When I took the job of Dortmund, I was told to mount a serious title challenge....and indeed i did! Surprisingly enough i didnt make any transfers for the first half of the season until i saw some poor performances by players and my hopes of winning the champions league was deteriorating as i lost the first two second group phase matches. I played a simple 4-4-2 attacking formation.

I entered the Christmas Break in equal first place but second on goal difference by three goals with Bayern Munich with a 3-3 away draw to them being crucial. Schalke 04 and 1.FC Koln weren't that far behind too. As i said before i entered the Christmas break losing my first two second group phase champions league matches. I was some what compared to the groups drawn into the "group of death" comprising of Dortmund, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Roma.

During the Christmas break I sold alot of players such as Jan Koller, Stefan Reuters, Kohler, Rosicky and Sorenson. I made a lot of money out of this so I made some interesting transfers. I started off in the midfield where I bought four excellent midfielders. First i bought Alex from Cruzeiro for 10 million pounds and Marcelinho Cariocha from Santos as my midfield left and right wingers. Then i bought probably the two best players in my team that they were the trademark for my success. Mark van Bommel from PSV for 14 million pounds and the free kick taking, playmaking, goalscoring Juan Roman Riquelme from Boca Juniors for 17 million pounds, they were my central midfields. In Selling Jan Koller meant I had to buy another forward....i did.....but I ended up buying two! I bought two players that i probably hadnt heard of in real life but were goal scoring machines. Mantorras From Benfica and Bernado Romeo from San Lorenzo. They teamed up from original Dortmund forward the Brazilian Amoroso.

With these transfers I was able to register them in the second phase for the champions league except for Mark van Bommel who had appeared for PSV. In the Bundesliga I was doing well winning consecutive games but unfortunately at the same time so was Bayern Munich. Slowly and slowly the league was becoming a two horse race and the only way that the championship would be decided is the fixture against Bayern Munich at home. this game was to be played on the second last day. I was easing my way through the German Cup easily with comprehensive wins.

While everything was going right in the league so was the champions league as I won the rest of the games in the group to finish second but equal first with Roma. Thanks to Amoroso who had played in all c.league games scored 11 from the 12 games while Riquelme was consistent all the way with high ratings and countless praises. In the champions league quarter final draw i had to face Lazio. In the away first leg i lost 2-1 thanks to an boosting penalty from Riquelme in the 87m which also had a powerful forward Hernan Jorge Crespo sent off and meant he would miss out on the return leg...which was good news. The second leg i won 3-0 thanks to a hat-trick from Mantorras. In the semi finals i was drawn with Manchester United and won a 4-3 thrilling aggregate win.

By May i had reached the German Cup final against Bayer Leverkusen and wasn't worried about that. I had to face Bayern Munich on the second last round of the season. On the ladder I was coming first by 1, so a win would mean a title for the first time in 5 years. That game was memorable a 4-3 win after being down half-time 2-1. This game was see sawing as they scored then i scored etc. 2 goals from Alex and a goal a piece to Romeo and Worns gave us the title. Then it was off to the Cup Final where an extra time goal from Marcinlinho Carioca made it the double. It was off to the champions league as it didn't feel good because i was in Roma's second group stage group and i had unconvincing results losing 4-1 away then wining 1-0 at home. The game ended 2-2 with Totti scoring two for the visitors and Romeo scoring both for mine. The game went into extra time then penalties (i knew it). A gripping finale showed some missed penalties but we won 3-2 on penalties. Totti turned from hero to villain as he missed the all important one. So there we go Dortmund's treble. Some excellent stats showed as Mantorras young 19 year old scored 18 from 23 starts, Romeo who was on the bench most of the time because of Amoroso's and Mantorras's performances scored 13 from 10 starts and 9 from substitution. Amoroso scored 29 from 42 games.

STARTING ELEVEN
KEEPER: Lehmann
DEFENDERS: Dede, Worns, Metzelder, Agathe
MIDFIELDERS: Alex, Riquelme, van Bommel, Marcelinho Carioca
FORWARDS: Amoroso, Mantorras