Welcome Back. The first half of the season could not of gone any better for us, we sit third, just 6 points behind Real Madrid at the top of the league. The Champions League has also gone brilliantly as we have won all 6 of our games so far meaning we sit 1st in the league phase.
As I said in my last post, the board have increased our transfer budget to £11.65 million and with some installment money we have received, we currently have £14.5 million to spend along with around £56k a week in wages. I will try and bring in a quality player if I can during the January transfer window but only if they improve the team and are at the right price.
January & February
A lot of football to be played over the next couple of months which started with a home game against Villarreal. Larrubia scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win from a match where we were second best for the majority of the game and can feel a little lucky to come away with the 3 points. We threw away a 2 goal lead against Real Sociedad in the Super Cup semi final, we raced into a 2 goal lead inside 12 minutes and looked very comfortable but they pulled one back in the 28th minute and in the second half we struggled to make any impact as they dominated the game and scored twice to win the game 3-2.
Back to league action and a solid 2-0 win over Pamplona before we beat non league Talavera 4-0 to reach the fourth round of the Copa Del Rey. Our penultimate Champions League league pathway match did not go to plan as we went down to an impressive Liverpool side, 3-1. We took a first half lead courtesy of De La Vega but struggled to get out of our half after half time with Liverpool scoring 3 times to end our 100% win rate.
We put the defeat to Liverpool out of our minds as we beat Almeria 4-0 thanks to goals from De La Vega, Rodriguez, Villodres and Larrubia. It was a dominant performance from us as we restricted them to just 2 shots whilst we had 65% possession, 25 shots and ended with an xG of 4.23. We went into our final Champions League league pathway match against Leverkusen having already qualified for the round of 16. De La Vega made it 4 goals in his last 5 games as he hit the only goal of the game to give us a 1-0 win and secure 1st place in the league phase.
Transfer deadline day came around and we did make a signing with just an hour to spare.
Centre back Borja Bellmunt joined us from Sturm Graz where we met his £12.75 million release fee. It’s a bit more than I wanted to pay but in the end he comes in as one of our best defenders and this was an area I wanted to strengthen.
When you compare Bellmunt’s stats to our best defender, Ortega’s stats, you can see why I’ve brought him in. He wins more headers than Ortega, although this is an area he still needs to improve. He wins 85% of his tackles vs Ortega’s 69%, possesion won at 15.67 vs Ortega’s 10.72 and is more reliable with the ball. I wanted someone with a bit more experience at centre back given Ortega is only 18 and Mota is only 20 and at 26 years of age, fits the bill very well.
Before our Copa Del Rey 4th round match against Getafe, we had the draw for the quarter final.
If we make it through the match against Getafe then we will face either Zaragoza or Valencia at home in the quarter final.
We did manage to beat Getafe, rather convincingly, 4-0 with goals from De La Vega, Grbic plus two from Okon as we safely made it into the quarter final where we will face Valencia. On loan Alvaro Rodriguez scored twice in the 2-0 win over Valencia to secure our place in the semi final of the Copa Del Rey, we dominated the game but were a little sloppy with the ball on occasions which gave them opportunities to score but we kept them out and will face a two legged semi final against Betis.
The first leg against Betis could not have gone any better as we won the game 4-0 thanks to a brace from Torres and a goal each from Fernandez and Cardona. We fully deserved the big win and can feel comfortable that we can avoid capitulating in the second leg and make it to the final.
With Barcelona losing to Betis, we had the chance to close the gap but could only manage a 1-1 draw against Zaragoza. A labored performance against Las Palmas ended in a 1-0 win for us courtesy of a David Larrubia strike in the 62nd minute, we didn’t play particularly well but we will happily take the 3 points. No such issues against Getafe as braces from young talents De la Vega and Grbic gave us a 5-1 win. They were both excellent and showcased their undoubted potential as they ran the game for us.
The second leg of the Copa Del Rey semi final against Betis ended in a 2-2 draw as we progressed to the final where we will face Real Madrid.
Before our massive game against Real Madrid in La Liga we had the draw for the round of 16 matches in the Champions League.
No easy games at this stage of the competition as we were drawn against Arsenal in what will be a very difficult tie for us.
3rd vs 2nd as we took on Real Madrid in the league and what a performance the team put on as we ran out with a thoroughly deserved 4-1 win. We raced into a 3-0 lead inside the first 23 minutes as we blew them away and from then on I was confident we would hold on for the win. We were brilliant at nullifying there threats and in the end, it was a comfortable win for us which saw us leap frog them into second place.
Our final game of a packed February saw us draw 0-0 away at Arsenal in the Champions League round of 16 first leg. In a very even game, neither team created many good chances and a draw was a fair result. I thought we had lost it deep into injury time when Martinelli slammed the ball home but the flag was raised and we lived to fight another day.
Our win over Real Madrid has seen us move into 2nd place, 9 points behind Barcelona but we do have 2 games in hand.
March & April
March opened with a 1-1 draw against Seville before we faced Arsenal in the second leg of our Champions League round of 16 tie. Things looked to be going great for us when Larrubia opened the scoring in the 31st minute but Jesus equalised in the 40th minute. We really struggled to stamp our authority on the game in the second half and two goalkeeping mistakes cost us as we went out 3-1 on aggregate.
Back to league action and a thumping 9-0 win over second bottom Espanyol with Larrubia scoring a hat trick as we totally destroyed them. A 1-0 win over Vallecano was followed up by a 2-1 win over Levante before a big game against Atleti Madrid. We dominated the game as we came away with a richly deserved 2-0 win, restricting them to just 3 shots on goal. We amassed 17 shots with 5 on target as we outplayed them to add another so called “bigger club” to our win list this season.
The end of March saw us receive our youth intake players and it looks like we have a few very promising players.
Our joy was short lived as we went down 1-0 to Real Betis to end our run of unbeaten league games which stretched back 15 matches to our defeat to Barcelona in November. We bounced back with a good 2-0 win over Albacete before we faced 1st placed Barcelona in a massive game, win and we are back in the title race, albeit with an outside chance, lose and the title is pretty much guaranteed to be heading to Barca.
The result didn’t go as we wanted as we lost the match 3-2, we took the lead in the 15th minute through Okon before they equalised and then went ahead in first half injury time courtesy of a Lewandowski penalty. We equalised in the 55th minute but went behind in the 74th minute when Lamine Yamai went on a mazy run and finished in the bottom corner to effectively end our outside chance of the title.
The big games kept coming as we faced Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey final, we took the lead in the 21st minute when right back Trulli drilled a shot into the top corner. Madrid leveled the score in the 34th minute through Endrick but Roberto Fernandez score what turned out to be the winner in the 57th minute as won the Copa Del Rey 2-1.
Back to league action and a 1-1 draw with Valencia before our final game in a busy April which was a really good 4-1 win over Girona where we ended the game with 73% possession and 25 shots on goal.
We have secured Champions League football for a second consecutive season, we can still catch Madrid for second place but need them to drop some points.
May
We didn’t get off to a good start in May as we lost 2-1 away at Celta Vigo, we didn’t play particularly well and Vigo just about edged it. We bounced back with a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad thanks to goals from Larrubia and left back Cardona before we faced 4th placed Villarreal.
A really good performance from the team against Villarreal ended in a 3-1 win for us as we sealed a third placed finish in La Liga. Goals from Rodriguez, De la Vega and a first senior goal from academy graduate Lanchas sealed the win for us. Our final game of the season was a 3-1 win over Pamplona, Thango scored the pick of the goals with a 25 yard free kick as we rounded off the season with a good win.
We have improved on last season and that’s what I wanted to see. We ended with 11 more points, 3 less defeats and finished with a goal difference of +66 this season vs +36 last season.
We also won the Copa Del Rey after making the final for the second successive season, we have closed the gap on Real Madrid and Barcelona in my opinion. We have the blocks in place for a very good team but need to make a couple of key signings in the summer.
We have also broke our club record for the highest league position with our third placed finish, beating the fourth place finishes the club achieved in 2011/12.
Right back Trilli broke the league record for assists in a season with 18, beating Camavinga’s 15 achieved in 2026, also finishing third in the player of the year award.
I was rewarded for our fine season by winning the manager of the year award.
That wraps up another season of improvement and a trophy to display in the trophy cabinet.
Thank you for taking the time to read the blog, it’s very much appreciated. If you’re interested in anything else I’ve written over the last year and a bit then please feel free to take a look around here
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Until Next Time.
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