“I reckon this journey has run its course.“
In-game date: 15 May 2027
The curtains come down on the 2026-27 season for Viktoria Köln, their second consecutive campaign in the Bundesliga. Last season, Enzo Scutari’s fourth in charge of the club, was a complete shock, as the club managed to finish fourth in the table, bagging UEFA Champions League football. Could they better it in season four? Surely not…
DFB Pokal
There was to be no domestic cup dreams in season four, as RB Leipzig put two past us as we exited the DFB Pokal in the third round. Dispatching semi-professional Fürstenwalde 9-0 was a fun encounter to witness, then a routine 2-1 win against Nürnberg in the second round got us to the glamour tie, but it wasn’t to be.
UEFA Champions League
Viktoria Köln’s first ever Champions League campaign was a memorable one. Despite gaining only one point from the opening three fixtures, a 5-0 win over Atlético Madrid and a 3-0 victory over Sevilla ensured the club progressed to the Knock Out Play Off Round at the first attempt. The Atletí game was arguably the biggest night in the club’s history.
We drew Barcelona in the Knock Out Round. Despite an incredible 2-1 victory at home in the first leg, the Camp Nou proved to be a destination too far for us as we were roundly beaten 6-2, to drop out of the competition on aggregate.
Bundesliga
After 10 games of the Bundesliga season, Viktoria Köln were sat second in the table. Interestingly, if you looked across Europe’s top five leagues at that moment (see above), we were the most over-performing team of the lot. No other team in Europe’s top divisions had a bigger discrepancy (+11) between their Expected Points and actual points total.
This trend continued for the entire season, and we incredibly built on our first ever Bundesliga finish of fourth last year, and finished in second place, losing only two matches, predictably home and away to juggernauts and champions Bayern Munich.
Granted we drew too many games, but going an entire season and only losing twice to the indefatigable Bayern is effectively the ceiling for this club. To get fourth in the Bundesliga in season three after back-to-back promotions, having spent no money, to then effectively going as high as possible and finishing second in season four, having spent just £28million to build an entirely new team, I reckon this journey has run its course.
Signings
In the last post, I covered in detail the entire new squad, including multiple new signings. That said, there were a few changes as Enzo Scutari’s final season progressed.
Expensive flop Cristian Barrios moved to Vitesse for £875,000 after just 18 disappointing appearances, and ageing defender Lisandro Magallán stepped down to Heidenheim for £200,000. Left-winger Angelo Sagal returned to his native Chile with Colo-Colo. The retiring Marcos Rojo and Luis Advíncula both exited the club six months before their final contracts expired.
In came two highly-promising centre-backs, four creative midfielders and a striker I knew from way back in FM20.
Kjelsen and Kleine-Bekel formed a new centre-back partnership, while Arsenal’s Marquinhos and the exciting Stanis Idumbo Muzambo injected a whole lot of flair into a side better known for their strength and resilience than unpredictable entertainment value. Távara provided set piece expertise and Nordas formed a striking partnership of giants alongside fan favourite Muhammad Badamosi. Nordas scored 13 in 17 league games, while Marquinhos’ loan move is due to become permanent after an impressive campaign, cutting inside from either flank.
Summary
Four seasons. 161 matches. 95 wins. 38 draws. 28 defeats.
Two promotions. Two Champions League qualifying finishes.
Some incredible highs, like beating Atletíco Madrid and Barcelona.
Very few lows.
Many people ask if Football Manager 2024 was too easy. I’m not saying that it was, but progress in this save was certainly better than I could’ve expected. Especially given that it took until season three for us to have any money to buy anyone.
What started as an epic story, full of sweeping narrative has ended with some shocking over-performance and success.
I could continue the save and go again, hopefully ousting Bayern Munich from the top of the table and going further in the Champions League, but I don’t think we’d learn anything further than what we’ve already seen.
Thanks for reading!
FM Stag