Precedently in Hexagon Challenge : Oceania, more Oceania, Asia, Africa and South America
Here I am again ! It's been a while.
After winning the Copa Libertadores with Estudiantes, I did not leave the club immediately, however I started applying for interesting jobs either in Mexico or Europe.
As usual, nothing gets open in Mexico. In Europe however, I see that my boyhood club, who had been subject to a tycoon takeover a couple years before, is looking for a manager after a disappointing 2/3 of the season. I couldn't resist and apply, even though it might not have been the smartest move.
https://preview.redd.it/q6nj5ugqpkw41.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=b032d5b57aff726f20befb55d200b066d1b7d3f6
And here I was, in charge of leading my hometown club to glory !
I joined just after the winter break, with the team in 9th. The board was not asking for much, but I set my view on European qualification. The squad was OK, it would not be easy but certainly not unatteignable.
The transfer window was still open when I joined, and I mostly used it to get rid of dead wood. Too many 30+yo in that roster. I would also have the last "real" player of my career, as a 35yo Rayan Cherki is there, scheduled to retire at the end of the season.
After a good end of the season, we finish 5th and qualify for the EC2. A first taste of European Football for me.
Season 1 - 2039/2040
In the summer, I'm very active and spend almost 100M€.
2 CBs, a RB wonderkid and depth all around. the squad already had very good offensive players, no need to splash money there.
In the league, we would improve on last year, scoring more, conceding less ... Getting 16 more points in total, good enough for 3rd place, behind Lille on goal average. As for the title, PSG is still too strong at this point, and end up with 95pts. Anyway, that's still Champions League qualification for us ! Albeit preliminary rounds.
Ligue 1 - 2039/2040
Our season however began with the Preliminary Round of the EC2. We easily discard Rosenborg (3-1/3-2) to get to the Group Stages.
There, we meet PSV, Gaziantep and Maccabi Tel Aviv. We have to be able to get out of a group like this, and we do it brilliantly.
https://preview.redd.it/o2z4gnjlskw41.jpg?width=1188&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7c5c89c66d2b94bc00a46bff471fd5221f7be752
As 1st in our group, we're exempted of the 1st Knockout Round, we can sit back and relax.
2nd Knockout Round, Red Star is waiting for us after beating Hearts. Another easy draw and a 4-1 aggregate win. I like this competition
Quarters Finals, and Olympiakos stands before us. A tougher draw, and only a 1-0 win. Copenhagen in the Semis is also a tough draw, and we get by 2-1 thanks to a 2-0 win there in the first leg.
In the Finale, we will meet West Ham. I don't feel very optimistic about it, because English clubs are often stacked with talent, and looking at their squad they are no exception. However, on the pitch, they look nothing like it and can barely scrape 2 passes together. We beat them 4-0 easily to win the first European trophy in the history of the club !!
EC2 2039/2040
That's all the good news we have for the season though, as our chairman announces that he will stop putting money into the club. That means the deficit will only grow, my transfer budget will be non-existant and I absolutely refuse to sell my players to get money. If I sell someone, it is because I can upgrade or because he is of no use, not because my chairman wants to save money.
Fuck him. I decide to leave. As always, I do not resign but starts applying to other jobs. Win the EC2 win, my reputation is really good, and I think I can land a great job.
https://preview.redd.it/i9ggcbg1ukw41.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=c9b6b1a75a6eba2b89733e17fdd854777ff00de4
And it looks like I did !!
Well, looks like ...
The squad is good, if maybe a little bit on the older side. Real is of course a legendary team, even though the Spanish landscape has been dominated by Barca in recent years, as they won 5 of the last 6 league titles, as well as 7 Champions League between 2028 and 2038, 6 of them with Iker Casillas as a manager.
Yes, you read that right. Real Madrid Legend Iker Casillas has become one of the most successful managers ever while managing Barcelona. That must hurt.
But when I arrive at Real in 2040, he has now left for Juventus.
Anyway, I'll keep it short as it was a terrible season for me. I feel like the board had unrealistic expectations from the start, and not enough money to back up their ambition.
I also have to take most of the blame, as I could not find a system that worked.
In the end, I squeeze in a win in the Supercup, but a defeat in the Copa Del Rey Finale, a miserable 4th place in the League and a Semi-Finals exit to Man City in the Champions League after a not-so convincing run. The highlight being beating Casillas' Juventus twice in the Group Phase.
I can say I was part of history though, because that season would be the first of the save when the Liga was won by someone else than Barca or Real. Betis Sevilla would win their 2nd ever Liga title and the first in over a century ! Their striker would go on to win the Ballon D'Or that year too.
Anyway, obviously the board would find my performance abysmal and sack me before the season could even end. I can take comfort knowing I was able to keep my job for 20 days more than my predecessor, Antonio Conte !
Back on the job hun though.
Lots of interesting opportunities arise, I think that maybe taking a top job is not the best solution ? Maybe I should take a lower tier one and build it into a Champions League winner ? I have offers from Schalke, Bayer, Milan where I could do that ...
In the end, I decide to give a giant another go, and accept Bayern's offer.
https://preview.redd.it/nbdlcw7axkw41.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=8e87eb232139dc5e76f877464d782f2b8b690bed
And from the beginning, I feel much better about this job than about Real.
The squad is younger, the finances look much better ...
I have a pretty active first transfer window, bringing young players with huge potential for big sums of money, including this gem of a left back. 80M well spent.
https://preview.redd.it/fshsgh07ykw41.png?width=1392&format=png&auto=webp&s=c3a6f0d8ce102cf4f704ac5423178ec2abf08428
I also have a GK upgrade in sight but can't afford it. Yet ...
In January though, Real comes to my rescue, offering a mighty sum for my average ageing GK. I manage to get their offer up to 113M, and then can activate the 112M release clause on the younger better German GK I was eyeing. Wonderful business.
All in all, between the summer and January, we had spent almost 300M and sold for just under 200M
Season 1 - 2041/2042
In the league, I would not perform as good as the team had last year. Same number of goals scored and only 2 more goals against, but 15 points less ! Still enough to be crowned champions though, but without much margin. I had a little bit of trouble finding a system that worked. I even thought for a while that this season was taking the same path the one at Real did. Around december, I finally opted for changing my 4-2-3-1 (2 CMs and 3 AMs) into more of a 4-3-3 (DM-2 CMs and wingers) in order to create more chances. We had the balls, we had shots but they were bad ones. This way, our attack movements would start from further deep, the wingers and the forward would have more space to work with, and we would be more dangerous. From then and increasingly during my tenure, we would become more and more of a counter team. Not what I had in mind, not what the Board wants, but that's what worked, so ...
Bundesliga 2041/2042
With that League title, a good part of keeping my job was achieved. The other big objective was to attain the CL Semis.
The Group phase was ... a struggle. I was till tinkering with the tactics and barely escaped. Not boding well for the later stages
https://preview.redd.it/imgme1mvjlw41.jpg?width=1202&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97d02f6ef65abe48bbc85c0a462b2d680ba10253
In the first Knockout Rd I was lucky enough to draw Porto. A weak side was a blessing, as I absolutely needed to advance to keep my job. A not pretty 2-1 aggregate win saw us through.
On the next round however, we drew none other than Iker Casillas and his Juventus. They were simply too good for us, winning 4-2 and scoring ridiculous goals. We were out and they would go on to win it all this year.
It was one step short of the announced objectives but the board understood Juve was a tough opponent. I was not sacked and could go on building this team.
Season 2 - 2042/2043
Again, an eventful summer. Firstly, an unexpected upgrade at RB thanks to a 80M wonderkid from Monaco, while offloading our 28yo starter to Juve.
Secondly, a great looking Romanian kid from Dinamo. Look at that stud
https://preview.redd.it/4aq9c4ptklw41.png?width=1392&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ec83d2e1f856d354c41a06c776e202723088a17
And Thirdly, an old friend. Not much went well at Real, but I at least was able to give young Borja Ramirez a starting role in the midfield. A magnificent playmaker. It turns out things have not gone so well for him after my departure, and he's on sale for 27.5M. You can see him here at 20yo. Of course I would pull the trigger. I also have the advantage of being in his favoured personnel, so I can afford giving him a lower salary than the others teams interested.
https://preview.redd.it/cfazs6vgllw41.png?width=1392&format=png&auto=webp&s=28dbd532928544f80d120aeab605fbd09fb9b104
Other than that, new backups for my wingers, and a truckload of high potential 17yo.
In the league, basically the same season than last year, 5pts more and another title.
https://preview.redd.it/g1mqku61mlw41.png?width=1392&format=png&auto=webp&s=1525ee11880e94917e03f9aae8877c31f8f3983d
In the Champions League, well ... Look who we got in our group !!
https://preview.redd.it/r37dxow8mlw41.jpg?width=1192&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba4bb1dd789ee56f4b7b823ed98e1f846d8684c2
As you can see, we still don't score much, but enough to get through because our defense is starting to become the force it can be. With starting wingbacks aged 19 and 21, there are times when they'll simply throw a game away, but time will arrange that kind of things.
First KO Round, a shitty 1-0 win over Galatasaray. This is not looking good ... We're not gonna win it this year ... Fuck, my objective is to get to the Finale, I might not even still be in post next year at this rate
Quarters, Barcelona. Oh fuck, here it comes ... Welp, turns out they shit the bed, we win both games 1-0.
Semis, Atletico. Surely, they're not better than Barca ! *checks the league table* Oh dear god, they're obliterating everyone over in Spain. We would be no exception, as they DEMOLISHED us in the first leg in Madrid. It was 5-0 at half time. After 2 games, it was 9-1 in their favour. We were never in it. The most frustrating thing is that they fucking lost the Finale.
Another year falling one step short of the objective, and another year where the board would keep me in charge.
Season 3 - 2043/2044
This would be a particular summer. After my spending sprees the last 2 years, we were about 300M in the red. After 100M for winning the Bundesliga and about 200M in sponsorships, we were just breaking even. That meant : no transfer budget. None whatsoever. Not a huge problem for me, as the team was already in place, they were just very young and needed some time to mature.
An unusual summer
The defense was ggetting much better, and we only conceded 9 goals in the league. But there were games when we still had trouble creating chances, 6 of our 8 draws were 0-0 ! The 2 others were 1-1.
The race was tighter but we still ended in top. Technically, we could have lost the title on the last day
Bundesliga 2043/2044
Now, the Champions League. Look who's there again !
https://preview.redd.it/aur09a9gplw41.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ee2c6db80d6fa834e6ea0bcb4e0f3da25edadfc
Not a great display but just enough to go through.
For the 1st KO round, it's another French team for us. We beat Lyon handily 2-0 and 2-1 lead by a Stefan Neag brace in the first leg.
In the Quarters, another memory from my past. We draw Real Madrid. They're not much better than when I managed them, and we beat them 2-0 and 1-0, once again thanks to Neag as he scores all three goals.
In the Semis, Manchester United, coached by ... Iker Casillas. Him again. I will have the last laugh this time though ! We win 1-0 and 2-0, not allowing them anything.
For the first time, I'm in the Champions League Finale !
We will face Liverpool, Premier League Champions.
I trust my team but their offense scares me. But we would start the game perfectly and our left winger Schadt scores in the 10th minute ! Our midfield was doing a great job of keeping the game in control and just after half time, the ref gifts us a penalty. I'm not sure why since I didn't see anything but eh, I'll take it ! Our DM scores and we're up 2-0 now with over and hour to play.
We hold on, all they are able to do is score on a corner in the 92nd minute. Not good enough ! 2-1 is the final score
WE ARE CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE !!!!!!
https://preview.redd.it/z0r0d7k4slw41.png?width=1392&format=png&auto=webp&s=d1c7d051a941af9770b5c1c506d5f650ac133416
https://preview.redd.it/4z4yohxcslw41.png?width=1392&format=png&auto=webp&s=1195cb1aa156e2b7fc9673796446a056a6aebd5b
Fantastic achievement by this group, and they are young enough to be a force to reckon with for a decade if the next manager doesn't sell everyone frantically.
As for me, that's 5 out of 6 now. I am now in 10th in the worldwide Hall Of Fame, and the third among active managers behind Marcelo Gallardo and Iker Casillas.
I will now leave Germany and spend my golden years on the beaches of Mexico, looking for the last trophy missing in my collection.
See you soon ! (I hope)
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