Die Alte Dame - The Old Lady - A Hertha Berlin Story

Klippybo

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HELLO AND WELCOME!!!

This is my new story having played as Athletic Bilbao since I got the game. Having dominated world football in 9 seasons with them I decided to look for a new challenge. Usually I manage my beloved Newcastle next or Aberdeen or even Atalanta of Italy but I have decided to go over to the Bundesliga and manage Hertha Berlin.

Why Hertha Berlin? Well mainly because I am going to Berlin in June to see Fleetwood Mac so I will actually be able to get immersed in their culture for about 4 days lol (Berlin, not Fleetwood Macs lol). I have no real knowledge of the club apart from the basics but I seem to remember them playing Aberdeen in Europe maybe 10 years ago.

The aim is to topple Bayern and get world domination like I did with Athletic lol.

So without further ado I would like to introduce you to Hertha's new manager...……..

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SEBASTIAN DEISLER

Once seen as the saviour of German football, Deisler tragically retired at the age of 27 due to injuries and depression. He started his career with Borussia Monchengladbach before moving to Hertha and then getting a big money move to Bayern Munich. He was capped 36 times for Germany and scored 3 goals.

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THE CLUB

Founded - 1982
Nickname - Die Alte Dame
Stadium - Olympiastadion
Capacity - 74,475

Hertha actually announced that they will be building a new 55,000 stadium to be ready in 2025 as the Olympiastadion is too big - I don't know if that will happen in the save.

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HONOURS

Bundesliga Winners - 1930, 1931
2. Bundesliga Winners - 1990, 2011, 2013
German League Cup Winners - 2001, 2002

So apart from winning 2 Bundesliga titles in the 1930s there hasn't been much success at all although they did reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1978-79


 
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PRE-SEASON & SQUAD REVIEW

So when I took over I was told that I had to sign young players for the 1st team and develop players using the clubs youth academy - that's how I like things to be done!!!

I was delighted to find some top quality youngsters in the side to get things going with and with the right signings I felt I could build a solid base to build on for the future. So here are my dealings...

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PLAYERS OUT


All of our sales were players over the age of 30.

The biggest sale was that of our most well known player - Salomon Kalou. I sold him to Atalanta for £8.25m (rising to £10.25m) and although he was our best right winger I felt that I had to cash in on him with him being 32y/o. My 33y/o goalkeeper, Rune Jarstein, is also off to Italy as Fiorentina paid an initial £4.9m rising to £6m for him.

Per Skjelbred, an old FM favourite many years ago, left to join Werder Bremen for £2.4m while Vedad Ibisevic joined Lyon for £825,000.

Finally I loaned out my other goalkeeper Thomas Kraft to Hoffenheim for £325,000 with an option to buy for £800,000.

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PLAYERS IN

I started with just over £7m and still have about £5m left for the remainder of the transfer window. I have so far brought in 8 players - 6 of whom are top prospects plus arranged a deal for next summer too.

My biggest signing who will make an immediate impact hopefully was the loan signing of Divock Origi from Liverpool. I needed a striker as my other main one, Davie Selke, is out for a few months and I think that Origi is a real coup for us.
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I then went off to Romania and brought in Dennis Man (£3.6m) and Florinel Coman (£2.6m) from Steaua Bucharest. Both players will compete for a 1st team place on either wing and hopefully will develop in time into top class players.
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As I sold my 2 keepers in my squad I had to bring 2 more in. I decided to pay £5.25m to bring in Christian Fruchtl from Bayern Munich as I think with the right development he could become a world class keeper. He will be backup this term though behind my new first choice keeper - Itumeleng Khune - who at 31/yo is very old for me to be buying him but at £400,000 he is a steal and surely I will make a profit on him.
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I then went to Argentina and signed 2 of their brightest prospects. Matias Zaracho came in from Racing Club for £2.5m while Thiago Almada will also join the club from Velez Sarsfield next summer for the same fee. Zaracho though joins immediately and will compete for a CM place.
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Finally I brought in 2 teenagers. Pelayo Morilla came in from Sporting Gijon for £875,000 and Armin Djerlek came in from Partizan Belgrade for £750,000. Now obviously Morilla I know well from my Athletic save and the 16y/o will hopefully develop just as well as he did in my Athletic save and is the only player that I have signed who I have managed before obviously. Djerlek though also prefers to play as the AMC so it all depends on who takes their chance first.
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SQUAD

In goal Fruchtl is the prospect and will get games in the cups maybe while he learns his trade. Khune is the main man though. Interestingly enough in my reserve side (which annoyingly has no fixtures) we have a goalkeeper by the name of Klinsmann who is Jurken Klinsmann's son!

In defence I have 2 good full backs in Plattenhardt and Lazaro while in the centr of defence Rekik and Stark will be my main ones however Torunarigha and the on loan Luckassen look good too.

In CM I am excited about 19y/o Arne Maier and he will be 1st choice. Grujic who is on loan from Liverpool, Darida and Zaracho are the other 3 CMs who are all decent although I may bring in one more. At AMC Duda is the main man and he is attracting interest from Arsenal and AC Milan but in Morilla, Djerlek and also a 16y/o in the youth team, Lazar Samardzic, I have plenty of prospects ready to step in.

As for the wingers I have some fantastic talent. On the left I am extremely excited about the 20y/o Dutchman Javairo Dilrosun who used to be at Man City. He is supported by Florinel Coman and also 18y/o Dennis Jastrzembski who looksa player.

On the right I think Dennis Man will be first choice while I also have Palko Dardai and the Australian, Matthew Leckie.

Finally up front alongside Origi I have the options of Davie Selke and Pascal Kopke. Selke is the better of the 2 and if he develops could become a great player but at 23y/o he needs to hit the ground running when a chance comes his way.

I would have shown little images of the coaches ratings but I don't know how to do that!!! Feel free to advise lol.

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SEASON AIMS

The board just want a mid table finish - I want European football for next season however but I don't know how unrealistic that is tbh.



 
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AUGUST

German Cup 1st Round
v
Oberhausen 0
Hertha BSC 2 (Maier 69, Dardai 86)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Klunter, Luckassen, Torunarigha, Mittelstadt, Maier*, Zaracho, Man (Dardai), Djerlek (Morilla), Coman, Kopke (Jastrzembski)

Partly due to the fact that I was without 6 or 7 first choices due to injury but mainly down to the fact we were up against a non-league side - I played my backups here (apart from Maier & Man). In the end it took a wonder strike from Maier from 25 yards to break the deadlock and Zaracho set up Dardai for the clincher.

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Hertha BSC 3 (Man 2, Duda 6, Plattenhardt 56)
1.FC Nurnberg 0

Lineup - Khune, Klunter, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt*, Maier, Grujic (Zaracho), Man, Duda, Coman (Dardai), Origi (Kopke)

A nice way to kick off the league campaign against newly promoted Nurnberg. We got off to a perfect start with 2 early goals and Plattenhardt fired in a free-kick against his old club in the 2nd half.

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SUMMARY

We only had 2 games this month and duly won them both without conceding which is nice although tougher tests are soon coming as we are due to play Schalke, Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg and Monchengladbach next month!!!

In the German Cup we have been given a favourable draw against fallen giants 1860 Munich who are in the 3rd tier of German football although they did knock out Werder Bremen in the last round.

I am learning about my squad all the time and tbh although I have an idea about my strongest XI I cant really decide until everyone has come back from injury as my injury list has been pretty ridiculous so far.....
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As for the transfer window I did think about bringing in another CM but couldn't really find one. I was quoted at £5.25m for Oihan Sancet but didn't want to weaken Athletic Bilbao and at the same time I wanted to try different players. Watch him go for £80m+ in the future lol.



 
Really good story so far. Your Atletico Bilbao one was simply amazing! One of my favourites!
 
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SEPTEMBER

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Schalke 04 0
Hertha BSC 2 (Coman 1, Rekik 4)

Lineup
- Khune, Klunter*, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Grujic (Zaracho), Man, Duda, Coman (Dardai), Origi (Selke)

Now this is a result that makes me think what we really can achieve. Schalke are in the Champions League and are predicted to finish 5th but we beat them comfortably here as once again we scored twice early on. A one off or a sign of things to come?

--

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VfL Wolfsburg 3 (Camacho 7, Mehmedi 24, Weghorst 43)
Hertha BSC 2 (Man 18, Roussillon 21og)

Lineup - Khune, Lazano, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Grujic, Man*, Duda (Djerlek), Jastrzembski (Dilrosun), Origi (Selke)

This result was a disappointment as we deserved at least a point as we were the better side but defensive lapses cost us dear and we come away with nothing.

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Hertha BSC 4 (Man 9, 56, Origi 31, Grujic 63)
Borussia Monchengladbach 1 (Kramer 5)

Lineup - Khune, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Grujic, Man*, Duda, Jastrzembski (Dilrosun), Origi

Wow!!! After our previous match I felt that things were all going wrong when we fell behind early on here but we bounced back and thumped Borussia MGB. Dennis Man was immense and his 2nd goal was a thing of beauty as he bent a shot over the keeper from 25 yards.

--

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SV Werder Bremen 2 (Osako 3, Harnik 21)
Hertha BSC 2 (Origi 11, Man 89)

Lineup
- Khune, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Grujic, Man, Duda, Dilrosun (Coman), Origi

While I am naturally delighted to ****** a draw so late on I am actually disappointed as we were by far the better side. Never mind. Dennis Man has a goal a game record so far in the Bundesliga!!

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Hertha BSC 2 (Man 14, Origi 45)
FC Bayern Munich 1 (Coman 58)

Lineup - Khune, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt (Mittelstadt), Maier, Grujic (Darida), Man*, Duda, Dilrosun (Coman), Origi

This is getting ridiculous. Sure Bayern have been **** so far this season but we fully deserved our victory here. Dennis Man was superb as he scored our opener before setting up the 2nd.

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SUMMARY

September was fantastic for us as although we lost out to Wolfsburg and drew with Werder Bremen we managed to beat Schalke 04 away, thump Borussia MGB at home and finally get an amazing win over Bayern Munich at the end of the month.

With 6 games gone we are sitting in 2nd place - 1pt behind Mainz who are the surprise leaders.

I sold veteran right back Peter Pekarik to Zilina for £230,000 as the 31y/o was surplus to requirements. That sale means that Khune is my only player above 30 while Plattenhardt, Darida and Leckie are amazingly my only other players aged 24 or above!!!!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DENNIS MAN

View attachment 15346

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BUNDESLIGA
View attachment 15345

 
Really good story so far. Your Atletico Bilbao one was simply amazing! One of my favourites!

Thanks for the comment and the kind words. Enjoying it so far with my bunch of kids here. Managing in the Bundesliga with different players has been good so far.
 
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OCTOBER

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Mainz 05 1 (Quaison 6)
Hertha BSC 2 (Origi 50, Coman 87)

Lineup -
Khune, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt (Mittelstadt), Maier, Grujic, Man, Duda (Darida), Dilrosun (Coman), Origi*

The top 2 went head to head here and we just edged it although we were lucky to do so as Mainz were arguably the better side. Origi was superb but it was Coman who got all the plaudits as he came off the bench to net the late winner to take us top.

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Hertha BSC 2 (Origi 54, Rekik 55)
SC Freiburg 0

Lineup - Khune, Klunter, Stark, Rekik*, Plattenhardt, Maier, Grujic, Leckie (Zaracho), Duda, Dilrosun (Coman), Origi

If you had told me at the start of the season that I would be 3pts clear at the top of the table after 8 games having played Schalke, Wolfsburg, Borussia MGB and Bayern Munich I would have put you to a psychiatric hospital but that is where we are at.

My lack of knowledge of my new players was shown here as I thought Zaracho was a CM but he is a natural RW apparently!!! Who knew? lol

Origi has scored in his last 5 games now.


--

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Borussia Dortmund 1 (Gotze 22)
Hertha BSC 0

Lineup - Khune, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt (Mittelstadt), Maier, Grujic, Man (Zaracho), Duda, Dilrosun, Origi (Selke)

Raging!! Sure we lost but we held our own and thought we had equalised when Maier scored but apparently he pushed another player. Bullshit.

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German Cup 2nd Round
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1860 Munchen 0
Hertha BSC 3 (Zaracho 11, 73, Djerlek 75)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Klunter, Luckassen, Torunarigha, Mittelstadt, Zaracho*, Darida, Leckie (Dardai), Djerlek, Coman (Jastrzembski), Selke (Kopke)

Just after saying Zaracho is a RW I played him in CM here and he was the star man with 2 goals. 1860 Munich are in the 3rd tier - very surprising.

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SUMMARY

Here we are at the beginning of November and top of the league - crazy biscuits!!! However despite all the good the defeat against Dortmund where I thought we had a perfectly good goal disallowed still wrankles.

One thing that I really need is European football however - 3 or 4 games a month is not enough for me - lets hope we get it for next season.

In the next round of the German Cup we have a home tie against Hannover 96 to be played in February.


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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DIVOCK ORIGI

View attachment 15133

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BUNDESLIGA
View attachment 15132
 
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Can I ask what facepack are you using to get the faces of all those players like Origi etc. who wouldn’t normally have faces?
 
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NOVEMBER

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v
Hertha BSC 2 (Origi 13, 56)
RB Leipzig 3 (Forsberg 46, Kampl 81, Poulsen 85)

Lineup
- Khune, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik (Torunarigha), Plattenhardt, Maier, Grujic (Darida), Man, Duda, Coman (Leckie), Origi*

Back to back defeats as we throw away 2 leads here. I suppose realism is hitting in but to concede 2 late goals to lose the match is just not on.

--

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Fortuna Dusseldorf 2 (Kaminski 8, Zimmer 75)
Hertha BSC 5 (Origi 27, 57, 74, Man 36, 76)

Lineup - Khune, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt (Mittelstadt), Maier, Grujic, Man, Duda, Dilrosun (Coman), Origi*

Fantastic. After 2 straight defeats we took out our pent up frustration on Dusseldorf here. Origi's contract is expiring at the end of the season - I wonder if he is interested in signing on for us.

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v
Hertha Berlin 3 (Origi 59, 90, Darida 67pen)
TSG Hoffenheim 2 (Grillitsch 1, Kaderabek 41)

Lineup
- Khune, Luckassen, Stark, Touranigha, Plattenhardt, Maier (Darida), Grujic, Man (Zaracho), Duda, (Djerlek) Dilrosun, Origi*

What a comeback!!!! At half-time we were 2-0 down at home and Hoffenheim were top of the league but we turned things around in the 2nd half and got a last minute winner to complete a fantastic comeback!

In this match we had no right backs so I played 3 centre halves, Plattenhardt at LWB and then 2 CMs, a RW, LW and AMC with 1 up top as usual.

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5451.png

Hannover 96 0
Hertha BSC 1 (Plattenhardt 90)

Lineup - Khune, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt*, Maier, Grujic, Man (Zaracho), Duda (Djerlek), Dilrosun, Origi (Selke)

Our exploits continue to amaze me. Going into this game Hannover 96 had actually lost 3 games like us except they had drawn 7 games and we were set for a draw here until Plattenhardt fired in a free-kick in stoppage time. We were actually down to 10 men as Djerlek was taken off injured minutes after coming on.

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SUMMARY

The good times keep coming in Berlin as we are still top of the Bundesliga heading into December. We did lose to Leipzig after leading twice which was a big disappointment but we bounced back to win the rest of our games.

Divock Origi was outstanding again this month as he scored 7 goals in the 1st 3 games before having a shocker against Hannover 96. Davie Selke is unhappy being his understudy and is becoming a bit of a problem but nothing that I cant handle.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DIVOCK ORIGI

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BUNDESLIGA
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DECEMBER

5451.png
v
Hertha BSC 1 (Origi 29)
Eintracht Frankfurt 0

Lineup
- Khune, Torunarigha, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Grujic, Man (Leckie), Darida (Zaracho), Dilrosun, Origi*

4 wins on the bounce. For the 2nd time this season I didn't have a RB so I played 3 at the back and although it wasn't pretty we got the job done.

--

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VfB Stuttgart 0
Hertha BSC 5 (Origi 6, 38, 73, Dilrosun 68, Zaracho 84)

Lineup - Khune, Torunarigha, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt (Mittelstadt), Maier, Grujic, Man (Zaracho), Duda, Dilrosun, Origi*

My team do me proud again!!! We were superb here and the icing on the cake was us keeping a clean sheet as Khune saved a last minute penalty. Zaracho scored a beauty from long range. I maybe should play 3 at the back more often!!!

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v
Hertha BSC 2 (Origi 27, Man 84)
FC Augsburg 1 (Khedira 24)

Lineup
- Khune, Klunter, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt (Mittelstadt), Luckassen, Zaracho, Man, Darida, Dilrosun*, Origi

Augsburg are in the relegation zone but this is still a good victory as we were without several players. I really need some more squad depth. The formation of this game was 4-1-2-2-1. Oh to get back to my usual 4-2-3-1 lol.

Oh and we are 6pts clear at the top!!!!!!!!


--

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5451.png

Bayer Leverkusen 2 (Volland 14, 57)
Hertha BSC 0

Lineup - Khune, Klunter, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt (Mittelstadt), Maier, Grujic, Man, Duda, Dilrosun (Coman), Origi (Selke)

We come back down to earth with a thump here as we just didn't perform here and were shocking tbh and this with a near full strength side.

Klunter was shocking here and has to improve in the future.


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SUMMARY

We end 2018 top of the league and the question is whether or not the fairy tale can continue. There is one thing that makes me think that the impossible may be possible and that is that due to it being a 34 game season if we can just put another decent run together we may be able to break away.

More good news was the fact that Dennis Man won the European Golden Boy award - not bad considering he was playing in Romania a few months ago!!

We now head into January hoping for a bit of money to spend so I can add a bit more depth to the squad while looking for some pre-contracts to strengthen for next season.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DIVOCK ORIGI
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BUNDESLIGA

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JANUARY

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1.FC Nurnberg 1 (Behrens 4)
Hertha BSC 4 (Origi 21, Darida 24, Man 42, Dilrosun 88)

Lineup - Khune, Klunter (Lazaro), Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier (Grujic), Darida, Man, Duda (Djerlek), Dilrosun*, Origi

We return from the winter break with a comfortable victory against the bottom side. We fell behind early doors but found ourselves 3-1 up at half-time and we cruised it thereafter.

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v
Hertha BSC 3 (Origi 22, 55, Coman 44)
Schalke 04 0

Lineup - Khune, Asta*, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Darida, Man, Duda (Djerlek), Dilrosun (Coman), Origi (Selke)

Introducing Simon Asta!!! My recent signing just turned 18y/o and he assisted all 3 goals here against a struggling Schalke side who are in a relegation battle. Unfortunately for us Dilrosun, Origi and Coman all got injured with Dilrosun being out for nearly 2 months.

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SUMMARY


Despite only having 2 competitive fixtures this month due to the winter break we did get a lot done. On the pitch we comfortably beat 2 struggling sides to open up a 5pt gap at the top of the table - not what I was expecting at the start of the season for sure.

Off the pitch it was all happening. Firstly the one bit of bad news and that is that Divock Origi rejected a pre-contract offer from us and has decided to join Borussia Dortmund instead. He has more goals than games this season and is almost singlehandedly firing us towards the title at the moment so that was a massive blow.

As for the good news, in the transfer market I brought in a top prospect in Simon Asta from Augsburg for £4m and he had the perfect debut against Schalke. Hopefully Asta will develop into a decent RB for us but we shall see.
View attachment 14920

I also brought in another CM in the form of Mohamed Elneny on loan from Arsenal. Originally I tried to sign Oihan Sancet for £5.25m but he rejected us to sign a new deal with Athletic Bilbao so I decided to bring in a ready made player who can jump straight into the team. That being said he will do battle with Grujic for a place in the side.
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Also on deadline day I paid FC Porto for their 16y/o striker Fabio Silva who for some reason cant be registered to play. He was immense in my Athletic Bilbao save so I hope the Portuguese striker can develop just as well here.
View attachment 14923View attachment 14923

Outgoing was Matthew Leckie who joined Eintracht Frankfurt for £4.5m which is a decent fee for my 3rd choice winger.

Finally the board agreed to buy our stadium and the details will be released soon. Everything is going far too well methinks lol.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DIVOCK ORIGI

View attachment 14925

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BUNDESLIGA
View attachment 14924
 
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He can't be registered to play as in Germany players can only play once they are 18
 
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FEBRUARY

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v
Hertha BSC 3 (Selke 2, 13, Djerlek 78)
VfL Wolfsburg 2 (Mehmedi 53, Klaus 90)

Lineup - Khune, Asta, Stark (Torunarigha), Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Elneny, Man (Kopke), Duda (Djerlek), Coman, Selke*

Who needs Divock Origi? Davie Selke finally got a start and showed what he can do with 2 goals here. Elneny made his debut and impressed too. With Grujic and Lazaro on the bench it shows that I am slowly building a squad.

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German Cup 3rd Round
5451.png
v
Hertha BSC 0
Hannover 96 0
(AET - Hertha BSC win 4-2 on penalties)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Lazaro, Torunarigha, Rekik, Mittelstadt, Elneny (Darida), Grujic, Man, Duda (Djerlek), Coman (Jastrzembski), Selke (Kopke)

We make it through but only just. I wasn't sure whether or not to go full strength or play the reserves so I went straight down the middle and mixed it up and it just paid off.

--

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Borussia Monchengladbach 0
Hertha BSC 2 (Origi 17, Coman 30)

Lineup - Khune, Asta, Stark, Torunarigha, Klunter, Maier*, Darida, Zaracho (Dardai), Djerlek, Coman (Jastrzembski), Origi (Kopke)

Our cup match was just 3 days previously so I was missing several players but we still came out on top with a fine victory as we now have won 4 in a row.

Borussia MGB sacked their manager immediately after the game.


--

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v
Hertha BSC 0
Werder Bremen 0

Lineup - Khune, Lazaro (Asta), Stark*, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Elneny, Man (Zaracho), Duda, Coman, Origi (Selke)

This is our 2nd draw of the campaign and the other one was also against Werder Bremen. We were the better side here but just couldn't get the goal that we needed to win the game.

--

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FC Bayern Munich 2 (Alaba 22, Kimmich 26)
Hertha BSC 2 (Man 4, Coman 11)

Lineup - Khune, Asta, Stark (Torunarigha), Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Elneny (Grujic), Man, Duda, Coman, Origi (Selke)

While I am pleased that we didn't lose here I am frustrated too as we threw away a 2 goal lead plus Torunarigha had a stoppage time winner disallowed.

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SUMMARY

We keep marching on and the longer our run continues the closer we will be to winning an unexpected title. We were unbeaten this month despite having some tough fixtures and have a 5pt lead at the top of the table.

Borussia Dortmund lie in 2nd place with Hoffenheim a point behind them but its Dortmund I am wary of as if they defeat us when we play next month it could be squeaky *** time - however if we beat them surely it is game over.

Of course we have the chance of a league and cup double too lol.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ARNE MAIER

View attachment 14904

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BUNDESLIGA
View attachment 14903

 
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MARCH

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v
Hertha BSC 1 (Origi 4)
Mainz 05 1 (Mateta 68)

Lineup - Khune, Asta (Lazaro), Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier (Elneny), Grujic, Man (Zaracho), Duda, Jastrzembski, Origi

Yet another draw and another draw where we really should have won as we had 22 attempts at goal and their goalkeeper got the MOM award.

--

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SC Freiburg 1 (Lienhart 64)
Hertha BSC 1 (Coman 34)

Lineup
- Khune, Asta (Lazaro), Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Grujic, Man (Zaracho), Duda, Coman, Origi (Selke)

4 draws in a row. I am getting slightly worried but Dortmund lost so we go 5pts clear again.

--

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v
Hertha BSC 5 (Burki 6og, Coman 28, Origi 53, 57, 74)
Borussia Dortmund 4 (Omer Toprak 21, Sancho 30, Reus 35, 70)

Lineup - Khune, Lazaro, Torunarigha, Rekik, Plattenhardt (Luckassen), Maier, Grujic (Darida), Man (Dilrosun), Duda, Coman, Origi*

WOOOOOO!!!! Divock Origi who is just about to join Dortmund scored a hat-trick to probably secure us the title over them. It was a thrilling match which went back and forth but we just edged it. We are now 7pts clear - over Hoffenheim, not Dortmund.

--

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RB Leipzig 1 (Poulsen 34)
Hertha BSC 1 (Dilrosun 28)

Lineup
- Khune, Asta, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Grujic (Elneny), Man (Zaracho), Duda, Dilrosun, Origi (Kopke)

It may be rich of me to say this after all the players have done this season but this is a poor result as we were a goal up and a man up from 28min yet we still didn't win. We play Leipzig again in a couple of days in the cup quarter-final.

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SUMMARY

Another unbeaten month as we step ever closer to the title. Although we drew 3 games and only won 1 (the 9 goal thriller v Dortmund) our rivals were also dropping points so our 5pt lead at the top with 7 games to go is a healthy advantage. Dortmund are now 9pts away from us so its an unlikely top 3 of ourselves, Hoffenheim and Mainz!!!

The youth intake was perfect - a golden generation!!!! Nobody really stood out however there were 3 or 4 who look like they will be really decent - pity I cant play any for 3 or 4 years due to waiting for them to turn 18 apparently - so annoying that rule!!!


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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FLORINEL COMAN

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BUNDESLIGA
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APRIL


German Cup Quarter-Final
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RB Leipzig 1 (Haidara 83)

Hertha BSC 2 (Origi 21, 48)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Klunter, Stark, Rekik (Torunarigha), Plattenhardt (Mittelstadt), Elneny, Grujic, Man, Djerlek (Morilla), Coman, Origi*

We make it through to the semis in a strange match. Leipzig were the better side but we were 2up and cruising - Origi even missed a 1st half penalty - but we managed to hold on despite their late attempted comeback.

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Hertha BSC 2 (Duda 36, 68pen)
Fortuna Dusseldorf 0

Lineup - Khune, Asta, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Grujic (Elneny), Man, Duda*, Dilrosun (Coman), Origi (Kopke)

We extend our lead at the top to 7pts with a win over struggling Dusseldorf. Duda has been good this season except he hasn't got enough goals but his double here took him up to 3 for the season.

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TSG Hoffenheim 1 (Szalai 37)
Hertha BSC 0

Lineup
- Khune, Asta, Stark, Torunarigha, Plattenhardt, Maier, Grujic, Man (Zaracho), Duda (Elneny), Dilrosun, Origi (Kopke)

If we avoided defeat here the Bundesliga title would all be ours but we didn't turn up and deservedly lost as our lead at the top is cut down to 4pts. We were unbeaten in our last 11 league games too so that run is over.

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Hertha BSC 2 (Origi 17, 29)
Hannover 96 0

Lineup - Khune, Asta, Stark, Rekik, Mittelstadt, Maier, Elneny, Man (Zaracho), Duda (Darida), Dilrosun, Origi*

We bounce back from our defeat in the previous match to get a vital win here. Even better - Hoffenheim lost so we move 7pts clear again with 4 games to play.

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German Cup Semi-Final
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TSG Hoffenheim 2 (Schulz 19, Kramaric 50)
Hertha BSC 1 (Lazaro 40)


Lineup - Khune, Lazaro, Stark (Torunarigha), Rekik, Mittelstadt, Maier, Elneny, Man, Djerlek (Morilla), Dilrosun, Origi (Selke)

No league and cup double for us as we lose out to Hoffenheim yet again. Not happy but in context of the whole season I shouldn't complain too much.

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Eintracht Frankfurt 3 (Hinteregger 4, Jovic 9, Rebic 42)
Hertha BSC 3 (Stark 10, Origi 71, Coman 89)

Lineup - Khune, Lazaro (Asta), Stark, Rekik, Torunarigha, Darida, Elneny, Man (Zaracho), Djerlek, Dilrosun (Coman), Origi*

Our lead at the top is cut down to 5pts with 3 to play after we draw here. We were awful in the 1st half and were lucky to only be 3-1 down at the break but in the 2nd half we were much better and salvaged a draw thanks to Coman's 89th minute strike. Origi had a goal disallowed too.

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SUMMARY

April was a tough month as we struggled at times. Hoffenheim beat us in the league and also knocked us out of the cup as they have become our bogey side it seems. We have only 3 wins out of our last 10 league games but fortunately for us other teams are slipping up too and surely a 5pt lead with only 9pts up for grabs should be enough.

We end the season with Stuttgart at home, Augsburg away and then Leverkusen at home.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DIVOCK ORIGI
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BUNDESLIGA
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MAY

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Hertha BSC 2 (Man 28, 49)
VfB Stuttgart 0

Lineup
- Khune, Lazaro, Stark, Torunarigha, Mittelstadt, Maier, Elneny (Darida), Man*, Duda, Dilrosun (Coman), Origi (Selke)

We are 1 step closer to the title with this victory. Dennis Man netted twice to score his first goals for a while. The win also gives us Champions League football for next season and an initial transfer budget of £20m.

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FC Augsburg 1 (Gregoritsch 83)
Hertha BSC 1 (Origi 15)

Lineup - Khune, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik, Mittelstadt, Maier (Grujic), Elneny, Man, Duda (Zaracho), Dilrosun (Coman), Origi

A win here would have secured the title but Augsburg's late leveller denied us. Mainz have Hoffenheim at home to play but we have the better head to head and goal difference is in our favour by 11.

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Hertha BSC 1 (Origi 31)
Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Volland 32)

Lineup - Khune, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt (Torunarigha), Maier, Elneny (Grujic), Man (Zaracho),
Duda, Dilrosun, Origi

CHAMPIONS!!!!

We just needed a point to secure the title and we just managed it. We took the lead through Origi's 32nd goal of the season (30 in the league) but we were quickly pegged back. Then in the 2nd half Duda got sent-off and then Origi missed a penalty and I thought it wasn't going to be but Kai Havertz got sent-off for them and we played out the draw.


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SUMMARY

We just crawled over the line here as we miraculously win the Bundesliga title. A win followed by 2 draws was just enough to win the title by a point.

Now I have to rebuild the squad as Origi, Elneny, Luckassen, Darida and Grujic will all be leaving in the summer although I have 2 players arranged to come in.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DENNIS MAN
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END OF SEASON POST

Well how the **** did we manage that?

To win the Bundesliga title and reach the semis of the cup in our first season with such an unfancied club who were predicted to finish 10th out of the 18 clubs in the league. We have no world class players, all of my squad were aged 23 or under apart from 3. The kids did alright!!!

Our league campaign was thrilling. We started off great with 6 wins in the first 8 and then after we lost 2 on the bounce we won 6 straight, lost 1 and then went 11 unbeaten!!! The best match was our thrilling 5-4 victory over Borussia Dortmund in which Divock Origi scored a hat-trick to end his future teams title hopes.

In the cup we beat two lower league sides before sneaking past Hannover on penalties, edging out Leipzig 2-1 but unfortunately Hoffenheim defeated us in the semis and they went on to lose the final against Bayern Munich.

Off the field we have bought the stadium (£1.2m a month for a £200m bank loan), improved all facilities etc, built a young squad - the dynasty has started and now we just have to watch it grow!!!!

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BUNDESLIGA
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SQUAD
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Goalkeepers
- Khune, my veteran of the side, and a snip at £400,000 did well while Christian Fruchtl who came in for £5.25m was my cup keeper and developed a bit this year.

Defenders - My central defensive partnership of Rekik and Stark did well while at left back Plattenhardt as you would expect was very good and scored twice. At right back I thought Lazaro would have done better but he picked up injuries and Simon Asta, who was signed in January for £4m, came in from nowhere and did well including a debut where he got 3 assists.

Midfielders - Wonderkid Arne Maier was excellent but 1 goal in the cup is not good enough. He had Grujic as a partner for half the season and he did well but then Elneny came in although he didn't stand out tbh. Duda was the creative force in the side at AMC with 14 assists but 3 goals is not enough from him.

My 2 Romanians did well. Dennis Man surprised me with 13 goals from the RW and Florinel Coman netted 8 times although he was in and out of the side. Dilrosun did well on the LW too but he had injury problems also.

Forwards - Well forward lol. Divock Origi. 32 goals in all competitions in just 35 games is a phenomenal record. Davie Selke scored 2 and that was it lol.

My Player of the Year - Divock Origi
My Young Player of the Year - Dennis Man
Must Do Better - Valentin Lazaro
Donkey of the Year - Pascal Kopke

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AIMS FOR PRE-SEASON

I am so happy we have European football next season as it gives me more room to rotate my players hopefully. To do that I need more quality and with several players leaving the club after their loans have ended I have a lot of work to do.

 
PRE-SEASON REPORT

I had a busy summer - if frustrating. I signed some great players at bargain prices but missed out on 2 of my top targets. I have brought in 12 players so far at a cost of just under £40m and I still have about £10m to spend.

My spend pales in comparison to that of Dortmund and Bayern though as they were angered by us winning the league. At the moment Dortmund spent over £100m on Origi, Ajer, Bailey and Alcacer while they are battling it out with Barcelona for De Ligt. Bayern however have spent double that on the likes of Pavard, Fischer, Gundogan, Ricardo Pereira and some dude called Samassekou.

Naturally the window is still open but I generally think I wont be doing much else.

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PLAYERS OUT

4 have been sold and 3 have been loaned out so far. The biggest departure was that of Itumeleng Khune who joined relegated Fortuna Dusseldorf for £11m. I signed Khune last summer for £400,000 so to make such a sizable profit on a 32y/o is quite good.

Vladimir Daridajoined Besiktas for £6.75m while Lukas Klunter joined Werder Bremen for £2.1m and Pascal Kopke joined Heidenheim for £1.8m as all 3 were no longer needed.

Out on loan are two of my top prospects in Pelayo Morilla (Celta Vigo) and Armin Djerlek (Partizan Belgrade) and hopefully they will get regular minutes to help them develop. Palko Dardai has joined Bochum on loan.

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PLAYERS IN

My biggest signing - at a new club record fee - was Kasper Dolberg from Ajax for £15m. I tried to get Lincoln off Flamengo and agreed a £20m fee for him but he joined Juventus instead but to get Dolberg for such a small fee is a nice piece of business and I have never had him before.
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I brought in 3 Argentinians. The deal for Thiago Almada was done last summer so he finally joins while I picked up Agustin Palavecino from Deportivo Cali for a bargain £500,000 and Cristian Pavon for an even more ridiculous fee of £4m from Boca Juniors.
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I strengthened my defence by bringing in Dedryck Boyata from Celtic on a free transfer. He automatically becomes a senior member of my squad just by being over 24y/o old.
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I let Khune to go to promote Fruchtl as my number one keeper but a week before the season opener he got injured so I moved to bring in Timo Horn from Koln for £4.5m. Its unfortunate timing for Fruchtl as he will be my cup keeper for another season probably.
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I needed to further strengthen my central midfield area and after Donny Van De Beek rejected us to to join Hoffenheim for £12m I decided to bring in Mexican Oberlin Pineda for £6.25m from Cruz Azul. Like everyone else I haven't managed him before but Pineda looks like a decent midfielder. Also coming in to strengthen the CM area is Atakan Akkaynak who joins from Willem II for £4.5m.
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Finally I brought in these players for pennies. Johannes Eggstein came in on a free, Johannes Brinkies for £78,000, Toni Boltze for £425,000 and Bruno Arias for £500,000.
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SQUAD

Quite a few changes. Horn will be my new keeper and although the back 4 will be the same I will have to decide between Palavecino and Pineda to be Maier's partner in CM. With Pavon coming in I have a tough choice to make between him and Man while up front Dolberg should just about edge it over Selke.

 
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AUGUST

Supercup
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FC Bayern Munich 0
Hertha BSC 2 (Almada 18, Pavon 49)

Lineup - Horn, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt, Maier, Palavecino (Atakan Akkaynak), Pavon*, Almada, Coman (Man), Dolberg (Selke)

Its safe to say I wasn't expecting this result - especially since we were without a couple of players like Duda and Dilrosun. As it was 2 of my debutants, Almada and Pavon, won us the match with a goal each. Almada volleyed in first time while Pavon scored with a fantastic individual effort.

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German Cup 1st Round
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SV Seligenporten0
Hertha BSC 2 (Palavecino 70, Man 76)

Lineup - Horn, Asta, Boyata, Torunarigha, Mittelstadt, Atakan Akkaynak, Palavecino*, Man, Almada (Samardzic), Coman (Jastrzembski), Selke (Silva)

I am disappointed that we only scored twice here as we should have scored at least 5 or 6. Palavecino fired us in front with a free-kick and Man headed in the 2nd. Samardzic and Silva finally made their debuts here alongside Boyata.

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Hertha BSC 2 (Plattenhardt 10, Maier 30)
SV Werder Bremen 0

Lineup - Horn, Lazaro, Stark, Rekik, Plattenhardt*, Maier, Pineda, Pavon (Man), Almada (Palavecino), Dilrosun, Dolberg (Selke)

We win our opening game of the league season very easily here. The only disappointment was an injury to Dilrosun.

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SUMMARY

We have made a great start to the season with 3 wins out of 3 with the most impressive victory being the 2-0 win over Bayern Munich for us to lift the Supercup. The start has been very impressive although Kasper Dolberg hasn't hit the ground running which is a worry.

Another worry is the continued spending of Bayern and Dortmund. Dortmund did sign De Ligt for £24m while Bayern went out and bought Rony Lopes for £30m and there is still more time to bring in players!!!

In the Champions League we have been drawn alongside Barcelona, Benfica and Austria Vienna so you would think its between ourselves and Benfica to see who would progress.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MARVIN PLATTENHARDT
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