Season 6 - Close, but no cigar

After the impressive performance of season 5, I expect a decent year. Aiming to break into the Champion's League. It'll be tough as Rome, Lazio, Milan and Inter are all strong sides. Also, I'm not convinced my squad can compete on multiple fronts, what with the UEFA Cup and all.

I've augmented the squad only slightly, as there doesn't appear to be a lot of talent interested this season. Out go the old hands of Agustin, Andy Williams (who was homesick for Wales and rectified this situation by signing for Napoli) and the disappointing Joseba Llorente and in comes some fresh youthful talent, in the shape of Ciro Mazzocco (D/DMRC) from rivals Lecce, Mendonca (FRLC) from Braga, Vitali Sokolov (SC) from Sochaux and Vasco Pinto (GK) from Rio Ave. Adolfo makes it known that he wants a new challenge, but there are no takers.

The season starts pretty well, apart from the 6-1 humiliation at the hands of a not that good Juve side. It includes a deserved 1-0 victory over AC Milan, after being down to 10 men after just 20 minutes. I'm in the top 5 all season long.

I add Kaka at Christmas with another wonderful Bosman signing. He's not as good as I expect, despite his stats being great. Maybe he need settling in time.

The UEFA Cup hands me a bunch of difficult ties. After the easy Neftchi Baku are dispatched I manage to pull out Sevilla in the 2nd Round. I do well to beat them 3-2 and this is a trend that continues, with Celtic, Fulham (somehow they're really good) and Porto all taken care of by relatively narrow margins.

I for once manage a decentish run in a domestic cup competition, getting to the Quarters before another absurdly early sending off sees me defeated at the hands of Fiorentina.

With a couple of months to go, it's pretty clear Lazio are going to win Serie A handsomely, depriving Roma of a 7th straight title. AC Milan and Roma have 2nd and 3rd sown up and the only competitive area of the league is 4th-6th between Inter, Foggia and Juventus. My hopes of 4th are dashed with an unexplainable defeat against soon to be relegated Perugia and a closely fought 3-2 reverse against Inter. However, I hold on to 5th for another year of UEFA Cup football.

Speaking of which, 3 Italian teams make the semi-finals. I draw one of them in Atalanta, a team that have caused me many problems in the last couple of years. I thrash them 7-2 over 2 legs to set up a final with Milan in Berlin. It's a good game. My boys play well, but Milan are superb. Massimo Donati runs the game, setting up 3 goals and Ronaldinho scoring twice in my 3-1 defeat.

Sokolov gets Fans player of the year with his 20 goals. For me, Vasco Pinto is the star, averaging 7.84 and apparently solving my 'keeper crisis. He bags Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year and Serie A Young Player of the Year for good measure.