Cause Tramps Like Us, Baby, We Were Born To Rennes..... to Bavaria!

[danmcconnell1]

       

February 2029

We began February with a trip to FC Koln but were held to a 2-2 draw, Tillman and Sesko with our goals there. Then came the visit of Dortmund next back at the Allianz Arena and we beat them comfortably 2-0. Lamine Yamal continued his return from injury with a lovely finish before Tillman bagged again, he's going through a decent run of form at the minute. Another win soon followed on the road in the capital against Hertha Berlin, Tillman with another goal before Gnonto and Kusi-Asare off the bench gave us a 3-1 win there. We then beat Wolfsburg in another pleasing win after they beat us earlier in the season. Yamal again and Aznou scored 2 very early goals which were enough to beat the Wolves. Then came my much anticipated return to Roazhan Park as we took on Rennes in the 1st Leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie. Zidane's side held us to a goalless draw which, to be frank, is a much better result for them than it is us as we are now under huge pressure heading into the 2nd leg, however we will have home advantage which will help. Sesko did also have 2 goals disallowed for offside, so we know we can score against my former side, it's just a matter of ensuring it's legal.

Another good month domestically sees us remain at the top of the table with 10 games to play and 4 points clear of Dortmund. The win against them this month has really helped us after we dropped points in Koln. 

We begin March with a trip to TSG Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga before welcoming my former Rennes side to the Allianz Arena for the Champions League Round of 16 2nd Leg with the aggregate score currently 0-0. 4 days later we welcome Bayer Leverkusen who're still in the hunt for a Champions League spot next season so will be a tough test. We then travel north to Gelsenkirchen to take on Schalke 04 before the first international break of the calendar year. The month ends with the visit of Union Berlin to the Allianz Arena after the internationals.

[danmcconnell1]

       

March 2029

It's been yet another perfect month for us, beginning with what was a difficult match away at TSG Hoffenheim. Gnonto, Kimmich, Tel and a late Kusi-Asare goal saw us score 4 on the road, only to be pulled back to 3-3 from 3-1 up. Kusi-Asare's goal ended up being the winner as he came off the bench. We then welcomed my former side Rennes to the Allianz Arena for the Champions League Round of 16 2nd Leg and we needed extra time to beat them. A 95th minute Gnonto goal turned out to be the decisive moment in a tie that finished goalless after 180 minutes. It was a bittersweet moment for me, before I arrived in Rennes, the idea of taking Bayern Munich to extra time in a Champions League knockout tie was a pipe dream, so it's humbling to know that my work, continued by Zidane, is being validated by Rennes putting up such a strong fight. Of course though, I'm ecstatic to have reached the Quarter Finals of the Champions League as a manager for the first time. Next up were Bayer Leverkusen at home who'd dropped to 6th at the time, we did them no favours either by thrashing them 5-1. Sesko, Baturina, Gnonto again, Tel and Sancho off the bench scored our goals in a big win. We then travelled north to Gelsenchirken to take on Schalke 04 and were again comfortable, beating them 2-0 thanks to Tillman and Sesko goals. The final match of the month was back at home after the international break against Union Berlin. We were comfortable again as we won 3-0, Tel, a Julian Aude OG and Kimmich penalty saw us claim the 3 points.

We remain top with just 6 games to go and our lead at the top has now stretched to 8 points after Dortmund drew twice this month dropping valuable points. I'd say we're now odds on to make it 17 Bundesliga titles in a row.

The Quarter Final draw took place in the Champions League just before the international break. Benfica have had a great tournament so far, they will take on Chelsea. PSG will face Inter, who're now managed by former Bayern boss Jurgen Klopp. Manchester City take on the holders Newcastle United in an all English affair. We have been drawn against Italian giants AC Milan, we're the only German representatives at this stage of the tournament, which is disappointing considering we were one of 3 sides to finish in the top 8 of the League Phase.

It was a day of celebration for a player I signed but unfortunately didn't get to manage, Joel Acevedo as he was named the NXGN winner for 2029. He's a player I'm of course keeping a close eye on after a brilliant first season with my former side Rennes. 

We have 2 of our youngsters in the top 50, Pietro Neri, currently on loan in the Sky Bet Championship in England with Ipswich, and Filipino international Martin Regala who's having a very good season for our B team in Liga 3.

We're coming to the business end of the season now. April begins with a trip to the San Siro to take on AC Milan in the Champions League Quarter Final 1st Leg. We then take on Dusseldorf away from home in our next Bundesliga match, sandwiched between the 2nd leg against Milan back at home 4 days later. We then welcome Werder Bremen to the Allianz just 3 days later before the DFB-Pokal Semi Final against Hannover at the Heinz von Heiden Arena. The Bundesliga returns after that with a trip to Augsburg before we end the month at home to SC Freiburg. If we get past Milan, I would imagine we'll play a Champions League Semi Final 1st leg in between those 2 final Bundesliga matches in April, but let's not get too ahead of ourselves.

[danmcconnell1]

Some very good financial news, we're the only club in the Bundesliga to be operating at a profit this season. 

Here's an overview of the clubs' finances as we approach the end of the campaign. Next season's transfer and wage budgets have already been revealed after confirming Champions League football again next season in the middle of April, so that's a positive figure to begin with. Prize money towards the end of the season increases, especially as we're in the latter stages of the Champions League too. To be operating with a floating club balance of well over £200m makes life a lot easier.

[danmcconnell1]

              

April 2029

It's really crunch time in the season now. We began April with a disappointing defeat to Milan at the San Siro in the Champions League Quarter Final 1st Leg, losing 2-0 in Milan. That was followed by a surprise defeat away to Dusseldorf in the Bundesliga as well. Mathys Tel gave us the lead early but Dusseldorf roared back and were 3-1 up until Sesko got another one back for us. It wasn't enough though and we fell to a 3rd defeat of the season. We got back to winning ways with an outstanding come back win against Milan though, winning 3-0 at the Allianz Arena in the 2nd leg of the Champions League Quarter Final. Sesko scored an early penalty before Kimmich made the aggregate score line level. Upamecano scored what turned out to be the tie winning goal 11 minutes in the 2nd half to complete a great come back. That was backed up with a return to winning ways in the Bundesliga too, thrashing Werder Bremen 6-0 at the Allianz Arena. Deman scored an OG while Sesko doubled the lead before half time. Sesko completed a hat-rick in the 2nd half with Tillman and Baturina both on the score sheet too. Then came the DFB-Pokal semi final against Bundesliga 2 side Hannover. It was a real struggle surprisingly as we fell behind in the 1st half and went into half time 1-0 down, but goals from Kusi-Asare and substitute Sesko from the spot ensured we did what we needed to in order to reach the final. Unfortunately though, our league form on the road took another hit as we were beaten at Augsburg. Tchouameni opened the scoring for us but 2 penalties for the home side turned the game on its head and they held on for a famous 3 points. After getting past Milan, we were drawn against Champions League holders Newcastle United in the semi finals, the 1st leg being at St. James' Park. It was a crazy game which we ended up winning 6-4 thanks to a 2nd hat-rick of the month for Sesko, Tel, Sancho and Gnonto all also on the score sheet on what was a wild night in the North East. We face them again in 8 days time back at the Allianz Arena. The month ended with a pretty routine win back at home against SC Freiburg, beating them 2-0 thanks to goals from Tel and Tillman.

After a relatively poor month in the league, Dortmund have fought back to within just 2 points of us with 2 league matches remaining. 

We will face another Bundesliga 2 side in the DFB-Pokal final, this time Paderborn. We struggled against Hannover who were really organised and needed a late penalty to avoid extra time. Hopefully the big stage of the Olympiastadion in Berlin will be too much for Paderborn and we can have a more comfortable time there.

A minimum of 4 matches remain, however we'd, of course, like to make it 5. We'll find out if we can make it that number if we can hold onto our 2 goal lead in the Champions League Semi Final 2nd leg against Newcastle at the Allianz Arena. Our final away match in the Bundesliga sees us travel to Stuttgart before the final match of the league season at home to Heidenheim who've already been relegated. We then face Paderborn in the DFB-Pokal final on the 19th May. Hopefully, we can make the Champions League final too. Inter lead Chelsea 4-3 after the 1st leg at Stamford Bridge, so it's a tight match in the other semi final too.

[warlock]

After two weeks' holiday and a week with covid, I'm just now caught up here.

Fantastic run with Rennes and only a shame that you couldn't quite topple PSG. But turning down a move to Bayern would have been odd and looking good so far (April probably excepted ). I'd tip you for a league and cup double in Germany, but Champions League looks like a tough gig.

Good luck 

[danmcconnell1]

43 minutes ago, warlock said:

After two weeks' holiday and a week with covid, I'm just now caught up here.

Fantastic run with Rennes and only a shame that you couldn't quite topple PSG. But turning down a move to Bayern would have been odd and looking good so far (April probably excepted ). I'd tip you for a league and cup double in Germany, but Champions League looks like a tough gig.

Good luck 

Cheers man, appreciate the kind words. Yeah, couldn't turn down Bayern, who could?

[danmcconnell1]

       

May 2029

We began the month with the Champions League Semi Final 2nd Leg against Newcastle United at the Allianz Arena and thrashed them again, this time 6-2 with 5 of our goals coming before half time. Sesko continued his outstanding form in front of goal scoring a 1st half hat-rick while Gavi, Kim and Baturina all put extra gloss on the score line as it finished 12-6 in our favour across both legs. We will take on Inter Milan in the final at the Camp Nou in Barcelona at the end of May, a week after the DFB-Pokal Final against Paderborn. Our attention then turned to winning the Bundesliga title. We took on Stuttgart in our final away match of the season and ran out slender 1-0 winners. Stuttgart defended resolutely despite falling to 9 men in the 48th minute while the match was still goalless, we had to wait for a moment of magic from Xavi Simons to win the game for us as he went on a mazy run following intercepting a throw in and lobbing the keeper from outside the area. This meant we held a 2 point lead heading into the final day against bottom club and already relegated Heidenheim. We needed just 7 minutes to open the scoring through Tchouameni before Sesko, Simons, Kim again and Baturina made it 5-0 which was more than enough to confirm the Bundesliga title.

It's an unprecedented period of dominance for Bayern after we've retained the title. Dortmund certainly pushed us hard this year taking it to the final day, however I was never in doubt knowing we were taking on bottom of the league and already relegated Heidenheim on the final day. 

Dortmund finish 2nd, ending the season 2 points behind us. RB Leipzig's grip on 2nd has slipped as they drop to 3rd and FC Koln, who've had a great season, finish 4th and will be in the Champions League next season. Wolfsburg finish 5th and get Europa League football next season. Bayer Leverkusen finished 6th and have guaranteed at least Europa Conference League football, however if we win the DFB-Pokal, that European spot will be upgraded to the Europa League. Augsburg face a nervy wait to see if they'll be in Europe next season, also due to the result of the DFB-Pokal final. If we win it, they'll be in the Conference League, if Paderborn win it, the Bundesliga 2 side will be in Europe next season competing in the Europa League, then Augsburg miss out.

We of course, take on Paderborn in a weeks' time fresh from celebrating the Bundesliga success.

We then take on Inter in the Champions League final a week after that, so still plenty left to play for this season. 

 

Edited 17 hours ago by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

Club World Cup 2029 - Draw

We've been drawn in Group G in the upcoming Club World Cup this summer in the north African nation of Egypt. We will take on Saudi giants Al-Hilal, Al-Ahly from Egypt and Cristal from Peru. At a club like Bayern Munich, we have to be aiming to win it.

[danmcconnell1]

DFB-Pokal Final 2029, Olympiastadion, Berlin

We make our way to the capital and the Olympiastadion to get ready to take on Paderborn of the Bundesliga 2. We had to beat Bundesliga 2 side Hannover to reach the final and struggled in doing so, therefore I'm not expecting an easy ride, especially in a cup final where anything can happen. Form goes out of the window in a match like this, so we just need to be professional, do our jobs and I'm positive we will make it a 3rd trophy in my maiden season here in Germany.

That is exactly what we did. We were outstanding in this DFB-Pokal Final, beating Paderborn convincingly 6-0. Benjamin Sesko scored twice as did Aurelian Tchouameni, whilst Xavi Simons and Kim Min-Jae both got on the score sheet too in what was a dominant win. 

The DFB-Pokal win ensures a domestic treble in my first season in charge at Bayern and was the 24th time the club has lifted the trophy.

[danmcconnell1]

Just a quick look back at my former club Rennes, they had a brilliant season.

They pushed PSG all the way until the final seconds of the season, however just missed out on the Ligue 1 title by virtue of an inferior goal difference. Zidane's continued the work I put in and got far closer than I ever did to toppling PSG. They also lost the Coupe de France final against PSG too and were, of course, knocked out of the Champions League by my Bayern side. Despite losing Lamine Yamal to my Bayern side, they've arguably strengthened as a squad using that treble figure fee to help rebuild after some other players left too. I would love nothing more than to see them overthrow PSG next season.

[danmcconnell1]

Benjamin Sesko won the Top Goal Scorer award in the Bundesliga scoring 22 goals in 26 league appearances, registering 1 assist as well with an average rating of 7.36.

Despite suffering an injury hit season, Lamine Yamal was still named the Newcomer of the Year in the Bundesliga, scoring 7 goals and providing 6 assists with an average rating of 7.17 in 16 Bundesliga appearances. He's had a solid first season with us despite missing well over half of the season with a broken leg, I'm excited for him to get back to his best and hopefully that'll come next season.

Goalie Carnesecchi, defenders Kim and De Ligt, attacking midfielder Malik Tillman and striker Benjamin Sesko were all named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season.

And all of those same players, adding in Joshua Kimmich were named in the Player's Team of the Season in the Bundesliga too.

[danmcconnell1]

Champions League Final 2029, Camp Nou, Barcelona

We travelled to Barcelona to prepare for the Champions League final against Inter. The Camp Nou has undergone a fantastic redevelopment over the last decade or so making what was already a historic stadium even more beautiful. It's the first time the Champions League final has been here since 1999 when Manchester United famously beat Bayern with 2 late goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The stadium may have changed significantly, however the ghosts still remain on the site of this famous stadium for Bayern, let's hope we can put them to rest 30 years after that crushing defeat.

The ghosts of 1999 have been put to rest for Bayern in a comfortable a final as you will ever see. We took the lead in the 9th minute through Martin Baturina and doubled it 5 minutes later thanks to Xavi Simons, then held Inter at arm's length until the final whistle. They never truly threatened our goal with just 3 shots on target from their 7 in total. Gnonto had a goal disallowed late on too, but it was our night and we lift the Champions League trophy for the 8th time and the first time since 2025 under Klopp who, incidentally, left Bayern to join Inter last summer.

This win of course, means we have now made it an historic quadruple in my first season with the club. I'm ecstatic to have achieved such a difficult feat in my first season here.

Sesko completed a double individual award, winning both the Champions League Player of the Season and Golden Boot after scoring 13 goals and registering 2 assists in the competition, recording an average rating of 7.75.

Martin Baturina's worldie against Atletico back in the League Phase won the Best Goal award for the season too. 

Our players dominated the Dream Team too with Carnesecchi in goal, Kim and De Ligt named at the back, Tel and Xaxi Simons named in midfield with of course, Sesko up front.

We have approximately a month to prepare for the upcoming Club World Cup in Egypt, so we'll give the players some time off after what's been a ridiculously brilliant season before preparing in earnest for another competition that I would love to get my hands on. We will go into the tournament as one of the favourites, of that I have no doubt. Let's hope we can achieve even more greatness and win the competition for the first time in this new, extended format.

Edited 10 hours ago by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

Squad Review 2028/29

Let's take a look at how the squad have performed this season. 

Number 1 goal keeper Marco Carnesecchi proved his worth countless times this season, keeping 25 clean sheets in all competitions in 49 appearances, conceding only 44 goals in all. Elia Caprile was a capable deputy too as he made 7 appearances in all, keeping 4 clean sheets and conceding just 3.

In defence, Joshua Kimmich was the number one RB this season, he made 52 appearances in all, scoring 4 and creating 11 goals too. De Ligt scored once but registered an impressive 5 assists from CB. Kim Min-Jae scored 3 goals, all of which came late in the season and got 2 assists too whilst Dayot Upamecano scored and assisted 2 goals each. Riccardo Califiori was the main backup CB/LB, he didn't contribute any goals or assists this season and may well be on his way out of the club should the right offer come along. Victor Gomez did well filling in at RB in place of Kimmich when required, he got 2 assists in 33 appearances in all. Adam Aznou had his first full season with the first team here and scored 3 goals and registered 3 assists too, which from just 22 appearances, only 9 of those starts, wasn't bad going at all. Alphonso Davies was brilliant as always, scoring only once but adding 6 assists from LB too in just 33 appearances in an injury hit campaign for him.

Moving into midfield, Aurelien Tchouameni pulled the strings alongisde Gavi for the most part, the former scoring 6 goals and adding 5 assists in an impressive season, whilst Gavi scored 7 and made 10 in his debut season with Bayern. Paul Wanner did well from limited opportunities before a season ending knee injury, scoring 4 times and creating another 10 goals from 39 appearances, it's unlikely we'll see him until the end of the calendar year though. Martin Baturina was brilliant in a variety of positions this season, scoring lots of vital goals for us, 10 in total and creating another 12, he's been a key player for us this season. Jadon Sancho, on loan from Manchester United, had an impressive season scoring 11 goals and creating another 3, there's a chance I may look to keep him if we can agree a reasonable fee with United. Xavi Simons scored vital goals for us this season, 10 in total plus 9 assists. Malik Tillman had a brilliant first season back at Bayern scoring 13 times and creating another 15 too, he's been impressive. Lamine Yamal had an injury hit first season with us, he scored 7 in all, 5 of those came in his home debut back in August. He created another 9 in total, hopefully we'll see him back at his best next time around.

Wilfried Gnonto had a good season too, scoring 14 goals and creating another 8 as we move onto the strikers. Benjamin Sesko is the main man though and will continue to be next season. He's filled the boots left by Harry Kane with aplomb, scoring a mightily impressive 40 goals in 41 appearances across all competitions, adding 4 assists to that total too. He's been outstanding for us and deserves all the plaudits he gets. Nestory Iranjunda re-joined us in January following a mediocre loan spell at Hull City and didn't look out of place in our first team, scoring 4 times in 13 appearances in the second half of the season, adding 5 assists as well. Mathys Tel had a good campaign also, scoring 16 times and creating another 9. Jonah Kusi-Asare was another player recalled from his loan spell at Hamburg in January, who've incidentally been promoted back to the Bundesliga after winning the relegation/promotion play off against Dusseldorf. He scored some important goals at important times for us mainly off the bench, 4 in total.