    |       | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

The last game of 2028 was a Leipzig-Bayern which ended in a crushing 4-0 win for the Red Bull team, and which puts them on top of the Bundesliga as the only remaining unbeaten team in the competition. Bayern haven't said their final word on the matter just yet, though, and even if Leipzig don't throw it all away like they usually do, that final fixture at the Allianz between the two of them is sure to be a spectacle. Nürnberg still hold on to the third place, but that's mostly because we started too far away and the other usual suspects Hamburg and Dortmund have been wildly inconsistent this season. It's weird to see Dortmund a) outside the Champions League places, and b) with a single digit goal difference!

The rest of the table is slowly taking shape, and while things haven't quite returned to "normal" just yet they're getting there. Leverkusen is already back in the top half and putting some pressure on the European places, Gladbach are on their way up, and the bottom five look very much like what you'd expect them to look, except perhaps for the order. Eintracht dead last is a sight to behold, though, and them having the worst goal difference of the league is a sign that this is no accident. The bottom three are still well within reach of the likes of Union Berlin and Mainz, though, so nothing is settled here just yet.

* * *

PLAYER STATS
============

Average rating (min. 6 games played):

Arnau Casas              7.24 (11(2) apps)
Matías Miranda           7.15 (17(4) apps)
Thierno Baldé            7.15 (11(4) apps)
Niklas Lang              7.11 (17(1) apps)
Thiago                   7.07 (15(2) apps)

Goals:

Matías Miranda           7 goals
Can Sapmaz               5
Julian Rijkhoff          5
Vedat Özcan              4
Rodrigo Caraballo        3

Assists:

Matías Miranda           7 assists
Jair Rodríguez           5
Can Sapmaz               3
Julian Rijkhoff          3
Tomislav Javorcic        2
Florent Da Silva         2

* * *

ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD

• Premier League: a close race for once! Man City are still leaders, but already with three losses to their name which makes it easier for the likes of Newcastle, Liverpool, and Leeds (!) to keep up with them and remain within spitting distance, with Arsenal, Leicester, and Chelsea a bit farther behind. Wide open title race, and wide open relegation battle too with four teams at the bottom (Blackburn, Palace, Wolves, and Bournemouth) within only two points, and the likes of Watford and Brentford not completely safe from danger either. Man Utd currently ninth and ten points away from any European places.
• LaLiga: another close league, and for once it's not a two-headed race. Real Madrid top the table right now but with only three points over Sevilla, Athletic, and Barcelona, all tied on points. Valencia, Villarreal, and Atlético are farther back but could get into the battle with a good run. The relegation battle is, once again, wide open, with the bottom eight within only eight points and Elche, Leganés, and Zaragoza currently in the drop zone but capable of escaping with just a single win.
• Serie A: Juve lead the table in Italy once again, but as in the other leagues, with a very small two-point lead over Milan and surprising Roma. It's just those three, though, as fourth-placed Inter are already seven points behind the leaders and Napoli and Udinese trail by an even bigger distance. Monza are dead last with just four draws and no wins, so they're probably the only team already condemned to relegation from all the major leagues. Genoa aren't doing too hot either, and Venezia complete the drop zone but just one point behind, you guessed it, Benevento. Fiorentina aren't far away, once again flirting with disaster.
• Ligue 1: and all the fun ends when we get to France, because of course. PSG top, seven points over Nice, who in turn have five points over Monaco and eight over everyone else. Sigh. Saint-Étienne's cup win and European qualification from last year seems to have been a mirage, of perhaps a load too big for their current squad to bear, because they're dead last with just eight points and six behind the playoff position, currently occupied by Montpellier. Toulouse are also in the red zone, but there's a good half of the table, all the way up to Lille in 9th place, that could be threatened by relegation with a bad enough run. At least that part of the league will be interesting, I guess...

[Dalbeider]

Dec 18th 2028

Two weeks until the transfer window reopens and once again half of our players are attracting attention. Kretzschmar is followed by Wolfsburg (good luck there, guys), Gladbach and Leipzig are interested in Stjepanovic while the current Bundesliga leaders also want Casas, Baldé is being chased by Sporting CP and Leeds, Nürnberg want Karlsen, and, most notably, Juventus are targetting Rijkhoff after seeing him from up close in the Champions League. We're not looking to sell any of these players, but as always, we'll be listening to any offers and seeing how much teams are willing to pay for them. We do need a new right winger and/or midfielder and we'd welcome the money to purchase them, after all...

Dec 19th 2028

Miranda takes the right wing in the last Team of the Week of 2028.

Dec 29th 2028

Six months till contracts expire. This season we only have one first team player on an expiring deal, but it's an important one: Maldini. The Italian is 27 already and has been solid with some intermittent bouts of greatness. This season he's been dropping off a little, to the point that Sapmaz currently has better numbers than him, so I don't really know what to do here to be honest. We want a better right winger, and probably we'll try and find someone left-footed who can play on both sides so we have more possible variations to our attacking shape, but I'm still not sure who I want to replace. Sapmaz's potential for growth has been almost spent already, so that argument doesn't hold much weight, and his current advantages are a better current form and the fact that he's homegrown. All this to say, we'll hold off with contract negotiations with Maldini for a bit longer, and if he gets poached in the meantime then so be it, any transfer fee we might earn from him would be small anyway.

There's also the matter of not-so-young-anymore Helmut Franzke, currently being his usual mediocre self in Münster, where he's not even playing that much. There's zero chance by now that he'll make the first team with any kind of regularity, so I think releasing him is what we should do. The same applies to other fringe prospects like Van Santen and Gundak, all of them twenty-two and nowhere near good enough for the Bundesliga.

Dec 30th 2028

FCV Farul Constanta vs. TSV 1860 München (Friendly)

We have an early restart of the Bundesliga this year, so our traditional winter friendly happens even before the turn of the year. We take a trip to Romania this time to face Farul Constanta, currently leading a league in which perennial favorites FCSB are somehow tenth after winning two in a row. We're without right wingers today, so Miranda takes that place from the start. The match is actually quite even after the home team push us pretty hard in the first minutes, but we slowly start taking control of the ball and having a few chances to open the score. In the 37th we finally find the way with Caraballo crossing into the box and Miranda tapping it past the keeper to score the 0-1. The result holds until half time without issue, and then the second unit come in and proceed to continue where the starters left off, with Özcan almost scoring the second in a corner kick but sending his header into the goal frame instead. However, a single mistake by Casas cost us the draw when he fails to clear a goal kick and striker Cogali gathers the ball and runs at Rexhepi for an easy finish. Özcan scores in injury time after a great cross by Miranda but it's ruled out due to offside, and we have to do with a draw in a game we dominated completely.

FCV Farul Constanta 1 (Raul Cogali 76)
TSV 1860 München 1 (Matías Miranda 37)

Dec 31st 2028

'Tis the time for players wanting new contracts, too, since of course a transfer window looming will make agents' eyes begin to glitter. Rodríguez is the culprit this time, but to be fair the kid deserves a better deal than the €16k he's earning right now. We eventually reach an agreement with him earning €47k per week from now on, adding a €82M release clause for Champions League teams, and with expectations of a star player role. He's playing whenever he's healthy anyway, so that shouldn't be an issue even if we add more quality midfielders to the squad.

Jan 1st 2029

Happy new year and new transfer window! The rumors have been growing in the previous weeks, including Everton being keen on Thiago and Rangers replacing Juve as Rijkhoff's main suitor. Gonna be a long month...

The new window does bring a new player, though, as young Argentinian midfielder Ezequiel Beltramone joins on a free. I'd like to loan him out immediately, but those pesky FIFA rules about players not being able to play for more than two teams in one year get in the way. Oh well, he'll stay in the reserves for now, and maybe get a chance for a debut if any of our defensive midfielders gets injured and/or suspended.

Jan 6th 2029

TSV 1860 München (4th) vs. 1.FC Nürnberg (3rd) (Bundesliga, 18/34)

And here we go again, with this year's surprise package coming to visit. Granted, they're not as strong as they were in the first quarter when they managed to keep pace with Bayern and Leipzig, but they're still a team that defeated us in the first Bundesliga game of the season so they should be handled with care. A win here puts us ahead of them in third place, so it'd be a huge result looking forward.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Matías Miranda (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)
NÜRNBERG (4-4-2): Leo Reislöhner (GK); Nicholas Mickelson (DR), Maksim Paskotsi (DCr), Armel Bella-Kotchap (DCl), Omar Campos (DL); Bénie Traoré (MR), Lothar Danhof (MCr), Ilai Madmon (MCl), Lars Kehl (ML); Facundo Farías (STr), Manuel Wintzheimer (STl)

* * *

Rodríguez suffered from a minor bruise in training yesterday but in the end he's healthy enough to start, even though it might be necessary to take him out at some point. Meanwhile Maldini makes the bench after recovering from his injury. Nürnberg repeat the same formation and almost the same lineup that beat us back in August, and Wintzheimer gets the first chance with a high volley four minutes in following a badly measured jump by Stjepanovic. Only two minutes later Danhof sees Traoré's movement towards the box and sends a pass ahead of him, Magaña can't keep up, and the right winger places his finish past Kretzschmar to put the visitors ahead.

We go on the attack right away, but both Rijkhoff and Miranda get stopped by some defender or another when they're trying to finish the job after our first good play through the center. Danhof creates another chance for Nürnberg then, assisting Kehl but leaving the winger in a difficult position to score from and leading to an easy save for Kretzschmar. Rijkhoff strikes back stealing the ball in midfield then finishing the ensuing counterattack with a wide shot, and the game looks like it could go either way now. Magaña then sends a good cross towards our striker, who heads it over, and in the 26th Thiago intercepts a pass in midfield and quickly finds Rijkhoff so the striker can send the ball ahead into space and allow Miranda to run into the box and score the 1-1.

We keep the pressure up after the goal, and Reislöhner has some work to do in the 33rd when Lang gets his head to a corner kick, although the keeper does well to save and hold the ball. However, seconds later Da Silva collects the keeper's goal kick, looks up, and sends the ball towards Caraballo, who cuts into the box from the left and places the ball around Reislöhner to score the 2-1 and complete our comeback. A comeback which lasts all of three minutes, which is what Wintzheimer needs to gather the ball near the edge of the box, turn around, and unleash a powerful twenty-yarder that Kretzschmar can't deal with for the 2-2. A header by Caraballo bounces on top of the crossbar in the 41st, then Miranda sends a mid-range effort over the bar in the final seconds of a very entertaining first half.

HALF TIME - 2-2

Things start a bit slower in the second half, but soon Rijkhoff restarts the battle with a powerful shot from outside the box that Reislöhner barely manages to push over the bar. Chances don't flow as freely as they did in the first forty-five, though, and we go all the way into the 67th minute before Javorcic tries a pass into space ahead of Rodríguez, who runs into the box but blasts his finish wide. Maldini then returns to action replacing the Mexican, moving Miranda back to his usual place in midfield, while Basualdo replaces a solid Caraballo.

The 70th minute brings a fantastic double chance in a corner kick, first with Lang's header parried by Reislöhner, then with Stjepanovic failing to put it in from point-blank range due to Paskotsi's block. Meunier then replaces Da Silva and trades places with Thiago, pushing the Brazilian forward to be our primary playmaker. Nürnberg create a few consecutive corners which only manage to waste time, and we enter the final stretch with the game still undecided.

Then the 87th minute comes, and after going back and forth for a while the ball reaches Danhof, and the midfielder adds a second assist to his repertoire tonight with a long ball ahead of Campos, who cuts in from the left and beats Kretzschmar through his near post to score the 2-3, completely against the flow of the game. Thiago has a fantastic chance to draw the game again only two minutes later after Rijkhoff breaks free of Bella-Kotchap's mark and sends a low cross into the box, but the midfielder can't do anything other than send it straight at the keeper. We keep trying until the last second, but Nürnberg don't allow any more chances and steal the three points in a game we should've won.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 2 (Matías Miranda 26, Rodrigo Caraballo 33)
1.FC Nürnberg 3 (Bénie Traoré 6, Manuel Wintzheimer 36, Omar Campos 87)

- - -

Absolute steal of a game, this one. We had triple the chances and much more possession, yet Kretzschmar had a rare mare of a game in which he conceded thrice with only four shots on target from Nürnberg, and here we are. Missed chance to secure our place in the top four, and now we're down to sixth because HSV and Dortmund won their games. And now it's time for the nightmare stretch starting with the Münchner Derby at the Allianz next week... Welp. That said, Bayern don't seem to be in the best of forms either. They just lost their second consecutive match in Mönchengladbach, and now trail six points behind Leipzig.

[Dalbeider]

Jan 9th 2029

Transfer window update: still no movement. Sevilla join the growing list of Stjepanovic's suitors, Ajax are now after both Casas and Baldé, and Groningen are considering a loan offer for Karlsen.

And minutes after saying that, Gladbach offer €21.5M for Stjepanovic. The player is not interested so it's an easy nope, even more considering how little of that money would go into our transfer budget due to board restrictions and sell-on fees. If other teams join in they'll have to offer upwards of €30M for us to consider selling.

Jan 10th 2029

Well, so much for that: Stjepanovic breaks a foot after a bad tackle in training and will visit a specialist to heal, missing the next three to four months. No way he's leaving now, and now we'll have to focus on retaining Casas. Who, by the way, has a €7.5M release clause for Champions League teams and isn't too interested in extending his contract. I smell trouble...

Jan 13th 2029

FC Bayern München (2nd) vs. TSV 1860 München (6th) (Bundesliga, 19/34)

Two defeats in a row? That must be a first for Bayern in, like, thirty years! But seriously, they've conceded seven in those two games, which is not something Bayern does very often. We still have to face the reality that they'll most likely destroy us again today, but maybe we'll have a surprise or two in store for them...

* * *

BAYERN (4-2-3-1): Aaron Ramsdale (GK); Joshua Kimmich (DR), Dayot Upamecano (DCr), Nordi Mukiele (DCl), Alphonso Davies (DL); Sandro Tonali (MCr), Leon Goretzka (MCl); Ansu Fati (AMR), Kai Havertz (AMC), Dominik Szoboszlai (AML); Yousouffa Moukoko (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-2-3-1 deep): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DMCr), Florent Da Silva (DMCl); Jair Rodríguez (MC); Matías Miranda (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

Surprise! The 4-2-3-1 deep is alive! There's probably not a better scenario to blow the dust off it than today, honestly. We keep Miranda in the right to further increase our midfield presence,  and Sapmaz makes the bench today after his latest injury, restoring us to full strength on the wings. We're without Thiago due to suspension, though, which isn't ideal considering our formation. Bayern repeat basically the same eleven that beat us at home, but with Fati and Szoboszlai replacing Aniorte and Sané.

The game starts with one of its traditional fixtures: Upamecano winning a header in a corner kick, this time well saved by Kretzschmar. Bayern of course dominate, but it isn't the usual smothering pressure, at least not in the first fifteen minutes. Another corner kick in the 21st minute gives them another chance, this time with Mukiele heading it into Kretzschmar's deflection over the bar. Two corner kicks later the center-back tries again, but meets our keeper's saving hand once again. Kimmich is the first to try a shot from open play, sending a 20-yarder over the bar, and by now twenty-five minutes have gone by and we're still alive and kicking.

Another save by Kretzschmar keeps that going for a bit longer as he blocks a finish by Davies, who'd run all on his own into the box after Miranda failed to track him. This couldn't last, though, and in the 33rd minute Goretzka spots Tonali's run into the box and sends a long ball ahead of him so the midfielder can catch it in mid-air and finally beat Kretzschmar for the 1-0. A header by Havertz five minutes later finds its way into the keeper's hands, then Fati receives a good pass from Havertz inside the box but sends his finish into the right post and clear. We end the first half with a pitiful 25% possession rate and zero shots at goal. This is clearly not working, but at least the result remains short.

HALF TIME - 1-0

We switch back to our usual formation after half time, still keeping the same personnel, and somewhat surprisingly it seems to work. We start the half with Magaña shooting over the bar from outside the box, our first serious attack of the match, and while Bayern still dominate, we have a bit more room to breathe and go forward now. After a while we bring in Özcan, Caraballo, and Maldini and move Miranda back to the midfield, all while Tonali breaks through the center once again, only this time he ends up shooting well wide.

Minutes pass with neither team generating danger, Bayern happy to just keep the ball and us chasing after it tirelessly. In the 74th Aniorte and Wijndal have a dangerous double chance in a quick break through the middle (again), but Magaña tackles the first before he can get a shot in, and Kretzschmar blocks Wijndal's finish on the rebound. Five minutes later Kimmich recieves a pass in a very dubious position and crosses for Wijndal, who heads it into the crossbar, and then Papetti heads a corner kick over the bar.

The game is still close as we enter the final minutes, so we make a go for it and start pushing forward in earnest. Of course taking the ball away from Bayern isn't as easy as that, and all we get from our push is another corner kick against that Papetti heads and Kretzschmar tips wide. Another header by Havertz goes over in injury time, but otherwise Bayern just play the waiting game. And still, there's a final chance for us: Caraballo steals the ball from Kimmich and runs into the box with injury time almost over, but he can't find the target with his finish and sends our last chance to steal something from the Allianz wide.

* * *

FC Bayern München 1 (Sandro Tonali 33)
TSV 1860 München 0

- - -

Well, at least we kept it close this time. Good defensive performance and Kretzschmar was in good form, but after all this time we still have no idea how to create danger against Bayern. Oh well, one of these years we'll get lucky I guess...

[Dalbeider]

Jan 20th 2029

Meunier is out of our next game against Leipzig due to an untimely cold. He'll be back in action soon.

Jan 21st 2029

TSV 1860 München (6th) vs. RasenBallsport Leipzig (1st) (Bundesliga, 20/34)

Unbeaten leaders, yes. Haven't won against us in our last two meetings, that too. Still, their current form is fantastic, considering the six goals they put past Gladbach just last week. There's another factor at play here, though, and it's that they'll be without a handful of regular starters due to the African Cup of Nations going on right now. That could give us an edge that might let us get something from this fixture.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)
RB LEIPZIG (4-2-3-1): Alexander Nübel (GK); Joao Mário (DR), Caleb Okoli (DCr), Felix Uduokhai (DCl), Luca Netz (DL); Paulo Bernardo (MCr), Jakub Moder (MCl); Francisco Conceiçao (AMR), Nedim Bajrami (AMC), Alan Velasco (AML); Fábio Carvalho (ST)

* * *

Daka and Singo are absent due to international callups as mentioned, but Leipzig's eleven is still as scary as ever. We return to our usual style with Maldini as a traditional winger on the right, but it doesn't seem to do us any good as Leipzig take the lead six minutes in after a cross from Joao Mário to Moder is nodded towards Fábio Carvalho, and the forward doesn't miss against Kretzschmar. We improve afterwards, but our only chance in the early game is a cross towards Rodríguez that goes nowhere due to the midfielder's offside position.

Leipzig are happy to run on the counter now, creating danger every time we lose the ball anywhere in midfield with their pace and quick passing. Paulo Bernardo tries luck in the 33th from outside the box, but the ball bounces on the top of the crossbar as it goes over. Six minutes later Bajrami heads a corner kick straight at Kretzschmar, then Conceiçao tries a left-footed piledriver from just inside the box and sends it well over. In the 45th one of their counterattacks finally pays off, as Carvalho runs on the right before assisting Paulo Bernardo with a low pass that the midfielder rifles in with power. Not looking good.

HALF TIME - 0-2

Our shambolic defensive performance continue in the second half, when seven minutes in Joao Mário collects a clearance, no one bothers challenging him, and his cross goes towards the equally unmarked Velasco for an easy header and the 0-3. Magaña, Sapmaz, and Basualdo come into the game immediately, and the full back soon gives us something better with a good run and cross down the left flank that Özcan heads over the bar. And after that, nothing. We have the ball but barely manage to get out of our own half, and when we do Leipzig's deep lines are waiting to steal it and run with it.

Ten minutes before full time Magaña commits a clear penalty on Conceiçao, but Kretzschmar sees where the winger wanted to put his penalty kick and dives to tip it wide, earning Grünwalder Strasse's most heartfelt ovation of the evening. Seven minutes later, finally, Rodríguez creates some danger with a through ball towards Miranda, who can't get his shot correctly and makes it easy for Nübel. Then, just to rub it in, Conceiçao runs into the box unopposed and passes through it towards the opposite side, where substitute Rieder appears to push it in and score the 0-4. The perfect end to a horrid performance.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 0
RasenBallsport Leipzig 4 (Fábio Carvalho 6, Paulo Bernardo 45, Alan Velasco 52, Fabian Rieder 88)

- - -

Worst game of the season, and we've had some stinkers already. Nothing worked today, our attack was nonexistent and everytime we lost the ball there was a chance for Leipzig on the counter. We need to change something tactically speaking, things are getting stale rapidly and we can't just keep going like this. Still sixth, somehow.

[Dalbeider]

Jan 22nd 2029

After an extensive meeting with the rest of the coaching staff we reach a conclusion regarding our tactics: we lack focus. We are trying to do too many things at the same time, never quite focusing on one thing we do well. Our current tactic is fine against all the bottom-half opposition because we just outplay them, but against teams at our level or higher we struggle and really need some luck to get results, and against the top teams like Bayern even that isn't enough more often than not.

So, the plan is to make a few tweaks in our current 4-3-3 to bring it closer to what it was a couple of years ago when it worked a bit better, but at the same time we'll be starting to prepare two new formations. One of them will be a 4-1-3-2, not too far from our current tactic in style but with a much bigger focus on overloading the center and playing narrow rather than splitting our attention between wings and center. We will aim towards making this our default tactic in the near future, possibly before the end of the season. The other one will be the all-out attack option: a 4-2-4 with high pace, gung-ho pressing, and just enough defensive weapons to not be overrun. The plan is to use it against noticeably weaker teams to secure a quick result before switching back to more conservative options, and as an emergency button whenever we really need to get back into a game we're losing.

It helps that we have many versatile players that can play in different positions: Miranda can cover midfield and both wings, Basualdo is a very valid left winger and striker, Maldini can cover both wings and play upfront... The one who'd suffer the most if we ever switch completely away from the 4-3-3 and into the 4-1-3-2 is Sapmaz, since he's locked into a single position and role that we wouldn't be using anymore, but oh well, someone has to be the loser. This might be a deciding factor when it comes to choosing who stays and who goes this summer, actually...

Jan 23rd 2029

Ajax have been sniffing around Casas and even made a €6M offer we rejected, but with his current €7.5M release clause for Champions League teams he could be leaving at any moment and leave us with no funds to replace him while Stjepanovic is still out injured. That'd be a disaster, so we're kinda forced into offering him a new contract with a sizeable wage increase (up to €37k per week) and doubling his current release clause to €15M. That should at least give us some margin to sign someone if any team decides to pay it in full.

Jan 27th 2029

Borussia Mönchengladbach (14th) vs. TSV 1860 München (6th) (Bundesliga, 21/34)

Gladbach aren't climbing the table as fast as I'd expected, hm. Fair, they've gone through basically the same deadly gauntlet we've just endured, but they started it well with a win against Bayern. After that, though, a heavy loss to Leipzig and a more surprising one to Stuttgart and they're back roughly where they started: dangerously close to the relegation battle. That said, there is only seven points between both teams right now, so things are much closer than they seem. Time to get back to winning ways.

* * *

GLADBACH (3-2-2-2-1): Nico Mantl (GK); Igor Diveev (DCr), Marco Katinic (DC), Cheick Doucouré (DCl); Brandon Soppy (WBR), Bail Mumba (WBL); Herlan Gomes (MCr), Aarao (MCl); Marcus Thuram (AMR), Andreas Schelderup (AML); Jonas Wind (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

New managers bring new ideas, and Bo Henriksen, appointed in December, has brought the winger-using version of the 3-2-2-2-1 (basically a wide 3-4-3) to the Bundesliga. We keep our usual formation for now, although I reserve the right to switch to one of our new ones midgame should be need to. We also have to keep in mind the DFB Pokal game against Leverkusen in just a few days, but it looks like we won't be able to take it easy today: after a dominating start, Thuram finds Schelderup with a long pass towards the left flank and the forward enters the box, faces Kretzschmar, and scores through a really narrow space between the keeper and the frame.

Another cross by Thuram in the 16th minute almost means a second goal for Wind, but this time Kretzschmar dives well and tips the ball wide. We're looking extremely frail at the back today, though, and it takes us a couple tactical tweaks to stop the leakage and start playing some football. A wide header by Sapmaz is our first chance, but it only comes in the 36th minute after a long time without action on either goal. Soon Kretzschmar has to fly once again to tip wide a header by Wind, then the same forward heads the corner kick over the bar. 

Five minutes later Rijkhoff finally gives Mantl something to worry about in a corner kick, although the keeper grabs his header without much trouble, then immediately after Rodríguez blasts a rushed shot way over after a quick counterattack. Promising signs, though, and in the last minute of the half Caraballo performs a Maradona-like run across the field, moving from the left to the right side of our attack before assisting Rijkhoff inside the box so the striker can just blast it in with power and draw the game. More of that in the second half, please.

HALF TIME - 1-1

The second half gets off to a slow start, with neither team willing to risk too much this early. After fifteen minutes without a single shot, a pass from Baldé towards Sapmaz inside the box triggers a reckless challenge by Doucouré, and a penalty kick is given after the perfunctory check with VAR. Miranda takes it, but Mantl guesses correctly and dives not just to save, but also to hold the ball. Gladbach reply with a bad header by Wind after a cross by Soppy, and it looks like the game is finally picking up again.

Maldini takes to the field then in Sapmaz's place, and his first action of the game is a run down the right flank against both Mumba and Schelderup, somehow shaking himself free for long enough to swing a cross into the six-yard box for Rijkhoff to tap over the line and make the 1-2, with some help from Katinic's missed interception. Da Silva and Thiago come into the game then, replacing both Miranda and Rodríguez as our most attacking midfielders. Their presence gives our midfield a boost in control and muscle, and we keep the ball without much trouble for the following minutes.

Things look easier now with Gladbach having to resort to long balls we intercept with ease, and we use our advantage to create more danger in the 76th, a cross by Baldé that Rijkhoff mishits and sends rolling harmlessly into Mantl's hands. Gladbach still manage to launch a few dangerous counterattacks, but even in the worst of them there's always a response by our defense, like Lang's fantastic tackle to dispossess Schelderup as he was getting ready to round Kretzschmar and score the 2-2 in the 86th. Elvedi does have a dangerous header in a corner kick that he sends over the bar, but immediately after a pass by Thiago into the box is gathered by Maldini, whose finish is saved by Mantl with a good dive. The final chance is for Gladbach, deep into injury time, with a cross by Soppy and a header by Wind that hits the crossbar, bounces inches off the goal line, and almost rolls in on its own before being cleared away. A scary end to a good win for us.

* * *

Borussia Mönchengladbach 1 (Andreas Schelderup 9)
TSV 1860 München 2 (Julian Rijkhoff 45 63)

- - -

Good recovery there. It took us a bit to understand and learn how to stop Gladbach's new formation, but once we did that it was all us. The second half in particular was almost a monologue until the final ten minutes, and even then Gladbach could only get a few isolated chances in counterattacks and the like, never consistently put us in danger. Great game for Baldé, both defensively and offensively, and of course Rijkhoff with his two goals.

[Dalbeider]

Jan 30th 2029

Rijkhoff and Baldé are part of the Team of the Week this time.

* * *

Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs. TSV 1860 München (DFB Pokal 3rd round)

Feels like we've been playing against Leverkusen for important things forever already... This is the second year in a row in which we meet in the cup, with them destroying us last time but then getting hit back in most of our league meetings. They did beat us in the league this year, though, but it's been a while since and who knows what will happen know. These games are almost always unpredictable and wild. We do need a win to achieve the goals set by the board, though, so we'll take that as extra motivation.

* * *

LEVERKUSEN (4-2-3-1 deep): Okan Aydin (GK); Florian Kaiser (DR), Jonathan Tah (DCr), Maximilian Blücher (DCl), Oier Gil (DL); Alexander Graf (DMCr), Eyüp Aydin (DMCl); Moussa Diaby (AMR), Florian Wirtz (AMC), Sergey Varfolomeev (AML), Eric Depner (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)

* * *

Simeone returns to his usual 4-2-3-1 deep after the (eventually successful) 4-4-2 experiment he pulled off on us last time. We obviously need to rotate our squad after only three days, and soon one of the new faces, Vázquez, is called upon to block a dangerous penetration from the right by Diaby. Possession is all Leverkusen's in the early game, but our first long passing play in the 12th minute ends in a good chance for Maldini, who also sees his finish blocked by Blücher and sent behind for a corner kick. One minute later another corner kick brings a header by Hadzic into the crossbar, then Özcan's shot on the rebound is spectacularly parried by Aydin, denying what looked like a clear goal.

Our play has been improving a lot for a bit now, and in the 15th minute we find the way through thanks to Maldini, who sends a ball into space for Özcan to gather, walk around Okan Aydin, and pass into the back of the net for the 0-1. Things slow down for a few minutes while Leverkusen try to rebuild, and it takes ten minutes for another long pass into space, this time by Miranda, to create another chance for Özcan, who this time shoots under pressure and straight at the keeper. Leverkusen manage to build a dangerous counterattack in the 28th, but Depner doesn't have the composure to put the finish on target and the ball flies into the stands.

Their next chance doesn't come until the 37th, a corner kick that Graf heads in, Rexhepi touches with his fingertips, and Javorcic clears off the line before it becomes a problem. Their pressure has been steadily increasing for a while now, and soon Eyüp Aydin hits a first-time 20-yarder with power and forces Rexhepi into an acrobatic save to push it over the bar. We manage to withstand the barrage, though, and two minutes before the end of regulation Javorcic sends a high pass towards Özcan, the striker nods it further to the left towards the unmarked Basualdo, and the inside forward hits it as it comes to surprise the keeper and double our lead at a critical moment.

HALF TIME - 0-2

With the clear instructions of just keeping it up, we go into the second half with a Leverkusen team getting a little bit antsy, as Diaby's rushed shot from distance into the second stand seven minutes in shows. We do our best to slow the game down as much as possible, and after successfully limiting chances to a minimum for fifteen minutes we decide to take Miranda out after a solid yet tiring midfield performance and bring Da Silva in his place. Ten more minutes go by without incident, and Karlsen and Baldé come into the game to give Rodríguez and Casas some rest, in what will be our first experiment playing Baldé in the center of our defense.

In the 72nd minute we decide it's time to kill the game, and Maldini repeats the same pass ahead of Özcan that gave us our first goal and the striker once again delivers, shooting past the keeper to make it 0-3 and almost secure our place in the quarterfinals for good. With local supporters already giving up hope, Maldini tries to set up his third goal of the evening with a cross towards the far post, but Basualdo's good header is well held by Aydin. 

Leverkusen's luck doesn't get any better and Blücher heads a corner kick into the crossbar in the 82nd minute in what's their first serious approach of the half. One minute later Basualso sees Maldini's run on the opposite side of the pitch and sends the ball across so the winger can complete a fantastic performance with a placed finish into the near post to score the traditional 0-4. Baldé almost makes it one better in a set piece he heads very narrowly over the bar, and Özcan has two chances at a hattrick denied in injury time by timely blocks from Tah, but the center-back can't do anything to stop Özcan from heading in a corner kick taken by Maldini in the dying seconds of the game for his third and our fifth of the evening. Massive result, and into the quarterfinals we go.

* * *

Bayer 04 Leverkusen 0
TSV 1860 München 5 (Vedat Özcan 15 72 90+2, Jonatan Basualdo 43, Daniel Maldini 83)

- - -

These Leverkusen games always deliver one way or another. This time it brought the resurrection of two players who'd been having a rough season so far, Maldini and Özcan. The striker's hattrick was a fantastic way to snap off a dry spell that had been lasting for way too long, and Maldini's second, third, and fourth assists of the season make a good case for perhaps extending his contract. In any case, this is an excellent way to accomplish our goals in the competition, and now we wait and see if we have a chance at going further.

[Dalbeider]

Jan 31st 2029

Should be a relatively calm day at the office today with the transfer window closing. We don't expect to do any business, so if anyone leaves it's because of an outrageous offer we just can't refuse. We might finish a few loans, but otherwise there shouldn't be much movement. Famous last words...

The first transfer offer is for one of our youngsters, winger Holger Bock. Nürnberg want him, and after some negotiation we settle in a deal worth €900k upfront, €100k more after ten league appearances and, most importantly, a 40% of future profits. The kid has promise, but has no chance of featuring in the first team in the short term and hasn't developed much since his arrival, so this is a good chance to secure some extra money in the future should he reach his potential and be bought by a bigger team.

Another point of contention is Maldini's contract. We offer him a new deal with a small increase in wages and a regular starter role, but Freiburg come out of nowhere to try and snap him on a free come the end of his current deal in June. Thankfully the player seems to be happy to stay with us and agrees to our offer within the hour. This does not guarantee he'll stay beyond next summer, but at the very least we won't be losing him for nothing.

Wolfsburg make the final hours of the window a bit more amusing with a €11M offer for Kretzschmar, a player who has no interest in joining them. Double that and we might be talking, but considering his lack of interest, yeah, a waste of time and effort.

With that the transfer window closes, a quiet day all things considered. Meanwhile in the cup Bayern need extra time to get rid of Nürnberg, but they still make it to the quarterfinals together with Dortmund, HSV, and a host of other tough opponents.

Feb 1st 2029

The draw for the DFB Pokal quarterfinals is performed the very next day, and we get a favorable tie at home against Köln. The other matchups will be Bayern-Stuttgart, Mainz-Hamburg, and Gladbach-Dortmund. Bayern should get through with relative ease, but the other two games are more difficult to call due to the on-paper "weaker" team playing at home. We'll see how it goes, but at least we have a good chance of reaching the semifinals for a second time.

Feb 3rd 2029

VfB Stuttgart (7th) vs. TSV 1860 München (6th) (Bundesliga, 22/34)

Back to the league with what could be a major tipping point for this season. Stuttgart are the closest team behind us right now, having scored only four points less than us, and therefore are both a dangerous opponent and someone we really should be winning against, because doing so means we won't be dropping out of the European places any time soon, if at all. They're not the only danger behind, mind, Leverkusen are also close, but we're also facing them next week, so with these two fixtures we could decide whether we'll be looking up or down for the rest of the season. At the very least we should make sure not to lose today.

* * *

STUTTGART (4-2-3-1): Finn Dahmen (GK); Waldemar Anton (DR), Ronny Klotke (DCr), Hrvoje Smolcic (DCl), Fabian Nürnberger (DL); Filip Ronningen Jorgensen (MCr), Orel Mangala (MCl); Aleksander Andresen (AMR), Ismaël Gharbi (AMC), Konrad de la Fuente (AML); Borja Mayoral (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

We rotate back to the team that won in Mönchengladbach last week, and we face a pretty familiar Stuttgart eleven, with only Klorke and Ronningen Jorgensen as new faces from our last meeting. Within seconds we're already creating our first chance after an attack on the right wing that Sapmaz finishes with a low shot, blocked and cleared by the defense. Stuttgart soon push back against our early attacks, though, and for a while the game becomes a battle for possession with no clear winner, although most of the play happens inside our own half.

Things remain mostly unchanged for almost half an hour, with neither keeper having any work to do in all that time until the the 29th minute Caraballo spots a run into space by Rijkhoff and assist him, and the striker tries to find a gap around Dahmen to slot the ball through but instead can only find a great save by the keeper, who covers his near post flawlessly. It's still the best chance of the game so far by a landslide, and Caraballo's header to Sapmaz's cross five minutes later, also saved by the keeper, doesn't come even close. The game evens out again afterwards, and the defenses don't have much more work to do during what remains of the first half.

HALF TIME - 0-0

Once again our first play of the second half generates danger, with Sapmaz trying a left-footed finish after a good combination with Rodríguez, but finding Dahmen well positioned for a comfortable save. However, it's Stuttgart who finally draw first blood in the 54th, with substitue Appelkamp collecting a pass from Gharbi in the left wing and cutting into the box, beating Kretzschmar with a placed finish and giving the home team the lead.

The keeper does much better two minutes later, blocking a finish by Mayoral in a one-on-one after a long ball from deep launched a simple yet deadly counterattack. Andresen then heads a corner kick over the bar, and it looks like we're gonna need to turn things around if we want something out of this game. In come Basualdo and Da Silva for Caraballo and Sapmaz, switching us to our new 4-1-3-2 formation. There's no immediate effect in our attacking prowess, but at least Stuttgart's chances stop and Miranda soon makes Dahmen work to save a direct free kick that was heading straight for the top corner of his goal.

Özcan replaces Rijkhoff as our final substitution, and in the 72nd he drops towards the right wing to send a low cross towards Basualdo, who mistimes his swing and barely hits the ball at all, sending it wide. Klötke gets close to a second for Stuttgart in a set piece he heads over the bar, and we enter the final ten minutes still trailing. Dahmen makes sure that continues to be the case in the 83rd, first parrying a header by Lang in a corner kick, and then holding Rodríguez's finish on the rebound. Basualdo gets another good chance denied by a last-second tackle by Nürnberger, then Klötke heads another set piece wide in the final minute of regulation. We have a last-second chance through Basualdo, who chases a long ball and crosses into the box for Özcan's powerful finish, but once again Dahmen says no and saves with a great show of reflexes, thus securing a key win for Stuttgart.

* * *

VfB Stuttgart 1 (Shinta Appelkamp 54)
TSV 1860 München 0

- - -

Somewhat unlucky result today, as both teams were very evenly matched throughout the game, but Stuttgart's better finishing when it counted was the difference in the end. Miranda had one of his worst games in recent memory both before and after the tactical change, which by the way seemed to work fine and if Dahmen hadn't been in god mode (or our forwards in early Marcos Paulo mode) today we would've scored at least a couple. Oh well, we still remain sixth, but now we have to worry more about not losing more ground to Stuttgart and Leverkusen than about what those ahead of us are doing.

By the way, there's some interesting results today. HSV win against Nürnberg and pull the surprise package team down into the fifth place, combined with Dortmund's win against Wolfsburg. Leipzig also drop points in a surprising 3-3 draw away to Union Berlin, and that allows Bayern to reduce their disadvantage to only four points.

[Dalbeider]

Feb 6th 2029

No surprises in the first batch of DFB Pokal quarterfinals, with Hamburg and Bayern going through. If anything the shocking part is that Bayern needed penalties to get past Stuttgart, and actually were behind for a good portion of the second half before Szoboszlai fixed things through another penalty. I'd be fuming if I was in charge of Stuttgart right now...

Feb 7th 2029

TSV 1860 München vs. 1.FC Köln (DFB Pokal quarterfinals)

And now to do our part and join the big 'uns in the semis. Köln are currently 10th in the Bundesliga and having yet another bang average season, but they're the kind of team that always gives us trouble with their defensive tactics. We'll have to do much better than against Stuttgart if we want to get through today.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)
KÖLN (4-1-4-1): Ersin Destanoglu (GK); Lukas Klostermann (DR), Stephan Ambrosius (DCr), Luca Kilian (DCl), Philipp Max (DL); Marco Kana (DM); Jan Thielmann (MR), Dominik Yankov (MCr), Elvis Rexhbecaj (MCl), Talles Magno (ML); Joao Resende (ST)

* * *

Our last meeting had us both playing exactly the same formations and ended without goals, so we know where we need to improve. We give Miranda some rest since he's been looking a bit out of it lately, but otherwise it's the same squad that put five past Leverkusen one week ago, while Köln start roughly the same eleven from our last meeting, save for Kana and Yankov in midfield. They start trying to defend by holding the ball, but soon our pressing equalizes possession and pushes them back into their own half, where they start their usual bus parking. 

Funnily enough, it's still Köln who get the first shot at goal through a counterattack led by Resende and finished by Rexhbecaj with a high header. That takes seventeen minutes to happen, and it takes seventeen more for Basualdo to head a cross by Javorcic into Destanoglu's hands for our first try at goal. And that's all that happens in one of the most uneventful first halves Grünwalder Strasse has had to endure in recent memory.

HALF TIME - 0-0

Another header by Basualdo that Köln's keeper has zero trouble saving is all we manage after seven minutes of the second half, but it's still a better final product than we had in the first. Soon afterwards Yankov finds himself with a lot of space to run into and tries to surprise Rexhepi, but the keeper does well to close all gaps and blocks the finish with confidence, then watches as Kana's header in the following corner kick goes over. 

Fifteen minutes into the second half Caraballo and Rijkhoff come in to try and reinvigorate our attack, and three minutes later a corner kick taken by Da Silva towards the far post is nodded back towards the center by Rijkhoff, and there Casas pops up and smashes it in to finally open the score. Talk about having an instant impact... Miranda then comes in to rest Rodríguez, and soon he trades passes with Maldini down the right flank before the winger dribbles his way into the box and eventually falls onto the pitch, clearly tripped by Kana. Yet what should've been the confirmation of our victory ends up not mattering, as Da Silva sends the penalty kick into the post.

Köln now need to change their game plan and start looking for goals more proactively, although their only quick chance comes from a direct free kick that Max takes with quality, but Rexhepi saves and holds in a great flight. Miranda has a similar chance to score from a free kick in the 82nd minute, but Destanoglu can't do the same Rexhepi did and is unable to reach the Argentinian's masterful strike that becomes the 2-0. Rijkhoff almost makes it three just a moment later after chasing a long pass by Maldini and shooting into Destanoglu's good last-ditch save, as Köln try a flat 4-4-2 as their final hope for a comeback. It doesn't quite work, and their keeper has to work hard again to tip over the bar a dangerous finish by Miranda. A final corner kick that Hadzic heads over the bar is the last action of the game, and our path into the semifinals is now open.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 2 (Arnau Casas 63, Matías Miranda 82)
1.FC Köln 0

- - -

Took some patience and a bit of luck, but we broke through in the end. Köln are a tough nut to crack, and their counters and set pieces are usually all they need to steal points elsewhere, but this time we did what we had to do, took our chances, and won our place in the semis. Dortmund are out, though, losing clearly against Gladbach in another step towards a very disappointing season for them. Now we cross fingers and see what we get in the final draw.

[Dalbeider]

Feb 11th 2029

TSV 1860 München (6th) vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen (8th) (Bundesliga, 23/34)

Last week's game was important, but this week's against Leverkusen is absolutely vital, even more given our defeat against Stuttgart. Anything other than a win opens the gates for both teams to get dangerously close to our place, which would put a lot of pressure on us for what remains of the season. We need breathing room, and the way to get it is to beat Leverkusen. Again.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)
LEVERKUSEN (4-2-3-1 deep): Yassine Aamri (GK); Gonçalo Esteves (DR), Jonathan Tah (DCr), Maximilian Blücher (DCl), Oier Gil (DL); Giacomo Faticanti (DMCr), Eyüp Aydin (DMCl); Moussa Diaby (AMR), Florian Wirtz (AMC), Sergey Varfolomeev (AML), Tunay Can (ST)

* * *

We know Leverkusen well by now, so there are very few surprises in their lineup, once again sticking with the 4-2-3-1. The same can be said about us and our starting eleven, though, exactly the same that lost in Stuttgart. The first strike is for Diaby, who runs into the box after a long pass by Aydin and is stopped in the end by a combination of Magaña being a nuisance and Kretzschmar tipping his final finish over. Another run on the right, this time by Esteves, ends in a cross and a blocked shot by Varfolomeev, and then Gil heads a corner kick into Kretzschmar's fingertip save as Simeone's boys look set to gain revenge for their cup elimination.

We try to work our way back into the game through our superior possession rate, but again an attack through their right wing leads to Diaby crossing low into the heart of the box so Varfolomeev only has to push it over to score the 0-1 in the 18th minute. Two minutes later Kretzschmar has to stretch to stop a shot by Can in a counterattack through the center, and it takes us until the 25th to generate our first real chance, a good header by Caraballo after a cross by Magaña that Aamri deflects wide. There's a long lull afterwards, leading into another header that Aamri has no trouble saving, this one coming from Rijkhoff already in the 40th minute of the game, and then nothing else afterwards. We might be in a bit of a pickle...

HALF TIME - 0-1

Things don't really improve much in the second half, with our attack looking ineffective and our midfielders losing dangerous balls that lead to even more dangerous counterattacks from Leverkusen. And of course that's exactly when Miranda whips in a set piece from right next to the corner flag and Lang wins the jump in the far post, heading it in as Aamri flails aimlessly for a ball that just isn't there. Leverkusen still are the best team on the pitch, though, constantly creating overloads down the flank like Esteves does in the 58th minute, finishing his run with a high ball into outer space.

Casas is having one of his worst games since his arrival, and is soon replaced by Javorcic while Baldé moves to the center of the defense again. Özcan also takes point in Rijkhoff's place as the game stalls for a few minutes until in the 66th a cross from Aydin is headed by Can, apparently without much power, but a lucky bounce makes Kretzschmar completely mistime his dive and the ball rolls over him and into the net for the 1-2.

We now really need goals, and that's why we've been preparing our 4-2-4 tactic: Basualdo replaces Rodríguez, moves forward as our second striker, and we go for broke. And broke we go when Aydin collects a ball just outside the box and launches an unstoppable missile into the top corner for the 1-3 in the 70th minute. But then, two minutes later, Basualdo gets the ball from Miranda in a very similar position and does the exact same thing, with the exact same result: goal, 2-3, and back into the fray.

We really start pouring forward then, creating a few minor chances but nothing Leverkusen's defense can't deal with. Time passes without changes until we reach injury time, when Magaña tries luck from the edge of the box but shoots the ball into the stratosphere. A knock to Baldé slows our pace even further, and in the end we fail to get even one more chance and the game ends in defeat, our fifth in six league games in 2029 so far.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 2 (Niklas Lang 57, Jonatan Basualdo 72)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen 3 (Sergey Varfolomeev 18, Tunay Can 66, Eyüp Aydin 70)

- - -

Yep, we're in deep trouble now. Not only do we drop down one place thanks to Stuttgart's victory, we are now tied on points with Leverkusen with only goal difference saving us from dropping out of Europe altogether. And then Freiburg are only three points behind both. And we've scored three points so far in 2029. This might be our worst run since our first year in the Bundesliga...

[Dalbeider]

Feb 13th 2029

Miranda makes the Team of the Week thanks to his two assists against Leverkusen. For all they were worth...

Feb 14th 2029

Caraballo will most likely miss this weekend's game against Union with a virus. He should be fine within a week or so.

Feb 17th 2029

1.FC Union Berlin (15th) vs. TSV 1860 München (7th) (Bundesliga, 24/34)

Our last two defeats in two must-win games against direct rivals for Europe have suddenly turned what should've been two relaxing outings against relegation candidates into season-defining games. We can't afford to drop any points in either if we're to keep pace with Stuttgart and Leverkusen, not to mention maybe getting a bit closer to the teams ahead. Union have been doing better since Baumgart took over, but they still should be a step or two below us. Mandatory win.

* * *

UNION BERLIN (4-4-2 diamond narrow): Eric Oelschlägel (GK); Lucas Klünter (DR), Reece Oxford (DCr), Jarrad Branthwaite (DCl), Maximilian Mittelstädt (DL); Rani Khedira (DM), Robert Wagner (MCr), Mirko Koch (MCl), Ben Amshoff (AMC); Iker Bravo (STr), Miguel de la Fuente (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)

* * *

Union have switched to a narrow diamond formation which we last saw Gladbach use back in September, and have just signed Iker Bravo to complete a fully Spanish forward line. We go with a mix of league and cup starters today, yet the initiative seems to be Union's in the first minutes with them trying a couple of early shots that never get past the defensive line. De la Fuente finally manages to get one through in the 10th minute, but Kretzschmar saves it with relative ease. Our first attempt comes through Rodríguez, who also gets a shot from ouside the box that Oelschlägel holds without trouble.

In the 17th Basualdo sends one of his trademark passes into space ahead of Rijkhoff and the striker tries to lob the keeper to finish the job, but Oelschlägel reads it well and stretches to tip the ball over. We now seem to be the ones in the driving seat, and our momentum eventually rewards us when Miranda steals the ball in Union's build-up phase and quickly passes it to Rodríguez, who tries another shot from the edge of the box and this time finds the back of the net. A couple of minutes later it's Hadzic who heads a corner kick into the crossbar, and the game seems to have completely turned around in our favor.

We keep it going for as long as we can, and in the 33rd Basualdo tries a spectacular volley to finish a good cross from the right by Rodríguez, but he can't hit it as cleanly as he'd wanted and the ball ends up going wide. A high direct free kick attempt by Miranda follows four minutes later, and there hasn't been any news from Union's attack for a while now. The final five minutes are calmer, with Oelschlägel finally getting a breather as the result holds unchanged until the end of the half.

HALF TIME - 0-1

Union obviously want something different in the second half, and merely seconds in De la Fuente is already heading a cross by Bravo narrowly over the bar. Kretzschmar then saves a weak shot from distance by Koch, but in the 49th minute Rijkhoff gathers the ball in midfield, attracts the attention of Union's players, then sends the ball at the gap created so Rodríguez can run into it and shoot with power to score his and our second of the evening.

The goal only encourages Union to pour forward even more, but we manage to handle them well for the following minutes, forcing them into long shots and weak finishes that create no trouble for us. Sapmaz and Da Silva come into the game then, giving rest to Miranda and Maldini, and a while later Meunier replaces Thiago to protect him from a hypothetical second yellow card. Time passes quickly without any major events on either half of the pitch, until in the 78th minute De la Fuente tries a shot from the edge of the box that Kretzschmar has to tip wide and Oxford follows it up with a badly high header in the corner kick. 

Union move to a 4-2-3-1 in the final ten minutes, but that change doesn't seem to benefit them in any way. On the contrary, Rodríguez has a chance to grab himself a hattrick that only a good dive by Oelschlägel prevents from becoming the 0-3 with only three minutes on the clock. It isn't until late in injury time that Union manage to create a counterattack down the left flank with substitute Chacón assisting Wagner, who shoots at the gap between Kretzschmar and the near post to score the 1-2. By then there's only seconds left, though, and they run out before they have time to create any further danger. Solid win.

* * *

1.FC Union Berlin 1 (Robert Wagner 90+4)
TSV 1860 München 2 (Jair Rodríguez 23 49)

- - -

That'll do I suppose. Not too happy with conceding that late goal, and Kretzschmar really isn't playing anywhere near his usual standards as of late, but we still had a pretty good game and deserved our win in the end. Rodríguez made the difference today after, again, a long stretch of games in which he was mostly irrelevant, and Miranda and Rijkhoff also played at a good level.

Today's also a day with very relevant results among the other top teams in the league: Dortmund beat Bayern 3-0 in der Klassiker, which makes Leipzig's 3-3 draw in Hamburg good in comparison, while Nürnberg also lose in a shock 4-2 in Mainz. More relevant for us, Stuttgart beat Leverkusen 0-3 and secure both their sixth place and our seventh, at least for now. The end result is that the top seven is now a bit more compact, which is good for us at the bottom of it all.

[Dalbeider]

Feb 20th 2029

Two slots in midfield for Miranda and Rodríguez in the Team of the Week.

Feb 24th 2029

TSV 1860 München (7th) vs. Hannover 96 (16th) (Bundesliga, 25/34)

The other game we should be winning easily, but careful: Hannover just jumped out of the relegation zone after a solid-looking 2-0 win over Gladbach (who most certainly won't be performing another climb like last year's) and will most likely be in an all-season high. We can't afford to get complacent today if we don't want Europe to escape through or fingers, even more considering HSV and Dortmund are next.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Can Sapmaz (AMR), Jonatan Basualdo (AML), Julian Rijkhoff (ST)
HANNOVER (3-3-2-2): Thorben Hoffmann (GK); Laurin Moser (DCr), Nathan Ferguson (DC), Cédric Kipré (DCl); Shurandy Sambo (WBr), Adam Ross (DM), Jannes Horn (WBl); Ido Shahar (MCr), Finn Ole Becker (MCl); Steffen Tigges (STr), Eduard Heise (STl)

* * *

We hadn't seen this 3-5-2 variant since a couple of years ago, so this will be interesting. Also interesting is Rexhepi's presence in our goal: I've been wanting to give him some Bundesliga minutes for a while, and Kretzschmar just made it easier with his recent performances. As one would expect Hannover start the game sitting deep and waiting for us to come, and having so many bodies at the back makes it really hard to create anything worthwhile. We go all the way until the twenty-seventh minute until something happens, and it's on the wrong goal: Tigges heads wide a set piece taken by Ole Becker.

Rodríguez suffers a minor lower leg injury around the half-hour mark, which makes things a bit more difficult. We start at least getting a few shots from distance in just to test Hoffmann from time to time, but none of them can even qualify as a goalscoring chance. And just like that, the first half ends on us.

HALF TIME - 0-0

Da Silva takes Rodríguez's place after the break just so he can have his injury looked at, and we go right back at banging our heads against Hannover's wall, almost literally. Nothing changes despite trying anything I can think of tactically speaking, so we look at the bench and bring Özcan in Rijkhoff's place, hoping it'll do something. A couple more easy saves for Hoffmann is all we get, so with twenty minutes on the clock we decide it's time to really go for it, switching to our 4-2-4 with Caraballo replacing Miranda and moving to the left wing.

That seems to do the trick, and only a minute or so after entering the pitch Caraballo gathers a throw-in and takes a shot from the edge of the box that hits the crossbar, the closest we've been to scoring all game long by a mile and a half. In the 74th, though, Hannover try what's probably their first real attack of the game and Horn finds Heise running into space with a long pass that the striker uses to beat Rexhepi and score the 0-1. Absolute shambles.

We return to our regularly scheduled ineffective attacking, because what else can we do, and for once we create something dangerous through a pass over the defense from Da Silva to Basualdo, who nonetheless botches the finish and allows Hoffmann an easy block. A finish by Özcan that doesn't make it past his marker's legs in injury time is our only other chance before time runs out. Incredible.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 0
Hannover 96 1 (Eduard Heise 74)

- - -

No comment.

[Dalbeider]

Mar 3rd 2029

First Bundesliga defeat of the season for Leipzig, who lose in Mainz of all places. Bayern don't take their chance, though, and can only get a goalless draw in their visit to 17th-placed Eintracht. The teams behind are too far away to catch up with them now, but these two sure want to keep the race undecided until the end... 

Mar 4th 2029

Hamburger SV (3rd) vs. TSV 1860 München (7th) (Bundesliga, 26/34)

One team is looking up, the other is looking down. HSV have stepped up their game since the (minor?) disappointment of missing out on Champions League football to us last season, and now they're not just firmly inside the top four, but even ahead of Dortmund, perennial top three members until now. Us? Sinking rapidly and losing against relegation favorites. We need a result, but I'm not too confident.

* * *

HSV (4-2-3-1): Yoshiaki Ichikawa (GK); Marcel Neigenfink (DR), Jamie Lawrence (DCr), Justin Janitzek (DCl), Andrii Buleza (DL); Burak Ince (MCr), Ludovic Reis (MCl); Xavier Amaechi (AMR), Matteo Cros (AMC), Dimitris Paligeorgos (AML); Mazinho (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-3-3): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM), Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (AMR), Rodrigo Caraballo (AML), Vedat Özcan (ST)

* * *

Changes all around in our lineup today, because of course. HSV also switch their eleven around a bit, with some surprising movements like out-and-out striker Paligeorgos playing on the left. The pitch is whitened all over by the snow falling over Hamburg, which makes playing our usual short passing game a bit more difficult. We get the first shot at goal with a high header by Özcan only three minutes into the game, which heralds our surprising domination of possession and territory in the early game. HSV soon start freeing themselves from our early pressure, though, and Janitzek has their first chance twelve minutes in with another high header, this one coming from a corner kick.

An interception in midfield by Caraballo in the 22nd minute creates a counterattack that Özcan finishes well, but Ichikawa saves even better. The keeper has another miraculous intervention one minute later, stopping a shot by Rodríguez from inside the box following an intelligent nod by Özcan, very active today. On the opposite end a shot by Reis that deflects on Thiago's legs misses the target by inches, but in the following corner kick Reis himself makes sure to aim his header well and score the 1-0 for HSV.

Another corner kick in the 30th minute generates another chance for the home team, this time headed over by Lawrence, then Ince tries luck from outside the box but also sends his shot a bit too high. We manage to stop them after that, but it's been a while now since we created any kind of danger near their goal. One of our attempts to do so ends in a lost possession and a counterattack for Paligeorgos, who enters the box and is brought down by Baldé: penalty kick for Ince, but Kretzschmar gets his second consecutive save with a perfect dive to the right, tipping it wide and keeping us alive until the end of the first half.

HALF TIME - 1-0

HSV keep the initiative after the break, and soon Baldé has to block a point-blank finish by Paligeorgos after a cross from the right that no one dared to intercept. They continue their siege with a great break through the center by Mazinho, who chips his finish over Kretzschmar but finds the crossbar instead of the back of the net. It's obvious by now that the game is lost is we continue like this, so we bring in changes: Basualdo replaces Caraballo, Da Silva comes in for Maldini, and we move to our 4-1-3-2 formation.

The improvement is almost immediate, and soon a combination through the center between Rodríguez and Özcan ends in an impeded short by the Turk, blocked by Lawrence. Immediately afterwards Rodríguez assists again, this time towards Miranda with a cross into space, and it's Ichikawa who has to block the finish and send the ball behind this time. In the 61st comes our best chance until then: Baldé crosses into the box ahead of a completely unmarked Özcan, yet the striker slips in the snow before applying his finish and the shot is weak and easy for the keeper.

We're clearly on the right path, though, and Rijkhoff comes in for Özcan to try and finish things a bit more properly. However, our attacking flair suddenly seems to disappear into thin air around the time of the substitution, perhaps as HSV finally adapt their defense to deal with our new outlook. It takes us until the 76th to generate danger again, and it's in a corner kick that Lang heads into the crossbar and no one is able to catch the rebound. Two minutes later it's a counterattack initiated by Rijkhoff, led by Basualdo, and finished by the Dutch striker on the run, once again parried by an excellent Ichikawa.

Things take a weird turn with ten minutes on the clock when Amaechi twists an ankle and has to leave the field with no more substitutions available for HSV. We take the chance to go full tilt on the attack and finally, in the 85th minute, Rijkhoff runs on the left flank after a long pass by Miranda and crosses low towards Basualdo, who finds a gap Ichikawa is not covering to score the 1-1 we'd been deserving for a while. And it should've been 1-2 two minutes later when Rijkhoff assists Da Silva as the midfielder runs into the box, but his touch around Ichikawa to finish the play sails wide by a couple of feet. Somewhat unbelievably, HSV have a last-second chance to steal the winner through Paligeorgos after a long pass behind our defense, but thankfully Kretzschmar stands tall to deny him and the draw holds until the end.

* * *

Hamburger SV 1 (Ludovic Reis 26)
TSV 1860 München 1 (Jonatan Basualdo 85)

- - -

Good result, considering we could've easily been two or three down by the time we made our formation change given the chances HSV wasted, penalty included. After that it was all us, though, and we also had more than enough chances to score a couple goals instead of just one, so I'm gonna call the draw a fair one. Not enough to compensate for all our previous failures, but a good sign nonetheless.

Funny how things work sometimes: we'll be returning to Volksparkstadion in April, since we'll be playing the DFB Pokal semifinals away to Hamburg. Gladbach will host Bayern in the other one, and wouldn't it be the best to face off against Bayern in the final? Now that would be an ideal moment to get our first win against them... Okay, no, if I'm really honest I'd rather play Gladbach, thank you very much. We'll still have to beat HSV first, though, and after today's match it's obvious it's not going to be easy.

* * *

| Pos  | Team                | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | GD    | Pts   | Form  | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st  | RB Leipzig          | 26    | 20    | 5     | 1     | 71    | 19    | 52    | 65    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd  | FC Bayern           | 26    | 19    | 4     | 3     | 68    | 22    | 46    | 61    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd  | Borussia Dortmund   | 26    | 15    | 5     | 6     | 48    | 29    | 19    | 50    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th  | Hamburg             | 26    | 14    | 7     | 5     | 45    | 33    | 12    | 49    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th  | Stuttgart           | 26    | 13    | 5     | 8     | 40    | 21    | 19    | 44    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th  | Nürnberg            | 26    | 13    | 5     | 8     | 40    | 37    | 3     | 44    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th  | 1860 München        | 26    | 11    | 4     | 11    | 37    | 33    | 4     | 37    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th  | Bayer Leverkusen    | 26    | 10    | 6     | 10    | 37    | 41    | -4    | 36    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 9th  | Köln                | 26    | 8     | 9     | 9     | 27    | 37    | -10   | 33    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th | Freiburg            | 26    | 8     | 8     | 10    | 37    | 39    | -2    | 32    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th | Hertha BSC          | 26    | 8     | 7     | 11    | 33    | 36    | -3    | 31    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th | Mainz               | 26    | 9     | 4     | 13    | 39    | 44    | -5    | 31    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th | Wolfsburg           | 26    | 7     | 8     | 11    | 38    | 45    | -7    | 29    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th | Borussia M'gladbach | 26    | 8     | 2     | 16    | 29    | 50    | -21   | 26    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th | Hannover 96         | 26    | 6     | 7     | 13    | 25    | 47    | -22   | 25    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th | Union Berlin        | 26    | 5     | 6     | 15    | 33    | 54    | -21   | 21    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th | Frankfurt           | 26    | 5     | 5     | 16    | 22    | 50    | -28   | 20    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th | Fortuna Düsseldorf  | 26    | 4     | 5     | 17    | 23    | 55    | -32   | 17    |       | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

And somehow, somehow, despite scoring a grand total of seven points in our last nine games, we're still value for an European place come the end of the season. Leverkusen just lost in Hannover, which at least vindicates our result against them a little bit, and that keeps them behind us for the time being, while the likes of Köln, Freiburg, and Hertha are also collecting negative results as of late and not looking like serious threats to us, unless we keep imploding on our own like we've been doing lately. Mainz are on the rise, though, they scare me a little bit... 

At the top Leipzig remain four points ahead of Bayern, but if we've learned something from previous seasons is that Leipzig will always mess up when it counts. The mostly meaningless battle for the third place will be another two-horse race between HSV and Dortmund, while Stuttgart have caught up to the free-falling Nürnberg and look quite comfy in the Europa League places. If we're to improve our position in any way it'll be at Nürnberg's expense, I'm pretty sure.  At the bottom things remain wide open, with Hannover having won three straight now and managing a great escape ahead of time, while Union seem to be losing steam, Fortuna and Eintracht can't quite find a way out, and Gladbach are not out of the fire just yet. Should be a fun end to the season at all levels.

* * *

PLAYER STATS
============

Average rating (min. 9 games played):

Matías Miranda               7.15 (27(5) apps)
Thierno Baldé                7.11 (16(5) apps)
Arnau Casas                  7.10 (21(2) apps)
Niklas Lang                  7.08 (25(1) apps)
Thiago                       7.05 (21(3) apps)

Goals:

Matías Miranda               9 goals
Vedat Özcan                  7
Julian Rijkhoff              7
Jonatan Basualdo             5
Can Sapmaz                   5

Assists:

Matías Miranda               10 assists
Julian Rijkhoff              7
Jair Rodríguez               5
Daniel Maldini               4
Can Sapmaz                   3
Florent Da Silva             3

 

[Dalbeider]

Mar 7th 2029

Both Dortmund and Bayern out in the first knockout round of the Champions League against Porto and PSV respectively, wow. Leipzig still have to play the return leg, but they'll have to come back from a 2-0 loss in Nice. If they don't it's a total blank for Germany in the quarterfinals. That can't be good for our coefficient...

Mar 10th 2029

TSV 1860 München (7th) vs. Borussia Dortmund (4th) (Bundesliga, 27/34)

Speak of the devil... Dortmund have managed to claw their way back into the top four, but their form is still shaky, particularly away from their stadium. They're still scary, of course, and if their forward line have a good day they can destroy anyone in their path, but I'm not in awe of them anymore. We can win this, and we probably should if we want to make sure we don't lose our place in Europe.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)
DORTMUND (4-2-3-1): Gregor Kobel (GK); Mohamed Simakan (DR), Niklas Süle (DCr), Manuel Akanji (DCl), Arthur Theate (DL); Hannibal (MCr), Angelo Stiller (MCl); Samuel Chukwueze (AMR), Kacper Kozlowski (AMC), Giovanni Reyna (AML), Luka Jovic (ST)

* * *

After last week's success in Hamburg I think it's about time we gave the 4-1-3-2 a go from the start, particularly when our opposition's formation and style are very similar to HSV's. Dortmund are without Hlozek today, much to our relief, although their forward four remain a force to be reckoned with. Ours isn't bad either, and thirty seconds into the game Basualdo is already sending a pass ahead of Rijkhoff, who can't finish the job due to Süle's timely tackle. Not even one minute later Rodríguez barges into the right side of the box and passes back to Basualdo, who shoots very narrowly wide, and still within the second minute of the game we recover the ball quickly after Kobel's goal kick, Da Silva sends another pass into space ahead of Basualdo, and the forward hits it left-footed to score the 1-0 in our first try. Not a bad way to start the evening.

We're not done yet being awesome, though: Miranda has a free kick almost thirty yards away from goal, but he still sends it with pinpoint precision past Kobel's save attempt and scores a spectacular goal to double our lead, just seconds inside the sixth minute of the game. He's on ten goals and ten assists now, by the way, our first player ever with a double double. Dortmund start pushing forward then, shocked to find themselves two behind this quickly, but that's when the other weapon at our disposal shows up: counterattacks. A lightning-quick play through the center reaches Rodríguez, the youngster sends a first-touch pass ahead of Da Silva, and the midfielder shoots confidently past Kobel to score the third. Twelve minutes gone.

A shot by Reyna that Javorcic stops before it becomes a threat is Dortmund's first real approach, but they still can't track our runs from deep in midfield, and soon Da Silva finds himself alone against Kobel again, although this time the keeper rushes out and takes the ball from him before he can finish. Dortmund still get close to taking one back in the 18th, though, when Jovic heads a cross by Simakan into Kretzschmar's fingertips but the ball overpowers the save, yet Javorcic arrives just in time to clear it off the line.

Afterwards we manage to finally calm down the game a bit, with possession shared almost equally but neither team managing to push through. Reyna also needs to be replaced by Traoré after thirty minutes due to injury, which stops Dortmund's momentum even more. Our next shot has to wait until the 39th, with a rare run forward by Casas and a curling shot by the defender that goes a bit too high and wide, but not too much. Things remain slow until the end of the half, though, and the result remains unchanged and fantastic.

HALF TIME - 3-0

The game remains resolutely dead after the break, and fifteen minutes pass with no major opportunities to report. Thiago and Karlsen replace Rodríguez and Miranda then, the latter due to tiredness and the former because he's one yellow card away from suspension. In the 64th minute, though, a defensive distraction allows Traoré to receive completely unmarked on the right wing after a botched clearance, and the winger crosses into the box so Holmgren Pedersen can just blast it in and claw one back for Dortmund. We're not done yet.

Özcan takes Rijkhoff's place as our last substitution, while Magaña picks a yellow and will be suspended against Mainz. In the 69th Basualdo shows he's almost as good as Miranda when it comes to free kicks, forcing Kobel into an acrobatic save to prevent the 4-1 in another thirty-yarder. The keeper also does well to stop a header by Casas in the resulting corner kick, and it seems like we've managed to arrest Dortmund's rush for the 3-2 before it even got started. Özcan even scores in the 78th following another great assist by Da Silva, but he was offside when the pass happened and the goal is called off.

Things look settled now, but in the 88th minute Holmgren Pedersen gives us another headache, this time with a cross from the right that evades Casas's head but finds Jovic, and the striker fixes a horrid performance up until now by heading it into the underside of the bar and score the 3-2. Thankfully it doesn't go beyond that, and we manage to keep them at bay until time finally runs out and confirms our win.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 3 (Jonatan Basualdo 2, Matías Miranda 6, Florent Da Silva 12)
Borussia Dortmund 2 (Marcus Holmgren Pedersen 64, Luka Jovic 88)

- - -

How to completely dismantle Dortmund in three easy steps. Granted, we kinda took it a bit too easy afterwards, and relaxing against a team of Dortmund's quality is risky at the best of times no matter how big your lead is, but in the end we made it work. I like this tactic.

Nürnberg's defeat at home against Fortuna shows that they're spiralling and quite badly, and now they're only four points ahead of us. Leverkusen's more understandable defeat at home against HSV also paves the way for us, leaving them four points behind. At the top Bayern shock the nation by losing at home against Freiburg, thus allowing Leipzig to increase their lead up to seven points. They can't throw this one away, can they...?

[Dalbeider]

Mar 13th 2029

Da Silva makes the Team of the Week, and I can't remember when was the last time he did, if ever...

Mar 14th 2029

Time for the first international window of 2029. The major piece of news for us this time is our two reserve goalkeepers making the German U21 side, and also Meunier's return to France's U21s. Otherwise it's the usual including a late call with Venezuela for Caraballo, despite his terrible performances lately.

Leipzig save the Bundesliga's honor in the Champions League after a 3-0 comeback win against Nice in extra time. Good.

Mar 15th 2029

Double dose of news from the infirmary today: Lang has twisted his knee and will be out of Saturday's game in Mainz, and Meunier has been sent home to recover from a cold. That leaves us very thin in two key positions, but given they're both short-term injuries we should be mostly fine.

Mar 17th 2029

Just before our match against Mainz we get notice of the new batch of youth prospects arriving at the club, and we have a potential star in the making! 15-year-old left back Markus Althoff looks like he's gonna be the real deal in a few years, and we'll do our best to make sure he reaches his potential. Heck, if it weren't for the restriction on playing kids younger than 18 in the Bundesliga Magaña would probably be really worried about his short-term future here. Midfielder Felix Donner and left-winger-slash-striker Lovro Katic are also solid-looking prospects, if at a lower expected level than Althoff. About time we got something good from our youth system, and more incentive to keep investing in it once our stadium is finished and our sources of income stabilized.

* * *

1.FSV Mainz 05 (12th) vs. TSV 1860 München (7th) (Bundesliga, 28/34)

Lately we've been doing better against top half teams than against bottom half ones, so forgive me for being a little bit scared about Mainz. They've been very strong at home lately too, including a shock 1-0 win over Leipzig a couple of weeks ago. Still, we haven't lost to them in five games so we should be better than them. The problem is showing it.

* * *

MAINZ (4-2-3-1): Senne Lammens (GK); Joe Scally (DR), Omar Rekik (DCr), Márton Dárdai (DCl), Mathias Farnes Gabrielsen (DL); Bledian Krasniqi (MCr), Frank Hennig (MCl); Paulos Abraham (AMR), Check Oumar Diakité (AMC), Noel López (AML); Alessio Besio (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM); Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)

* * *

Our injuries and suspensions today bring about young Beltramone's first presence in our bench, and might even debut today if the match goes as it should. Mainz show quite a few new faces today, and the game starts about as badly as it could for us: Javorcic suffers an injury in his lower leg after a collision with Abraham and needs to be immediately replaced by Baldé. The game isn't similar to the Dortmund game at all, and in fact Mainz seem to have the initiative in the first ten minutes, eventually getting a corner kick that Rekik heads dangerously close to the crossbar. Another set piece in the 17th minute goes even closer, with Besio heading it into the post, while we struggle to link enough passes together to create any attacking plays.

Besio gets his head to another corner kick one minute later, sending it wide off the target, but then we finally find a way through with a long ball towards Özcan, a nod to Rodríguez, and a pass forward ahead of Da Silva, who gets our first shot in but is denied by Lammens. We improve a bit after that, but in the 29th Mainz chain a long passing play that ends with a long ball from Krasniqi towards Abraham, who cuts into the box from the left and places a perfect finish around Kretzschmar to score the 1-0.

Rodríguez continues being our only source of creativity today, and in the 33rd minute sends a pass to Miranda inside the box that the Argentinian tries to volley in, but ends up sending into Lammens' hands. Nine minutes later it's Basualdo's turn, first intercepting a bad clearance by the keeper then trying a lob over him which goes very close, but still over. It looks like we're going to end the first half behind, but in the last minute of regulation Basualdo bursts past Hennig and initiates a quick attack that Rodríguez, once again, finishes with a great pass ahead of Miranda, who doesn't miss this time and draws the game in a key moment. A high ball from distance by Krasniqi in injury time is the last action before half time.

HALF TIME - 1-1

There's not much action in the first third of the second half, with zero chances and just a couple of yellow cards for our defenders, which is somewhat worrying. Even more worrying is Vázquez's bad pass in the 62nd which generates a counterattack by Besio, thankfully stopped by both center-backs closing him down quickly and Kretzschmar tipping over the bar his forced finish. Karlsen and Caraballo replace Da Silva and Basualdo a bit later, and soon their effect is felt and we start testing Lammens again, although with little danger for now.

In the 69th we finally generate something worthwhile in a first-touch passing play between Caraballo, Özcan, and Rodríguez, who tries a placed shot that Lammens tips wide. Another assist by Özcan reaches Caraballo near the penalty spot three minutes later, and the youngster tries a powerful but centered shot that the keeper punches over the bar. Mainz answer with a cross by Scally that Carstensen heads from a difficult position, easy for Kretzschmar to block, and for a while the game evens out and both teams annul each other. We go all the way until the 90th minute, and then Rodríguez gets another low shot tipped wide by Lammens, but the incredibly short one-minute injury time doesn't give any room for more. Decent result in the end.

* * *

1.FSV Mainz 05 1 (Paulos Abraham 29)
TSV 1860 München 1 (Matías Miranda 45)

- - -

Eh, I'll take it I guess? Not ideal dropping points in the situation we're at, but at least we keep the unbeaten run going. The game was relatively even in the first half with a slight advantage to Mainz, but we were definitely better in the second half, even though none of our chances could be considered a sitter. Miranda was once again our best and most decisive player, and his numbers this year have been amazing so far. Long may it continue.

Javorcic's injury is relatively serious, a pulled calf muscle that'll keep him out for two to three weeks, but which comes with perfect timing just before the international break. He should miss only one game at worst.

Elsewhere in the league Freiburg show that they're the most in-form team in the league right now and beat Leipzig 3-2, and Bayern soon say thank you and recover the ground lost last week with an easy win in Düsseldorf. Nürnberg, Stuttgart, and Hamburg all win, while Leverkusen lose in Dortmund and lose the eight place to Freiburg, who now sit three points behind us and looking quite scary. We're visiting them in three weeks...

[Dalbeider]

Mar 20th 2029

Another appearance in the Team of the Week for Miranda, one of many this year.

Mar 21st 2029

Englisch gets his U21 debut with Germany as a substitute by replacing Rexhepi. Cute.

Mar 22nd 2029

As for the senior internationals, the American contingent do really well, with Caraballo scoring against Colombia and Rodríguez bagging two against Martinique then adding another against Tunisia, with Magaña doing well in defense in both games. The Europeans have more discreet appearances with one exception: Özcan scores two with Turkey against Liechtenstein. Oh, and somehow Javorcic plays a full game with Croatia despite being injured. He did well, too... Rijkhoff adds another goal for the Netherlands later in the week, playing the whole game in a win against Finland.

Mar 24th 2029

Our former reserve keeper, Valentino Quintero, has just been sold to América (MG) for €775k, of which €100k come to us thanks to the sell-on clause we added in his transfer to Racing Club. Not much, but I'll take it.

Mar 31st 2029

None of our youngsters make the NxGn 2029 list, but there's some familiar faces at the top of the rankings: number one goes to Hamburg's Mazinho, while number two is for Leverkusen's Tunay Can. France, Portugal, Germany, and Brazil dominate the top ten.

* * *

TSV 1860 München (7th) vs. Eintracht Frankfurt (16th) (Bundesliga, 29/34)

An easy game on paper, but Eintracht have just escaped from the direct drop zone after beating Gladbach, who keep making our rivals regain morale just before playing against us, the bastards... Their form otherwise has been abysmal all year long and hasn't improved much if at all in the last couple of months, so I'll call that a fluke and be confident in a comfortable win.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)
EINTRACHT (3-2-2-2-1): André Gomes (GK); Jamil Siebert (DCr), Bright Arrey-Mbi (DC), Jackson Porozo (DCl); Kevin Mbabu (WBR), Noah Katterbach (WBL); Lewis Cook (MCr), Toma Basic (MCl); Bryan Mbeumo (AMR), André Franco (AML); Joe Gelhardt (ST)

* * *

That said, I'm not too happy to see a 3-5-2 variant with wingers playing against our new all-in center-dominant formation. We keep the same core but need to rest Javorcic, who's still not fully recovered despite his antics with Croatia. My fears regarding their formation seem to be unfounded, as we go on to have a good start and an early shot on target by Miranda, who tries luck from afar but finds Gomes well positioned for an easy save. Cook answers for Eintracht with a wide shot from outside the penalty box after a badly cleared corner kick, and the game eventually evens out with both teams trying to impose their style against the other.

Meunier suffers a light knock after a collision with Mbabu while Rodríguez has a decent chance following a nod by Baldé, but shoots low and without enough power and Gomes has no trouble saving. Miranda then uses his secret weapon, a direct free kick, but the keeper answers that one well, too, diving to push it behind the goal. Kretzschmar doesn't have much work to do, only a weak header by Basic in the 37th he deals with easily, while on the other end Özcan wastes a good pass into space by Miranda with a badly wide finish. A good header by Lang in a set piece taken by Miranda in the 45th minute, also saved by a very solid-looking Gomes, signals the end of the first half.

HALF TIME - 0-0

Thiago replaces the struggling Meunier at half time, and Eintracht start the second half with a somewhat scary header by Mbeumo that Kretzschmar needs to tries to save and hold. In the 56th, after some frustrating minutes, Özcan fights hard to steal the ball from Mbabu, then runs forward to catch Miranda's pass into the gap between the center-backs, enters the box, and blasts it in with all his strength to score the 1-0.

The goal should've given us the calm we needed to control the game from then on, but instead a possession wasted needlessly in midfield creates a counterattack for Eintracht, Mbeumo runs ahead of Casas, and places his finish past Kretzschmar to draw the game only seven minutes later. Our response is immediate, though: long ball behind the defense by Baldé, Miranda runs into it, and finishes with his usual quality to score the 2-1.

Karlsen and Vázquez then replace the Mexican duo of Rodríguez and Magaña, somewhat tired after their international fixtures, and in the 71st we do it again: Thiago pumps a pass over the defense, Miranda breaks the offside trap again, and cushions a header over Gomes and into the back of the net. That seems to finally take the fight out of Eintracht's players and we happily control the game from then on, even missing a clear-cut chance for the 4-1 when Basualdo leaves Özcan with nothing but space and the keeper ahead, yet the striker somehow shoots wide. Even Baldé tries to score from outside the box today, and actually licks the upside of the bar with his shot in the 90th minute. Injury time brings no noteworthy news, and we secure an important win to keep ourselves looking up.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 3 (Vedat Özcan 56, Matías Miranda 65 71)
Eintracht Frankfurt 1 (Bryan Mbeumo 63)

- - -

Took some patience, but in the end we made it work. I knew from the start that formations with three center-backs would be a bit painful to deal with when using such a narrow tactic, but today our midfielders gave us the superiority we needed by attacking space, and Eintracht could only hold on for so long. Assist and two goals for Miranda, who grabs his sixth Player of the Match award and ties the team's record, held until now by Lohkemper. Remember him? Incidentally, all three of our goals had to be checked by VAR for possible offside, that's how good we were at breaking the line.

Stuttgart's defeat at home against Wolfsburg is today's most interesting result when it comes to the fight for Europe. Leipzig won against Fortuna despite a first-half sending off, and Freiburg kept the pressure up behind us with a win in Mönchengladbach. The only reason Gladbach aren't in the relegation battle just yet is because those behind them have been even worse... Bayern, Nürnberg, and Dortmund win, too, so nothing significant changes in the top seven today.

Meunier's injury turns out to be a serious gash in his upper leg, which will take between one and two weeks to heal. Thiago will do fine at the anchor in the meantime, and Beltramone might have more chances for a debut off the bench.

[Dalbeider]

Apr 2nd 2029

The upgrade we asked for the training facilities has been finished, and we'll start reaping the benefits immediately. We'll stop with the upgrades for now, the board probably won't be happy to hear me asking them to spend more money again at least until we finish the season, hopefully successfully.

Apr 3rd 2029

All together now: Miranda in the Team of the Week!

Of course now is the perfect moment for Miranda himself to get injured, because the gods hate us all! Pulled abdominal muscle, out for about two weeks, misses the key game against Freiburg and a no less important but sliiightly less difficult home game against Fortuna, and I sure hope he's back for the cup semis because otherwise I'll riot. Also that's two out of six first team midfielders injured now, and we play with four...

Apr 8th 2029

Sport-Club Freiburg (8th) vs. TSV 1860 München (7th) (Bundesliga, 30/34)

The game we can't afford to lose no matter what. Heck, I'd happily sign out a draw right this instant if it meant not risking a defeat. Freiburg have just beaten the two title chasers in quick succession, although to be fair those two wins came after a stretch of four games without a win against lesser opposition. Our injuries don't help my confidence either, Miranda is a huge miss, but we'll do our best to get something out of here and make our seventh place a bit more secure.

* * *

FREIBURG (4-2-3-1): Timo Horn (GK); Hugo Siquet (DR), Linus Gechter (DCr), Eric Martel (DCl), Julio Ayala (DL); Maximilian Eggstein (MCr), Yangel Herrera (MCl); Akinkunmi Amoo (AMR), Lazar Samardzic (AMC), Sead Haksabanovic (AML), Nicolai Skoglund (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM); Jair Rodríguez (MCr), Florent Da Silva (MC), Martin Karlsen (MCl); Daniel Maldini (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)

* * *

Other than our injuries in midfield, today we also bring Javorcic back into the lineup, Vázquez replaces a still way too inconsistent Magaña, and Maldini plays his first game as a starting striker after a few pretty average performances by Basualdo. Freiburg rotate a bit in defense and midfield since our last meeting, and we go out to play in very windy and slightly wet conditions. Gechter has the first chance of the game for Freiburg, heading a set piece over the bar four minutes in, but otherwise the early game is mostly played in midfield, with us having a slight edge there at the start but losing it gradually.

Sixteen minutes into the game Lang fixes a mistake by Casas by blocking a dangerous finish by Skoglund before it can become a real problem, and Rodríguez finally has our first shot at goal in the 20th, following a good recovery by Karlsen that opens a gap in the center, but his finish isn't particularly good and Horn has little trouble saving. That's when we really start playing, though, and one minute later another good pass by Karlsen leaves Da Silva alone in the penalty spot, but the midfielder can't find the target and sends the ball wide. Amoo responds with a wide volley from distance after a blocked shot by Samardzic bounces towards him, and the game seems to be picking up speed little by little.

A collision between Karlsen and Siquet ends with both players reeling a bit, and Freiburg's right back has to be replaced eventually. Not much later Kretzschmar saves a header by Amoo after a long throw in into the box by Ayala, and in the 38th Amoo sees Samardzic's movement behind Casas's back and sends the ball into the box so the attacking midfielder can place his finish between Kretzschmar and the near post (again) and score the 1-0. In the last minute of regulation Casas performs a miraculous tackle from behind to nick the ball away from Skoglund just as the striker started dribbling past Kretzschmar to score the second, and that saves us from going two down just before half time.

HALF TIME - 1-0

We really need to be more attacking in the second half, and we do so right from the start with Rodríguez sending a great ball ahead of Da Silva, who this time at least shoots in the right direction but not well enough to beat Horn. After ten minutes with that as our only chance, though, we decide to change our two forwards completely and bring Caraballo and Özcan into the fray. Herrera gets a header saved by Kretzschmar in the 59th as Freiburg's first serious approach of the half, and a few minutes later Karlsen has to be replaced, still somewhat hampered by the knock he took in the first half. Baldé comes in, moving Javorcic to the anchor and Thiago further forward in midfield.

The game soon reaches the final twenty minutes without any further chances worth reporting, until in the 73rd two consecutive bad clearances by our defense give Freiburg way too many second chances, and in their final approach Samardzic assists Haksabanovic and the left winger passes the ball into the net with Kretzschmar unable to do anything to stop it: 2-0, and now we need a real miracle.

We don't get that. What we get instead is a few minutes of desperately trying to get anywhere near Horn without any success, and then Gechter, now playing as a midfielder, decides to give his ex-team a stab in the heart with a 30 yard screamer that flies straight into the back of the net for the 3-0. Absolutely unstoppable. A wide shot by Caraballo in injury time is the only show of resistance we can offer, and we stumble into a completely deserved defeat that puts our European aspirations in a bit of a pickle.

* * *

Sport-Club Freiburg 3 (Lazar Samardzic 38, Sead Haksabanovic 73, Linus Gechter 83)
TSV 1860 München 0

- - -

Horrid performance in the very worst possible moment. Da Silva and Kretzschmar had a terrible time tonight, but the rest of the squad didn't offer much either, with the possible exception of Rodríguez and Thiago looking solid in midfield. Freiburg were just better in every single aspect today, including having attacking midfielders that actually can score a goal from somewhere other than the penalty spot. Not looking at anyone in particular here, Da Silva, don't worry...

This result puts Freiburg ahead of us thanks to their better results in direct match-ups (3-0 vs. 2-0), as we're tied on points and goal difference. That also means we just need to regain our advantage in either of those two factors to recover the seventh place, of course, but I don't see Freiburg dropping too many points in the four games that remain. Leverkusen also win and are now two points behind, and at least there's some consolation in the fact that Nürnberg lost, so that's one other team we can think of catching up to. Not Stuttgart, though: their win in Hamburg puts them nine points ahead of us, which makes reaching the fifth place a pipedream at best. Leipzig also dropped two points this weekend in a goalless draw in Köln, and Bayern are now only two points behind. It's happening again...

[Dalbeider]

Apr 10th 2029

Finally some good news: Stjepanovic is back in full training, and will be available for selection this weekend.

Apr 14th 2029

TSV 1860 München (8th) vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf (18th) (Bundesliga, 31/34)

Four games to go, and we need to score as many goals as we can (not to mention win all games, of course) if we are to have a chance at overtaking Freiburg for the seventh place, unless they do us a huge favor and lose a game or two. Fortuna look like a good candidate: dead last, three defeats in a row, we've beaten them the last three times we've met... Now, let's actually do it.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Florent Da Silva (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Martin Karlsen (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)
DÜSSELDORF (4-4-2): Florian Kastenmeier (GK); Benjamin Henrichs (DR), Matthias Ginter (DCr), Christoph Klarer (DCl), Pietro Beruatto (DL); Marco Richter (MR), Dennis Geiger (MCr), Santiago Ascacíbar (MCl), Ben Bobzien (ML); Elias Havel (STr), Dawid Kownacki (STl)

* * *

On top of absolutely having to win today, and hopefully do so in a comprehensive way, we also have to keep in mind the DFB Pokal semis in Hamburg just four days away, particularly when it comes to our very overworked midfielders. Stjepanovic returns straight to the lineup to give Casas a bit of a rest after way too many consecutive starts, while the lack of Santos Borré upfront for Fortuna is a relief. We start generating some early danger through Özcan heading a set piece into Kastenmeier's deflection, and immediately afterwards Basualdo is denied in two consecutive finishes by the keeper after a great pass into space by Rodríguez.

We can't have too many good news together, though, and only seven minutes into the game Basualdo needs to be replaced due to a possibly serious foot injury. Caraballo takes his place, while Fortuna seem to somehow be winning possession by piling all their players in the central area despite playing a theoretically very open 4-4-2. We make good use of a corner kick in the 15th minute and Hadzic almost heads it in, but Kastenmeier once again performs a minor miracle and deflects the ball over and back to the corner flag. One minute later it's Rodríguez who tries luck with a direct free kick only for the keeper to save and hold the ball perfectly. Patience, patience...

Meunier joins the siege with a shot from far away that sails over the bar in the 21st minute, and one minute later our insistence finally pays off: Karlsen controls in midfield, one of the center-backs tries to press him, and the midfielder assists the now free as a bird Özcan inside the box so the striker can score the 1-0 with ease. Fortuna are obviously not happy about this and try to get the draw back through Ginter in a corner kick, although his header goes clearly over.

We still want more, though, and in the 35th a great pass into space by Da Silva reaches Özcan, who tries to hit it left-footed from a tight angle but can only find the sidenetting. Five minutes later Rodríguez receives from Vázquez right on the balcony, then curls a beautiful shot into the top corner without even needing a running start to score the second and earn a standing ovation from the fans. Karlsen also tries luck from distance after a great dribble past his marker, but this time the ball goes straight to Kastenmeier, who blocks it first and then holds it. There's still time for Da Silva to miss the mandatory sitter in injury time, practically passing the ball to the keeper instead of, y'know, shooting, before the first half ends.

HALF TIME - 2-0

Three minutes into the second half Karlsen gets another great chance tipped wide by Kastenmeier, well generated by Caraballos interception, run towards the center, and assist. Kownacki answers for Düsseldorf with a counterattack he generates and finishes all by himself, although he's too tired to make it precise by the end of his run and ends up shooting wide. We keep having decent chances for a third, though, and the game seems to be under control, so with fifteen minutes played we decide to rest Rodríguez and Da Silva and bring Thiago and Javorcic into the game, with the latter taking the anchor.

This obviously hurts our flair going forward, but we still are clearly on top of things in midfield. Our best chance in the following minutes comes in the 75th with a cross by Vázquez and a blocked shot by Özcan, and two minutes later it's Thiago's turn to control the ball near the edge of the box, cut a bit closer to the center, and shoot a curved shot past Kastenmeier to finally score the 3-0. Caraballo should've made it four in the 80th after a beautiful through ball from Karlsen, but his chip over the keeper isn't good enough and the ball bounces on top of the net. We slow things down after that, and only a weak header by Havel in the 89th gives us some kind of trouble, well solved by Kretzschmar. Caraballo then gets another great chance deflected wide by the keeper, so the result doesn't go any further in the end. Easy win regardless.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 3 (Vedat Özcan 22, Jair Rodríguez 40, Thiago 77)
Fortuna Düsseldorf 0

- - -

Yep, that was easy as expected. Took a bit of time and patience to get through, but once we took the lead the game was as good as over. Two assists for Vázquez and one for Karlsen today, quite rare in both cases, and a great game by Caraballo as our false nine despite missing many chances to score.

We can't complain about other results either: Leverkusen do us a favor by beating Freiburg, and Nürnberg continue their free fall with a 4-1 loss to Stuttgart, who are now putting some serious pressure on Dortmund for the fourth place after their loss to Hamburg. With this we regain the seventh place, Leverkusen are now eighth still two points behind, and Nürnberg are only three ahead. Bayern and Leipzig both won, so things at the top remain the same.

The bad news are for Basualdo, who'll miss two weeks with pulled ankle ligaments. Caraballo and Maldini will have to cover his place in the lineup in the meantime. The good news are for Kretzschmar, who had a good performance for a change, and also because he just broke the record for league appearances for 1860 with 264, previously held by another keeper, Harald Cerny.

[Dalbeider]

Apr 17th 2029

Two players in the Team of the Week once again, this time Vázquez and Caraballo.

Apr 18th 2029

Hamburger SV vs. TSV 1860 München (DFB Pokal semifinals)

Game of the season? Probably! Unless we win it, in which case there's a final waiting to take that title. We've suffered HSV a lot in recent seasons, always playing for the same goals and with both teams alternating on top. This seems to be their year, as they're almost guaranteed a place in the Champions League while we might struggle to even get into the Conference League, but our meetings almost always go to the wire and the closest precedent was a 1-1 at their stadium. Anything can happen.

* * *

HSV (4-2-3-1): Yoshiaki Ichikawa (GK); Marcel Neigenfink (DR), Ludmiany Boto (DCr), Justin Janitzek (DCl), Andrii Buleza (DL); Burak Ince (MCr), Ludovic Reis (MCl); Faride Alidou (AMR), Tin Vrljicak (AMC), Xavier Amaechi (AML); Mazinho (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Kevin Rexhepi (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM); Florent Da Silva (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Mátias Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)

* * *

Vázquez's good game on Saturday earns him a second start ahead of Magaña despite some tiredness, while Miranda finally returns to action after his injury. Boto, Alidou, and Vrljicak are the new faces in HSV's lineup since our last encounter, and once againt Entrena fails to make either the lineup or the bench against us. Shame but not really. Both teams start the game playing in a very narrow band in midfield, struggling to find space but with the home team having a slight edge and more attacking initiative in the first minutes. No real chances, though.

The first dangerous shot comes in the 11th minute courtesy of Amaech, who gathers the ball in the box and moves to get it to his left foot before shooting with power into Rexhepi's fists for a corner kick that Janitzek ends up heading wide. After that comes another short period of midfield scuffle for possession ending in the 20th minute with a high attempt by Miranda from the edge of the box. Eight minutes later Rexhepi punches away a centered shot by Buleza, but the game remains quite even and without a clear better team.

That is, until the 38th minute, when Thiago goes down inside the central circle victim of a two-footed challenge from behind by Reis. Stonewall red card for the midfielder, and now HSV are in real trouble. Schallenberg replaces Amaechi and takes Reis' place in midfield, and we take a step forward but there's not enough time left in the first half to mount a serious attack. Time runs out with both teams still goalless.

HALF TIME - 0-0

The second half starts with a run by Alidou from his own half towards our box and a shot from distance that ends up high and wide, but now it's us who have the ball the most and try to keep HSV inside their own half, helped by the fact that now they're lacking an attacking player their high pressing is much less effective. We seem to get the lead in the 51st thanks to a steam and pass forward by Da Silva and a good finish by Caraballo, but the forward was clearly offside. With ten minutes gone Magaña replaces a surprisingly unmotivated and average-looking Vázquez, and we keep trying to break down HSV's solid defensive setup, even with ten men on the pitch.

Özcan replaces Rijkhoff a bit later, and Miranda continues our attack with a pretty bad attempt at a direct free kick before also having to take a rest, replaced by Karlsen. In the 67th Özcan has a fantastic chance to score the 0-1 in a counterattack set up by Caraballo, but his left-footed finish over the keeper isn't good enough to find the target and the ball goes wide in the end. HSV still try to hit us on the break from time to time, but in their most dangerous approach Javorcic is there to block Alidou's finish before it becomes a problem. Time passes with very little happening, and in fact there is not a single good chance for either team in the final twenty minutes of the game. As such, the regular ninety minutes end without goals and we go into extra time.

FULL TIME - 0-0

Meunier replaces Da Silva as our fourth bonus substitution, and that turns out to be a great mistake, since he lasts all of five minutes on the pitch before doing the same thing Reis did: a reckless challenge from behind that earns him a red card. With forces now equal once again we keep looking for a goal, and Özcan has our next chance blocked and deflected behind by Schallenberg in the 96th minute. That turns out to be the only chance in the first fifteen minutes of extra time, though.

We keep pushing in the fifteen that remain, with decent approaches and a couple of good chances, like one last-second tackle that prevents Caraballo from scoring from point-blank range in the 112th of a wide shot by Rodríguez in the 119th, admittedly from a pretty difficult position. In the end, though, neither team does enough to deserve a goal today, and everything will be decided on penalties. 

HSV start the shootout with Ince, who scores despite Rexhepi guessing the right direction. Rodríguez does the same for us, then Alidou and Thiago also don't miss. For the third penalty it's Paligeorgos for Hamburg, but his centered shot is parried by Rexhepi, and now we have the advantage. Karlsen confirms this by scoring our third, then Schallenberg keeps HSV's hopes alive by scoring their fourth. Caraballo blasts it in with confidence, and now Janitzek needs to score to keep Hamburg alive. He does, sending Rexhepi the wrong way, and it's Casas with the deciding penalty. The center-back takes it calmly, also making Ichikawa guess wrong, and scores the 5-4 to take us to the DFB Pokal final!

* * *

Hamburger SV 0 (4) (Ludovic Reis sent off 38)
TSV 1860 München 0 (5) (Aymeric Meunier sent off 95)

- - -

That was tense. Reis' sending off looked like it would make things easy for us, but nothing farther from the truth: the fact that they were with ten men made them defend narrower, which is exactly what hurts our new tactic the most. Few chances on either goal, a couple good ones Özcan missed, and then the shootout in which we were flawless, despite having most of our best takers out of the game by then. Into the final we go, and of course it'll be against Bayern after they beat Gladbach with relative ease. One more Münchner Derby for us, and a high stakes one at that. Oh, and €3.12M for playing in the semifinals, which is as always nice.

[Dalbeider]

Apr 21st 2029

Thankfully the calendar lets us recover a bit better from one hundred and twenty minutes of midweek football by putting our game against Köln on Sunday. That means we know what the other teams did beforehand, and we're very happy to learn that Leverkusen lost in Düsseldorf, thus keeping them behind us one more week no matter what we do. Freiburg do one better and lose to Union at home, suddenly turning their winning streak into a nosedive. For extra fun, Nürnberg lose against Bayern and that means a win would put us level with them on points, while Leipzig squeeze a 0-1 win against Wolfsburg and maintain the top spot with two games to go.

Apr 22nd 2029

1.FC Köln (12th) vs. TSV 1860 München (7th) (Bundesliga, 32/34)

All those results mean that we can put ourselves in a very comfy position with a win today, with our chasers five and six points behind and with Nürnberg as a potential buffer in case they get closer in the two fixtures that remain. Köln have nothing to play for other than maybe climbing up to tenth for some extra prize money, but knowing how hard to break down they've been this year I doubt we'll have an easy game today, even more considering how exhausted we'll be after the cup semis.

* * *

KÖLN (4-4-2): Ersin Destanoglu (GK); Nathan Phillips (DR), Stephan Ambrosius (DCr), Marco Kana (DCl), Philipp Max (DL); Marius Wolf (MR), Anton Stach (MCr), Dominik Yankov (MCl), Jayden Braaf (ML); Joao Resende (STr), Jan Thielmann (STl)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Florent Da Silva (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Daniel Maldini (STr), Vedat Özcan (STl)

* * *

Somewhat surprisingly Köln schew the 4-1-4-1 they've been using this season in favor of a flat 4-4-2 they used against us only once a bit over a year ago. We rotate our team as much as we can to keep our legs fresh, although our midfield in particular doesn't really have many alternatives available. At least Meunier is fresh after playing only five minutes, grumble... We start the game with a couple of blocked shots by Miranda and Vázquez and with superiority in midfield meaning more possession, although few real chances in the first fifteen minutes. 

Köln look almost as tough to break down as before their formation change, and even get a pretty good chance through Thielmann in the 23rd minute when the striker breaks through the gap between our center-backs and shoots into Kretzschmar's save. Meanwhile we only get very minor chances that don't put Destanoglu under any credible pressure, and minutes pass with only a direct free kick by Max that our keeper has no trouble holding as entertainment for the fans. A high header by Stach in a corner kick can be counted as a chance if we're feeling generous, as are a couple of blocked finishes by Thielmann and Özcan, but otherwise the second half ends without further incident, goalless but with Köln apparently in the driving seat.

HALF TIME - 0-0

We're not breaking through the center today, so at half time we make the decision to go back to the 4-3-3 of old, with Da Silva moving momentarily to the left and Maldini taking his natural right. The improvement is soon noticeable, and in the 53rd minute Stach has to go down to nick the ball away from Rodríguez before the midfielder can shoot from a very dangerous position. Hadzic then heads the corner kick towards goal and gives Destanoglu something to worry about, although Resende gives us a scare not much later in a counterattack he finishes with a badly wide shot.

Soon Miranda has to bow out and leave his place to Caraballo, moving Da Silva back to midfield. Not much later a bad pass by Maldini prompts another counterattack finished by Resende, this time with an attempt at a lob over Kretzschmar that accomplishes that goal, but still goes wide. That's one mistake too many for Maldini in a pretty bad game overall, so Sapmaz immediately replaces him while Casas comes in for Stjepanovic. 

With that we reach the final twenty minutes, and once again we seem to have lost control of the game, with Köln looking dangerous on the break and our attack generating nothing. And then, out of nowhere, the game just seems to shut off: neither keeper has to do any work whatsoever until the very last minute of injury time, when Kretzschmar saves with little effort a direct free kick by Max in what becomes the last shot at goal of the game. No goals, and deservedly so.

* * *

1.FC Köln 0
TSV 1860 München 0

- - -

Booooring. That's two nil-nils in a row, and this time there wasn't even much tension to speak of. Understandable in Köln's case, but our lack of creativity going forward has been somewhat worrying in both fixtures. Fair result, neither team deserved to score today. Not the ideal result, but at least now we have three points plus goal difference on Leverkusen and four on Freiburg, meaning a win next week against Hertha should be enough to secure European football for the next season.

[Dalbeider]

Apr 28th 2029

TSV 1860 München (7th) vs. Hertha BSC (11th) (Bundesliga, 33/34)

Hertha looked like they were going into a good season at the start of the year, but nothing farther from reality: yet another year of midtable obscurity for them, and that's quite a few in a row now. Like Köln before they don't have anything to play for other than the tenth place, so we should have the motivation battle won from the start. A win and we're (almost) in Europe next year for sure, and that would surely be a good way to say goodbye to Grünwalder Strasse, since we won't be playing at home again this season.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Thiago (DM); Florent Da Silva (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)
HERTHA (4-4-2): Marco Carnesecchi (GK); Erik Warner (DR), Long Li (DCr), Nico Schlotterbeck (DCl), Amar Dedic (DL); Paul Duessel (MR), Laureano Laconi (MCr); Miguel Carvalho (MCl), Fredrik Bjorkan (ML); Delyan Atanasov (STr), Charles De Ketelaere (STl)

* * *

With two weeks without fixtures after this game we can afford to go all-in today, and do so. Rijkhoff gets a start to try and get him out of the funk he's found himself in lately, while Basualdo makes the bench with his injury already dealt with. Hertha jump into the 4-4-2 bandwagon and get an early chance through Miguel Carvalho, who barges into the box from deep to control a pass from the right but sends his finish straight at Kretzschmar. In the 14th minute, though, a cross towards the front of the box by Laconi reaches Carvalho, who gives a first-touch pass forward so De Ketelaere can just blast it into the net and score the 0-1.

We have the instant reply thanks to Rodríguez sending a perfect little ball through to Rijkhoff, but the striker tries to lob Carnesecchi and fails miserably. Our second try is much better and comes through exactly the same path, although this time Rijkhoff taps it aside so Da Silva can blast his finish into the post. But Carvalho keeps breaking free from anyone's mark and creating problems for us, and his assist to Atanasov in the 21st almost turns into the 0-2, although thankfully Kretzschmar is there to divert the shot wide.

Finally, in the 26th, Miranda finds Rijkhoff once again unmarked inside the box, and this time the striker manages to turn around and place his finish past Carnesecchi, drawing the game once again. Things slow down a bit after the goal, although we remain in control of possession and test the keeper from distance a couple times, although a cross by Bjorkan and a finish by De Ketelaere give Kretzschmar some work to do in the 36th. There's a final chance in injury time for Rijkhoff, who controls a fantastic long pass by Rodríguez and runs into the box under some pressure, shooting left-footed over the bar to finish a pretty even first half, both in play and in result.

HALF TIME - 1-1

We start the second half patiently holding the ball and looking for chances, and soon Rijkhoff receives another pass from Miranda and shoots into the side net as a warning shot for Hertha's defense. In the 54th Javorcic surprises everyone by running into the box to finish a long passing play all around the area, but it's obvious finishing isn't his strongest point and it's an easy catch for Carnesecchi. Those things are better left to a specialist, as Rijkhoff shows less than one minute later as he breaks the offside trap, gathers Da Silva's long pass into space, and buries it into the back of the net to complete the turnaround.

Miranda follows up with a wide attempt from distance just before Basualdo and Vázquez come into the game to replace Caraballo and Magaña. Hertha answer with an equally weak shot from outside the box by Atanasov, on target but very easy for Kretzschmar. After a bit it's Miranda's turn to be replaced by Karlsen, and in the 69th Rijkhoff gets what could've been his third goal of the evening disallowed for a clear offside when he gathered the loose ball after a blocked shot by Da Silva. Three minutes later there's no discussion, though: Basualdo sends the ball ahead of Rijkhoff and the striker places a perfect finish between the keeper and the post to score the 3-1 and seal his hattrick. Not a bad way to return to goalscoring ways.

A high header by De Ketelaere three minutes later is Hertha's first attempt at getting something back, but we still hit them from time to time, like in the 80th when Karlsen goes really close with a strong finish after a short pass from Rijkhoff, eventually deflected wide by Carnesecchi. Casas heads that corner kick narrowly over, and Rijkhoff sends a shot from the edge of the box very narrowly wide in the 86th, still hungry for more. The striker then decides to be generous and leave an apparently easy finish after breaking through the center to Da Silva, who can't get it past the keeper. There's no more after that, and we score the win we needed today.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 3 (Julian Rijkhoff 26 55 72)
Hertha BSC 1 (Charles De Ketelaere 14)

- - -

Streaky as ever, this Rijkhoff. Three goals today after three months with barely any, yet when he does pop off like this he looks like Haaland. Thoroughly professional job today otherwise, managing to come back from a surprising early goal despite struggling whenever Hertha tried to lob the ball forward so De Ketelaere could bring it down and create danger. Once we got Carvalho under control it was game over. A good send-off for our ancestral stadium, and now to see what the future brings in our soon-to-be-finished new home.

This win is enough to secure at least the seventh place for us thanks to Leverkusen's draw at home against Köln, which means Europe is guaranteed now. The only way the seventh place won't grant European football is if we beat Bayern in the DFB Pokal final, and in that case we'll be in the Europa League anyway! Better yet, Nürnberg's draw means we're now sixth on goal difference and need only match their result on the final fixture to guarantee our return to the second-ranked competition.

The only bad news today is that, well, Nürnberg's draw was in Leipzig. Now Bayern (who won in Stuttgart) are level with them at the top, but Leipzig still keep the first place due to a better goal difference (61 vs 57, and would you look at those numbers). And guess what's the final fixture for both of them! Leipzig will have enough with a draw at the Allianz, but that's quite the tall order... At the bottom, Fortuna's loss in Berlin against Union confirms their relegation and saves the home team for good, and now Eintracht and Hannover will have to duke it out to see who gets to play the playoff and who drops into the 2.Bundesliga directly. Hannover have a one point lead right now and slightly better goal difference.

[Dalbeider]

May 1st 2029

Three slots in the Team of the Week reserved for Vázquez, Da Silva, and of course Rijkhoff.

Then the bad news: Rexhepi will miss the cup final after twisting his ankle in training today. He'll be out for four weeks, so no chance of him making it, which is sad considering he brought us there. Kretzschmar will play... his first game in the competition since my arrival, I think? And it's a final against Bayern? Wow.

May 8th 2029

Karlsen now counts as homegrown! One more to add to our growing ranks, and one problem less for next year's European squad. Assuming he stays that long, of course...

May 12th 2029

VfL Wolfsburg (10th) vs. TSV 1860 München (6th) (Bundesliga, 34/34)

Last game of the Bundesliga, and the only thing we have to play for is to try and hold on to the sixth place and enter the Europa League. Which is no minor award, for sure, but the goal was to go to Europe again and that's been already achieved. Wolfsburg have also achieved their goals already, safe in midtable after a few years flirting with disaster, and will want to give their fans a good last performance before going on holiday. We still have one other game left to play, though...

* * *

WOLFSBURG (4-2-3-1): Klevis Gjini (GK); Felix Passlack (DR), Ozan Kabak (DCr), Moritz Jenz (DCl), Gianluca Frabotta (DL); Gabriel Vidovic (MCr), Maximilian Arnold (MCl); Piotr Starzynski (AMR), Luka Ivanusec (AMC), Yaser Asprilla (AML), Jovane Cabral (ST)
1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Tomislav Javorcic (DR), Amer Hadzic (DCr), Mateja Stjepanovic (DCl), César Magaña (DL); Aymeric Meunier (DM); Florent Da Silva (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Rodrigo Caraballo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)

* * *

We take the chance to rest a couple of sure starters for the cup final, particularly in defense, and Thiago since he'll be our only available defensive midfielder. Wolfsburg surprise by moving Vidovic to the midfield despite him being their best goalscorer by far, but hey, perfect time for experiments. It seems to work, too, as Wolfsburg have a nice start of the game and the first chance with a high volley by Starzynski after a cross by Asprilla. The left winger himself has a fantastic chance in the 12th minute after gathering a pass from deep and running at Kretzschmar, who performs one of his miracle saves to keep us alive a bit longer.

After surviving that early onslaught, though, we start playing much better and controlling the game, eventually generating real danger with a cross by Da Silva towards Rodríguez, who is stopped by Gjini. Wolfsburg to right back at it, though, and in the 22nd Ivanusec breaks through the center and forces Kretzschmar into another key save, tipping the ball wide. Five minutes later Rodríguez lines up a direct free kick twenty-five yards away from goal and puts a perfect shot into the top right corner to score the 0-1, and his sixth of the season. Not bad.

Two minutes after scoring Rodríguez has a chance for a second after running unmarked into the box after a pass by Da Silva, but he mishits his finish and shoots clearly wide. We are now absolutely in control of the match, though, and keep generating danger through Da Silva, this time with a cross that Rijkhoff's cushioned header makes easy for Gjini to catch. On the other end Kretzschmar keeps performing admirably, now blocking Ivanusec twice in a dangerous set piece. Wolfsburg seem to regain some of their lost spirit in the final stretch, but it's not enough to take our lead away from us.

HALF TIME - 0-1

Things start equally well in the second half, with Rijkhoff heading a cross by Caraballo over the bar to start things on the attacking front and a good defensive attitude to keep Wolfsburg away from Kretzschmar. In the 52nd minute Da Silva intercepts a pass in midfield and runs into the box, where Arnold barges into his back and brings him down for a stonewall penalty. Da Silva himself scores from the spot and now the game is definitely headed in the right direction.

In the 57th minute Caraballo generates another chance that Rijkhoff wastes with a pretty poor finish straight at Gjini, who immediately after also deflects over the bar an equally dangerous run through the center by Rodríguez, also assisted by Caraballo. That's a corner kick, though, and although Gjini once again does well to block Stjepanovic's header, the loose ball eventually finds its way to Rodríguez and the midfielder scores easily from close. 0-3 and game done.

It's time to bring in some substitutions, and Karlsen, Basualdo, and Özcan take the field. The game slows down now, as we are happy to just hold onto the ball and Wolfsburg seem to have forgotten how to create danger. A couple of blocked finishes in both areas is all that happens in that final half-hour, and after a final header by Kolo Muani that Kretzschmar saves with ease we sign off on a comfortable win to put a cap on another successful season.

* * *

VfL Wolfsburg 0
TSV 1860 München 3 (Jair Rodríguez 27 58, Florent Da Silva 53p)

- - -

Great show to end the Bundesliga, and sixth place plus a place in the Europa league secured, even if not officially until the DFB Pokal final is played. Solid performance with a couple of early scares, and Rodríguez having an absolute stormer today. The day this kid learns to finish all those runs into the box with a bit more efficiency he'll be among the best players in the world. He's getting closer, though...

* * *

| Pos  | Inf   | Team                | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | GD    | Pts   | Form  | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st  | C     | RB Leipzig          | 34    | 24    | 8     | 2     | 89    | 28    | 61    | 80    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd  | CL    | FC Bayern           | 34    | 25    | 5     | 4     | 87    | 30    | 57    | 80    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd  | CL    | Hamburg             | 34    | 20    | 7     | 7     | 58    | 39    | 19    | 67    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th  | CL    | Borussia Dortmund   | 34    | 20    | 5     | 9     | 61    | 36    | 25    | 65    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th  | EL    | Stuttgart           | 34    | 18    | 5     | 11    | 54    | 29    | 25    | 59    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th  | ECL   | 1860 München        | 34    | 16    | 6     | 12    | 53    | 41    | 12    | 54    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 7th  | ECL   | Nürnberg            | 34    | 15    | 7     | 12    | 53    | 56    | -3    | 52    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 8th  |       | Freiburg            | 34    | 14    | 8     | 12    | 54    | 49    | 5     | 50    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 9th  |       | Bayer Leverkusen    | 34    | 13    | 8     | 13    | 47    | 50    | -3    | 47    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 10th |       | Wolfsburg           | 34    | 10    | 8     | 16    | 49    | 59    | -10   | 38    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 11th |       | Hertha BSC          | 34    | 10    | 8     | 16    | 37    | 47    | -10   | 38    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 12th |       | Köln                | 34    | 8     | 13    | 13    | 31    | 49    | -18   | 37    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 13th |       | Mainz               | 34    | 9     | 8     | 17    | 42    | 52    | -10   | 35    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 14th |       | Borussia M'gladbach | 34    | 10    | 5     | 19    | 38    | 59    | -21   | 35    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 15th |       | Union Berlin        | 34    | 9     | 8     | 17    | 42    | 65    | -23   | 35    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 16th | Pl    | Frankfurt           | 34    | 8     | 5     | 21    | 30    | 66    | -36   | 29    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 17th | R     | Hannover 96         | 34    | 6     | 10    | 18    | 28    | 60    | -32   | 28    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 18th | R     | Fortuna Düsseldorf  | 34    | 6     | 6     | 22    | 36    | 74    | -38   | 24    |       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Would you look at that, Leipzig did it! They almost didn't, though: Bayern were winning for most of the game thanks to a goal by Havertz in the first half, but in the 90th minute and after a second half in which they almost never threatened Ramsdale's goal, a steal by Velasco and a quick pass towards Moran inside the box allowed Leipzig to draw the game and win the league while Bayern's distraught fans looked on from the stands. First Bundesliga title for Leipzig, and now Bayern still haven't won a major title this season ahead of the DFB Pokal final. If we manage to beat them it would be the first time they don't win at least one of Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, or Champions League since 2012, and even winning just the cup might not be enough to save Nagelsmann's neck...

As for the rest, Hamburg and Dortmund already had secured the Champions League places and Stuttgart had Europa League guaranteed, so there wasn't much left to play there. Nürnberg finally will play the Conference League after being in the top four for about three quarters of the season, and in the relegation battle Eintracht managed to pull themselves up to the playoff after beating Dortmund in a dramatic final fixture, with Tallig scoring his first goal for them off the bench to help them along. Hannover could only draw in Düsseldorf, and thus relegate directly. Augsburg will be returning to the Bundesliga together with Hoffenheim, and Heidenheim might join them if they beat Eintracht in the playoff, starting in a few days.

The league is over, but the season still has one more game in store for us. And what a game it is...

[Dalbeider]

May 16th 2029

One last Team of the Week for the season, and we manage to get four players into it: Kretzschmar, Magaña, Da Silva, and Rodríguez.

May 19th 2029

An award coming our way just before the match of our lives: Javorcic is chosen as the Croatian Young Player of the Year.

* * *

TSV 1860 München vs. FC Bayern München (DFB Pokal final)

THE GAME, all caps, bold font, size 32. And let's be serious for a moment here: we haven't scored a single point against Bayern in our last, uh, eleven meetings? All of them, in short. There's no real reason why we have to start now, but the narrative is really pushing for an upset here, what with Nagelsmann absolutely requiring this title to have a chance at not being fired. A year without titles would be a complete disaster for a team of Bayern's size and status within the country, and it could be their small neighbors from the tiny old stadium who seal their fate. It could also be our first win in the competition since 1964, which to be honest is what matters the most here. We'll have a really uphill battle today, but we'll certainly try our best.

* * *

1860 MÜNCHEN (4-1-3-2): Tom Kretzschmar (GK); Thierno Baldé (DR), Niklas Lang (DCr), Arnau Casas (DCl), Jesús Vázquez (DL); Thiago (DM); Florent Da Silva (MCr), Jair Rodríguez (MC), Matías Miranda (MCl); Jonatan Basualdo (STr), Julian Rijkhoff (STl)
BAYERN (4-2-3-1): Aaron Ramsdale (GK); Joshua Kimmich (DR), Dayot Upamecano (DCr), Andrea Papetti (DCl), Alphonso Davies (DL); Sandro Tonali (MCr), Leon Goretzka (MCl); Kai Havertz (AMR), Victor Aniorte (AMC), Ansu Fati (AML); Yousouffa Moukoko (ST)

* * *

Not much worth thinking about when picking today's team: we choose those who've played best in their positions all game long, with some mandatory changes on goal and in the anchor due to injuries and suspensions. The big doubt is Basualdo vs. Caraballo, as both have had very similarly underwhelming seasons overall, but both are in a pretty decent form as of late. In the end Basualdo gets the nod, but it could've gone either way and it's likely Caraballo will feature at some point today. Bayern have all their players available, and the two main surprises in the lineup are transfer-listed center-back Papetti ahead of Mukiele, and Aniorte in the hole behind Moukoko ahead of Szoboszlai. Game on.

We start without fear, with Da Silva provoking a foul on the right wing that Miranda serves and Casas heads over the bar with only forty seconds gone. Soon Bayern get a set piece of their own on the opposite side, though, and Kimmich crosses towards Papetti, whose header becomes an easy catch for Kretzschmar. There's a couple of early yellows for Vázquez and Kimmich, and possession seems split after ten minutes, although Bayern are noticeably on the upswing in that department. In the 12th minute Miranda intercepts a pass towards Kimmich and launches a quick counterattack with a pass ahead of Rijkhoff, who enters the box and tries a left-footed finish, but the impact isn't as precise as it should be and the ball goes clearly wide on the far end of the goal.

Bayern keep creating chances through crosses and headers, the latter of which coming from Havertz and not giving Kretzschmar too much trouble. The attacking midfielder tries again in the 18th and, while it's a much better finish, Kretzschmar is still there to save and hold the ball. Lang then blocks a dangerous-looking finish by Moukoko after yet another cross into the box by Kimmich, and it looks like Bayern are entering their siege mode. Said and done: 20th minute, Kimmich takes a corner kick towards Goretzka, and the two veterans connect once again to give Bayern an important goal.

Bayern hold the ball after taking the lead and the next minutes bring no danger, but two yellow cards in quick succession for Thiago and Miranda. A shot from distance by Havertz is once again saved by Kretzschmar with ease in the 30th minute, and a much more dangerous one one minute later, also by Havertz after a steal by Fati, meets the same fate only with a bit more effort required from our keeper. Davies also picks a yellow for Bayern, and in the 35th we finally return to Ramsdale's area with a shot by Miranda from just inside the box that almost clears the Olympiastadion's stands.

Another header by Havertz in the 36th, another save by Kretzschmar, but the keeper can't do anything four minutes later when Fati steals the ball from Baldé again, Davies runs along the right flank until he finds space for a low cross, and Moukoko gets to it first to tap it over the line and make it 2-0 for Bayern. Another yellow card, this time for Da Silva, leads into injury time, where Kretzschmar once again has to save a finish by Havertz in a pretty dubious position, tipping it over the bar. A final shot by Upamecano well over the bar signals the end of a quite one-sided first half, much as expected.

HALF TIME - 0-2

The second half starts following the trend of the first: cross by Davies, header by Havertz, save by Kretzschmar. The plan was to try and be a bit more positive now, but that goes out of the window quickly: Da Silva fouls Fati as he flies past him towards the box and the referee has no choice but to show him the second yellow card. That forces us into a substitution, replacing Basualdo with Karlsen just to keep our midfield's shape mostly intact. Soon we're on the defensive again, with Kretzschmar saving another header by Fati, then Upamecano heads a corner kick narrowly over. Our window for giving Bayern a scare is over, and now all we can do is try and survive the beating.

Another yellow arrives for Baldé, and by now it's clear we're overdoing it a bit when it comes to fouling. Bayern seem to take a bit of a step back, and we take the chance to launch our first attack of the second half already in the 62nd minute, with Miranda assisting Rijkhoff but the striker shooting over from afar. Rijkhoff himself is replaced by Özcan seconds later, while Javorcic enters in Baldé's place. Four minutes later it's back to the usual, with Kretzschmar tipping over the bar a shot from just outside the box by Kimmich, then parrying a dangerous header by Papetti in the resulting corner kick.

We keep trying with what little strength of conviction remains, and Özcan at least gets a header in to finish a cross by Vázquez, but it's an easy catch for Ramsdale, his first of the game in fact. Soon Bayern reply thanks to a horrid pass by Rodríguez inside our own box that allows a steal by Fati and a cross towards Moukoko, who volleys it into Kretzschmar's great dive for another corner kick. That's where our remaining luck runs out, and Kimmich's corner kick finds his usual target in Goretzka for a point-blank header that Kretzschmar can't do anything against: 3-0 and game dusted, if it weren't before.

Bayern won't go easy on us, of course, and soon it's time for our regularly scheduled cross by Davies into Moukoko's header, easy for Kretzschmar. In the 76th even the referee decides to pile up on us when he whistles for a penalty in an apparent barge by Özcan on Papetti's back, but Kretzschmar isn't having any of that and stops yet another penalty, his third of the season, to deny Goretzka a hattrick. It doesn't stop them from scoring a fourth, though, as exactly ten minutes later Kimmich grabs himself yet another assist with a cross towards the far post, where substitute Szoboszlai outjumps Javorcic cleanly and heads it in for the 4-0. And after that, finally, it's over. Not an unexpected result by any means, but it still hurts.

* * *

TSV 1860 München 0 (Florent Da Silva sent off 48)
FC Bayern München 4 (Leon Goretzka 20 71, Youssoufa Moukoko 40, Dominik Szoboszlai 86)

- - -

Yep, no surprises here. And honestly, we had a pretty decent first half until the second goal, and even could've taken the lead early if Rijkhoff had managed to find the target with that one finish. After that, and particularly after Da Silva's sending off, it was all over. Worth noting that Bayern scored two of the four in set pieces, and three of the four through contested headers. Goretzka, Upamecano, and the like are just too good in the air for us to stop, particularly when our midfielders aren't particularly tall to begin with. Oh well, that's one lost final and another loss against Bayern. Not the best note to end a season with, but we can still be proud of what we've achieved this year, even more considering how horrible things looked at times. The €3.12M consolation prize for our place in the final doesn't hurt either, and neither does being recognized as the overachievers of the season in the competition.

* * *

END OF SEASON 2028/29 - PLAYER SUMMARY
 

GOALKEEPERS

Name               Apps    Conceded  Clean Sheets  PoM  Av.Rat.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Kretzschmar      39          52            10    2     7.02
Kevin Rexhepi         7           5             4    0     7.24

Mixed year for Kretzschmar, and certainly a downgrade from previous seasons. Yes, he finished with a more than acceptable rating, but he was extremely irregular and had a few patches where he appeared incapable of saving a ball, even losing his place to Rexhepi in one league game as a result. He also had other games where he was his usual self, but in the end he conceded way more than last season despite playing quite a few less games, and his clean sheets amount plummeted. Meanwhile, Rexhepi had a pretty good debut season, doing well in the cup and bringing us all the way to the final, which he missed due to injury. I'll be thinking about giving him more games next year beyond the cup, maybe in the Europa League or with more frequent appearances in the league.

DEFENDERS

Name                   Apps     Goals    Assists    PoM    Y.C   R.C  Av.Rat.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amer Hadzic           15(1)         0          0      0      1     0     7.16
Arnau Casas           28(3)         2          0      2      3     0     7.13
Thierno Baldé         20(7)         0          1      1      5     0     7.11
Niklas Lang           31(1)         1          0      1      4     0     7.09
Mateja Stjepanovic    18(1)         1          1      0      3     0     7.01
Jesús Vázquez         19(4)         0          2      1      8     0     6.95
Tomislav Javorcic     27(7)         0          2      0      6     0     6.82
César Magaña          25(3)         0          0      0      5     0     6.70

A bit of a revolution in defense this year, particularly in the center. The usual starting pair of Lang-Stjepanovic was clearly outplayed by Hadzic and Casas, although in the young Bosnian's case he didn't play nearly as much as Lang, and probably less than he deserved. Thing is, as well as he's done in the games he's played, Hadzic isn't developing as quickly and well as we'd expected, and that in turn is impacting his minutes. Plus Lang's a very influential player in the dressing room, and reducing his playing time to increase Hadzic's will always be a problem. Regardless, all four did pretty well considering the rough runs we had at times, and Casas in particular was really solid all year long. Stjepanovic's second long-term injury hurt both his usage and his performances, though. We'll have to consider what to do with him this summer, and with Hadzic too, since he's entering a contract year.

The wings were... problematic. We had a lot of turnover in both positions through the summer, with three new players arriving, two of them quite young and promising. Vázquez was decent, but Javorcic and, in particular, Magaña had a very, very difficult start to their career in Munich. They both improved somewhat in the final third of the season, but they'll need to improve a lot more next year if they don't want to be used as a quick cash grab to invest in better replacements. Baldé was the only one remaining from the old guard, and he was as solid as ever, but even his place in the future is not guaranteed due to quite a few teams showing interest.

 

MIDFIELDERS

Name                   Apps     Goals    Assists    PoM    Y.C   R.C  Av.Rat.
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Matías Miranda        35(5)        13         12      6      4     0     7.22
Jair Rodríguez        38(1)         7          7      4      4     0     7.07
Thiago                26(6)         2          1      0     11     0     7.04
Aymeric Meunier       22(6)         0          1      0      5     1     6.97
Florent Da Silva      23(4)         4          5      1      2     1     6.92
Martin Karlsen        7(17)         1          2      1      1     0     6.82

Miranda was, without a doubt, our best player this season. I don't think we've had such a dominant performance in the squad ever since the time of Lohkemper or Pereira back in the 2.Bundesliga days. He became the first player to score double figures in both goals and assists during my reign, tied Lohkemper himself in Player of the Match awards in a season, and led the whole team in rating if we exclude Rexhepi. Absolutely dominant performance, but we really should bring some help for him because he can't do everything on his own. Rodríguez had another good year, and the twenty-year-old confirmed what we already knew: that he's going to be an absolute beast of this game. Already our second best midfielder by far, he just needs a bit more consistency and regularity to become the leader of this squad.

Da Silva improved... somewhat, and our tactical change certainly helped his minutes, but not so much his production, still completely unable to score from open play. And Karlsen... I don't know, the kid had a couple moments of brilliance off the bench and even won a game or two for us basically by himself, but his development hasn't been particularly remarkable, and next year I expect he won't have as many chances to play since we plan on bringing in a few new midfielders. We'll see what happens with him this summer... Meanwhile, our defensive end suffered a bit due to Vuskovic's departure towards Man City, as is to be expected, but Meunier turned out to be a capable replacement and had a solid debut season. Just... not worth €22.5M, honestly, it's obvious we overpaid for him a bit. Thiago kept playing well and improving his game, and if no big team comes asking about him this summer, he'll remain as the anchor of our midfield next season.

 

ATTACKERS

Name                   Apps     Goals    Assists    PoM    Y.C   R.C  Av.Rat.
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Julian Rijkhoff       28(5)        10          8      2      1     0     7.03
Daniel Maldini        19(7)         3          4      2      0     0     6.87
Vedat Özcan          18(14)         9          2      0      2     0     6.86
Can Sapmaz           17(10)         5          3      1      1     0     6.79
Rodrigo Caraballo    23(13)         4          2      1      0     0     6.72
Jonatan Basualdo     21(13)         6          2      1      3     0     6.72

A strange year for our forwards. The goalscoring numbers are bad, no other way about it, but once again the total goals scored by all six is quite acceptable. Problem is the insane inconsistency of the whole lot of 'em, probably not helped by us having to rotate every other game due to all the midweek fixtures in the first half of the season. Rijkhoff was the most consistent of the bunch, and even he spent a good amount of games in winter and early spring without scoring. Still, he was our best option upfront for most of the season, and he also added a surprising amount of assists to his game this time, second most in the whole team. In comparison Özcan had a poor year, certainly not deserving of the money we'll be paying for him once his loan ends, but he's still young and we'll be expecting better things in the future, and in any case he'll be a fine piece of business even if we have to sell him after just one year.

The wings were once again problematic, with none of our four options there performing at an acceptable level. Maldini was the most passable of them all, but even in his case his production was subpar at best. Sapmaz had a couple of good games and a lot of horrid ones, and the same goes for Caraballo, who regressed a lot when compared to the previous year, and new guy Basualdo, who had some serious adaptation problems at first. Then the tactical change happened and our wings disappeared, which basically meant no more playing time for Sapmaz and just a couple of isolated games for Maldini as our second forward, a role in which he didn't look particularly good. Caraballo and Basualdo had a few good games there, though, so assuming we keep this shape next year (likely) they'll become our default options alongside Rijkhoff and Özcan. This also means that Sapmaz has no place in the squad right now and is extremely likely to be sold, and Maldini will be borderline, maybe staying as an option for the few times we revert to our previous 4-3-3 and need someone to play the wing.

[Dalbeider]

May 20th 2029

Once again we give the board work to do right after the season, having fulfilled their long-term objective of qualifying for the Europa League in just one year. Now the plan is to keep doing that while working towards a place in the Champions League in four years' time. As for the Europa League, they'll want us at least in the second knockout round, which is exactly what we achieved our last time there. Hopefully we can at least repeat it.

With those goals set, the board inform me of the initial budgets: €975k per week for wages and a very generous €66M for transfers, of which €19M will go to Inter to pay for Özcan. Still, more than enough to get ourselves a couple midfielders to increase our depth and quality in that position and to replace any sales we might have to make this summer.

The players depart on holidays in decently high spirits even after the defeat against Bayern, set to return on the 9th of July. We'll be going to Trentino in Italy for our training camp this time.

May 21st 2029

Eintracht manage to survive the relegation playoff against Heidenheim, although only just: they had to rely on away goals to win the tie and remain in the Bundesliga. Therefore, Augsburg and Hoffenheim will be the only new teams in the league next season.

May 22nd 2029

Bayern's Aniorte wins the Bundesliga Rookie of the Year award, with Meunier in a very credible third place behind Leverkusen's Tunay Can.

May 26th 2029

Around €5M make their way into our accounts at the end of the Champions League, combining TV revenue and the coefficient-based bonus. This puts us almost €100M in the black, which is fantastic considering where we started eight years ago.

May 28th 2029

With so much money in the bank it's time to invest. First we improve our youth recruitment network, which just means an increased upkeep we surely can afford with ease, and then, after some haggling with the suddenly stingy board, we finally invest €6.25M in another improvement to our youth training facilities, which should be finished around November.

May 30th 2029

Time for more international callups. There's no big senior tournament this summer, so it's just a bunch of friendlies and maybe qualifiers for next year's World Cup. No big news, most of our regulars repeat with their usual teams.

* * *

ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD
 

• Premier League: one of the most exciting Premier League seasons in recent memory went to the wire, even if the eventual winner was the usual: Manchester City lifted their ninth league in a row after tying on points and on goal difference with Liverpool, but having more goals scored. If Liverpool had managed just a single goal more in their last win away to Arsenal (or any other match, really) they'd be the champions instead, but alas, curse still going strong. Newcastle and Leeds gained entry into the Champions League ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United, which will join us in the Europa League, and Chelsea, who will have to deal with the Conference League. The relegation places were for two newly-promoted sides like Bournemouth and Wolves, and for a veteran that still looked likely to go down, Crystal Palace. Newcastle completed a remarkable season by winning the FA Cup against Arsenal, who had already beaten neighbors Spurs in the League Cup final.
• LaLiga: in contrast, the Spanish league turned out to be much more one-sided than one might've expected in January, with Barcelona running away with it in the second half of the season and finishing ten points clear of Real Madrid and eighteen of third placed Sevilla, with Athletic completing the top four. Valencia and Real Sociedad finished fifth and sixth, with the former going to the Europa League and the latter to the Conference League. The reason for this is that Atlético de Madrid, who finished ninth and outside European places, won the Copa del Rey final in extra time against neighbors and archrivals Real Madrid, and thus took the second Europa League slot from the Txuriurdin. As for relegation, Elche, Zaragoza, and Racing de Santander were the unlucky three, all quite far from salvation in the end.
• Serie A: the formerly most competitive league in Europe has gone boring, too: Juventus win their third title in a row, with comfortable eight and ten-point leads over Inter and Milan, and with Roma finishing fourth even further away. Napoli and Atalanta finished in the Europa League places, but there was a huge surprise in the seventh place, taken in the end by minnows SPAL, who've been on a steady climb from the bottom of the table in the last three seasons they've spent in the top tier. There was no miracle for Benevento this time, and the former escape artists go down to Serie B on their first try since their return together with Genoa and Monza. Juve also won the Coppa, easily beating Inter in the final.
• Ligue 1: I've lost count of how many wins in a row this is for PSG already, and I don't care enough to check. Ten points over Nice in second place this time, with Monaco a further eleven points behind. Marseille and Lille took the Europa League, OL will play the Conference League, and three teams went down to the Ligue 2: Toulouse, Saint-Étienne (aw), and Metz. Double for PSG, too, as they narrowly beat Marseille in the Coupe de France final.
• Champions League: Leipzig already had a dream season with their Bundesliga win, but they could've made it even bigger by winning the Champions League final. They were so close too, holding Manchester City to a 2-2 draw in Rome's Olimpico, but the penalty shootout was cruel to the Red Bull boys and City lifted their second trophy. And yes, Haaland scored in the final, four minutes before the end of extra time to annul Moran's earlier goal. The semis had Leipzig squeezing past Inter while Man City absolutely destroyed PSV, 7-0 on aggregate.
• Europa League: another competition that ended in an England vs. Germany final, this time with Chelsea and Hamburg facing off in Bucharest. This match was much less exciting than the Champions League final, though, even if the resolution also had to go to penalties after a goalless draw. Eventually HSV emerged as winners and lifted their first Europa League trophy and second European tournament ever after the Cup Winners' Cup from 1977, completing a remarkable rise up from the 2.Bundesliga in just a handful of seasons. Both semifinals were against Italian teams, with Milan falling to the eventual champions and Chelsea defeating Napoli.
• Conference League: the lesser European tournament had another English team in the final and as the eventual champions: Leicester defeated Besiktas 2-1 in a pretty evenly matched contest, and their fans didn't even have to travel far to witness that feat since the final was held in Hampden Park in Glasgow. Leicester had an easy way into the final, beating Standard handily in the semis, while Besiktas had to rely on an extra time goal to defeat Legia.

Edited December 14, 2023 by Dalbeider