Hola! and welcome to Bilbao for the last time, as we reach the final episode of Basque Boys. It’ll be emotional, but hopefully there will be tears of joy as well as sadness, as we have a great chance of winning the treble to go out with a bang…
Celta are first to visit, and for once I have a fully-fit squad! We’re all over them from the off, and are finally rewarded on the stroke of half time, and sub Etxebe makes sure with six minutes to go.
We welcome Rangers midweek for the second leg of our champions league quarter final, and we dominate from start to finish. Their grey keeper makes a name for himself, but we march into the semis.
PSG are our opponents, and Dortmund take on Real Madrid…
I haven’t forgotten the loss to Zaragoza earlier in the season, so you can imagine my delight as their keeper fumbles to the feet of De Pedro in the last minute. That goal could be vital as Barca beat Real to cut their lead to five points.
Off to the grove we go to face Antandec for the last time. Laslandes pounces on a poor punch by their keeper to score the only goal. It should have been more, but a win’s a win.
The first of two semi-finals in a row now, as we jet off to Paris. Maurice’s early red is handy, but it’s goalless at half time. Perez comes on on the hour and has an instant impact, assisting Laslandes with a precious away goal to win it.
The second semi is against Atletico in the Copa Del Rey. It’s a catastrophic start, as Carlos Perez scores an own goal, but we proceed to dominate the match, only to be foiled time and time again by Landreau – unbelievable, Jeff.
We take our frustration out on Logrones, but still have to wait for almost an hour for a breakthrough. Real Madrid drew with Atletico, and Barca lost to Sociedad, so if we win our game in hand, we’ll be just three points off top.
Valencia may be fourteenth, but they’ve been a bogey team for us in the past, so this is a good win. There’s a rare penalty miss for Guerrero, but he makes up for it, and we then hear that Sevilla beat Real Madrid 3-1!
So, we’re just one game away from another champions league final. It’s all even at the break, after Laslandes cancels out Pedros’ early strike, but we explode into life in the second half, and it’s au revoir PSG…
Needless to say, Real Madrid took care of Dortmund, so it’s an all-Spanish final…
Igor sure is eager for goals, and his strike against PSG sets a new record…
With no away goals, I’m not confident going into the second with Atleti. Once again we’re all over them, but this time we get our reward. Alkorta’s dismissed, and De Pedro’s crocked, but we hold on for extra time, where Arenaza summons what energy he has left to score the winner to take us to the final – yes yes yes!!!
Mallorca await…
So, that’s Rios’ season pretty much done, but he might be fit for the two finals, let’s hope…
We only had two league games in April, but those two wins must have impressed the La Liga chiefs…
Now for a potentially title-deciding visit from El Gel’s Real Madrid. They’re six points ahead of us, but we’ve two games in hand. We drew last time, so could do with winning this in case we finish level on points, but we’re missing Alkorta, Rios, and De Pedro, so it won’t be easy.
It’s a dire start, and we’re dead and buried in half an hour, but at least Roberto Carlos feels sorry for us. I’m expecting the same in the second half, but we’re actually the better side, and have enough chances to at least equalise, but Christophe Revault has other ideas…
I’m hoping we can bounce back at Betis, but it seems our confidence has taken a hit, and Berger gives us a good grilling…
If losing to Real and Betis hadn’t put us out of the title race, then this defeat to the donkeys certainly has. This is the first time during my reign in Spain that we’ve lost three on the spin, and it takes falling at the final hurdle to a whole new level…
We finally recover against Deportivo. I start Deschamps, and he helps us get our first win and clean sheet in three games, but sadly Real are crowned champions.
Rafa has played his last game for me…
Igor is doubly eager against Cordoba, and a narrow win puts us second, as revenge is exacted for the 3-2 defeat they dealt us back in November…
Our final game before flying to Rome is our last ever basque derby with Sociedad. Their early goal and our two injuries set the tone, and it’s a fourth defeat in six games…
In hindsight, I wish I’d put the second string out for that match, but it’s too late now…
So to our second Champions league final, where we’re without Alkorta, Larrainzar, Rios, and Arenaza – pretty much our whole spine. This is the seventh time we’ve played Real this season, and we’ve only beaten them once, so I’m hoping we can just win this one match…
It turns out we can’t, and it’s another final defeat. Morientes and that man Oli do the damage, and by the time Laslandes pulls one back it’s already over. Just let this sink in… Gerry Francis has guided Real Madrid to a league and champions league double…
The Euro 2004 squads are announced, and eight Basque Boys make the cut for Spain, but there’s no place for Laslandes in the France squad, despite scoring 41 goals this season…
Our last ever league game is home to Merida. I don’t want any more injuries, so the second string get a game. The result is irrelevant, but it’s a fifth defeat in seven games, and our final league campaign ends with a huge whimper…
We end up fourth, eleven points behind Real Madrid. As usual we’re by far the highest scorers, but our ageing defence isn’t as tight as it once was. In truth, I think we peaked during the previous two seasons, and we’re now at the beginning of the downward curve, so I definitely think I’m ending the save at the right time.
So, to our final shot at some silverware, the Copa Del Rey final against Hector Cuper’s relegated Mallorca, who knocked out Barcelona. If this was a league game, I’d be pretty confident of winning, but we all know what can happen in the cup…
Arenaza is fit enough for the bench, but due to lack of defensive options, I’m forced to play Mendieta at centre back. We start relentlessly and lead 5-0 at the break, but it could have been way more if not for their keeper, Vitor Baia. The second half brings more chances but no more goals, and we finish on a high by winning our second Copa Del Rey!
Here are the final lot of squad stats. Arenaza and Laslandes managed a staggering 84 goals between them this season, and Guerrero was king of assists and average ratings…
The Euros final was a repeat of the 2002 World Cup final, and once again, France got the better of a Spanish side containing four Basque boys…
The club records from my time in charge…
And the list of honours… I’m sure you’ll agree that two league titles, two Copa Del Reys, two Super Copa Españolas, one Champions League, one Cup Winners Cup, one European Super Cup, and one World Club Cup is quite remarkable considering the extremely limited pool of players that we’ve had to sign from…
And here are the squads I started and finished with. Only six players remain from the original squad, but we made some fantastic signings along the way…
So there we go! I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting big things when I started this blog, and was seriously considering ending the save after we won our first league title in 2001/02, but I’m so glad I continued!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey, I’ve had a blast writing it, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it. I think a fitting end to the blog would be to leave you with Athletic Bilbao’s Club motto…
“Con cantera y afición, no hace falta importación”, which translates to “With homegrown talent and support, there is no need for imports”. Adios, amigos!
After 7 seasons, i just have to say “Congratulations! What an incredible journey it was made from day 1 in July 1997 until the last day in July 2004”.
It was great to read and in fact it’s a great story to tell and remember for a long long time while talking about this amazing game CM 97/98.
When i look to your list of honours which include 10 titles in 7 seasons, it’s a remarkable feat. Well in my case, in 4 seasons with the same club, i could only manage to win 4 titles, including one League, one Champions League, one European Super Cup and one World Club Cup, before moving on to another club at the start of season 5.
If we do follow Athletic Bilbao’s policy by signing only basque players, it’s perhaps the most difficult clubs to manage and succeed in the mid-long term, not only because of this restriction but also because of the fierce competition in La Liga, with Barcelona and Real Madrid very strong in every season.
When i look to your original and current squads, it’s a tremendous overhaul, i just don’t agree with Carlos Garcia’s transfer listing, he’s a good player and very important in midfield alongside Guerrero.
Finally, after your great spell at Athletic Club, winning the Champions League at the end of last season would be “the cherry on the cake”, but having so many key injuries didn’t help you and it’s a pity, however i’m sure you would be proud of what you achieved. Hope to read other stories from you latter this year.
Adios y hasta luego!
Thank you very much, I am very pleased with what I managed to achieve in this save, because I didn’t have high hopes at the beginning. Yes you are correct, I was disappointed not to win the champions league in the final season, but was still pleased to win the Copa Del Rey and finish with winning a trophy. Thank you for all your comments along the way, I appreciate your feedback massively, and am glad you have enjoyed reading it. I do have another blog running at the minute called “2001: An Ace Squad-yssey” which is where I have created a squad of CM01/02 legends, and am trying to see how well they do in CM97/98, and I also have plenty more blogs on the way, so hopefully you will like them too. Regards, Nick.
Hi. I haven’t had time to play since our last talk (i only do in my spare time during weekends). So, i was curious and went to see your blog about CM01/02 legends, you’re doing well at the moment. I just played this game once or twice and didn’t like it, but some of my friends used to play and in many talks about this game, i started to know the best players, like Frey or phenomenons like Tó Madeira or Tsigalko.
I was surprised about your 3-2-3-2 formation, seems to be a bit weird without any wing-backs and how you do not concede so many goals, but it works, doesn’t it? In my case, i prefer a flat 4-2-3-1 formation, which requires a great player in the “number 10” position, like Guerrero, Raul, Kiko, Baggio, Wilmots, Del Piero, Totti or any other.
Even when i don’t have a right-back or a left-back available, i rather use a centre back in that position rather than switch the formation. In the early stages, when i was younger, i started playing a 4-3-3 and then switched to 4-4-2 or 4-4-2 attacking and even tried the Christmas Tree when facing big opponents like Barcelona or Juventus. After several attempts, i decided to go with the 4-2-3-1 and i’m happy with the way things are right now.
https://imgur.com/a/rFraRUD