Career Sevilla Career

[Niall C]

 

Sevilla FC

 

 

 

Part 1

Hi  and welcome to my Sevilla save.  Sevilla are a side in spain that have always seemed to be a sleeping giant  of la liga. With Barcelona and the Madrid clubs dominating the league. Despite their success in the Europa league in recent years, Sevilla fall into a group of teams that never really threaten the status quo at the top of La liga. I intend to change that. I will be following these philosophies  in this career. 

 

-Youth development

-Sign young players  

-Build and maintain a Spanish spine to the squad 

 

Current honurs

It has being 70 years since Sevilla last lifted the tittle and it will be my primary goal to end the wait for the trophy. We will also be looking to win or 6th Copa del rey in the near future. As for on the European front Sevilla have being dominant in the Europa League but my goal is to establish Los Rojiblancos as a champions league contender.

 

Domestic

La Liga (1): 1945-46

Segunda División  (2): 1929, 1933–34, 1968-69, 2000-01

 

Copa del Rey (5): 1935, 1939, 1947–48, 2006-07, 2009-10

Supercopa de España (1): 2007

 

European

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1979–80

Europa league (5): 2005-06, 2006-07, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16

UEFA Super Cup (1): 2006

 

Team analysis

Having taken a look at some players both in game and in real life I am happy with the base I have.I have picked out 3 of the following players for a closer look I hope will be a big part of this save.

 

Sergio Rico

Ww

 

A player who fits everything I want in my team. Young,Spanish and bags of potential. Sergio I hope will be no.1 for years to come as long as he doesn't become a target for the big boys.

 

Joaquín Correa

 

 

Correa a talented young winger.  Who I see playing on the left flank as a inside forward or in the no.10 role. Another player I have high hopes for. 

 

Vitolo

 

 

Vitolo is quiet possibly my best player. With ability to play anywhere in the front 3 of an attacking midfield but will primarily play on the left (depending how Correa develops). Like Rico I expect Vitolo to draw plenty of interest and we will be hoping to keep a hold of this key player.

 

Team report

Besides the three I mentioned above, Our team seems to have plenty going forward with having the likes of Lucianno Vietto, Samri Nasri and  Matias Kranevitter on loan.  We also have the likes of Ganso and Rami in the team. At first look it looks like our first window will be focused on strengthening the middle of the park and defence.

 

Season Objective

The board want me to qualify for champions league .Which given the talent on hand shouldn’t be too much of a ask, and considering the minimal difference in the transfer funds to win the tittle. It wasn’t worth the added pressure given that we will need a lot of work to compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid.If it is needed I can review the wage budget and increase our transfer funds to 56million.

 

Transfers

In the early stages of this story I have a number of targets I would like to bring in but as of yet there isn't any confirmed deals. more on this in part 2

 

Pre season/Fixture list

 

A very tricky start to this save with some high quality pre season games. I won't be expecting much from any of the friendlies, as I will be experimenting with plenty of players and tactics.

 

What the above pic doesn't show is the double header with Barcelona in the Spanish super cup which will take place after the European super cup tie against Real Madrid. Both fixtures will be tricky but also a great chance to get some silverware in the cabinet ahead of the season, That also starts at Camo Nou....

 

That's it for the first upate of this career. I will post in the next day or so with a report on our pre season tour, European and Spanish Super Cup. Be sure to check back and see how we got on. Any suggestions on transfer targets, tactics or suggestions on this post will be appreciated...

 

Thanks for reading....

[BatiGoal]

I hope you're continuing with this. I'm looking forward to it as I'm doing a career with Sevilla at the moment myself.

I'm 7 seasons in and the 3 players you posted play(ed) a big part in it. Vitolo just left the squad due to his age but he's been fantastic scoring goals and providing assists. The GK Rico has developed very well with good greens overall and just earned himself a starting spot for the coming season. And Correa has been a starter for the past 2 seasons. Great squad to start a career with. Goodluck!

[Niall C]

Now that the busy Christmas season is over. New update coming very soon. 

 

More to follow....

[Niall C]

Please forgive the delay in updates over Christmas but work and family commitments prevented from me playing the game let alone posting about it. Anyway that's all done with now and here we go....

 

Pre Season

Vs Real Madrid

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My first game in charge was a tricky one. As we hosted European Champions and rivals Real Madrid, After a disastrous start with Morarta scoring twice early, We Got back in it in the second half with Vitolo and Sarabia with the equalizer.

Vs Mainz

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A much better game away to Mainz with Luciano Vietto scoring a hat trick, Ben Yedder and Vitolo in a game we dominated. We conceded two late goals, but I put that down more to the 9 changes we made in the second half which included a few youth players.

 

Vs Everton & Man City

Following my first win we continued our pre season tour with a double header in England. We first played Everton. A very even game with goals from Ganso and Vietto scoring to cancel out Romeleu Lukaku opener.

 

A much tougher game against Man City. After an early kiyotake goal, we took the lead again through Vazquez but conceded late as city earned a much deserved draw. 

 

But overall it was a good pre season which seen us pick up two wins and two draws. I also brought up one or two young players through that look to have some decent potential more on them later.

 

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Transfers

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We did some very good business in the summer window, We brought in two new Centre backs in Jorge Mere and Inigo Martinez.  Two players I'm really excited about given they fit a profile I like Young and Spanish. 

 

Following the signing of both those players we let Pareja and Kolo go. With our two new signings and the experience of Rami in the team. I felt I could afford to leave both go and raised some funds for our other signings. 

 

Two new midfielders as well adding a few new options to the midfield with young prospects Ceballos and Pererira both who are tipped to do big things in the future both in game and in real life.

 

Jorge Mere

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Matheus Pereira

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Inigo Martinez 

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Dani Ceballos

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European Super Cup v Real Madrid

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Our first competitive game, was somewhat of a disappointing one. A game where we had our chances but were wasteful. w Goals from now Morata and Jorginho winning the cup for Madrid.

 

Spanish Super Cup vs Barcelona 

 

If the Madrid game was a game we wasted our chances. The first leg of the Spanish super cup was a game we were more profitable with our opportunities. Early brace from Vazquez either side of a disallowed Vitolo goal. Seen us race into a 2-0 lead and  take firm control of the game. Arda turan had a goal disallowed  after 22 minutes, so we went into the half 2-0 up. Nasri made it 3-0 on 72 minutes but that lead was shortened to 3-1 moments later with a Iniesta strike on 73 minutes. We held on though and took a crucial lead into the second leg.

 

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In the second leg we were under pressure from the first whistle. Lionel Messi scored for the hosts, meaning one more goal for the Catalans would bring the vital away goal from the first leg into play. Adil Rami made things worse on 56 minutes for us following after he was dismissed. But after effectively parking the bus for the last half hour we held on and secured the first silverware under my management. 

 

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So not a bad start to my reign at Sevilla. As well as landing the Spanish super Cup, I had another personal milestone after that game as I earned my silver coaching badge.

 

So hope you enjoyed the update. Let me know what you think of the signings and the start to the season. Coming up in part 3 is the opening to the season and the champions league draw which saw us paired with a certain English champions. 

 

Ps. Part 3 will not take as long lol. 

 

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Edited January 9, 2017 by Niall Cunningham

[BatiGoal]

Solid start, nice!

I had Martinez and Ceballos as well in my Sevilla career and they're great additions. Ceballos is outstanding. I used him as an AP mostly but he does OK on the wings too if you're forced to re-shuffle in-game. And I remember Adil Rami getting too many bookings and sending-offs during my career as well he's a good defender but he loves red.

KIU!

 

[kylieboi88]

Quality start.

Looking forward to reading more of this!

[Taff]

Great start dude shame about the missed opportunities against Real but more than made up for it vs Barcelona 

Keep up the good work and looking forward to the next update

Edited January 12, 2017 by Taff

[Niall C]

Welcome to part 3 of my Career. At the season half way point here is the tactic I've  settled on.Which after some tweaking seems to be working as you will see further on this update.

Tactics

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First five games

So we have made a solid start to the season. With 4 wins from 5 league games. Including a big win away to Barcelona. Which brings my personal record against the Catalans to 3 wins from 3. The 4 wins have us firmly in the tittle race and more importantly the champions league places.

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Following our strong start we would go on take another 3 wins, 1 draw and a 1 defeat to Valencia which had us top after 10 games. Also you can see Barcelona now firmly back in the race after a poor start to the season. 

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Champions League.

 

We were drawn in a tough group in the champions league. Drawn against English champions Leicester. French heavyweights Monaco and Slovakian side Trencin.

 

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We picked up four straight wins which saw us seal our place in the next round with two games to spare. A fifth win would follow without conceding a goal. But upon resting a number of key players against Leicester in the last game we lost to the foxes. A result with Trencin upsetting Monaco saw the English champions  snatch the runner up spot and will be playing champions league football in the second half of the season.

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Our reward for topping the group. Is another trip to England as we play Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16. Leicester's reward for finishing second is a huge trip to the Camp Nou. Arsenal v Real Madrid is the other stand out tie of the round.

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Spanish Cup

In the Spanish Cup we were drawn against second division b1 side Leonesa. Given the difference in league status. I planned to use these games as a chance to let some fringe players get a run out.

 

It was a tough game in the first leg away from home and after going behind. We managed to come back needing Luciano Vietto coming of the bench to save face for us.

 

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In the second leg we dominated at home. Early goal from young striker Carlos Fernandez settled us and we ran out clear winners against the minnows.

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Our reward for that win saw us drawn against fellow la liga side deportivo la Coruna in the 5th round. To be played in the new year.

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End of 2016

So as we ended the year safely through to the next round of both cups. Our league form did slip a little with a run of 2 wins and 5 draws. Although one of those two wins was a win against Real which was particularly pleasing.

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So that dip in form saw us sit 5 points behind Barcelona at the break. Real Madrid do  have three games in hand which will bring them right back in the race. 

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Conclusion

A good end of the year. We are comfortably in the champions league places which is very much a priority this season. We seem to be lacking goals perhaps that will be something I will look to address in the January window. We will also be looking for a centre midfielder to improve in the middle of the park. 

 

That's it for this update I hope you enjoyed reading. Feel free to comment on my progress or suggest transfer targets. 

[Sousa_XI]

I have enjoyed reading ..  Good luck in your career 

[Ashez]

Just caught up, really enjoying this  

[BatiGoal]

Great stuff indeed. Keep up the good work.

[Niall C]

Part 4 - January Transfer window

 

We start with a personal update for myself as I earned my Gold Coaching badge.

 

Now Just a quick update as we made a couple of signings. I felt I needed to tell you about. 

 

January Transfers

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First we will start with the exits or at least a future exit as Michael Krohn-Dehli will leave us at the season's end to Chamois Niortais. This is not really too disappointing of a deal as Michael was very much a fringe player and I had offered him out over the summer and in January. 

 

Now onto two incomings I'm particularly excited for....

 

Thiago Maia €14mill(Santos)

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Not much to say about this guy as I'm sure many of you here already know about the potential of this kid. I said in the last update I was looking to bring in a central midfielder to improve the middle of the park and I feel we have done so.

 

Luca Zidane-Free (Real Madrid B)

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Very much a look to the future with this one. Son of Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane. Luca was available on a pre contract deal and after such high potential rating from my scouts, I felt as a free transfer and being only 18 he was worth the risk. We shall see. 

 

Spanish Cup

We began January with a Spanish Cup fifth round tie against Coruna. We didn't have a lot of chances at home but we made them count as we scored early in the first half and then Vazquez doubling our lead in the first leg.

 

First Leg

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Much better performance in the second leg as we rested plenty of key players for this one. Delighted for Ivi getting his first goal for the club in his first team debut. Which gave us the away goal advantage, after Ben Yedder made it 2-0 we cruised into the quarter finals.

Second Leg

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Our reward in the quarters we would go on to face Valencia.

 

First leg

A poor perfomance from us at the Mestalla. After having a goal from Vazquez ruled out. We then lost new signing Thiago Maia to injury moments after coming off the bench for his debut. A late Vietto goal gave us a crucial away goal to take home for the second leg.

 

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Second leg.

 

This game had it all. After Vazquez doubled our aggregate lead in the first half. Two goals from Carlos Castro seemed to hand Valencia an away goal win. But just as he did in the first leg Vietto came off the bench to score the winning goal and book our place in the semis.

 

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Our Reward for surviving Valencia. We drew Eibar. Who will by no means be an easy task. Given that they have conquered in previous rounds not only Barcelona but Real Madrid before that.The other semi finals has Ath.bilbao facing Malaga.

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League

 

Meanwhile in the league we lost some crucial games in January. We  went on a run of W2/D1/L2 since the last update.Making it just W3/D5/L2 in our last 10 league games, not exactly championship form.Very disappointed with both defeats. As the Hispalis defeat came of the back of us pushing for a winner and being caught on the break. While no complaints about the Barcelona result as we were totally outplayed at home and didn't deserve anything.

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All in all we enter February 11 points behind the champions.The tittle is more than likely out of reach but we will look to maintain our hold on a champions league place.

 

So that's it for this update. Let me know what you think of our new singings, our chances in both the Copa del Ray (against Eibar) and champions league (against Spurs).....

Edited January 23, 2017 by Niall Cunningham

[BatiGoal]

Martinez and Ceballos are top players. Had them as well in my Sevilla career and they're quality additions. Maia looks very good too. Interested to see how he's going to develop.

You're going strong sitting in 2nd spot but your lack of goals is still worrying.

[danovic78]

Good going this season with some solid signings but as Bati says goal scoring is a big issue. Maybe look to tweak the formation in the next season.

[Niall C]

Part 5 - Season 1 end 

 

So here  we are the end to my first season as Sevilla manager. 

 

League 

 

So in the last update we were sitting 2nd as the best of the rest but 11 points behind runaway leaders Barcelona. We kept up our good form for much of February (W3 D1 L1) and March (W2 D1 L0) but a crucial defeat to Real in April (W4 D0 L1) would prove crucial at the end of the season. But in May though we lost to our top four rivals Athletico Madrid and a draw on the final day saw us finish fourth. Which does secure us Champions League football for next season albeit via the qualifiers, Which is the goal I was set at the start of the season.

 

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Copa del Rey 

In what was our best chance of silverware this season the Copa del Rey we faced cup giant killers Eibar in the semi Final. In the first leg we huffed and puffed but could not break the deadlock.

 

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The second leg we once again struggled to convert our chances. Luckily Dani Ceballos scored the only goal of the game after 18 minutes. Which booked our place in the cup final for the second season in the row after the previous regime made it there last season.

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Our opponents in the final. We faced Athletico Bilbao....

 

 

 

This game had over 30 chances with 26 on target between the two sides. We took the lead through Pablo Sarabia after 20 minutes. But that lead was canceled out by Oscar de Marcos. We headed to penalties and after both sides missed one penalty out of their first four on each side. It was a Matias Kranevitter's miss after Iker Muniain scored which ended our hopes of lifting the trophy.

 

 

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Champions league 

In the champions league we faced English side Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16 stage. Despite taking an early lead. It didn't last long with Edwards scoring for Spurs, followed by Sissoko giving the north London club the advantage going into the return leg.

 

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Luciano Vietto was our hero in the second leg. With prolific accuracy he scored 2 crucial goals from our only 2 shots in the game.

 

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Our reward for our resilient victory against Spurs. We got a draw against Sporting Lisbon.

 

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The first leg was a ding dong affair as between us we had 24 shots with 17 on target.  It took a late goal from former Sporting Lisbon player Matheus Pereira rescuing a draw for us.

 

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We traveled to Portugal knowing we needed to score at least 1 goal if not 2 to cancel out Sporting's away goal advantage. We did just that and our defense held firm as we booked our place in the semi finals.

 

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After coming from behind once more. We drew our la liga rivals Barcelona in the semi finals.

 

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Arguably our easiest game in the knockout of the champions league campaign. We took full advantage of our home support as we ran to a 3-0 lead. Lionel Messi scoring what could be a crucial away goal for the Catalans.

 

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Second leg was a much tenser affair. As we scored late in the first half to increase our aggregate lead to 4-1. We held on as our defense once again held firm until Alcacer scored what would prove to be a conciliation goal as we marched on to the final.

 

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After seeing of Barcelona we booked our place in the final at the Millennium stadium where we will play the old lady Juventus.

 

 

We entered our first champions league final. After a tight affair our luck ran out in this season's champions league.We were hit on the break twice in the last 10 minutes which saw us lose our second final this season.

 

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Awards 

 

Here is a quick look at the awards given out at the end of the season. 

 

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On a club award front our top scorer was Vazquez netting 22 in all competitions not bad for his first season at the club.Two standout players of the season was Inigo Martinez and Sergio Rico who were crucial in our solid defense this season.

 

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End of season conclusion 

 

So a disappointing end to a season which promised so much with two cup final defeats and slipping to fourth in the league. In fact after a poor run in May the board seem concerned with our dip in the form. 

 

I plan to invest heavily in the summer transfer. A prolific striker will certainly be on the shopping list and perhaps one or two more.

 

As always any thoughts, suggestions or criticisms or suggestions on transfers feel free to post below. 

 

Also if anyone is reading here via the Twitter link please help me out with a retweet or like to share the story with others...

 

Part 6 Summer transfer coming soon.....

[BatiGoal]

You did well getting to those finals in your first season. Bummer you lost both tho. With quality summer signings you'll be a force in all competitions next season.

[Niall C]

Season 2

Hey guys sorry for the delay in an update but we are back for season 2 of my Sevilla save. It will be a bit of a long as I'm going to go through all of season 2 this update so hope you enjoy the read.

Pre Season

We kicked of Pre-season with three home games as we picked up good wins over Zaragoza and Almeria and a hard fought draw against Villarreal. In a rematch from the champions league final of last season we faced Juventus and as you will see below we didn't fair any better against the European champions.
 

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Transfers

We spent big this summer. With record signing of Andre Silva from Porto and the bargain signings of Gabriel and Dani Parejo. We also brought in Borja Mayoral on loan following an early season injury to Silva and the departure of Ben Yedder to Everton.

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Not many high profile departures more fringe players in the form of Kiyotake,Carrico and Mariano.We did lose Ben Yedder but following the signing of Silva and Jesus he was going to be 3rd or 4rth choice so we chose to cash in on the decent offer.

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League pt1
We began our league campaign away to Espanyol with a good win. We would go on a run of W6 D4 L1 in the first 11 games as we kept pace with the leaders through to the end of October.

 

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We would continue this form in November and December with W4 D1 L2 in the league as we went into the winter break in 3rd place just 4 points behind leaders Athletico. Side note Real Madrid had a woeful start to the season. One that would cost Zidane his job in early January.

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Copa del Rey

After Last season's cup final defeat. We began our campaign at Leonsa.

In the first leg we dominated with goals from Boutobba and Konnoplyanka canceling out Benjas. Ganso then netting the 3rd. Which all but booked our place in the next round.

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In the second leg we dominated once more. Iborra and Loanee signing Mayoral sealing a 2-1 win victory (5-2 on aggregate).
 

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Our reward in the next round saw us draw Eibar for the second season in a row.(we won 1-0 on aggregate in the semi final last season.

It was a ding dong battle as the hosts took the least twice. But a 82nd minute winner for Vazquez gave us a 3-2 lead for the second leg with 3 vital away goals.

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The second leg we held our nerve and ground out a 1-0 home win which saw us march into the quarter finals (4-2 on aggregate)

 

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We would face tough opposition in the quarter final. As we faced Real Madrid. Who's despite struggling in the league would prove to be huge games for us.

In the first leg. Star striker Andre Silva netted twice to give us a 2-1 lead to take to Madrid. Interesting enough this result would prove to be the final straw for Madrid as they sacked Zidane and replaced him with former Sevilla coach Unai Emery.

 

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In what proved to be Emery first game in charge of Madrid proved to be a costly one for his former side. As Lucas silva only goal proved enough for Madrid to dump us out of the competition on away goals.

 

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Champions league

Despite making it to the champions league final last season, Our 4rth place finish last season saw us set to start our campaign in the quality round in the qualifiers.Our opponents Turkish side Galatasary.

 

A tough trip to Turkey and we managed to get away with a crucial 1-0 away goal lead. It was a tight game with new boy Jesus grabbing the goal after 50 minutes.
 

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An early goal for the visitors had the home fans uneasy. They grew more anxious again as new man Andre silva limped off injured. Luckily though goals from Vazquez and Jesus, wrapped up the result and saw us through back to the group stage.

 

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Our reward was a tricky group which saw us drawn against Scottish champions Celtic, Ukrainian side Shakhtar and French giants Lyon.

A tough trip to Glasgow to kick off our Campaign. After conceding early it took a penalty from Vazquez to level the score. We then laid siege to Celtic's goal but to know avail as we left Scotland with a point.
 

 

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We got our first win of the group as we hosted Shaktar. In a close game a sole goal from loanee Borja Mayoral earned us the win.

 

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We followed up that win with a trip to France. A comfortable 2-0 win with goals from Vazquez and Silva gave us our first win on the road in the champions league.In the return match we got our second win over Lyon.  Giving us 10 points from 12 and nearly booking our place in the knockout stages again.

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The only team to take anything from us was Celtic when we drew away. We got a ounce of revenge as Eugene Konoplyanka with the winning goal and with that win we secured top spot in the group.

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A trip to Ukraine to end the group stage. We were already qualified at this stage so rested some key players for this trip. We still managed to secure the win with Dani Parejo with the goal.

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This would lead us to topping group. Our reward for topping the group was Napoli in the last 16.

 

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We traveled to Naples for the first leg and in a game we were firmly on the back foot. But two great counter attacking goals so us leave Italy with a crucial leaf and two vital away goals.
 

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Another close game in the second leg. The visitors had to score twice and started well with an early goal from Marek Hamsik. We got the cushion of an equalizer which put us ahead in the tie through Gabriel Jesus and we held on to go through 3-2 on agg.

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Our Champions league campaign would head to Germany next as we faced Borussia Dortmund. In another tight game we. We slumped to a narrow 1-0 defeat but in truth judging by the stats it could have being so much more.

 

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We entered the second leg knowing we needed a big win and crucially needed to prevent Dortmund from scoring a vital away goal. We did just that as both sides held noting back and luckily we took our chances when they came as goals from Andre Silva and Dani Ceballos saw us through with a 2-0 win on the night and 2-1 on Agg.

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Our road in the champions league saw us return to France, This time to Paris as we faced the mighty French champions. An even game we took the lead via Borja but that lead was cut out by Ongenda. Which means we once again will return home for a second leg with still much to play for.

 

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In a change for the norm, where we have needed goals in the second leg to sure up our progression. This time it was the tale of our defensive forces, as we played out somewhat a boring 0-0 result meaning that crucial away goal from Borja seeing us through to the final 1-1 on agg.

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So we booked a trip to the Nsc Olimpiyskiy in Ukraine as we hoped to go one step further than last season where we lost to Juventus. In a campaign that took us from Glasgow to France to Germany to the Ukraine. We would meet our La liga rivals Real Madrid. As Los blancos looked to win their 12th European crown.



An early goal from Andre SIlva settled our nerves. Gabriel then made it 2-0 for us as we dominated the first half. We made good on our pressure as one year on from the final where we fell at the final hurdle this time we were champions of Europe.

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It's the first major title of my reign as Sevilla manager. I know we won the Spanish super cup last season but that was a trophy we were in place to win thanks to previous manager. This was one we earned under my leadership.

League part 2

 

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The second half of the season is where the wheels fell off a little in the league. In January (W2 D1 L1) and February (W2 D0 L2) Which saw us slide away from the tittle race the defeat to Bilabo in February though would be our last defeat in the league as we would go on a unbeaten run of 12 games in the league to close out the season.  In March (W3 D1 L0) and April (W4 D1 L0) and finally in May (W1 D1 L0). It was all too late though as we improved on last season but finished 3rd in the league. Also fun note our champions league final opponents Real Madrid would look set to miss out on next season's champions league although I think with us winning the tournament should see Real Madrid sneak in due to us already being qualified. More on that next season.

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Awards

A look at the end of season awards. Great news on the club front with Strikers Andre Silva and loanee Borja Mayoral scooping up player of the year awards.

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Andre silva and Sergio Rico were my standout players for the season. With silva scoring the crucial goals and Rico keeping the clean sheets at the other end.

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End of season Conclusion

Well we are two seasons in and we have achieved a huge goal in landing the champions league crown. Our league form suffered a little as a result which is a general theme in real life with sevilla. In the new season we will hope to mount another title challenge while looking to add more silverware in the european super cup and world club championship. As well as adding more players to the team and perhaps fend off one or two big bids for our stars.More on that in the new season.

Thanks for reading….
 

[BatiGoal]

Good to see you and this career back. 

Exciting CL run and some of the games were really close but you need that bit of luck sometimes. Hopefully a better La Liga run next season with more goals too, 56gls won't win you the title. KIU!

[Niall C]

Season 3 _Part 1

 

Here we go again Season 3 was a big one and here is the first half of it. Enjoy the read...

 

Pre-Season

 

A tough pre-season as we had two high profile friendlies as we prepared for our European super cup tie with Man City. Versus Roma we took an early lead through Andre Silva, It was an even game with plenty of chances for both sides, but following Carmona’s sending off we conceded 2 to fall to 2-1 defeat.

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We next traveled to Germany to face the mighty Bayern, We once again had a tight game with plenty of chances with Andre Silva once again getting on the score sheet, but we fell to a 2-1 defeat. Overall I was happy with the two games as we rotated in both games and tried some new things out that will help us out for the season.

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European Super Cup

In a tense game we faced Europa league holders Man city. Both sides had plenty of chances but it was a game that required extra time. With the winning goal coming from Andre Silva as we put or first piece of silverware in the cabinet this season with the Super Cup.

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Transfer News

In a busy summer window. There was plenty of incomings and outgoings with the season ahead.

In

We spent big this summer as we spent 63 mill on 5 signings. Kuki was the biggest of those as we added more firepower up front. Lenglet comes in as cover at cb and we brought in utility defender jonny who can play anywhere in the defense. We also picked up two exciting free agents as Luiz Gustavo and Andre Hahn come in for free.

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Out

We recouped a  massive 66mill on transfers going out. Majority of that was  Steven Nzonzi who given his age and entering the final year of his  contract we accepted a big offer of 32mill from Monaco. The rest of the departures were fringe players who didn't really have a future at the club and were happy to part with.

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La Liga part 1

We made a strong start to our league campaign this time round. As we recorded an unbeaten start to the season with a record of W7 D3 L0 in the first 10 which included wins over Barcelona.We did have a slump in form towards the end of October early November as we drew three games  in the league 0-0 which we dropped some points but it did include a draw with Real Madrid.

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Following that slump of draws we would go on to win 4 of the 5 in the league with a record of W4 D 1 L 0 in November and December which included a draw with our rivals for champions league qualification Valencia and a win over Atheltico Madrid.

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We went into the winter break unbeaten in 2nd place a point behind Real Madrid but with two games in hand.

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Champions League

Our Defense of the champions league began in Group E. We Were drawn with our rivals Juventus, Fc Porto and Anderleacht.

We began our campaign at home to Anderlecht. A hat trick from Andre Silva giving us the perfect start to the group.

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Our second game was a tough trip to Portugal. We had the perfect start with Andre Silva giving us the lead against his old club. But the hosts came back and we were convincingly beaten.

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A tough game that was a repeat of the 2017 final as we hosted Juventus. An even game with Vitolo earning us a point.

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In the return game our trip to Italy was not one for the highlight reel. As we held on and earned a valuable point in Italy.

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In Round 5 we once again defeated Anderlecht( I forgot to take a screenshot. Importantly Juventus did us a favor beating Fc porto in Portugal. Meaning we will go into the final game against Fc Porto needing to avoid defeat to ensure our passage to the knockout rounds.

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In a deciding game of Group E we returned the favor to Porto beating them 3-1 at home to book our place in the next round. Former Porto player Andre Silva, Pereira and Sarabia with the goals.

In the next round we drew Arsenal in the last 16.

 

Spanish Cup part 1

We began our Spanish Cup run against second division LLeida. This was a game where we took the opportunity to blood some youngsters, Carlos Fernandez and Etebo giving us a comfortable aggregate lead.

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In a much more open game we booked our place in the next round. The visitors gave us a scare after taken the lead three times before a hat trick from super sub Pablo Sarabia saved us from an embarrassing defeat as we went through 7-3 on aggregate.

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We will play Villarreal in the fifth round

 

Club World Championship

In December we headed to the club world championship We would face Nigerian side Kano pillars in the semi final and needless to say we made short work of them. Andre SIlva with a hat trick and Matheus Pereira with the goals as we cruised into the final.

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We would face Argentina side Lanus in the final, An early goal from Matheus Pereira settled us and a brace from Correa as we won 3-0 and landed our second piece of silverware of the season as we landed the club world championship.

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A  nice end of year award as our superstar striker Andre Silva won the world player of the year.

That's it for this season update. We are an a good position on all fronts as we hope to keep it up in the second half of the season. That update is coming soon but before i go. Any guesses who these 3 regens are. Two of which will be signed in January.

 

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[BatiGoal]

Great run in all competitions so far. KIU!

As for the regens, looks like Ibra and Lampard..

[Niall C]

6 hours ago, BatiGoal said:

Great run in all competitions so far. KIU!

As for the regens, looks like Ibra and Lampard..

Thanks. My prediction for the regen  yaya toure, ibra and Rooney cause of the Everton tie but could be lampard 

[Niall C]

So sorry for the delay in updating this save. Have had a busy couple of weeks, but as you can tell from my other recent content i'v had a chance to post more so it was only right to continue the story in Sevilla enjoy!!

 

Part 2
  
Spanish Cup part 2
 
Fifth Round v Villareal
In the Fifth round we faced Villareal in early January. In  a tight first leg we took the lead through Andre Silva and after a 52nd minute sending off we held on for a vital win with a crucial away goal.

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The home leg was surprisingly easy. As  Correa gave us the lead in the first half.  With Villareal losing Ziyeach to injury. Correa then doubled our advantage on the night and 3-0 on aggregatet, Villareal then once again had a player sent off as we moved on to the quarter finals.

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Quarter Finals v Barcelona
We went into this round once again with the away leg first. Correa gave us the lead but that was canceled out by our former loannee player Borja Mayora,l who I was surprised had moved from Real Madrid to Barcelona last summer. Correa then gave us a second and a crucial second away goal at the Camp Nou.

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In a tough night at home we lost on the night to Neymar a goal but  it finished 2-2 on aggregate our two crucial away goals from the first leg carried us through.

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Semi Final v Valencia
In a change from the norm. We played at home first and despite dominating the game we lost 1-0 to Araujo goal and would have it all to do in the second leg.

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Once again a big away win as Correa and Silva turned the tie in our favour inside 32 mins. But after Soler’s late goal in the first half we would need to hold on as we once again finished the tie 2-2 and went through on the away goal rule.

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 We would play Real Madrid in the final of the Spanish Cup, more on that later.
 

Champions League part 2
We drew Arsenal in the last 16 of the champions league. First leg it was an explosive start to the tie with Gabriel Jesus giving us the lead after 3 minutes. Arsenal hit back and in the space of 2 minutes Arsenal had turned it around and this tie was 2-1 after just 5 minutes. Andre silva got us back on terms after 40 mins and the first leg ended in a draw.

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Second leg we knew we would have to score to stand any chance of getting through, Unfortunately for us we were unable to get on the score sheet and were headed out on away goals. Mauro Icardi put the game to bed for the gunners as they hit us on the break. Our defense of the champions league ends in the last 16 stage this season.

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La liga part 2

We returned to the league action post winter break very much with the title in our sites. In January we were superb form with a record (W 4 D 1 L 0) we scored  11 in four games and only conceding 2 in the final game of the month against Barcelona in a 2-2 draw sandwiched between our Spanish cup games against the Catalans.. 

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February didn’t start well as we failed to score for 3 games. A 1-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish cup, followed by a 0-0 draw in the league to Celta vigo and then first leg defeat to Valencia in the Cup. We ended that baron streak with a run of 4 straight wins in the league got us back on track as we ended the month with a league record of (W4 D1 L0)

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March saw our unbeaten league form finally come to an end 27 game unbeaten run this season and in actual fact we were unbeaten since March of last season and a run of 40 games unbeaten. Adding the defeat to Valencia to our elimination from the champions league to Arsenal it wasn’t a good week. Despite that we ended the month with a record of (W3 D2 L1) and a huge win over Real Madrid as we build momentum in the league run in.
 
April we continued our challenge for the title alive with another strong month with a record (W3 D1 L1) Interestingly the loss to Athletico and draw with Bilbao would be the last time we would drop points this season

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May (W3 D0 L0) we won all 3 games in the league as we finished the season so strong and won our first league title. We also defeated Real Madrid in the Spanish cup final as we went on to complete a double in our most successful season.

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Awards

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A clean sweep in the end of year awards with Andre Silva wining player of the year,  Gabriel Jesus wining young player of the year and after guiding Sevilla to a league and cup double I won the manager of the year.
 
A very good season all round for Sevilla but the 3 following players stand out for me.

Andre Silva where would we be without his goals. He scored 51 goals in 53 appearances as he certainly begins to justify his price tag. Going on to win the Pichichi (Spanish golden boot) and the Spanish player of the year.

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Inigo Martinez our rock at the back himself and Jorge Mere formed a formidable partnership which helped us to only conceding 31 goals in our march to the league and cup double.

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Joaquin Correa
A player who has surprised me this season. In my first 2 seasons he never really impressed me and last season he was very much a fringe player. I had every intention to sell him last summer but was no takers. This season he hit a purple patch around the mid point of the season he either was scoring the goals or laying them on for Andre silva form that saw him get called up for Argentina and new contract from me.

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Conclusion

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Our most successful season yet with no less than 4 trophies added to the cabinet. Hope you guys enjoy the read and don't worry season four update will be up over the next few days as we look to defend our league title.

 

[BatiGoal]

Glad this is still on. Doing a great job. You seemed to be getting better results away from home in the first half of the season. You using different formations for home and away games?

[Niall C]

Tbh this season was about 2 months ago so not sure lol. I know I went more attacking around November December in a 4-3-3 which allowed Correa to flourish in the Left IF position. Thanks for comments.