71
Overall
69
Attack
72
Midfield
69
Defence
After a good money surplus from last season, and inevitable hype buzzing around Sergio Ramos and his boys, Málaga's board decides to invest heavily in infrastructure and youth. With the projected value of the club more than doubling in the last three years, this season's financial goals are simple: spend little, spend right.
Ramos looks for options to strenghten the squad without spending large on the transfer market, as one of the board's requests is to turn a profit right away, in the first opening of the transfer window. John McGinn, Kenedy Nunes and Samu Castillejo all join Málaga for free, as free agents, and some players are let go, such as Jozabed and Morales, to lighten the payroll. Only two signings are made - Aarón Martín, who comes in to fill the blank on the left side; and Málaga's record signing at the time, the R$28.6 million dollar boy Tomás Tavares, another portuguese bet from Ramos.
La Academia de Juveniles is starting to produce some real talent, and youngsters are becoming a more and more common sight in the training grounds en la Rosaleda. The coach now has some very interesting tactical variety at his disposal, with very different players who can deliver very different types of performance. Málaga are stablishing themselves as a thorn on the side of traditional sides in Spain such as Sevilla, Valencia and Villareal, who now find themselves, at least, on the same level of competition de los bokérones - and very often being left out of their traditional "Big 6" spots by the andaluzians.
Their second ever Champions League campaign, however, is not so good. Málaga land on the group of death, the only one in the competition to have three national league winners fighting for two spots - Juventus, Manchester City and Besiktas. Inevitably, and even with only one loss in six games (against Juventus, in Spain), Málaga gets knocked out in the group stage, with a bitter 9 points scored. The good campaign on the group stage, however, grants a spot in the knockouts of Europa League, which goes pretty well for los bokérones.
In la Copa de España, after facing (and winning) Barcelona right out of the gate, in the round of 64, Málaga gives a powerful statement that they are gunning strongly for the cup. After beating Espanyol (in revenge for the 22-23 elimination), Betis, Celta and Atleti in the semis, the team manages to belt their first ever silverware under Ramos, after a thrilling 1-3 final against Valencia. It's Málaga's first Copa de España title in history, and the first title of Sergio Ramos' career. Keeping their splendid form, the boys manage to win, a few months later, their first ever continental title, the Europa League, after beating AC Milan 0-2, who were, to that point, unbeaten in the competition. In La Liga, Málaga takes advantage of the sketchy form of the big clubs, picking up the slack they leave behind, proving to be a very difficult team to beat. Los bokérones even spend a few rounds in the first place, but ultimately are no match to the billionaire squads - the end of the season proves to be difficult, and after three simultaneous injuries in crucial spots, Málaga finish fourth in the league. Fábio Silva, however, ends his season as the golden boot in La Liga, in the cup and the Europa League.
Speaking of the devil, Fábio Silva is now not only one of the best strikers in the world, but also one of the best players in the world, capping over 60 goals and 17 assists in 55 games. In only three seasons in the club, he manages to achieve the 100+ goal mark for Málaga, making him the top scorer in the club's history with only 21 years of age. His transfer market value is estimated to be over R$300 million dollars.
In the capital, there is unrest. After three consecutive seasons with no silverware, questionable signings and releases in the transfer market, and a failed qualification to the Champions League for the first time since the 1997-1998 season, Zinédine Zidane is sacked from los merengues. Social media and supporters go crazy; a very particular name starts to gain traction among the possible substitutes; and after some flirting and courting, Real Madrid announces, right before the end of the season, that Sergio Ramos will be the man in the hot seat for next season.
Players IN: Kenedy Nunes (BRA); Tomás Tavares (POR); John McGinn (SCO); Aáron Martin and Samu Castillejo (SPA).
Players OUT: Johan Mojica (COL); Tunji Akinola (ENG) [loan]; Iñigo Lekue, Javier Eraso [retired], José Morales and Jozabed Ruíz (SPA).
- All hired players MUST have in-game faces.
Ramos looks for options to strenghten the squad without spending large on the transfer market, as one of the board's requests is to turn a profit right away, in the first opening of the transfer window. John McGinn, Kenedy Nunes and Samu Castillejo all join Málaga for free, as free agents, and some players are let go, such as Jozabed and Morales, to lighten the payroll. Only two signings are made - Aarón Martín, who comes in to fill the blank on the left side; and Málaga's record signing at the time, the R$28.6 million dollar boy Tomás Tavares, another portuguese bet from Ramos.
La Academia de Juveniles is starting to produce some real talent, and youngsters are becoming a more and more common sight in the training grounds en la Rosaleda. The coach now has some very interesting tactical variety at his disposal, with very different players who can deliver very different types of performance. Málaga are stablishing themselves as a thorn on the side of traditional sides in Spain such as Sevilla, Valencia and Villareal, who now find themselves, at least, on the same level of competition de los bokérones - and very often being left out of their traditional "Big 6" spots by the andaluzians.
Their second ever Champions League campaign, however, is not so good. Málaga land on the group of death, the only one in the competition to have three national league winners fighting for two spots - Juventus, Manchester City and Besiktas. Inevitably, and even with only one loss in six games (against Juventus, in Spain), Málaga gets knocked out in the group stage, with a bitter 9 points scored. The good campaign on the group stage, however, grants a spot in the knockouts of Europa League, which goes pretty well for los bokérones.
In la Copa de España, after facing (and winning) Barcelona right out of the gate, in the round of 64, Málaga gives a powerful statement that they are gunning strongly for the cup. After beating Espanyol (in revenge for the 22-23 elimination), Betis, Celta and Atleti in the semis, the team manages to belt their first ever silverware under Ramos, after a thrilling 1-3 final against Valencia. It's Málaga's first Copa de España title in history, and the first title of Sergio Ramos' career. Keeping their splendid form, the boys manage to win, a few months later, their first ever continental title, the Europa League, after beating AC Milan 0-2, who were, to that point, unbeaten in the competition. In La Liga, Málaga takes advantage of the sketchy form of the big clubs, picking up the slack they leave behind, proving to be a very difficult team to beat. Los bokérones even spend a few rounds in the first place, but ultimately are no match to the billionaire squads - the end of the season proves to be difficult, and after three simultaneous injuries in crucial spots, Málaga finish fourth in the league. Fábio Silva, however, ends his season as the golden boot in La Liga, in the cup and the Europa League.
Speaking of the devil, Fábio Silva is now not only one of the best strikers in the world, but also one of the best players in the world, capping over 60 goals and 17 assists in 55 games. In only three seasons in the club, he manages to achieve the 100+ goal mark for Málaga, making him the top scorer in the club's history with only 21 years of age. His transfer market value is estimated to be over R$300 million dollars.
In the capital, there is unrest. After three consecutive seasons with no silverware, questionable signings and releases in the transfer market, and a failed qualification to the Champions League for the first time since the 1997-1998 season, Zinédine Zidane is sacked from los merengues. Social media and supporters go crazy; a very particular name starts to gain traction among the possible substitutes; and after some flirting and courting, Real Madrid announces, right before the end of the season, that Sergio Ramos will be the man in the hot seat for next season.
Players IN: Kenedy Nunes (BRA); Tomás Tavares (POR); John McGinn (SCO); Aáron Martin and Samu Castillejo (SPA).
Players OUT: Johan Mojica (COL); Tunji Akinola (ENG) [loan]; Iñigo Lekue, Javier Eraso [retired], José Morales and Jozabed Ruíz (SPA).
- All hired players MUST have in-game faces.
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