My new Football Manager 2020 series with Sporting CP is now into its second week. Even at this late stage in FM20’s life cycle, this story seems to have drawn plenty of interest, which is always pretty nice to see as a blogger.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the first two chapters of “The Sporting Life”. If you’re new to this story, you can catch up on Part 1 and Part 2 on the links provided to see how we fared in the opening months.
Today, I’ll be taking you through our results in October and November. This includes a huge Primeira Liga match at Braga as well as our first game in the Taça de Portugal, but much of our focus here will be on the Europa League. First up, a daunting trip to the Czech Republic…
SPARTA PRAHA vs SPORTING (Europa League – Group I, Match 2)
October kicked off with one of the trickiest matches in our Europa group. Sparta Praha’s stubborn defence took half an hour to break through, with Wendel banging in a long-ranger set up by our impressive winger Luciano Vietto.
Alas, Sparta responded with an injury-time equaliser from a set-piece. Luís Neto‘s clearance from Srdjan Plavsic’s corner wasn’t the best, and Czech Republic midfielder Michal Travnik punished him by volleying in a rare goal.
The second half was as close as the first, though a moment of magic from Vietto midway through looked like it would be the decisive one. The tricky Argentine latched onto Cristián Borja‘s cross, dribbled inside from the right wing, and then banged in a stunner.
Alas, Sparta responded with ANOTHER injury-time equaliser from a set-piece. Vietto gave away a costly free-kick, which Guélor Kanga sent deep into our box. Renan Ribeiro got a glove to Slovakia centre-half Lukas Stetina’s header but couldn’t quite keep it out.
Despite that late heartbreaker, the board were satisfied with a point – and so was I. We stayed top of Group I on four points ahead of our next home game against Antwerp, who’d lost 2-0 at Maccabi Tel-Aviv. That would come after the next international break, but first, we had another cup competition to worry about.
ACADÉMICO DE VISEU vs SPORTING (Taça da Liga – Round 3 Group A, Match 2)
Victory against Viseu was crucial to our hopes of retaining the Taça da Liga, and we obliged without much fuss. Two of our Brazilian midfielders linked up for the first goal after 15 minutes, as Bruno Paulista headed Mattheus Oliveira‘s free-kick in at the far post.
Surprisingly, we didn’t build on our lead until early in the second half, when another Mattheus free-kick led to Viseu conceding a penalty. Wisely, Jérémy Mathieu stepped aside and allowed 20-year-old Pedro Mendes to score his first Sporting goal – without a Ben Thatcher elbow in sight. (No, wait. Wrong Pedro Mendes.)
Despite having 14 shots on targets, two goals were all we could muster. Nonetheless, we knew that our place in the Semi Finals would effectively come down to our win-or-bust final group game at home to Académica just before Christmas.
With a two-week wait until our next game due to the October internationals, I took a look at our squad dynamics. Team cohesion was still a bit iffy, but the dressing room atmosphere couldn’t be any better after recent results. Of course, it helped that the lads had forgotten that some 20-something nobody from Essex was managing one of Europe’s most historic clubs.
Also, we have over 100 players on our books! And you thought Chelsea were hoarders! At least I didn’t lack options when we visited third-division Praiense in our opening match in this season’s Taça de Portugal.
PRAIENSE vs SPORTING (Taça de Portugal – Round 3)
Frustratingly, it took us 34 minutes to break through, as wing wonder Jovane Cabral fired home direct from a free-kick. That lead was short-lived, as our defence wilted under pressure from a Praiense corner and Cristiano Magina nodded home the equaliser.
With the scoreline at 1-1, I brought out the half-time hairdryer to fire the lads up. Miguel Luís restored our lead from distance, Mattheus flicked a header in off the post, and then Luiz Phellype finally broke his season duck – all within the first seven minutes of the second half.
Having taken a 4-1 lead, we just needed to keep things tight at the back. Teenager Eduardo Quaresma put in a strong display at centre-back, while Luís Maximiano looked solid in goal after an injury lay-off. Another reason for encouragement came from right-back Stefan Ristovski, who made his long-awaited return from a broken foot.
A place in Round 4 was easily secured, then, but our next Taça match in November wouldn’t be so simple. We’d been drawn away to Santa Clara, who – don’t forget – nearly came back from 3-0 down against us on the opening day.
SPORTING vs ANTWERP (Europa League – Group I, Match 3)
We next played a big Europa League tie at home to Antwerp, and we dominated our Belgian visitors with 71% possession. We also created several chances, wasting all but one of them.
Our only goal arrived after 18 minutes – and wouldn’t you know, it came from a set-piece. Jesé floated a free-kick from the right, Neto nodded it to the back post, and Vietto did the rest with a clinical volley. That was a fifth goal in as many outings for the Argentinian sensation!
Things didn’t go so well for Vietto’s counterpart in red. Having been booked late in the first half, Kevin Mirallas earned another yellow card for tripping Miguel Luís midway through the second. The ex-Everton forward’s dismissal forced Antwerp to batten down the hatches to avoid a thrashing, having failed to register even a single shot on target.
A second group win left us three points clear at the top of Group I, with Sparta Praha having risen to 2nd after winning 1-0 at Maccabi Tel-Aviv. If we could beat Antwerp again at their place a fortnight later, we would be on the brink of the knockout rounds. Good times!
These were bad times for striker Andraz Sporar, who strained his groin on the eve of our next league game. But hey, it wasn’t as if we would need the silky Slovene to beat a rock-bottom and winless Aves side, surely?
AVES vs SPORTING (Primeira Liga – Match 9)
Knew it. Look… I’m not going to make any excuses or say this result is “classic Football Manager”. We were genuinely awful and didn’t deserve ANYTHING from this.
After some early attacks went awry, we succumbed to Aves’ first counter-attack. Midfielder Claudio Falcão finished it off with a 25-yard strike that Radamel Falcao would have been proud of.
We were then thwarted several times by goalkeeper Quentin Beunardeau before those pesky birds swooped on us for a second time. Once again, our set-piece defending looked suspect as Reko Silva’s 64th-minute corner was powered in by Aves’ young centre-back Bruno Morais.
Not long after that, loanee forward Yannick Bolasie came off the bench to score his first Sporting goal and give us a glimmer of hope. Alas, Beunardeau frustrated our other attackers late on as we went down to a pitiful – and costly – defeat.
The big two were now way clear of us, with Benfica still holding a perfect record and Porto having slipped up only a couple of times. What’s more, 4th-placed Braga were now breathing down our necks, making our visit to the Estádio Municipal in November even more crucial.
And as if that wasn’t stressful enough, Jesé was out for a fortnight with an abdominal injury. I’m guessing he had a mishap with one of those silly belt things that a certain Sporting icon advertises.
The new month began at home to Boavista – the only other Portuguese team I’ve ever managed on Championship or Football Manager. I couldn’t even last a full season with them on CM00/01 before getting the sack. Was that a bad omen?
SPORTING vs BOAVISTA (Primeira Liga – Match 10)
Probably not, because we bossed this match from start to finish – literally! Luiz Phellype kicked off the scoring with a rebound header from right-back Valentin Rosier‘s saved shot in the first minute, and then finished it off with a clinical tap-in in the closing stages.
The bits in between weren’t too bad either. A clever one-two between compatriots Vietto and Rodrigo Battaglia ended with the latter driving in his first goal of the season after eight minutes. Though we could have been even further ahead at half-time, we carried over our dominance into the second half.
After Boavista had a goal of their own ruled out for offside, they effectively killed themselves off in the 74th minute. Idris’ suicidal clearance across his own penalty area was intercepted by the brilliant Mattheus Oliveira, who slotted it past goalkeeper Helton Leite to effectively wrap up the points.
However, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for us. Between our third and fourth goals, this happened:
Yep. Now Vietto was in the treatment room, joining the other two members of our regular frontline. How would a second-string Sporting attack fare in Antwerp?
ANTWERP vs SPORTING CP (Europa League – Group I, Match 4)
Quite well, actually. After just two minutes, Cabral’s trickery drew a foul out of Antwerp left-back Matheus, who then watched his near-namesake Oliveira bang home a free-kick to put us ahead!
Things were looking even Rosier midway through the half, when Valentin’s cross was headed in by Bolasie for 2-0. That could have been 3-0 come the break, but captain Sebastián Coates was caught offside when he tucked away the rebound after Antwerp goalie Sinan Bolat had parried Cabral’s free-kick.
More delight came just after the hour, as Rosier and Bolasie created a carbon copy of our second goal – the Frenchman’s cross being met by a deft header from the Congolese forward. Bolasie’s compatriot Dieumerci Mbokani then wasted a host of opportunities to give Antwerp hope, but when he did eventually score, it was far too late.
Our place in the knockout stage had been secured with two games to spare. There was still the small matter of staving off Sparta Praha to win the group and perhaps get a more favourable draw, but that was one less thing to worry about.
BRAGA vs SPORTING (Primeira Liga – Match 11)
Next up were our main rivals for a top-three finish. A draw was probably the fairest result after a thrilling encounter at Braga, though I couldn’t help thinking that we had blown a big chance to pull clear of Rúben Amorim’s side.
It was certainly an evening to remember for rising star Miguel Luís, who twice gave us the lead with his customary long-range stunners in the first half. Granted, his first was cancelled out after barely a minute by Braga’s wing wizard Ricardo Horta, but the hosts struggled to respond to his second.
Indeed, it took the Arsenalistas almost the entire second half to get back level – courtesy of a former youth striker with Arsenal AND Sporting. Rui Fonte got ahead of our defenders to meet wing-back Diogo Viana’s cross with a killer header.
That was the third time already this season we’d dropped points in a league or Europa League game late on. Stamina issues, perhaps? I suppose you can’t realistically keep counter-pressing for the whole 90 minutes, to be fair…
After our last league match of November, the gap between us and the unstoppable Benfica juggernaut had increased to 14 points. Even Porto had proven no match for our city rivals, with their 5-1 home loss to the Águias boosting our hopes of catching them up in 2nd. In the meantime, we still had to fend off a bunch of teams looking to displace us.
Another international break preceded our Taça de Portugal meeting with Santa Clara. Normally, club managers would worry about players hurting themselves on national duty – but we actually got a spate of new injuries after they returned!
Jesé and Sporar had their comebacks delayed by fresh injuries, while Luiz Phellype and midfielder Eduardo Henrique had each twisted their knees. Even worse, Ronaldo’s faulty six-pack machines wreaked havoc on Ribeiro’s abs, ruling our most experienced goalkeeper out until the new year! This meant Maximiano really needed to step up – and, more importantly, stay fit.
SANTA CLARA vs SPORTING (Taça de Portugal – Round 4)
Mendes made the most of his golden chance up front. Half an hour into a rainy encounter on the Azores, the young striker volleyed in a crafty delivery from left-back Marcos Acuña to give us a narrow half-time lead. That wasn’t the first time we’d found the net, as Bruno’s early strike had been disallowed for an offside call against Battaglia.
Of course, we could never discount a Santa Clara fightback. Our defence held out until the 80th minute, when a moment of bad luck led to disaster. Anderson Carvalho’s cross into our box from the left wing deflected off the back of an unwitting Acuña’s head, and striker Crysan quickly slid in the rebound.
Then, as the game entered its penultimate minute, our worst fears came to pass. A shot from Iraq midfielder Osama Rashid from the edge of the area bent at just the right time to catch Maximiano out, leaving us on the brink of an early cup exit…
…until Battaglia came to the rescue! The box-to-box midfielder latched onto another delightful Acuña and struck an all-or-nothing shot that rocketed into the top corner! Extra-time beckoned!
I told the boys to get stuck into Santa Clara for the next half-hour, and our greater desire eventually won out. A free-kick from Cabral early in the second extra period was met by a deft header from Battaglia, who shattered the Açoreanos for a second time. It had been an almighty struggle, but we had made it into Round 5 – and another tricky tie at Vitória de Guimarães.
After an impressive start to my reign, it’s fair to say I’ve won the doubters over! With 47 goals in my first 20 games, I’m definitely giving Sporting fans the entertainment they crave – even if we’re sometimes a bit suspect at the back.
MACCABI TEL-AVIV vs SPORTING (Europa League – Group I, Match 5)
Naturally, our next game was as dull as ditchwater – or at least the first half was, anyway. While Maccabi Tel-Aviv looked anxious as they desperately battled for a win to keep their qualification hopes alive, we were guilty of some sloppy play that let them off the hook.
The decisive moment would come early in the second half, as another Sporting set-piece paid dividends. Wendel’s corner was flicked across the area by defender Tiago Ilori, and Mendes rose above the goalkeeper to finish the opportunity.
As well as producing an impressive assist, Ilori kept us rock-solid at the back alongside Coates. With Maccabi bereft of ideas, we held on for a narrow win which – combined with Antwerp’s late equaliser at Sparta Praha – meant that the group standings made handsome reading!
Yep… we had already won the group! There would be no need to bring out the big guns for our final game at home to Sparta, as we’d secured a seeding for the Round of 32 draw!
YOUTH WATCH
Before I leave you, I thought I’d shine a light on another of Sporting’s best young talents. Today, that man is centre-half Gonçalo Inácio.
Though not as exciting as Quaresma (who we looked at last time), Inácio is another promising ball-playing defender. As well as being strong in the air, the 18-year-old has a professional personality and impressive concentration skills. He also has the work ethic needed to be retrained as a defensive midfielder, in case he can’t break through in his natural position.
In terms of senior opportunities, I’m very tempted to give Gonçalo his first run-out in the Europa League dead-rubber against Sparta. When January comes, I will look to loan him out – ideally to a LigaPro club, though his only suitors right now come from the third-tier Campeonato. I suspect he might not learn enough at that level.
I’d call that a productive autumn. Sure, the league already looks beyond our reach (because bloody Benfica just won’t lose), but we’re still going strong in all the cups. Perhaps the Supertaça won’t be the only trophy we lift this season!
Please come back on Friday for Part 4, where we’ll finish off 2019 and then roll straight into the new year – and the opening of a new transfer window! Will I inject some fresh blood into Sporting or stick with what I already have?
Fuller FM 
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