Hi, welcome back folks! 2nd episode in this third season with Barakaldo.

Our next match is for the UEFA Cup 2^nd Round. The wheel gave us a very interesting challenge to deal with.

Ha! Nice one eh? Let’s get straight into the action

UEFA Cup 2nd Round Leg 1

Blackburn Rovers 2 – Barakaldo 2

A fantastic result considering the team we are facing. The start couldn’t have been any better as Davidson tripped Uribarrena in the box which resulted in him being sent off. Uribarrena didn’t let me down and netted the 1-0. However, Blackburn wasn’t gonna go down without a fight. Who are this lads from Spain who I’ve barely heard off in my life? Let’s give them a beating!, they must have thought. They managed to overturn the score in the second half but Uribarrena spoilt their wish and we escaped Ewood Park with a valuable draw for the 2^nd leg.

Game 5

Espanyol 1 – Barakaldo 1

Lineup changes:

Joseba Arregui for Aitor Beguiristain
Joseba Lizaso for Gorka Gonzalez

It’s a good result in my view, considering we were down to 10 men just as the second half began. Larrainzar being sent off anyway, gave the team a bit of vitality as we started to edge closer to Toni’s goal. On that short run, we found the draw in the 58^th minute of the match. Gurria’s shot fell out of Toni’s hands and the rebound was caught by Roberto Martinez who netted his first goal of the season. From then on, the momentum returned to Espanyol and they started to harass Sangroniz who did a pretty good job in keeping the net safely.

Before our next match at home against Atletico Madrid, we received a serious interest from a lot of clubs for Alexis Lamar (Patxi Salinas’ regen). I really have no intention of letting him go but he has a bigger club release clause so I’ll try to see if any of his potential suitors has a
Basque player in their ranks to exchange.

So far the offers are Sporting Gijon and Tenerife, neither of them has any Basque player so I just turn the offer down.

The next day, Real Oviedo joins the bidding war for Alexis and snatches him away from us. The deal is quickly made as we hit the transfer deadline on September, 24^th.

But nothing to worry!

As soon as I picked up the offer from Gijon, I scoured the market and I found 5 guys who can get the job done. Sergio Korino from Salamanca, Jose Luis Ribera from Extremadura, Pedro Alberto from Racing Santander, Jesus Txutxi from Badajoz and Antonio Karmona who is free.
The first three are unavailable as their clubs don’t want to sell so my attention turns to the last two.

We were able to get them both so I’m fully covered in that role for the time being.

Game 6

Barakaldo 2 – Atletico Madrid 0

Lineup changes:

Jesus Txutxi for Alexis Lamar
Juan Zamarripa for Roberto Martinez
Carlos Docando for Domingo Larrainzar

We started very strongly with a goal just 5 minutes in. Uribarrena added a second goal a few minutes later when Molina tripped Gurria and got the boot out of the game. This left Atletico absolutely gutted and they came out on full force to overrun us. However, their efforts were repeatedly denied by a magnificent Sangroniz who stopped every single shot thrown at him. 2-0 win and we climb to 2^nd place, just 2 points behind Barcelona.

UEFA Cup 2nd Round Leg 2

Barakaldo 1 – Blackburn Rovers 1

We have to adjust a little bit here with Azkoitia in the anchor role as our new guys won’t be able to play until Quarter Finals (provided we get through this stage) and Larrainzar is suspended due to 2 yellows.

Lineup changes:

Jorge Azkoitia for Alexis Lamar
Hector Victor Sanz in the bench
Gorka Gonzalez for Joseba Lizaso Ipintza

24.000 souls were present to witness a historic day. In the 14^th minute of the game, a cross from Arregui was met by Zamarripa’s header and the crowd erupted into a big roar. I mean, who could blame them? We were beating Blackburn Rovers! The rest of the match was quite nail-biting as the Rovers piled up on the pressure. They managed to find an equalizer in the second half when Uribarrena threw a spanner in the works and Sangroniz was unable to deflect the ball. Anyway, we were able to hold our ground and we gave our fans a reason for joy. 1-1 and we’re through to the next round. I’m chuffed to bits!

Game 7

Xerez 1 – Barakaldo 4

No mercy against the bottom team of the league. Belman surely was knackered after a very busy night at goal. With a first half of absolute wonderful football, Gurria twice and Bakero gave us a 3-0 lead. Only at the very end Xerez managed to reply with a goal but we squashed them again when Uribarrena scored one minute afterwards. It didn’t actually stop there as the remaining 3 minutes to the end we had another two chances to score which we couldn’t materialize. Happy times!

Game 8

Barakaldo 1 – Athletic Bilbao 1

Lineup changes:

Antonio Karmona for Carlos Docando
Raul Calle for Roberto Martinez

Bunch of yellows from our side as it wasn’t an easy game to control. The draw in the end isn’t the ideal result, considering the amount of chances we had. The second half starts with a bang from Gurria from 25 yards out as Valencia just watches it fly past him. But with 15 minutes to end, we give away a soft freekick which Sabau floats into the box and Ziganda heads it into the net. A point to each side then.

Next up, our match for the 3^rd Round of the UEFA Cup. After our last rival, things will be much smoother I believe. We were dealt with…

UEFA Cup 3rd Round Leg 1

Barakaldo 3 – Maccabi Haifa 0

Lineup changes:

Domingo Larrainzar for Anotnio Karmona
Jorge Azkoitia for Jesus Txutxi
Roberto Martinez for Juan Zamarripa

72 hours after Athletic Bilbao, here we are again at home trying to look for a solid advantage or at least a goalless draw. We fare even better than I had hoped for. I subbed Iru for Sangroniz at half-time before the poor guy started to take a nap. Gurria and Uribarrena got on the scoresheet and we kept a clean sheet. Superb!

Before leaving, I’ll show you the standings as of now:

Still sitting pretty at 2^nd, though now 4 points behind Barcelona who are relentless and aren’t missing points

See you next week where we will cover from matchday 9 to 13, the start of Copa Del Rey and leg 2 in UEFA Cup. Cheers!