I joined the club with 3 games left to play of the season, away to already relegated Elche, home to Sporting and away to Las Palmas, I managed to get 2 points from those 3 games, meaning I finished 7th. Checked to see if this was enough to qualify for Europe, top 3 teams qualify for the Champions League and 4th-6th qualify for the Europa league depending on the Spanish Cup winners.

I checked who was in the final to find Espanyol (league champions) were to play me! Whatever happened I would be in Europe next season.

The cup was a one-sided affair, Espanyol battered me although they only managed to run out 1-0 winners. The squad will need to be strengthened for next season, but I have managed to secure the signature of 2 ‘keepers ready for next season which should help my cause.

Media Prediction: 2nd

Board Expectations: Challenge for the title

What a great season all round! Having a rich chairman helped me strengthen the squad somewhat. I recruited players badly needed in key areas and let some go too. In total I spent £78m but recouped £36m so a net spend of £42m.

While I was happy with the players I brought in, I still felt at least 2 more world class players were needed to be where I wanted to be. How wrong I was!

Defeats seemed to be few and far between, my first of the season came at Camp Nou where I was beaten 1-0 at the start of October. I would then have to wait until December for my next, another 1-0 defeat this time away to Espanyol (perhaps my team just doesn’t like travelling to Barcelona?)

Two more defeats were to follow, Away to Osasuna and home to Barcelona (them again?). By the time we got to the business end of the season the title seemed it would go to one of 3 teams; Espanyol (holders) Zaragoza or us.

Due to European fixtures I always seemed to have a game in hand, 5 games to go (4 for everyone else) saw me 5 points behind Espanyol who would be my next opponents. A pivotal game saw me run out easy victors 4-0, putting me 2 points behind with a game still in hand. I beat Zaragoza next to effectively end their title bid and keep the pressure on Espanyol. I then won my game in hand to put me 1 point clear with 2 to play. Espanyol done me a favour by losing while I won my last home game to clinch the title. \o/ Champions!

The Euro cup was an exciting journey, I easily won my two qualifying games to reach the group stage. The group stage wasn’t as easy as it looked, I faced Catania (now a top Italian team) Randers and Austria Wien. Catania topped the group unbeaten while I had to settle for 2nd place. I beat Galatasaray and Arsenal to meet up with Catania in the quarters. Beating them set up a meeting with Ajax in the semis. An easy win against them left me to play Fiorentina in the final, a match played in Spain which I dominated to claim a very nice double.

Nothing really exciting happened in the Spanish Cup, I lost in the Semi Final to Espanyol.

Final Position:

1st P38 W26 D8 L4 F58 A14 Pts86

Spanish Cup

Semi Final v Espanyol L3-1 agg

Euro Cup

Winners v Fiorentina 3-1

Players In:

8 for £78m

Players Out:

29 for £36m

Staff In:

16 Coaches

10 Scouts

1 AssMan

Staff Out:

11 Coaches

4 Scouts

1 AssMan

1 Physio

Board Expectations: Win the League

Media Prediction: 2nd

To sum up, this season was better than last! I managed to go the whole season without losing a league game, conceding just 13 goals in the process. I’ve always been known for having a mean defence, but this is usually countered by my inability to score a fairly large number, that wasn’t the case this season as only Espanyol scored more than me.

In all competitions I only suffered 4 defeats, the European Super Cup against Inter, the last Champions League Group game against AC milan, the 2nd leg of my quarter final tie against Liverpool and the 1st leg of the semi final against Man City.

All in all this means I technically managed a quadruple, winning the Spanish Super Cup, League, Spanish Cup and Champions League, although it really only counts as a treble.

The Champions League was harder than it looked, admittedly I breezed through the group even though I was only second seed. The hardest team was AC Milan who managed to beat me the last game of the group 3-2 at the San Siro.

Next up was Juventus, drew in Turin but won in Spain. Liverpool was next and it was the same again, I won on home turf 3-1 but lost at their place (no longer at Anfield) 2-1. Man City in the Semis and the first leg was lost away again 2-1 with me winning the home leg 3-1. Inter awaited in the final who I managed to gain revenge over for the super cup defeat by beating them 1-0.

The Spanish Cup was fairly straight forward, the only difficult team was Espanyol in the Quarter Final but I managed to beat them in both legs. I would have had to play Barcelona in the Semi but they couldn’t beat Valencia, definitely meant I had an easier game! Osasuna beat Real Madrid in the other Semi, meaning again I had an easier game in the Final. Completely bossed the game, scoring twice in the first half to seal the win.

Final Position:

1st P38 W29 D9 L0 F73 A13 Pts96

Spanish Cup:

Won v Osasuna 2-0

Champions League:

Won v Inter 1-0

Players In:

4 for £84.5m

Players Out:

13 for £6m

Staff In:

4 coaches for £1.2m

Staff Out:

2 coaches for £1.2m

Now I have finally won the Champions League I’m not too sure whether I will carry this save on. It might be time to start a new save on the next FM. However, I may just try to retain the Champions League and win three league titles in a row. Time will tell

Board Expectations: Win League

Media Prediction:1st

Another great season again, the board and media wanted the title and I didn’t disappoint. The title wasn’t as clear cut as last season with Espanyol pushing me right to the wire. They themselves had a brilliant run, at one point they were sat in 15th some distance from the top, I think they were about 15 points adrift. A mega run from them saw them push me all the way.

Unfortunately I couldn’t manage another unbeaten season, however I managed to secure the title with a game to spare.

Managed to start the season well, winning the Spanish Super Cup and the Euro Super Cup. I would later add to this the Club World Championship to secure 3 pots before the calender year was out.

A fairly simple Champions League group saw me win all 6 games, scoring 19 and only shipping 3 in the process. This then lead to ties against FC Bayern, AC Milan and Espanyol before I would meet Inter (again) in the Final, a repeat of the previous campaign. I would prevail again, beating them 3-0.

The season finished with the Spanish Cup, a solitary goal in 180 minutes against Barcelona would see me face Espanyol in the Final. Played at Camp Nou I prevailed 2-0 winners, meaning I finished the season with a tremendous 6 trophies.

Transfer activity was a little quiet, I only signed 3 players, however the money spent was astronomical! 3 in for £114m!!! The bulk of that was spent on a 22yo Scottish MC from Lazio for £69m. The rest was £15m on a 22yo GK and £29.5m on a DC in January.

Finally the end of the season greeted me with a message from the board informing me they had secured planning permission for a new £102m stadium, financed by the sale of my current 22k capacity stadium, Sponsorship and a loan. However the new stadium is only going to have a capacity of around 35436.

Final Position:

1st P38 W24 D11 L3 F67 A13 Pts83

Spanish Cup:

Won v Espanyol 2-0

Champions League:

Won v Inter 3-0

Club World Championship:

Won v Boca 2-0

Euro Super Cup:

Won v Leverkusen 4-1

Spanish Super Cup:

Won 4-1 on Agg v Osasuna

Players In:

3 for £114m

Players Out:

8 for £2.6m