2023-24: European dumps, Domestic perfection

If last year's European campaign seemed uninspiring and disappointing, this season's was infinitely more so. Although things looked bright after emphatically disposing of Faroese side HB 10-1 on aggregate, a tough draw against Croatia's Zagreb followed. Going to Croatia leading 2-1 on aggregate, we needed just a draw to qualify. However, it was not to be, as we went down to a harsh deflection and a penalty.

However, not all was lost, as there was the safety net that is the Europa League. But fate did not smile down on us, as we were drawn against Turkey's Besiktas, who, depite all our efforts, beat us quite comfortably 1-4 on aggregate.

Although it did not really make up for this disappointment in the end, our domestic form was perfect. In 28 league matches, and 5 cup ties, we won all 33 (thus winning a 5th consecutive Premier League and FA Trophy double), scoring a massive 126 goals, and conceding just 9. The two major happenings of note here being a whooping 11-0 victory against bottom club Zurrieq, and a 1-0 away win at Msida, despite having two men sent off before the hour mark with the score still 0-0.

In the rankings, the Premier League moved up 26 places, meaning it now occupies the 62nd position, while Mdina Knights only moved up 3 places (obviously due to the poor campaign) to 161st.
The youth academy is proving to be a massive flop, with absolutely no talent at all, and with the board telling me that my youth recruitment network is the best a club of our standing can have, my hopes of producing some world class Maltese talent are somewhat diminishing.
However, I'll just focus on my first target of winning the Champions League for now. See you next season :)