Season 32 Week 2 processing...

Welcome to week 2 where we have some huge european games happening already, hope you're all ready ?

The reset is underway...

No orders from Real Madrid.

Watford

The start of the season for Watford certainly is a tricky one… League game Away to Arsenal. Manager changed things up last week to incorporate a BW, managed the game better, but the spoils were shared! This week the manager is going with WHV and an AM against Arsenal FAK. Hopefully to reduce the disruption between tactics. This allows Sterling to keep is spot in the first11, can he replicate his Euros form? Key player can setup and finish chances. Will Arsenal get caught out with their Wingbacks pushing to high up and leave spaces for the Wing halves of Watford? Or will relentless attack of Arsenal keep Watford in their own half?

As for Europe, first game? Bayern, not exactly a walk in the park for the manager. Who will stick to his tried and trusted CAT in the Cup, this gives the platform for Maddison to come back into the team at DY. A few changes in the cup team to give rotation to players, Luke “the machine” Shaw comes in for his debut at LB, manager looking to see him marauding up and down the left providing support for Raheem who shifts out to left to give a frighting left flank for Bayern RK to deal with. With injury to key player Romulo, could reduce the cover provided by the AL/AR.

Can the manager pick up all 3 points in the league and cup this week? Need to ensure league form doesn’t suffer as could find himself 4 points off top in just 2 games!


Genk

Genk had a bit of a stumble last week, hopefully the players will find there feet sooner rather then later. As for league game, Unmanaged Lierse are this week’s opponents. The manager has kept his side settled and is hoping the more time playing competitive matches together will support the team understanding. Will Mahrez, Griezmann and Eriksen shine this week? Giving the fans something to cheer about!

Europa opponents are Liverpool, who look to cause Genk some damage with there Wingers Moses and Zaha. With Lallana in fine form pulling the strings, looks like it could be an extremely tough game for the Belgian outfit. Will they make it out of the group stages to defend their European cup? Only change to side see’s highly talented forward Hlozek come in for Dembele.

Off-field seen Cabaye come in to provide some reliable cover to Gravenberch who played every single minute last season.
 
Leverkusen

The hope that Leverkusen didn’t become the whipping boys of the division didn’t get off to a good start. With Busquets picking up a minor knock in the first half leaving the team vulnerable through the centre as Nainggolan came in but without the same desire to win the ball back as Busquets. Manager has rectified this by putting the more defensive minded Gunnarsson on the bench. This week’s opponents are Dortmund, who boast a strong squad with the likes od Volland, Dadashov, Elvedi and Hitz. Manager can take solace in that Muller is injured for the game. However, the team will need to be more solid to retain their place in Bundesliga.

Cup game Vs Shaktar… the Ukrainian side look to get in the way of Leverkusen who triumphed last season in the competition. The side remain settled for the Cup, with the manager looking to rest the players extra through training to allow the players to have enough stamina to go through two games in the week, could be a risky play. Considering most players are over 30 ha!

The German outfit are streamlining the first team buy enrolling youth players at the new Youth Academy built to help develop the next generation.
 
Botafogo


Another slow start for Botafogo in the league, could get even worse with an Away game against Fluminense! Mateus Tete injured in the first game, gives opportunity to Gabriel Veron to shine. Neymar was a little quiet in the first game and the manager will be expecting that the team provides more opportunities for the team to get on the scoresheet. Fluminense have an injury concern of their own, Marcelo. Which will hopefully allow Veron to have more freedom! Too early in the season to be a “title decider” but certainly will be better to get the points in the bag! As for Fluminense seem to have adopted the PEB formation, hopefully the change disrupts the Brazilian side.  

Copa Liba opponents are Vasco! A very tough opponents to start any campaign against. A slight shuffle of the deck, Renatinho makes his debut for the Brazilian side to rotate the LH/RH combo with Lucas shifting to the Right. The group is extremely tough and will need to get a good start to the competition. Otherwise could crash out in the group stages!

The manager is boosting his fan base by building supporters clubs all over the world and equipping them to maximise the fan base!

Good read as usual Phil, thanks.

Love the write up Phil.

Data entry has begun...

Composing a preview but won’t be as good as Phil’s one.

Barcelona


The difficult start to the season continues with Valencia visiting the Nou Camp after the opening week's away game at Betis. The first 18 remain unchanged with strong performances in the opening fixture meaning Immobile, Saul and Llorente remain on the bench. Valencia boast an array of attacking talents including Pavon and Barca old boy Asensio on the wings and another Barca old boy, Koke, pulling the strings in midfield. An interesting one for the neutrals.

A bit of a change up in the Cup with wingers preferred to wing halves. Italian front man, Immobile, gets a run out at ST and rising star Sergino Dest makes his debut at RB with a view to the future. Cup opponents Sporting Lisbon are no mugs and in attackers Arthur, Podence and Rafael Leao carry a real threat. Rumours are swirling around Catalunya about the imminent arrival of international striker Gerard Moreno arriving to add some threat up front. Hopefully the will he, won't he saga is resolved this week after the manager promised the press some decisive action.

Nacional


Last week proved to be a very underwhelming start in the League with a 1-0 away victory over a poor Fenix side. The manager has kept faith with his first 18 but a better showing is needed at home against Progreso. The trip to the Dos Equis sponsored Parque Central should be too much for the visitors and home fans are expecting a strong showing from the men in white.

The Libertadores pits Nacional against Brazilian opposition in the form of Flamengo who can call on the talents of Rafinha, Vitinho and star man Talisca. This game sees some changes with experienced defenders Dani Alves, Nacho and Inigo Martinez stepping into the side. In transfer news some reinforcements are coming into the midfield in the form of Zubeldia and Alena. Both players have seen their careers stall slightly in Germany and the Spanish speaking environment at Nacional might be the right place for them to kick on and fulfil their undoubted potential.

Hannover


After a dismal defeat at Frankfurt last time out Hannover look to bounce back at home against Duisburg. A slight shuffle in the back line sees the 2 footed Stryger-Larsen move to LB and Daniel Wass take on his familiar RB role. No one at the Hannover Arena will be taking Duisburg lightly but this game is key to get off the mark for the season. Front men Poulsen and Isak have a point to make and this game could be where they do it.

Slovakians Bratislava are the opposition in the Fairs Cup and they bring a real League of Nations feel with Ukranians, Portuguese, Italians, Thais, Austrians, Dutch, Albanians ...... oh and Slovakians in the squad. How will it go? Only time will tell. There are rumours of a really big transfer happening for the German promotion chasers this week. A young dynamic midfielder has long been on the manager's wanted list and the board might eventually have delivered ................

Rennes


Rennes kicked off the campaign with a thumping 6-0 home victory in week 1 with 'The Cookstown Cafu' Stuart Dallas and young Icelandic star, Isak Johannesson, each plundering a brace in the game. Front men Patson Daka and En-Nesyri did the hard work to creat opportunities for the on rushing midfielders. This week is a trip to Amiens who suffered an opening week reversal at the hands of Tours. The only change to the match day squad sees veteran Thomas Vermaelen come in on the bench.

A European trip to Bohemians will be a real challenge and might be more about collecting the air miles rather than 3 points. Bohs have a lot of quality throughout the team from RB Mario Gaspar who is coveted by Barcelona to experienced midfield duo O'Dowda and Arter and up front is the irritating Shane Long and Aaron Connolly. Big news this week is that Miley Cyrus has been booked in for a concert in week 5 so book your tickets early.

Good luck to everyone.

Good read Rob, thanks.

Schalke

An underwhelming win in the first match of the new season for Schalke against Cologne was perhaps no real surprise coming after a midweek super-cup match. Tempered only by the fact that they were creating some chances using PEB v FAX (9-3).

An excellent super-cup win against an ever-improving Hannover side got the season off to a trophy winning start, albeit at the expense of a double injury whammy to Goretzka and Alaba!

This weeks first CL match is away at Man City, with the manager choosing to play FAB to try and get in and about the City PMs. Rodri coming in to help balance the midfield and Alphonso Davies finally being let loose at LB in the absence of Alaba.

The league match v Leipzig will see the manager persevere with PEB, again with Davies in for Alaba and Neuer coming in for Oblak for his sweeper-keeper prowess.

There's also a drive to sign a few youngsters to supplement the youth squads.

Good read Andy, thanks.

Data entry has finished and the Friendly games have kicked off, midweek games will kickoff early Wednesday morning then I expect the league games to kickoff at about 1000 hours Wednesday...

Champions Cup - Match day one results

Charlton 4 InterMilan 2
Real Madrid 2 Ajax 1

Plymouth 4 ACMilan 4
Barcelona 3 Lisbon 0

ManCity 3 Schalke 1
Benfica 2 Paris 1

Juventus 1 ManUnited 3
Watford 4 Bayern 6

Europa Cup

Genk 0 Liverpool 1
Stuttgart 3 PSV 3

Atletico 4 Spurs 0
Roma 1 Feyenoord 3

Nantes 3 Valencia 2
Etienne 4 Celtic 0

Villa 1 Arsenal 3
Monaco 0 Dortmund 2

Copa Libertadores

Botafogo 2 Vasco 4
Boca 1 Estudiantes 2

Fluminense 0 Sao Paulo 0
Argentinos 4 Barselona 0

Nacional 1 Flamengo 1
River Plate 4 Millonarios 1

Santos 3 Palmeiras 2
ElNacional 0 Corinthians 2

Paul wasn’t joking when he said European games would be early on Wednesday morning!!

Well Plymouth concede and score goals for fun again but good win for Atletico. Now to see how Twente and Independiente got on…

Eek...... 3 defeats in one week in Europe, that's a first for myself..  early season review might be required if this form continues.

Confederations Cup

Sydney 0 Cosmos 2
Accra 3 Constantine 0

Melbourne 2 NewYork 2
Enugu 0 Tokyo 0

Grampus 1 Chicago 4
Tampa 0 Mamelodi 2

Setif 1 Wydad 1
Chiefs 2 Kansas 0

European Cup Winners Cup

Chelsea 3 Berlin 3
Partizan 0 Red Star 3

Athens 5 Lazio 1
Gornik 2 Marseille 1

Everton 2 Hamburg 0
Sparta 0 Atalanta 1

Soton 1 Cologne 1
Basel 1 Napoli 2

European Cup

Leverkusen 2 Shaktar 0
Gladbach 5 Blackburn 0

Twente 4 Lille 2
Brondby 1 Coventry 2

Wolfsburg 1 Lyon 3
Vikingur 1 Westham 0

Brighton 2 Frankfurt 2
Ararat 2 Leicester 2

Fairs Cup

Molde 0 Rangers 2
Wimbledon 2 Dresden 1

Ruzomberok 1 Hibs 2
Palace 3 Jena 0

Hannover 3 Bratislava 1
Norwich 4 Auxerre 0

Aberdeen 2 Shelbourne 0
Birmingham 5 Zenit 2

Intertoto Cup

Consett 1 Shamrock 2
Honved 2 Bordeaux 3

Rennais 4 Bohemians 5
Ferencvaros 2 Rotterdam 0

Limerick 1 Linfield 0
Fenerbache 0 Mechelen 2

Slovan 1 Ujpest 2
Galatasaray 2 West Brom 3

Europa Intercity Cup

Zagreb 3 Reykjavik 1
Spartak 1 Viking 0

Leipzig 4 Dukla 2
Leeds 4 Vienna 0

Zalgiris 1 Kragujevac 2
Ipswich 0 Liege 2

Cherry 3 Xamax 2
Burnley 2 Gothernburg 0

Copa Sudamerica

Emelec 0 Alianza 0
Defensor 1 Danubio 3

Independente 3 Cristal 1
Penarol 2 Strongest 0

Medellin 2 Porteno 3
Gremio 1 Catolica 1

Amexica 0 Velez 1
Cruzeiro 4 Colo-Colo 0

Europa Conference Cup

Valur 2 Panathinaikos 0
Dragovol 4 Rapid 0

Derby 3 Porto 1
Olympiakos 0 Innsbruck 1

Wednesday 4 Steaua 0
Malmo 0 Lillestrom 2

Tirana 2 Anderlecht 2
Coleraine 2 Betis 2