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qdj68 · 09-06-08, 07:22 AM

There have been some major developments since the last update... And i have finally reached the 1st of February with half the season gone...

Before i go on, just a screenie of Soldado...

And luka modric's doing very well for fiorentina, hes got 9 goals in 9 appearances as an attacking mid.

Serie A
Milan 2-1 Roma

Big match, this one, but no problems at the San Siro, solid win over Roma. Soldado scores but the show was Vailatti's, with a goal and an assist. Barzagli's mistake led to a goal from Francesco Totti.

Champions League
Milan 2-0 Olympiakos

Having already qualified for the nxt round, i rested a few players, including Soldado. And it was the "Kaks" show, with Kakha Kaladze and Kaka scoring the goals. Kaka was a substitute for Gourcuff who was slightly injured.

Serie A
Juventus 0-2 Milan

Another big game, and we were dominated by Juve. Buffon showed why he is a top-class keeper even though he conceded, but we hit Juve on the break to steal a win. Soldado may not have scored, but he turned provider for Aaritalo's goal.

Champions League
FC Porto 1-0 Milan

Having already ensured qualifying as leaders, rested players again, including Soldado, Kaka and Pirlo. Gave Fat Ron his first game since he recovered from injury and he didnt make much of an impact. We were totally run ragged by Porto; and we couldnt even capitalise when Dede was sent off. A deserved victory for Porto, and the first loss of the season for me.

And Group Stage ends:

Luciano Spalletti just got the sack by Roma! They were performing poorly and was languishing in 13th to 16th places in the league. Marcello Lippi's hotly tipped to take over.

Serie A
Milan 3-0 Sampdoria

The team recovered from the loss to Porto and totally dominated this match. Sampdoria was crushed, and Kaka netted a hattrick. Sampdoria keeper Mirante did his best, with form 8 but still could not prevent 3 goals from immense Kaka. Oddo also did well, like always.

Then came Club World Championship, and i got Al-Ahly (Egyptian team) in the semis. Was hoping to get Japanese team Saitama UTD though, because i rarely fought asian teams and it would be interesting. But Boca got them anyway.

Club World Championship Semis
Al-Ahly 0-3 Milan

Rested some players, including Dida and Soldado. Kaka was probably too good for them, totally running circles around them. Brace for Kaka, making it 5 goals in 2 games, while compatriot Julio Baptista added the other one.

Club World Championship Finals
Boca 1-1 Milan (90mins)
(Milan wins 7-6 on penalties)

Was wary of Palacio and Banega for this game, because Palacio scored a hattrick against Saitama earlier on, while Banega provided two and has provided assists for almost every game for Boca. Set tight marking on Palacio; prevented him from scoring but he still turned provider for Vidal's goal. Boca had more chances, so we were abit lucky. Decided to get Gattuso to mark Banega later on in the game, and it worked bcuz 5 mins later, Banega was stretched off the pitch! Had partnered fat Ron with Soldado for the game, Ron didnt make vry big impact, and also missed his penalty during shootout. Luckily it didnt cost us.

Club World Champions!!!
Meanwhile, Lippi's confirmed as the new Roma manager.
Italian Cup 1st Rd 1st leg
Milan 3-0 Torino

Just as you were wondering why you hadnt seen Soldado on the scoresheet for quite some time, Soldado nets a brace in an easy win over Torino in this 1st leg of the Italian Cup.

Palermo's manager has been sacked too, and Palermo appoints Alessandro Costacurta, who's my assistant, as Manager. Man Utd's Brian McClair is the new assistant at Milan.

Draw for the Champions League 1st Knockout stage came out too, and we got Benfica. The draw:

Serie A
Milan 2-1 Catania

Jankulovski grabs two assists here, Seedorf and Pirlo finishes off Catania. Despite the sending off of Baiocco, Catania managed to pull one back late in the 87th minute thru Niculescu, from a freekick (his freekicks is 20), but it was too late.

Inter 1-2 Milan

Finally, the Milan derby. We were dominated from start till end, but we managed to pull off a lucky win over our fierce rivals. Soldado was on hot form, scoring two, while Maxwell capitalised on a Jankulovski mistake to score.

Fiorentina 1-1 Milan

Fiorentina had the better chances, and admittedly should have on, but thanks to Dida, i held them to a draw. Soldado with the early goal again, but Pazzini scored after a mistake by Kaladze. Alexandre Pato was also finally eligible to play, and he marked his debut with an assist. Dida MOTM.

The transfer window's finally here! The board increased my budget to 22mil and I snapped up a few players here. And here you go:

Transfers:
Maxi Rodriguez - Free from Atletico Madrid, arriving at the end of season on Bosman Ruling (approach to sign)
Andrea Luci - Free from Juventus, arriving at end of season on Bosman Ruling (approach to sign)
Felipe (DC) - 8 million from Udinese, arriving at end of season, because i requested to, since i am planning to phase out Maldini only at the end of season.
Roberto Soldado - 7.5mil plus fat Ron from R.Madrid. Secures him as permanent after a gd loan period at Milan, while sending Ronaldo back to his former club. Ronaldo's contract was expiring and he didnt want to renew it anyway, so rather than letting him leave for free, let him help me get Soldado.

Atalanta 0-1 Milan

We were totally dominated by Atalanta, we only had a measly 3 shots yet we won amazingly. Kaka got the goal we needed, whereas Dida was again the hero, putting up a goalkeeping clinic. MOTM for Dida again.

Milan 4-2 Empoli

Julio Baptista finally hits top form with a brace here, and Soldado provides an assist in his first game since his permanent transfer from Real Madrid. Solid win here, with Baptista MOTM.

Italian Cup 1st Round 2nd leg
Torino 1-2 Milan
(Milan goes thru on 5-1 aggregate)

We were the poorer side and we also rested a few key players, including Kaka, Soldado,Gattuso,Nesta and Dida. Andrea Dossena (yes the Liverpool bound guy) gave an early lead to Torino but counter attacking play gave us the win with Aaritalo, and Baptista again, on target. With a MOTM performance from keeper Enyeama also, we went through to the quarters with a 5-1 aggregate.

I got Atalanta in the Q-finals and it was just a few days after this game.

Italian Cup Quarter-Finals 1st leg
Atalanta 2-2 Milan

Since playing defensively and counter attacking away with direct football against the weaker teams yielded me less possession, i decided to try go attacking like at home matches and play a scoring battle with them, since i thought i had better player quality, even though they have the home crowd behind them. And yes, i did get much more shots, but it did turn out to be a scoring battle with the score 2-2. Alexandre Pato makes his second appearance and won the MOTM with a brace, and Soldado turns provider again in his second game since his permanent move. Draw, but have 2 away goals for an advantage.

Serie A
Milan 4-0 Atalanta

I fight Atalanta again, and the next match, is Atalanta again, for the second leg of the Italian Cup. So in this second part of the trilogy, it was a total thrashing since i was at home, but both keepers still managed to put up a superb performance. Dida won MOTM with rating 9, while their keeper Forsyth got 8 despite conceding 4. Soldado still hasnt opened his account since his permanent move but he provided 2 assists, making it 4 assists in 3 appearances; he certainly has switched his job from goalscoring machine to assists provider.

Italian Cup Q-Finals 2nd leg
Milan 2-0 Atalanta
(Milan go thru on 4-2 aggregate)

And in this final part of the trilogy, Soldado finally opens his account, and we dominated Atalanta. Kaka was MOTM with 2 assists, and we go thru to the semis on 4-2 aggregate.

And the draw for the next round was holders AS Roma. Tough luck.

Transfer Window closed too soon after. Some of the major transfers in the Italian League:

Cristian Zapata 15.5mil from Udinese to Palermo
Angelo Palombo 15mil from Sampdoria to Man Utd
Obafemi Martins 14.5mil from Newcastle to Roma
Rodrigo Taddei 13.75mil from Roma to At.Madrid
Klass-Jan Huntelaar 13mil from Ajax to Inter
Pascal Chimbonda 10.75mil from Tottenham to Palermo
Rodrigo Palacio 9.5mil from Boca to Lazio
Bogdan Lobont 6mil from Dinamo Bucharest to Parma
Denilson 4.8mil from Arsenal to Juventus

The world's biggest transfer in January was Diego, from Werder Bremen to Barcelona, for 22.5mil.
Some big moves also include Gareth Barry from Aston Villa to Arsenal for 11.75mil, Vincent Kompany to At.Madrid from HSV for 10.25mil, and Afonso Alves to Recreativo from Heerenveen for 10.25mil. Portsmouth also captured Barnetta and Arshavin for a total of 15.25mil.

So with half the season gone, at 19 matches out of 38 in the league, i'm first with a comfortable 13 point lead with a game in hand, with 18 wins out of 19. Incredible run, i couldnt believe it either.

So here's the table.

Keep reading and post your comments! The more the better!