It was a case of one year and out as Trebor Mahtal celebrated his 70th birthday by winning the Slovenian league and cup double with NK Olimpija Ljubljana. The Zambian wrapped up the 13th league and 13th cup of his 30-year career and went in hunt of his 18th club to begin the task of ticking the 16th team off his Alphabet Challenge.
Juventus enjoyed an improved campaign after Trebor Mathal cleared out the old boys and brought some young talent into the Old Lady. But the Zambian was keen to keep improving a squad that lacked in certain areas to close the gap to Italy's elite.
Mahtal applied for vacancies at big clubs across Europe and teams that would tick off challenging letters. The biggest offer ticked off both, which took Mahtal to his third Italian club.
Atalanta BC earned a nail-biting return to Serie A at the first time of asking with a 2-1 aggregate victory in the 2038 Serie B playoff final. Trebor Mahtal now had a big task to strengthen a side now that a worrying financial situation was potentially behind them.
Unexpected success in Germany saw Trebor Mahtal lead Eintracht Frankfurt to the club's second Bundesliga title in 2037. A stellar season saw Frankfurt edge out Bayern and Leipzig, which led to Mahtal resigning from his fifth club and again searching for another.
Atalanta BC shocked Italy as their superstar attack of Ronaldo, Raúl, Álvaro Recoba, Vincenzo Montella, Domenico Morfeo and Juan Román Riquelme blitzed them to a maiden Serie A title with 128 league goals in 1999 (2028). And those exploits saw Montella and Recoba installed as Atalanta legends.
Italian football saw seismic change as a young Atalanta side established itself as the 2nd best in Serie A in 1998 (2027). Their massive overperformance saw the vultures yet again circling their best players, clearly cognizant of the club's dreadful finances, but things were about to get very exciting in Bergamo.
Big Sam Allardyce enjoyed a much stronger Season 2 of his Bottom At Christmas challenge, leading Cádiz CF safely away from the LaLiga dropzone. But he swiftly stood down and holidayed ahead ready for a new challenge in Season 3. Looking back at his former clubs, Nottingham Forest gained promotion at the first tome of... Continue Reading →
Atalanta surprised everyone, including their manager, as a sublime end-of-season surge saw them climb into the European places and finish 3rd in Serie A in 1997 (2026). The challenge now was for Roberto Lombardi to strengthen his squad and hold onto his exciting youngsters.
Atalanta BC mixed it with the big boys of Serie A and finished just outside the top half in their first season in the top flight. And the club's board backed manager Roberto Lombardi by agreeing to his requests for improved training and youth facilities, youth recruitment and junior coaching over the summer of 1996 (2025).
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