# 2013–14 Melbourne Victory FC season

The 2013–14 Melbourne Victory season is the ninth A-League season for the club.

## History

The 2013–14 season was Melbourne Victory's ninth season in the A-League. On Monday 13 May 2013, Melbourne Victory announced their first signing of the season by signing Brisbane Roar Mitch Nichols on a two-year deal, reuniting him with his former Roar manager Ange Postecoglou. He became Postecoglou's first new signing ahead of the 2013/14 A-League season. On 9 June it was speculated that Melbourne Victory was the prime club looking to sign Greece national team captain, Giorgos Karagounis, after it was confirmed he was to be released by Premier League club Fulham. After it was confirmed the Karagounis talks had come to a halt, Fulham then had second thoughts about the release and decided to pursue Karagounis' signature, which in the end they did. Argentine Marque player Marcos Flores was released with mutual consent on 5 July. Following Flores' departure to Central Coast Mariners, Victory attempted to sign Italian international Fabrizio Miccoli as their marquee player however he signed with Lecce. Following these two disappointments for the Melbourne Victory stakeholders, the victory hosted one of the most notable sporting events in Australian Sporting history. This event was a Melbourne Victory against Liverpool at the MCG in front of 95,446 spectators. The full Liverpool squad was brought to Melbourne, including stars such as Steven Gerrard, Luis Suárez, Kolo Touré, Simon Mignolet, and Brad Jones. Melbourne lost the game 0–2 in what was considered a 'thriller', and has since sparked rumours of the development of a sister club relationship. Following the Liverpool match, Kosta Barbarouses was signed on a 3-year deal. On 17 September, Adrian Leijer handed over the captaincy role to Mark Milligan. On 23 October 2013, it was revealed that Ange Postecoglou will coach the Socceroos and it was rumoured that Kevin Muscat would take over as coach of Melbourne Victory. On 31 October 2013, Muscat was officially appointed as Melbourne Victory's coach.

## Players
### Senior squad

As of 21 January 2014.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | AUS | Nathan Coe |
| 2 | DF | CHI | Pablo Contreras |
| 3 | DF | CIV | Adama Traoré |
| 4 | DF | AUS | Nick Ansell |
| 5 | MF | AUS | Mark Milligan (Captain) |
| 6 | MF | AUS | Leigh Broxham (Vice-Captain) |
| 7 | MF | BRA | Guilherme Finkler |
| 9 | FW | NZL | Kosta Barbarouses |
| 10 | FW | AUS | Archie Thompson |
| 11 | FW | AUS | Connor Pain |
| 13 | FW | AUS | Andrew Nabbout |
| 14 | MF | AUS | James Troisi (On loan from Atalanta) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | MF | AUS | Rashid Mahazi |
| 17 | MF | AUS | James Jeggo |
| 18 | MF | AUS | Francesco Stella |
| 20 | GK | AUS | Lawrence Thomas |
| 21 | MF | AUS | Tom Rogić (On loan from Celtic) |
| 22 | FW | AUS | Jesse Makarounas |
| 23 | DF | AUS | Adrian Leijer (2nd Vice-Captain) |
| 24 | DF | AUS | Scott Galloway |
| 25 | DF | AUS | Jason Geria |
| 26 | MF | AUS | Jordan Brown |
| 27 | MF | AUS | Christopher Cristaldo |
| 31 | DF | AUS | Dylan Murnane |

## Transfers
### Winter
#### In

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | MF | AUS | Mitch Nichols (Free transfer from Brisbane Roar) |
| 9 | FW | NZL | Kosta Barbarouses (Free transfer from Alania Vladikavkaz) |
| 2 | DF | CHI | Pablo Contreras (Free transfer from Olympiacos) |
| 14 | FW | AUS | James Troisi (Loan from Atalanta) |
| 16 | MF | AUS | Rashid Mahazi (Free transfer from Northcote City) |

#### Out

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | AUS | Tando Velaphi (Released) |
| 2 | DF | AUS | Matthew Foschini (Free transfer to Salgaocar) |
| 9 | MF | ARG | Marcos Flores (Free transfer to Central Coast Mariners) |
| 11 | FW | NZL | Marco Rojas (Free transfer to VfB Stuttgart) |
| 13 | DF | AUS | Diogo Ferreira |
| 14 | MF | AUS | Billy Celeski (Transfer to Al Shaab) |
| 15 | DF | AUS | Sam Gallagher (Released) |
| 16 | FW | AUS | Theo Markelis (Released) |
| 21 | DF | AUS | Spase Dilevski (Released) |
| 25 | MF | AUS | Luke O'Dea (Transfer to Melbourne Heart Youth) |
| 33 | DF | AUS | Daniel Mullen (Loan return to Dalian Aerbin) |

### Summer
#### In

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | MF | AUS | Tom Rogić (Loan from Celtic) |

#### Out

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 8 | MF | MRI | Jonathan Bru (Released) |
| 15 | MF | AUS | Mitch Nichols (To Cerezo Osaka) |

## Competitions
### Overall

| Competition | Started round | Current position / round | Final position / round | First match | Last match |
| A-League | — | — | 4th | 12 October 2013 | 12 April 2014 |
| AFC Champions League | Qualifying play-off | — | Group stage | 15 February 2014 | 22 April 2014 |
| National Youth League | — | — | 3rd | 26 October 2013 | 1 March 2014 |

### A-League
#### Matches
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Brisbane Roar (C) | 27 | 16 | 4 | 7 | 43 | 25 | +18 | 52 | Qualificaition for 2015 AFC Champions League group stage and finals series |
| 2 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 27 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 34 | 29 | +5 | 42 | Qualificaition for 2015 AFC Champions League group stage and finals series |
| 3 | Central Coast Mariners | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 33 | 36 | −3 | 42 | Qualification for 2015 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off and finals series |
| 4 | Melbourne Victory | 27 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 41 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 5 | Sydney FC | 27 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 40 | 38 | +2 | 39 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 6 | Adelaide United | 27 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 45 | 36 | +9 | 38 | Qualification for Finals series |
| 7 | Newcastle Jets | 27 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 36 | |
| 8 | Perth Glory | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 28 | 37 | −9 | 28 | |
| 9 | Wellington Phoenix | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 36 | 51 | −15 | 28 | |
| 10 | Melbourne Heart | 27 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 36 | 42 | −6 | 26 | |
* ↑ Since the winner of 2014 A-League Grand Final (Brisbane Roar) qualified for the 2015 AFC Champions League group stage, the 2nd and 3rd placed teams qualified for the group stage and the qualifying play-off of 2015 AFC Champions League.
* ↑ Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 13 April 2014. Source: Competitive Matches

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Ground | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A |
| Result | D | D | W | W | L | L | W | D | L | W | W | D | L | D | L | L | D | W | W | W | L | W | W | L | D | D | W |
| Position | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3\4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
* ↑ Round 19 was played early (between rounds 14 and 15) due to clash with ACL games. The first position (3) is after the round 19 match. The second position (4) is after the rest of round 19 matches.

#### League Goalscorers per Round

| Total | Player | Player | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round | Goals per Round |
| Total | Player | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 12 | | James Troisi | | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | | | | 1 | | 1 | | | | | | | 2 | | | | 1 | | | 1 | | 1 |
| 8 | | Archie Thompson | | | | 1 | 1 | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | 1 | | | | 1 |
| 8 | | Guilherme Finkler | | 1 | | | | | | | | 1 | | 1 | | | | | 1 | | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | 1 |
| 4 | | Kosta Barbarouses | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | 1 | | 1 | | | | | |
| 4 | | Mark Milligan | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | | Mitch Nichols | | | | | | | 1 | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | | Adama Traoré | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | | Andrew Nabbout | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | | James Jeggo | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | |
| 42 | TOTAL | TOTAL | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |

### AFC Champions League
#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | GUA | JEO | MEL | YFM |
| 1 | Guangzhou Evergrande | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 3–1 | 4–2 | 2–1 |
| 2 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Melbourne Victory | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 8 | | 2–0 | 2–2 | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 7 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | — |

#### Goalscorers
##### 3 goals

* James Troisi

##### 2 goals

* Kosta Barbarouses
* Leigh Broxham

##### 1 goal

* Nick Ansell
* Pablo Contreras
* James Jeggo
* Mark Milligan

## Awards

* Player of the Week (Round 25) – Mark Milligan