The spartak revival

These are the best Russian regens I have.Solvjov is in my first team after being recalled from nice due to me selling glushakov to Krasnodar.Lobanov and plotnikov are the best of the rest I think.Lobanov already getting first team football elsewhere and plotnikov has just been promoted to first team but playing for u21s too.Its just a matter of integrating them all into my first team which should prove tricky as the foreign lads are a lot better right now.

The montstarted off with a home game against anji.A lacklustre performance though we did get the 3 points.Pintinho and Roberts both on the scoresheet.

Then came a home game against Kuban.Lucas boye scored the first 2 before cheryshev,roberts and tielemans got the rest.Not a bad warm up for our cup game later in the month and a massive improvement on the anji game.

Next came Kuban at home again.A different game to the league match but the winners the same.Logashov and Tariq both got a goal and boye scored his 2nd brace in a row against Kuban.

This wasn't comfortable here.A goalless first half was dire from my perspective as they were on top throughout.Lucas romero and a late pavel savitskiy penalty secured the points.



The gap at the top has gone higher again.This time its 14 points ahead of Krasnodar who will no doubt be benefitting from my sale to them of denis glushakov.I personally think another 4 wins would secure the title though im wanting to win 8 at least.Next up in the league is zenit so im looking forward to that one.



Just a shot of how good a season Patrick Roberts has done.It is only the middle of march and already Patrick Roberts has already beaten his own record with the man of the match awards.I think he can get a few more before the end.I have said it before and ill say it again this guy has been amazing since arriving nearly 2 years ago.



So aside from all those domestic matches we have the small matter of champions league football.Lucas boye scored after just 31 seconds to set us on our way.Pavel savitskiy scored not long after half time with gaston gil romero scoring a minute after.I have to be disappointed by the last 15 minutes when our team just fell asleep.Easily 6 of the 9 shots they had came after 75 minutes and they got the goal they actually deserved in added time.But were through to the quarters which is the main thing.



PSG next for me.This time last season it was Chelsea so im not all that nervous.I actually think if we perform like we usually do we will get through.They came from behind to beat man united in the last round after losing 4-1 at old Trafford before a 5-1 win at the parc des princes.We got the double over united so I think it will be a close couple of games but I think we can and will come out on top.



The rest of the draw looks tasty.A Madrid derby could be close.Man city beat barca in the last round and will be favourites against Napoli but they will provide a stern test.I am hoping Liverpool can beat Bayern and we meet them in the semi final.That would be my easiest path I think.

Another important month in april.Russian cup semi final to CSKA and a massive quarter final against PSG to contend with.Also I still needed more points to wrap up the league.



The league went as it usually does these days.A lot of wins and hardly any (if any) clean sheets.I am still disappointed by that even if I am still winning.First up a trip to zenit.The only real team to attempt to stop my attempt of dominance in Russia but they had no chance really in this one.Rotariu opened the scoing before a stunning artem dzyuba hat trick and a gael Renaud goal gave us a 5-2 victory.A big win and massive result.They are an ageing team now with many players over 30 and they are going to need significant reinvestment if they are to catch back up to me.They also have henning berg in charge now as andre villas boas departed for man utd some months ago.

This was a very nervy match in that we conceded early on and they had numerous chances to put the game to bed but just didn't take any of them.In form artem dzyuba got another goal before pavel savitskiy got the winner in the closing minutes.Another big result going into the semi final against CSKA.

This will be known as the artem dzyuba semi.4 goals for the lad including a 9 minute hat trick.His contract was up in the summer before this month started.Not any more.He has been great this season.

Our closest rivals in the league but still some way off in terms of points and this match.Dzyuba with another 2 goals before an own goal by the Krasnodar gk and huremovic and kombarov strikes ensured we dominated and were now only a handful of points from securing the league title.

While this match didn't win us the league it made it nigh on impossible for Krasnodar to catch up.Dorin rotariu and yet another artem dzyuba goal gave us a 2-1 win over one of our biggest rivals.



So anyone who is half decent at maths can already tell that we have secured the title.Our victory over dynamo Moscow didn't ensure it but that weekend Krasnodar lost at home to anji and now they cant catch us.For the first time since 2001 spartak Moscow have retained the title.That year signalled the last in a 6 year dominance for them.Do I try to outdo that or move on sooner knowing the revival is complete?I honestly don't know as this is getting very easy in terms of the league.20 points over 2nd place and 27 above zenit.The league should be mine for years to come given the players I have now have by no means fully developed and are already so dominant.

With the league title wrapped up and a cup final against zenit to look forward to there is also the champions league.The last you heard I had a quarter final with PSG to contend with if I wanted to get to the same stage as last season.



A very decent away draw in the first leg.Especially after being 2 down.After the 2nd goal went in I did something I very rarely do.I paused the game and was aggressive with the players asking them to show more passion.You can see how swift the response was with lucas boye and martin odegaard scoring in 5 minutes of each other.The rest of the match was fairly even in terms of chances.



It has been a long time since I was on the edge of my seat watching a game like this.We were 2 up and cruising through pintinho and odegaard goals before cavani equalised from a corner.Lucas boye restored that 2 goal advantage before zlatan ibrahimovic again got them to just a goal behind.Now if they scored another and it ended the goals they would be through on away goals but kombarov (out of shot) scored a pressure penalty to again put us 2 goals ahead but danilo scored 3 minutes after that to again put the game on a knife edge but we held on to secure our 2nd semi final place In a row.If you look at the other results in both games you will see that luverpool did get through and they were the team I wanted given the other teams in it were real Madrid and man city.But who did I get?



Man city.And I actually cant wait to play them.Sure they knocked out barca earlier in the knockout rounds but they aren't the team they once were.Aguero is in his prime at 29 and joe hart is a quality stopper but they don't faze me.Toure is 34 and getting on and david silva isn't all that great anymore.Surely I can go one step further and reach the final this time.



I got one foot into that dream final with this result.Lucas boye opened the scoring early on before aguero levelled the contest.Dorin rotariu then restored my lead and gil romero doubled it.They pulled another back just after the hour mark but we held on to a great win.All I needed to do was play for a draw at home.But this is spartak Moscow and we don't do that.We set up the same as most other matches.To win.



And we got it.Fenandinho scored twice for them but kombarov,boye and Roberts got the goals to secure our place in the millennium stadium final.What a great season this is turning out to be.Russian cup finalists,league winners with 6 games to spare and now this.This group have really grown into a force in Europe now.But who did we get in the final.Liverpool or real Madrid?And who do I actually prefer?Liverpool wouldn't be the hardest of the pair that's for sure but I want to beat the best I can.



Real Madrid.The most successful club in the history of the competition.Arguably the best player on the planet in Cristiano Ronaldo and a few other top quality players too.And you know what?I cant wait.Lets do this.

Wow what a superb champions league run yet again! Best of luck against Madrid!

Thanks dan.My teams put in some quality performances in the champions league again.I do usually rotate between champions league and league games when I can.With the rule of 4 Russian players on the pitch I play my best players in champions league and more Russians in league.Basically like an a and b team.



Some good wins again to finish the season off.CSKA were 4 down at one point and pulled it back to 4-3 late on.I was worried in the last few minutes.All the other ones were routine really.Artem dzyuba has been great all season and I was happy for pedro carvalho in last league game as he had been out for a few month.He has still got in the Portugal squad though.Won the cup again this time against zenit.Im pretty happy about that too.



Ended up winning every single game except that lokomotiv Moscow one back in December.Great effort from my lads to finish 26 points clear.Zenit have been disappointing and like ive said before they need major reinvestment to try to catch up.

Now for a few awards before I catch you up on how I did against real Madrid.



Patrick Roberts has again been voted player of the year by the fans.And by another massive margin.He has had a stunning season especially in the league.



He smashed seydou doumbias highest average rating in a season.




And he has retained these 2 awards.What a buy he has been.I am surprised no one has come sniffing around him as of yet.

Now for the big one.



Truth be told I got battered as you can see by the stats but the important stat is the only one that counts.2-0 to me.An early goal by rotariu and a late one by zouma.This is a massive achievement and I have one basically everything I can.Well apart from the European super cup,europa league and club world championship but I will have a chance at 2 of them next season and do I really want to win the Europa when I have a team now capable of this?I was expecting to get battered and I did but for the score.

So with winning the most prestigious club trophy in world football I will play in the European super cup.



Where I will play arsenal.No fear from me though having just beat Madrid and In 10 games against English opponents I have lost just one against everton.

Bit of feedback wanted now.Do I go on and keep managing these or move abroad (I will need to open a new league though).Or do I start a new one.I like these revival challenges but open to suggestions.

Wow, fantastic run in Champions League

That's a tough one tbh. I'd either say look at other leagues and see clubs that have been struggling for years and revive them back to top again?

Superb mate! great to see you win the CL!!

Just caught up on this! As ever very impressive in the league, and even more so winning the Champions League! Well done mate! Would be good to see you stay with the team you've built, and try and win the CL for a second consecutive season!

Congratulations on winning the Champions League with Spartak, fantastic achievement.

Nice one lads.Its been a great career for me so far.I haven't been on for a bit but will be back on soon.Still in 2 minds what to do.I have a few players wanting play in a better division and unfortunately that's completely out of my control.I can win champions league 5 years on the trot but its still not going to change their minds.Thats sort of a challenge in itself.Talking the m round and maintaining what I have done so far or selling them and replacing them and again maintaining the titles etc.

Quality season last season.I have decided to stay on.I have a new career in mind that I may start in the new year but until then im staying onboard at spartak.As I said in previous comment a few players are grumbling over wanting to play in a better league.2 big players for me last season but I have kept hold of most and got one of my major players to extend his contract.

So first off the signings.I am only going to show one of them as the other 2 I am going to explain a bit more when it comes to it.



This lad came in for 825k.Not too shabby I don't think.I have already loaned him out and will again next season probably.Hoping for a big profit on him unless he does develop very well in which case I will be keeping him.I have also sold lucas boye to juventus.Got 14m up front and 6 over 12 months.Also be getting 30% of his next fee.I lost a major player for me in gael Renaud.He had a great season for me but then PSG came in for him and I rejected.He had a little moan so I decided to cash on and got 30m for a cb I paid 7m for 2 years ago.Again I demanded a % of any future fee in which case I will get 40%.I would of rather kept him but didn't want the hassle and the risk of damaging the squad harmony.I brought in a regen called Emanuel from porto for 27m.He is another future star and practically a direct replacement.Here is how the 2 compare.I don't think there is too much difference.



Jon Flanagan was another who was moaning about the Russian premier league not being good enough.Not too bothered about him as I could get a lot better but I did pay my highest transfer fee by 38m.58mi paid for an 18 year old but when you compare how he is now to Flanagan you will see why.





So the first game of the season was the Russian super cup against Krasnodar.Crazy match which I ended up winning to a 122nd minute pedro carvalho goal.First trophy done.

Although the next screen shot wasn't the next game I wanted do the league games all in a row.



Such a shame kombarov got himself sent off so early.It was a red and I wasn't happy but they dominated the chances from then.3-1 was probably the right score but im sure you can see why I wasn't happy.











Not going into the league matches as much as last season as it takes forever.5 games 5 wins.The CSKA result was a good one but that game changed when they went down to 10 men in the 74th minute.



Krasnodar are keeping up.I sold them Michael keane in the summer and denis glushakov in January so I have helped them out.Still they shouldn't be able to keep it up for too long and im sure im going to win by a fair margin again.Zenit 8 points behind already shows how much of a decline they are in.CSKA doing badly too.



I was 1st seeds in this group.I was hoping for a better group but I got this one.A little tricky for sure but im hoping to get through as group winners.Be interesting to see how Emanuel does against former club porto should I play him.

For some reason it didn't post this.Massive for the club.Each season he moans about wanting a move.Cant be that bad for him if I sign him to a new contract every 2 years or so.

Another great start to the league season!

Cheers mate.I like johno am getting a little bored of this save right now.Winning in Europe is a quality thing but winning in the league is getting as bit too easy.I am going to be starting a new one.New post be up very soon.I might crack on with this again some time in future.

Looking forward to your next thread