We made it to the Champions League after a HECTIC playoff match against Swiss League Champions BSC Young Boys. The advantage of starting here in the playoff is that the winner would be in the Champions League and the loser would be in the Europa League. And a minor issue I had was I promised to the Don that I’d reach the Champions League proper instead of agreeing maybe the playoffs would be enough and maybe we could try to compete far in the Europa League but I thought I would be ambitious. And let me tell you we were close to a moment of disrespect let’s just say 😅.
The first leg was a fairly comfortable 3-1 win at home to begin with which could have and should have been so much more honestly but it was a comfortable win.
As for the final squad which finally was satisfying all the criteria and given Kolokotronis and the Greek homegrown striker are under 21 they don’t have to be registered even though they are homegrown at club, this is how we’re looking like
The newbies were in the full back areas where Castagne had interest from the French League(Given his decline was just starting it felt like a no brainer for a lot of money really) and Wague, as much as he stepped up towards the end of last season he wasn’t really feeling like a Champions League level fullback so I did want to capitalize on the interest and from the scout reports Connor Bradley was unhappy at Liverpool and wanted to get a permanent move. And we wound up splashing a record fee for potential really so I hope he comes through. He was well balanced enough and he has started off well.
Then it was Malacia. He was released by United and he turned his nose up at us at first but now he was interested. And in the end it was a big battle to defeat a few clubs to get his signature.
Then in midfield we replaced Tameze with a younger player who can anchor in that midfield and the backup of Bradley is a Greek RB who is homegrown which I did want to have more of.
Finally of course we have two additions in the forward line who are more better aerially and it’s the second guy who was a real clutch sub which you will see. The first guy was stinking things up so horribly which never made any kind of sense. We also replaced Pep Biel who left for Saudi on a free with Amine Harit on a free from Marseille. He is a good dribbler so it is definitely helpful.
And to the elephant in the room, what happened in the second leg. Well the image will give you the answer you seek:
I bring off Mavropanos who was on a booking and I was honestly a bit scared of the fatigue might mean maybe he might get a second yellow and I expected defensive solidity given Kumbulla is a half decent choice and well it winds up being him again that is responsible for us conceding twice. I’m glad I brought him in for free because I can’t wait to make a profit on that twit. That is TWO GODDAMN TIMES he almost cost us the game. First it was LASK in the Conference League knockouts and now.
But the striker I was telling you about was a saving grace. He first equalized after a stonking forward run from Onana. Then he scored the goal that sealed our advantage that should have been settled LONG BACK in the FIRST FREAKING LEG.
We concede twice and I couldn’t notice where the hell Kumbulla even was. Maybe one thing I am wondering is to tweak the defensive line because people are getting in behind with the high line. The pace of my defense has gone out it seems in one match.
But after doing this at full time before extra time
We were doing well when they went down a man after a second yellow (Something tells me the Don was involved and you do not wanna know why 🤐) and it helped even more and Malacia wound up being the star turn despite him being completely knackered which really impressed me given his start was shaky.
It wasn’t exactly the chair but it was the throw water bottle option in FM24 and honestly it was satisfying to do it which is why I’m not as angry as I should really be given we blew a two goal aggregate lead. But it doesn’t matter because in the end: WE MADE IT TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.
But before you can celebrate you got to remember I’m the manager of a club all the way in Greece even if they’re one of the giants there. And these were our fixtures:
Seeing the likes of Juventus, Bayern and Spurs and Ajax? My. Freaking. God
From what I see, Dinamo and Hammarby are definitely winnable. And if we can hold Bilbao and Roma to a draw and prevent defeat at the very least in the big games we could have a shot in the playoffs at the very least.
So I don’t know how it’ll go. Should be an interesting time.