The long hard Yekaterinburg winter of 2042 had given Russian manager Vladimir Latunov plenty to think about as his FC Ural side led the Russian Premier League going into a mid-season break.
Vladimir Latunov's first year of management in his homeland of Russia had started poorly but ended superbly as he led FC Ural Yekaterinburg to the best league finish in its history. But the hard work began now as he looked to strengthen to challenge perennial champions Zenit St Petersburg.
After 20 years of football management, Vladimir Latunov had successfully collected national titles in Poland, Turkey, Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia, Serbia, Slovenia, Belarus and, most recently, Bulgaria. All that meant just one country remained on his Soviet Surge. The Motherland. Russia.
A first season in Croatia ended without a trophy but offered glimpses of promise, including a potential superstar striker smashing goalscoring records. However, the HNK Rijeka board were unhappy with Vladimir Latunov not signing high-reputation players, which he immediately set about addressing in the summer of 2028.
Valencia went into the final ten games of La Liga in 2025/26 locked in a four-way battle for the final two Champions League places with Espanyol, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid.
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