Here we are, we’re ready for the final! After knocking out Internazionale Milano, Arsenal and Manchester City we have to face Barcelona, the team that we had to play in the group stage too — we lost 2-0 away and won the home game 3-1. I had most of the lads healthy and available, it was up to me to pick the best strategy for the game and up to my players to make the most of it. The game was going to be played in Madrid, at the Santiago Bernabeu! Maybe Real Madrid‘s fans would be on our side :)
Here’s how Barcelona‘s starting eleven looks like:
Although their offensive trio is a nightmare for any defence I was more concerned about the 2 central midfielders, Iniesta and Anderson, because their intelligent play and great technique were crucial for Barcelona’s game. I decided to give special attention to those two players and I instructed my players to tackle them hard and show them to their weaker foot in order to block their wonderful passing game.
I laid out my favorite 4-2-3-1 formation, but with two very cautious full backs, which I instructed not to make forward runs too often, just to keep an eye on their very dangerous wingers.
And the game started, the most important game in my whole career. Barcelona wanted to show their class right from the start, they were pushing forward and even created some chances, but we managed to maintain the clean sheet.
13th minute — Iniesta scores after a beautiful pass from Dani Alves, but the linesman was flagging! Offside! It’s still 0-0.
In the second part of the first half we controlled the ball better and even created a few chances, but Valdes seemed to be in top form.
40th minute — Jiri Kladrubsky sends in a cross from the left, Michael Harper climbs above Pique and hits the ball with his head. It’s in! We scored! But what’s happening… The ref blows his whistle, he says that Harper pushed their defender! I can’t believe it! My players are protesting and so am I, but the decision stands.
Right before the break we created another chance but Valdes saved again. It was 0-0 after 45 minutes.
My Brazilian attacking midfielder, Willians Santana, was slightly injured, so I decided to replace him and bring in another Brazilian, Choco. I hoped that he will bring more speed to our attacks and maybe pull some tricks out of his bag to give us a wonderful goal.
The first 20 minutes of the second half were entirely ours, we were dominating the game but their keeper, Victor Valdes, denied us a goal with a fantastic save. Barcelona didn’t create any chances in these 20 minutes, so I was hoping that we would be able to score sooner or later. But it didn’t go as planned…
69th minute — I replaced right winger Fabian Cisneros, injured, with Danny Welbeck. Welbeck is a striker, but I had no other options available on the bench. Vargas sent a hanging ball in our box from a corner and… Kladrubsky wasn’t able to climb above Iniesta :( He sent the ball in the net with a powerful header. That was so painful, we were dominating the game…
74th minute — A great pass behind their defensive line finds Michael Harper in a good position, no offside there, the flag stays down… Harper advances with the ball, goes into the box and fires a shot with his right foot. The ball is past Valdes, heading towards the far post… It hits the post and goes in! 1-1! My star striker scores! He won’t be with us next season, his contract will expire in June and he already signed for Sevilla, but he does his duty, the most important goal of his career!
From that point on both teams were afraid… No more chances were created, the 90 minutes ended 1-1.
We dominated the extra time, but Victor Valdes saved another two important shots. Barcelona created only one chance in the extra time, from a corner. But we weren’t able to score, so the game goes down to the lottery, the penalty shootout.
Messi scores
Forbes scores
Guilherme scores
Stancu scores
Alex Teixeira scores
Harper scores
Vargas shoots but Serdar saves the penalty! Here’s our chance!
Choco steps up… but blazes it over the bar!
From that point on the following 12 players, 6 from each team, scored. It was down to the goalkeepers, they were the only ones left.
Valdes steps up and blazes it over the bar! We can do it, it’s all in the «hands» of our keeper!
Serdar steps up, shoots, Valdes jumps in the right direction but the ball hits the net! We won! We won! We won!
Sweet mother of all gods, we did it! We won the UEFA Champions League! In 2008, 7 years ago, we were in League Two and now we are lifting the most important trophy in European club competitions! Wonderful, absolutely friggin’ incredible! The best player, the man of the match, was their keeper, Victor Valdes, and I guess that can tell you a lot about how the game went.
Here are the match stats, you can judge them for yourselves — he had more shot on goals and more chances, we deserved to win it.
What can I say, it’s a remarkable achievement, our fans were delirious, they danced in the streets and showed their gratitude towards me and the players.
After winning this great trophy, the Premier League title, the Europa League, the European SuperCup and the Carling Cup I have only two dreams left: to win the FA Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup and I’ll continue to play the game until I’ll reach those two goals! In the following posts I’ll describe the tactics that I’ve used this season and also my players, one by one. Stay tuned!
diogon2
12 мая, 2009 at 13:43
Congrats man. In all this seasons , did you had any job offer from other clubs??
JohnnyKarp
13 мая, 2009 at 01:23
Thanks mate. I had several job offers from Premier League clubs lately, but I’m planning to end my career with Chester :)
andrei_venom
13 мая, 2009 at 05:00
wow…amazing, you really are talented. you have inspired me to try a similar feat only with Blue Square South side Havant & Waterlooville. If you’d like you can check out my blog at
http://footballmanagerstory.blogspot.com
cheers!
diogon2
13 мая, 2009 at 09:15
you do well ending your carrer in chester , now that you won the champions league, you proved you have the best team
JohnnyKarp
14 мая, 2009 at 01:14
@diogon2
It’s not over yet, I have to win the FA Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup and after winning those two trophies I’ll end my career with Chester.
@Andrei
Good luck with your game, I’ll keep an eye on your blog ;)
Faisal
15 мая, 2009 at 13:19
You’re one of the best managers in FM history.
JohnnyKarp
15 мая, 2009 at 14:57
:) Thanks for the compliment but I’m sure that there are people better than me out there and I’m not just saying this to be nice or modest.
Dave
18 мая, 2009 at 12:49
Well done mate, been waiting for the final two parts to your story. 7 years from L2 to Kings of Europe is a brilliant achievement. Good luck for the FA Cup, will continue to followthis story
JohnnyKarp
18 мая, 2009 at 13:00
Thanks a lot Dave :)
set_piece_simon
22 мая, 2009 at 10:56
Thats pretty impresive! Better then their current season!!
If you weant why not come checi out my webiste http://www.fmpedia.com
The more the merrier
martyn
23 июля, 2009 at 02:57
you obviously cheated you probs made 2 users and transfered all thier budget overr
JohnnyKarp
23 июля, 2009 at 09:48
@martyn
Yeah, obviously… If you read the story you would find out that I never had huge transfer budgets at Chester. I won’t say more because I really don’t want to insult someone so early today ;)
rogueuf
29 марта, 2010 at 19:47
hi. I have been playing as chester for what seems years now, I have finally got promoted to the prem only for the board to sell out in the closed peiod which lead to a transfer embargo. It killed me I could`nt get any new players and lost a few to contract,halfway through the season the new board kept me on through fan pressure by this time my team were third from bottom I set about buying players and had to wait for the jan window to open. long story short they sacked me last night a week before my new players arrived :(.
I would like to know if anybody else had this takeover problem and how they got round it as I am thinking of starting over???
Johnny Karp
30 марта, 2010 at 09:51
@rogueuf
That transfer embargo thing is not nice at all. I had a board takeover in my Blyth game but I didn’t need any transfers then. It looks like a very difficult challenge with Chester, I would try to start over and figure it out.
rogueuf
30 марта, 2010 at 19:11
hmm I am well gutted !! I had job offers from spurs but I want to play as Chester. Suppose all I can do is make sure I have a good squad that will survive the first half of the season in the prem untill the transfer embargo is lifted. Wish me luck!
Johnny Karp
31 марта, 2010 at 13:12
@rogueuf
Good luck! :) And keep us posted!
James
17 января, 2011 at 21:45
OMFG YOU WON looooooooooooooooooooool thats amazing :D bet you were gutted that you lost Haroer though :/
James
17 января, 2011 at 21:46
Harper*
Johnny Karp
17 января, 2011 at 21:56
I didn’t mind too much, at least not after winning the Champions League :)