Master League/BAL Written Stories

millossobek

millossobek

The 3-Stars Cup
19 December 2020
South America
Millonarios FC
Hi bros! ⚽ :BSCARF: :DANCE: :RSCARF: :TU: ⚽

Some of us have been discussing the idea of creating a new ML/BAL thread to discuss our saves in a different way: https://evoweb.uk/threads/a-new-ml-bal-sub-forum-please-read.82164/
Since we've pretty much used that thread to talk about some of the rules and guidelines we're looking for.. I've decided to create a new one, and start our stories here!

Here are the basic guidelines:
- We want to hear your written stories that describe your ML/BAL campaigns. The stories should be written/text based, with attached pictures if you wish to add color to your story. We're not looking for youtube videos that describe your ML/BAL saves (which is great, but we think should stay in the ML adventures thread). We would like to keep this as text-based as possible, so we can read your stories.

- You can use screenshots and attached pictures to support your stories. These are completely fine, even encouraged, but completely up to you. You can even put very short videos and/or gifs (like for example a clip of a goal, celebration) if you wish. But they'd have to be very short, only as a complement to your story. The point here is to keep things as text-based as possible.

- Explore your story however you wish. You can write one short paragraph or twenty paragraphs. If you want to have screenshots of excel files, tactics, that's great. If you'd like to narrate the story of your players, your coach, their personalities, backstories, the story/culture of the city and fans, youth teams, legends, created/fictional players, teams, or cities, real or invented leagues, great. Go for it, that's that we're looking for! :)

- It can be ANY PES you'd like, any version. You can go as retro as you want, or stay with the current version. Up to you.

I will quote @ryudek here:

"Maybe you're halfway into the season, and the news are telling that you might get fired. Or maybe you're fighting for a spot in the play-offs, relegation battle of fighting for the league, so the news create more hype around the games when you're near the end of the season. Maybe the post where you show that match is longer, creating a whole atmosphere, because you lost your first game against them with a red card, so a rivalry is being born there."

Who wants to start? @jovic1901 @valenpppp @*aLe @tolgakaplans @ryudek @millossobek we've all expressed our interest in this, but all are welcome! :TU: :TU: :BSCARF: :RSCARF:
 
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Well, I guess I'll start. :TU:

I am currently playing several ML's at the same time, but I have decided to focus on my main save, my team, Millonarios FC. :BSCARF: :LOVE:

This first post will include some introductory background information of my team, and I will add my Master League information in the next post.

I'll start with a bit of location info:

My city is Bogota, the capital of Colombia. We are quite a large metropolis, with approximately 8 million people. My city is not the typical image that people have of Latin America. It is cool and sometimes rainy (which I prefer). The average temperature is 14-18 C during the day, and the weather almost never changes at all during the year. This is because we are in the middle of the Andes Mountains, 2600 meters above sea level. :TU:

bogota.jpg

As for my team, Millonarios, we play in Estadio El Campín, capacity 36,343 people. It is quite an old stadium, but nice and historical, and you can get a cool view of the mountains and buildings as you can see..

campin.jpg
I've been a fan of Millonarios for as long as I can remember, we are a team that is quite entrenched with the local culture of our city. While most other Colombian teams play in humid, hot, tropical climates, we are high up in the Andes Mountains, and this I feel contributes greatly to the identity of our city, as well as our team. A lot of our matches are under rainy, cold conditions. We're not a touristic city like Cartagena, or Medellin, but more gritty, more industrial, yet at the same time a very cultural and artistic city with a lot of flavor and our own flair. 🌆

Millonarios is perhaps the most historical team in Colombia, with 15 local championships. We have struggled a little lately, (even though our last championship was in 2017), and other teams, such as Atletico Nacional, and America de Cali, have accumulated titles too, but we are one of the largest and perhaps the most loyal fanbase in the country! :BSCARF: We are looking to recapture our local glory, and improve on the Copa Libertadores tournaments.. 🏆

The name Millonarios comes from the fact that back in the 1950's, the team used to have a lot of money to hire Argentine players, so the nickname became official name. Actually it has nothing to do with supporters. In fact, we come from all socioeconomic classes, rich poor middle class etc.. :TU: in fact if you go to some of the poorest areas of my city you will see so much support for my team.

Our nickname is "Los Embajadores", translation in English, "The Ambassadors", because we used to represent Colombia with a lot of pride in South American international cups, a glory which we are looking to find once again.

Millonarios is also quite unique in the sense that we have not one but two recognized derbies: The Clásico Capitalino, against our rivals Santa Fe, also from Bogota, and also against Atletico Nacional, perhaps our most intense rivalry, and is considered by many as the national Colombian Derby.
mibarrioesazul.png

We are a proud team, with a proud history and one of the largest and most loyal fanbases in Colombia. Right now, we are tied for second place in local titles, (Atletico Nacional has 16, we have 15 tied with America de Cali) and we would love to recapture the leadership in local titles. We were runners up in the last tournament, against Deportes Tolima, a smaller but up-and coming team.. But we're looking to take the title this time and qualify for the most important tournament in South America, La Copa Libertadores.. 🏆

I will follow up with my save information!! ⚽
 
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I've decided to title my save "The Return of the Blue Knight: can Millonarios recapture its glory and break Brazilian-Argentinean dominance?" :LOL:

My squad was completely updated to the current team and transfers when I started a few days ago.. Basically, I have one very important goal. My most important goal:

To qualify to the Copa Libertadores, and have a strong showing there. 🏆


Granted, following up on my previous post, I would love to avenge last semester's defeat to Deportes Tolima, and capture our 16th (and record-setting) local championship,to put us back level with our biggest rivals (as explained in the previous post), but my obsession is to do well in the Copa Libertadores.

Why? A lot of it has to do with Brazilian/Argentinean dominance in the cup. 🇧🇷 🇦🇷
copalib.jpg

As you can see, Argentinean and Brazilian teams have won a combined 45 of 61 Copa Libertadores in history, and they have won a whopping 17 of 21 cups this century alone. This, coupled with the fact that our biggest rivals, Atletico Nacional, were the last team outside of these two countries to capture the cup, means that in my eyes, Millonarios priority is to return to the Copa Libertadores, and perform well. Not necessarily win, as this is a very tall order against these Argentinean and Brazilian teams which triple our budget, but at least qualify and do well. :TU:

One small clarification for those of you who probably aren't too familiar with the Cup. To us, Copa Libertadores is like Champions League for the rest of the world. It is the one international competition we look forward to the most! 🏆 That is why the slogan of the cup is "La Gloria Eterna", "The Eternal Glory".

Anyway, before I go into my save, I think it's important to explain a little bit about the Colombian league structure, called for promotional reasons, Liga BetPlay Dimayor.

Taken from wikipedia:

"The top flight (of the Colombian League) features 20 teams, all of which play through the Apertura and Finalización tournaments each year. Both tournaments are conducted according to an identical three-stage format.

The first stage is conducted on a single round-robin basis, with each team playing the other teams once for a total of 19 matches. The top eight teams then advance to a knockout round consisting of two groups, each team playing six times in a round-robin format. The two leaders of each group advance to the final, which is played in a home and away leg fashion." 🏆

So as you can see, the format of the Colombian League is quite different from other countries, where there is only an "everybody plays everybody twice" league structure. There are playoffs, and there are two champions per year. This makes for some interesting situations.. In reality, a team that finishes 8th in the "general table" could win the championship, in a way the format is similar to the NBA or MLB. This adds interesting dynamics to the table. 🇨🇴

Right now, in my save, there are 5 games to go until the last match of the round robin stage.. I was going to write more, how I am doing so far, but I think I will wait to see if there is a response.. I will definitely update this thread once the playoffs start, and if there is interest! :TU:

Please feel free to add your own stories and saves! :BSCARF:

gamero.jpg

ruiz.jpg
 
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I'm a 23 y/o from Malta, just started this long-term Become A Legend mode months ago.
Started also as a 23 y/o CAM/CM from Malta.

International Caps : 50
International Goals : 24

Domestic Titles
League Titles
  • Winners (4):
    Bundesliga 2022/23 - Borussia Dortmund
    Serie A 2025/26 - A.C. Milan
    Bundesliga 2026/27 - Bayern Munchen
    Serie A 2029/30 - Juventus FC
  • Runners-up (2):
    Premier League 2028/29 - Manchester United
    Premier League 2030/31 - Watford
Cup Titles
  • Winners (7):
    DFL Super Cup 2023/24 - Borussia Dortmund
    Coppa Italia 2025/26 - A.C. Milan
    F.A. Cup 2027/28 - Manchester United
    F.A. Community Shield 2028/29 - Manchester United
    F.A. Cup 2028/29 - Manchester United
    Supercoppa Italiana 2030/31 - Juventus FC
    F.A. Cup 2030/31 - Watford
  • Runners-up (4):
    DFB Pokal 2022/23 - Borussia Dortmund
    Coppa Italia 2026/27 - A.C. Milan
    Coppa Italia 2029/30 - Juventus FC
    F.A. Community Shield 2031/32 - Watford
European Titles
  • Winners (5):
    International Champions Cup 2026/27 - A.C. Milan
    UEFA Champions League 2027/28 - Manchester United
    UEFA Super Cup 2028/29 - Manchester United
    FIFA Club World Cup 2028/29 - Manchester United
    UEFA Champions League 2028/29 - Manchester United
  • Runners-up (2):
    UEFA Champions League 2026/27 - Bayern Munchen
    International Champions Cup 2030/31 - Juventus FC

Personal Honors:
Serie A Team of the Year 2025/26 - A.C. Milan
Bundesliga Team of the Year 2026/27 - Bayern Munchen
Premier League Team of the Year 2028/29 - Manchester United
Serie A Team of the Year 2029/30 - Juventus FC
Premier League Team of the Year 2030/31 - Watford
Premier League Top Scorer 2028/29 - Manchester United
Premier League Top Scorer 2030/31 - Watford
UEFA Best Player in Europe Award 2026 - A.C. Milan
UEFA Best Player in Europe Award 2030 - Juventus FC
Super Lig Team of The Year 2031/32 - Trabzonspor
Super Lig Top Scorer 2031/32 - Trabzonspor
My career was initiated in Turkey with Trabzonspor in season 20/21 where I've only spent six months there, being involved in 16 matches and scoring a total of 7 goals.

Watford (from Championship) came knocking the door for me and I couldn't say no. It was a great opportunity to get my name out there in England.
In Watford I've spent a very difficult year, first six months in the Championship and then the other six months in the Premier League. We won promotion by finishing the season 2nd to Bournemouth. During these 12 months I was involved in 35 matches, scoring 11 goals.

In January 2022, after six months in the Premier League where we were pretty much fighting for relegation, I've received an offer from Atalanta B.C. in Serie A.
I started off with a bang when I scored a hat-trick in my debut against F.C. Internazionale in a 0-4 win at the Giuzeppe Meazza Stadium. It wasn't the season we wanted but at least we finished 5th, claiming our spot in the Europa League.

In January 2023, after a year in Italy, I've asked my agent to request a transfer away from Atalanta B.C. due to not being a fan of the coach's attacking mentality of long balls.
So after being involved in 40 matches, scoring 14 goals I've signed with Borussia Dortmund in Bundesliga. I've spent another 12 months there were we got Eliminated from the Europa League by FC Girondins de Bordeaux 4-3 on aggregate and lost the DFB Pokal to FC Augsburg but on the bright sight we won the Bundesliga which was my first league title. The following season we went out for revenge and took the DFL Super Cup with a payback win on FC Augsburg. I debuted in the UEFA Champions League by playing in the group stages with BVB.

In January 2024, after twelve months in Germany were I played 40 matches and scored 13 goals I was offered a contract with Chelsea in the Premier League. You can say that until then Chelsea was my favorite experience yet. The gaffer put me in the starting line up immediately but for the first time ever not as a CAM but as a CM. I was having the time of my life assisting goals and stopping them too. After two months I've got injured by Fernandinho from Arsenal for four months. I was gutted to loose the remainder of the season where I watched from the stands my team mates loosing the FA Cup to Manchester City and finishing 3rd place in the league. I've decided to stay and go again next season since I was really having fun before the injury. We went up to the UEFA Champions League semi finals but only to get knocked out by Real Madrid 3-2 on aggregate. We finished 6th in the league which was very disappointing for all of us.

In July 2025, I've decided to leave because I wanted to go elsewhere to win some trophies. After being involved in 30 matches, scoring 19 goals and 11 assists I've signed for a new adventure back in Italy with A.C. Milan. They had finished in 2nd place so the league title was our main objective. During this season we've got knocked out from the UEFA Champions League Quarter Finals against Paris Saint German 4-2 on aggregate but we bounced back by winning the Coppa Italia 4-2 against S.S.C. Napoli after eliminating Juventus 4-1 on aggregate. Our main objective turned into reality as we clinched the Scudetto over our historical rivals F.C. Internazionale with a difference of 4 points. I was also named in the Team of the Season as the best CAM in the league. I've started next season's pre-season with A.C. Milan where we took part and won the International Champions Cup in Asia. We've also had the Supercoppa Italiana final at the beginning of the season where we've got beaten 5-1 against S.S.C. Napoli.To top this experience with A.C. Milan, I've unexpectedly won Europe Best Player award.

In August 2026, I've got an offer from FC Bayern München. They had just won the league but since I spent my pre-season at A.C. Milan I couldn't take part in their DFL Super Cup Final. I've came across my former club Borussia Dortmund but with no hesitation I've scored a brace in a 5-0 victory. Unfortunately I was sidelined again for three months between December and March and when I returned to action, we secured the Bundesliga title in April. We got drawn with Juventus in the semi's of the UCL. I've scored one of the two goals we put past Juventus to secure our spot in the UEFA Champions League Final against Real Madrid. My first time reaching this stage! For the second season in a row I was named in the Team of the Season. The UCL Final was a total chaos to say the least, with a balanced first 60 minutes in which the result was 1-1. Fabio Silva put Real Madrid 2-1 up in the 62nd minute while William Saliba scored the 2-2 in the 84th minute. The match went to extra-time when Nordin Amrabat scored instantly at the 93rd minute to put Real Madrid 3-2 up.
Just before the break Fabio Silva puts another one past Manuel Neuer to make it 4-2. In the 121st minute I've scored a consolation goal to make the result 4-3. We were all devastated but that's football at the end of the day.

In August 2027, Manchester United stepped up with an offer for me and with a half hearted (because of my history with Chelsea) I accepted and it turned out to be the best decision of my career. In my first season with them we've finished 5th in the league but we managed to win the FA Cup against Wolves and the UEFA Champions League against Chelsea with a 8-1 victory. It was my first time as a European Champion and it was executed in style with a hat-trick. At 31 years old I got offers from Everton, Borussia Dortmund, Rangers and Gent at the end of the season but I declined them to stay at Manchester United and play in the Super Cups and the FIFA Club World Cup.
In the second season we started off brilliantly by winning the UEFA Super Cup 4-0 against Porto and then the FA Community Shield 2-1 against Liverpool. In December, after winning the FIFA Club World Cup against Flamengo, Brandon Rodgers offered me a contract with Leicester City but I declined considering we were title contenders and still in the UCL. Fast forward till May, we reached the final of the FA Cup once again by knocking out Liverpool with penalties after a 3-3 draw. We went on to win it against Wolves for the second time in a row. The title campaign was over and we finished 2nd just three points below Manchester City but he had a UEFA Champions League Final left to play against Liverpool. I finished Top Scorer of the League with 23 goals while being named in the Team of the Season once again. During the final, Antony for Liverpool opened the score in the 39th minute and it was fair to say that Liverpool were looking like they were going to win it until Ferriggi levelled the score in the 85th minute. Ferriggi was given the captain's armband for the remaining 30 minutes of extra time and he did not let his manager down when he assisted to Marcus Rashford for the winning goal in the 94th minute to successfully defend the UEFA Champions League title. Emotions were all over the place for all players especially for the 32 year old me.

In August 2029 - Which is the present, today 29th May 2021.
I felt that destiny doesn't want me to win the Premier League in my career as a player, hopefully I'll be able to clinch it as a manager after I retire.
After two years here where I played 110 matches and scored 70 goals I spoke to the club and let them know that I was going to leave this summer. I've got offers from Celtic, RB Leipzig and Juventus. Considering that Juventus are my favorite club in real life, I thought it would be wise to choose them and put them back were they belong since in 2029 they finished 7th in the league. So no European football for me next season for sure but I've won the big one twice in a row so I cannot complain. I have a few years left to play and would like to spend it with Juventus and maybe retire here after helping the team get back to its feet.

Update : Season 2029/30
Obviously since I'm getting older (overall rating & stats are constantly decreasing) I'm feeling that I can't perform as I use to be at Manchester United.
Stamina and acceleration decreased slightly during pre-season and I can see that I'm getting injured more often and also subbed more often from the manager. Nonetheless I'm willing to give my all here. Andrea Pirlo is the 2nd manager that is using me as a central midfielder after Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea as we are playing with a 3-5-2 formation.

Following three consecutive seasons in the top 4, Parma started very well this season too. Shockingly we are doing good too unlike the last two seasons.
I found myself sent off from a straight red card for the first time in my career after trying to clear the ball after I've squandered it. It was in the 3rd minute against Udinese, at least we end up winning 1-0 anyways. We've beaten Inter in 1-4 in the last fixture of the 1st round with a hat-trick from Gilberto.
I've scored my first hat-trick with Juventus away at Sassuolo in a 4-0 win. Good way to comeback after that 0-1 loss at home to Spezia.
Newell's Old Boys offered me a contract but I'm declining it since I still have a lot to offer here.

After two draws of 0-0 against Lazio and Napoli we came across our Scudetto challengers Parma in a close match. We beat Parma 1-0 with a goal on my name on the 75th minute, as a payback they put me on the shelf for two months a few minutes after the goal. At some point during these two months we lost our form as we lost 3-0 to Genoa and 0-1 to Monza and to no surprise Parma recovered with only 2pts below us. Luckily I got back for the final part of the season. We've beaten Pescara 2-0 were I booked two assists for Greenwood and we managed to beat Bologna in a thrilling encounter 2-3 were we got crowned Champions of Italy once again. We've surpassed Parma with 5pts. I've finished the league with 14 goals in 26 matches while being named in the Team of the Year again. The only thing that's bothering me from this save is that old players who retired are back as wonderkids aka Gianluigi Buffon is now a wonderkid and captain for Juventus.

We've also reached the Coppa Italia Final against my former club A.C. Milan but unfortunately this didn't end in our favor as Zlatan Ibrahimovic (wonderkid) found the one and only winning goal for this final.

Update 2 : Season 2030/31
New season awaits but from now onwards it only gets tougher. Another year older and I noticed that my overall rating decreased again, this time to 80.
I've had offers from Fiorentina, Parma, Wolves, Manchester United & Atletico Madrid. For a 33 y/o I was surprised. To be honest I was only tempted by Parma who were really surprising everyone for the last couple of years and a return to Manchester United after only a season. I couldn't take a rush decision so I've played my pre-season matches with Juventus keeping in mind that the reason I came here was to put them back to glory and in European football.
We lost the International Champions Cup 3-0 to Barcelona after I came off the bench at half time and played another final of the Supercoppa Italiana against A.C. Milan where once again I found myself benched. This was new for me. I was subbed in the 75th minute in a 2-0 victory over my former club A.C. Milan.
This was my 2nd major trophy with Juventus.

To a huge surprise I was nominated Europe Best Player of the Year and at the end of the pre-season I had to make my final decision and I chose to stay at Turin even though Juventus signed quite a few young players. Little did I know that Andrea Pirlo's intention with one of the new signings was to replace me in the first eleven because from August till January I was not once named in Juve's line-up. We were doing fine in the league and Champions League but I really felt it since I came here and gave my 110% to help them to get back to glory. With no regular football I saw my rating decreased once again to 79 as soon as I turned 34. In January I had 3 offers and this time I couldn't think twice. I had offers from Ranieri's Sampdoria who were 20th in the league, former club Atalanta B.C. who were just promoted from Serie B and were mid-table and another former club Watford F.C..
In recent years Watford were putting their name out there on various occasions by finishing in top 4 and qualifying to European football on multiple occasions so it wasn't a tough decision to make. I chose Watford, the club that introduced me to English football and the Premier League.
Watford were hanging in 2nd place, 9 points below Liverpool in January.

We've beaten the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea in the first few games of the year, lost to Arsenal & Man City. We went through the Europa League Quarter Finals but got eliminated by Nice 4-1 on aggregate. We've got through the FA Cup quarter & semi finals against Villa & Southampton.
Last two matches of the season were away against Tottenham and home against Manchester United. We were 3 points above Liverpool before fixture 37.
Unfortunately we did not show up against Tottenham and got beaten up 3-0 easily while Liverpool won theirs. We entered in the last fixture with same points as Liverpool but standing at 2nd place due to goal difference of 6 goals. We managed to beat Manchester United 2-0 at home but as expected Liverpool won their game 3-0 against Leicester and clinched the title on the last day of the season with goal difference of 7 goals.
At least we still brought some silverware back home as we managed to win the F.A. Cup final against Liverpool of all teams!

I've managed to win the Top Scorer of the Premier League for the 2nd time with 15 goals and been named in the Team of the Season as well.
Since January I featured in 25 matches, scoring 20 goals and assisted 8 (6 of them were in the F.A. Cup).
Let's see what my few remaining seasons have in store for me....

Update 3 : Season 2031/32
Started off with a Community Shield final loss on penalties against Liverpool but wasn't very gutted since my move with Trabzonspor was imminent.
This time I've requested a transfer there to try and help the team in any way I can and maybe retire there since it looks like that I'm going to start my managerial career with Trabzonspor. I've also lowered my wages for this transfer to happen and return to my parent club.

A very quiet first season where we finished Mid-table at 11th place. No quality at all compared to the teams I've been with.
Managed to finish top scorer of the Süper Lig with 23 goals and also been named in the Team of The Season.
I had offers from Aston Villa, Kasimpasa, Rizespor, Portland Timbers and Besiktas who had just won the League.

In the second season with Trabzonspor and my last as a professional footballer, we had an even quieter season where we finished 16th.
I've managed to bang in 14 goals in 42 games.

All BAL Pictures in here : https://ibb.co/album/qJP9DH

I've decided to reignite my football career asap, this time by being a manager!
Season 1 Fulham - Season 2 Barnsley
We've taken advantage of some free transfers such as Tomáš Vaclík (replacement for last year's loanie Alphonse Areola), Maicon & Benatia as a pair of Central Defenders, Aleix Vidal and Mario Balotelli. We also snatched on loan Jérémy Doku from Rennes and Luca Pellegrini from Juventus.

Mixed start to the season as expected, we started with 2/4 wins. Both wins came away from home against Preston & West Brom. We have knocked out Newcastle from the 1st round of FA Cup on a huge score line of 4-1.
Also, Tom Cairney scored the goal of the season already against Huddersfield in a 2-0 win. Unfortunately we did not triumph in the West London Derby against Queens Park Rangers where we lost 3-1 in the last 5 minutes of the game. Fast forward, we got knocked out by Man City from the FA Cup in January and for some unknown reason we went downhill in the second part of the season. We were not picking up any wins, team's morale was shitty and we finished the season in the 18th place.

I though I was going to get sacked but they gave me another chance which I did not step up for because in December 2021 I've got sacked. We were sitting in 22nd place, I was relieved to be honest because I was not enjoying it at all.
The following day I had to chose my next club and only Barnsley FC asked for my services who were only sitting in the 19th place, but I did not deserve better to be fair.
Again, It was not a successful season for me where we kept fighting in the relegation battle. Barnsley players were to no comparison with Fulham players so I couldn't do much. We finished 23rd place.

Season 3 : Barnsley

New season, same squad so I needed to get in some new faces and talent to just not fail again...
We had to release a numerous players which were useless to the club to enlarge the budgets.
We snatched Nicolas N'koulou, Oriol Busquets, Olivier Ntcham & Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting on free transfers. The club made some fine loan signings such as Sebastian Coates, Nuno Santos, Rony Lopes, Guillermo Ochoa & Danilo.

For the improved squad we got going this season, I'm already gutted we started the season off with three straight draws against Millwall, Nottingham Forrest and Leeds United. I've also got appointed as Malta's NT manager for the next year.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting managed to gave us our first three points of the season with a brace against Wycombe Wanderers.

We got knocked out of the FA Cup early as we lost to Arsenal at the Emirates.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting was in-form in the first half of the season, leading us in 7th place, 10pts below the league leaders.
In January we brought in a youth regen, Angel who played a small part at the end of the season.
Fast forward to the end of the season, Choupo-Moting finished the season as Top Scorer of the Sky Bet Championship with 20 goals and was named in the Team of the Season. Luckily we won the last two games of the season against Queens Park Rangers and Cardiff City to make in to 4th place and reach the Play-Offs.

Nottingham Forest 0-1 Fulham
Watford 1-2 Barnsley

What a way to close the season, having to go face to face against my first English club from my professional football career.
Rony Lopes found the net in the 66th minute and sealed the victory away from home in the 1st leg. Watford went all out in the second leg, only for our regen Angel to break the score in the 69th minute from a counter attack. It only took two minutes for Watford to draw level but fortunately we managed to not concede another one thanks to a brilliant save from Forster minutes away from the final whistle.

Brace yourselves, the remainder of the story for this season is sad, very sad. :(

Final day of the Season 2023/24 : Play Off Final at Wembley Stadium - Fulham v Barnsley.
What are the odds, having to go through against one of my former clubs Watford to face in a final, my former club as a manager, Fulham!
It was a jam-packed stadium, we could all feel the excitement before the match.

As soon as the match started, I felt pressure and so did the players, we were constantly wasting possession and mistaking every clearance pass which led to Fulham's first goal by Josh Maja in the 11th minute. In the 14th minute a well taken corner by Rony Lopes landed perfectly in Choupo-Moting's feet where he did not fail to level the score to 1-1. The game was well balanaced for the remaining 30 minutes of the 1st half. Exactly on the 45th minute, Josh Maja doubled Fulham's lead to 2-1 with an outside curler. Worst time to score I know, but the match could still go either way...

But it didn't. On the 63rd minute, Ademola Lookman score Fulham's third goal to practically close the game.
We got distracted and desperate and well all out since we had nothing to lose. As expected we conceded again in the 82nd minute and again in the 84th minute, to see Josh Maja seal his hat-trick in this one sided final. It was ugly, cruel and painful.

Guillermo Ochoa's post-match comments were :"I can't believe it. I don't want to believe it. We were so close. So close..." and that's the only way to describe our disappointment and sadness.

The following week I got reached by Bristol City, Valenciennes and Fulham.
It was a though decision to take at that time but I only chose to leave Barnsley to try and advance in my managerial career and get a chance to play in a higher level, so I chose to re-join Fulham, this time in the Premier League.

Season 4 : Fulham - Man Utd

Back at Fulham, I've got to admit it feels strange after what went through last June in the play-off Final but here we are now, my first experience in the Premier League. Can't expect immediate fireworks but let's hope we can avoid relegation in our first season. (Last season's ending in the last post)

Some new signings on loan :
Jamie Vardy - Smith-Rowe - Riqui Puig - Danilo Cataldi - Ben White - Bartłomiej Drągowski
Permanent Signings :
Dušan Vlahović - Jérémy Doku
Offloaded Players :
Aleix Vidal - Mario Balotelli - Michael Hector - Fabio Carvalho - Aleksandar Mitrović

At the moment we are in December and it's fair to say that for a newly promoted club into the toughest league in the world, we are doing really well!
I am feeling great here and the players are too.

We managed to grab our first win in matchday 3 against Newcastle after we drew to Leeds in the opening match of the season and after loosing to Palace.
In the process we've surprisingly beaten Chelsea and Tottenham back to back. Sadly we've got knocked out from the F.A. Cup with a huge loss to Leeds.
Then we undeservingly lost to Man City at the Etihad 3-1 and won against Aston Villa in the 89th minute thanks to Jamie Vardy!
Karma hit back instantly because we threw away three points in the following match against Wolves when they managed to draw level in stoppage time.
Arsenal was a huge test for us, conceded after only two minutes and then Bartłomiej Drągowski got sent off after a horrendous foul on Muriqi.
I had no reserve goalkeeper on the bench and had to put out a player so I chose Josh Onomah. We drew level right at the start of the second half by a solo goal from Jérémy Doku and on the 85th minute Muriqi double their lead with a shot from outside the box where Josh Onomah could have done better.
We all thought it was all over but 13 seconds before the end of stoppage time, Dušan Vlahović found the net with a terrific header from a corner :)
Last but not least, Jamie Vardy scored a brace against his former club Leicester in a 2-0 victory. We deservingly won at Old Trafford to Manchester United, the most club I've won with as a player, 3-1 in our best match of the season yet, only to not show up at Anfield in a well deserved 2-0 loss.

I was already shortlisting players for the winter transfer market but right after the Liverpool game, I received a call from Edward Woodward!!!
He offered me the job at Manchester United! I did not know what to say except for yes, yes, yes!
I've got thrree more offers but as I've already stated, I was not looking to move away from Craven Cottage but come on, how could I've said no to the club I've won everything with as a player?!

With a heavy heart I left Fulham for the second time and probably the final time. New club, new goals, same mentality.
Welcome to the Theatre of Dreams. Manchester United, lining up 5th in the table just 2 points above Fulham.
I've had the worst start we could possibly have, got knocked out at home to Leeds in the FA Cup for the second time this season... after I lost to them with Fulham. It seems that they really got my number. We conceded two goals in the end. To be fair, I tried some new young players in this match.
After the first match, we've signed Dayot Upamecano, Rodrigo Bentancur and Erling Haaland.
In my first Premier League match with Manchester United, we beat Sheffield United 2-1 at home, where I've put Haaland with the starting 11.
Believe me when I say that Haaland did not touch the ball more than twice in the 1st half and he still managed to score a brace. First goal arrived at the 26th minute from a corner with that being his first touch of the game and the other came from a penalty that he won on the 36th minute. He's just an animal.

Life at Manchester was going great, we got off on a fantastic note in February after we got knocked out by Leeds and lost the derby to Man City.
You may find some of the results and goals in the gallery. We've stepped up against the likes of Arsenal, Leicester and Liverpool.

On the 21st March we surpassed Tottenham Hotspurs in the league table after a very narrow victory against Liverpool thanks to Haaland.
On 2nd April, Manchester United confirmed the signing on loan of Cristiano Ronaldo for next season. The Red Devils managed to get through both Leverkusen and PSV in the knockouts of the Europa League. Fulham v Man Utd, it arrived too soon but I was ready, we were ready!
Mason Greenwood made it look easy with a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory at the Craven Cottage.
With three matches remaining for the title triumph, Home to Newcastle, away at Everton and for the final match of the season home against Chelsea.

UEFA Europa League semi final against Borussia Dortmund, once again another familiar club for myself.
We conceded early at the Signal Iduna Park but Marcus Rashford came to the rescue in the 2nd half. Both Sancho and Haaland were very unlucky and couldn't find the net in their previous stadium. In the 2nd leg, we took matter into our own hands where Erling Haaland scored a very difficult volley set up by another former player, Jadon Sancho in just only 5 minutes. It was a close 60 minutes until Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland set up a one-two goal together for a more comfortable result of 2-0. On the 75th minute, Erling Haaland finished off the match with a open score header, but it still wasn't enough because on the 95th minute he found the net with a beautiful header dipped into the net to seal his hat-trick against his beloved Borussia Dortmund.
We shall be meeting Tottenham Hotspurs in the final of the UEFA Europa League.

All ML Attachments : https://ibb.co/album/tMs0yD
 

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@millossobek great introduction... I honestly have to say that I never imagined Bogota like that. It must be a cool place to visit at least once. 🙂
Nice presentation of the team and of the goals of your career there. Having played the Libertadores myself several times in the past (usually with Emelec/Sporting Cristal when it was a licensed mode) I remember it being kinda special. Hopefully you could break the Brazil/Argentina dominance soon enough.
On top of that, winning a continental competition against a team from your own nation is something unique... I still remember AC Milan (the team I support) getting rid of Inter in the semis and then defeating Juventus in the final in the 2003 Champions League... So I hope that when the times come you win it in the face of Atletico Nacional. 😁

@damienferriggi wow, pretty eventful player career there. Seeing Inter lose 4-0 at home is always a joy. 😁
Good luck with your career as a manager... Sad to read the Season 3 finale, conceding at the end of a period is painful (rven more so if it means you miss out on a promotion for that), but I see you've now gotten over it and you're ready for another challenge.
And yes, Haaland is a beast. Not sure what would his father say, as a former City player, seeing him in a Manchester United shirt (the same as his nemesis Roy Keane, no less) but hey... "That's the way things go" once sang the Offspring.
 
That's great @damienferriggi, I've been following your career for quite a while, seeing all of it condensed in one post was really cool. :TU: I really liked the arch you had as a player, you could really see the rise, peak, and long slow goodbye of your player. It's so cool that you could retire in the same club where you started, actually a lot of my favorite players did that exactly, a great example: Juan Sebastian Veron in Estudiantes de la Plata! I think it's so interesting that you were able to play in let's see.. Turkish, Premier, Serie A, Bundesliga, and back to the Turkish League. Went round full circle, that's awesome, and for you to take it one step further into managerial career, wow. :)

@*aLe Stay tuned my friend.. I did not manage to win the championship or qualify to the Libertadores in my first season, but I am well underway in my second season and doing quite well.... Expect a quite long and detailed post in a week or two, perhaps earlier. :BSCARF: Thank you for reading my post, yes, I am delighted to show the history of my team, and my city, since to be honest not so many people know about it.. But trust me, I won't say much more for now,, because I am saving myself for the BIG post.. Meaning when and if I win a championship/qualify for the Libertadores. :)

Feel free to add any of your own stories, my friends!! :TU: I will be back with the next episode soon....
 
Bros, I am getting everything together to post my update.. I will only say 2 things for now..

1. I won the local league with my Millonarios, in my third try (Apertura 2021). :TU:
2. I qualified for Copa Libertadores 2022, and the group stages are set.

Give me a day or two to get everything together, a rather large update is coming.. :BSCARF:
 
Hi bros! So, as I posted before, I was finally able to win the league, on my third try with my Millonarios! It was a long and difficult path, given the nature of the Colombian championship, but well worth it! I will summarize it below.:BSCARF:

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In my first two semesters, (Apertura 2020 and Clausura 2020), I qualified for the playoffs, but was ousted both times by different teams, The first time my rival was Deportes Tolima, and the second time it was América de Cali, on PK's. The great part is that I was able to avenge both defeats in my third playoff (I qualified by finishing first in the regular season standings), and not only that, I was able to defeat my biggest rivals, Atlético Nacional in the final, and equal them in local titles! (16), with an 86th minute screamer match by my long-time captain, David Macalister Silva, as you can see in the screenshot above! :DANCE:

This tournament I won was Apertura 2021, and the best part was, this automatically qualified me to the Copa Libertadores 2022!
I was helped by a realistic amount of transfers. I made sure that I followed the strict Colombian league rule of no more than 3 foreign players per team. It took me a while, but I was able to forge a nice mix of local talent, and foreign transfers!

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Here are two of my stars of my championship season, transfer Pedro Gallese, Peru starting international goalkeeper, who I signed through transfer, and Fernando Uribe, one of my established veteran stars, who in real life is the starting CF, and who ended up being one of my more clinical finishers!

In the second semester, unfortunately, I was not able to repeat the league championship, but I still had a decent season. 4th overall in the standings but was ousted by Atletico Nacional in the quarterfinals. Deportes Tolima ended up being the champion of Clausura 2021. However, the good part, and in a way one of the icings on the cake of my championship season, was that I was able to win the Colombian Super League, which is a single game which matches the champions of the Apertura and the Clausura. I was able to beat Deportes Tolima to conquer the Super League title! Even if this cup is not as prestigious as the actual league title, it is still a nice addition!

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As you can probably tell, this was a tremendously satisfying win. Not only was I able to equal Atlético Nacional in titles, and qualify for the Copa Libertadores, but I did it in quite realistic fashion, following the league rules for maximum international transfers and building up my team step by step, with a nice combination of current players and additions. It took me three tournaments but, most satisfying of all, was being able to defeat three of my biggest rivals en route to the league title! That was cool. :COOL:

In my next post, I will write about my main objective, my qualification to the 2022 Copa Libertadores, which I am about to play in the following days! As satisfying as my league cups were, the international cup was the dream I had at the beginning of the Master League, and pretty much what I've been preparing for. I will post the preview of the Libertadores groups, as well as some additional info about my rivals and the different groups next.. Stay tuned and thanks for accompanying me on this football journey! 🏆

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So, bros, here I will write a short preview of the Copa Libertadores 2022 edition in my Master League save with Millonarios!

Following up on my last post, I qualified to the most prestigious tournament in South America. In this edition of the Libertadores, the teams are distributed as follows:

7 Argentinean, 6 Brazilian, 4 Peruvian, 3 Paraguayan, 3 Bolivian, 2 Colombian, 2 Uruguayan, 2 Chilean, 2 Ecuadorian and 1 Venezuelan.

This is pretty realistic, actually the game did a pretty good job on this one. One thing that stands out, though, is that Peruvian and Bolivian teams did very well in the preliminary phases of the cup, much better than their usual performance, and qualified a larger share of teams to the group phase! One thing that's nice about the Cup in PES is that it actually includes the preliminary stage, just like in the actual tournament. :TU:

So this is my group, Group 7! Just like in the Champions League, the top two advance to the knockout stage:

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Pretty tough, well balanced group in my eyes. I will summarize each team shortly:

Millonarios of Colombia: https://evoweb.uk/threads/master-league-bal-written-stories.87788/#post-3738471 :BSCARF:

Club Nacional de Football is one of the oldest teams in South America, founded way back in the 19th century. It is one of the two Uruguayan giants (the other one being Peñarol). Combined, these two teams have won like.. 90% of all Uruguayan local championships, or more! Their nickname is spanish is "El Bolso" or "Los Bolsilludos" (The Pocket, or the Pocketers), because back in the day, their uniform used to have a chest pocket. I'm not sure if the current kit has the same design, but the name stuck. Tough, tough team, definitely one of the more talented squad in South America, with 3 Libertadores to their name.

Liga de Quito of Ecuador, also known as "El Rey de Copas", (The King of Cups), is another very tough opponent. It is pretty clear that based on their history, they are far and away the most successful Ecuadorian team in terms of international cup performance (1 Libertadores, 1 Sudamericana, and 2 Recopa Sudamericana, which match up the winners of the two tournaments). This team definitely has international pedigree, and they've been "giant killers" in their runs, beating River, Estudiantes, Inter, Fluminense, and others! Dangerous opponent.

My other rival is Defensa y Justicia, from Argentina, 2020 Copa Sudamericana and Recopa Champions. They are one of the historically smaller teams in first division (by Argentinean standards), but in the past few years, they've really taken off, by the hand of their coach Sebastian Beccaccece (from the Bielsa-Sampaoli school). This is a team really with no big stars, but hard working, with strong mentality, and gritty. Another one to watch out for, absolutely.

As you can see, my group is pretty damn tough! But I'm not intimidated, since I've built up quite a solid team just for this competition, which has matured and ripened for 3 semesters until it reaches a very competitive point. Here are two of my stars, young forward Ricardo Marquez, who was a top goalscorer in the league during my championship season, and international Brazilian transfer Fernando, from Shakhtar Donetsk, who's been very effective down the wing, scoring a lot of goals in his young Millonarios career!

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So here I am, finally achieved the goal that I set myself at the beginning of my Master League campaign, which was to qualify to the Copa Libertadores. Well, at least half the goal. The other half is to have a good showing there! It'll be difficult, since not only is my group very tough, but there are also plenty of South American giants in the other groups, such as Palmeiras, Boca, River, Flamengo, Mineiro, Peñarol and others! I don't know how many of you are actually following my Master League story :LOL: but I consider this a personal project now. I will be back, perhaps in the middle of my group phase, definitely at the end of it, to let you guys know how it's going! Thanks for reading bros!!

"Y dale alegría alegría a mi corazón, La Copa Libertadores es mi obsesión!" "Vamos Millonarios!!!!!" :TU: :BSCARF:

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Sorry man, I must have missed the post yesterday.
Great to see you win the league, with the bonus of defeating your arch-rivals in the final.
Now on to the cup: the group you're in doesn't seem impossible, you can do it!

By the way, I think that this combination of in-game screens and text works very well, my friend. 😉
I'm still going back and forth through the PS2-era games to decide which one I should use for my story. Currently undecided between PES 3 (with this 100% fanttasy database), WE 8 Internantional (with @TheWolf's wonderful Vuelta del Lobo patch) or PES 5 (still undecided between the Original Season patch or the Pesmania one there).
I don't think I'll use PES 6 though, as it's the one I played the most and I'd gladly go for something a little different this time.
 
🏆 🏆 COPA LIBERTADORES MILLONARIOS QUALIFICATION 🏆 🏆

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Hi bros, here I'm back to post my first update with my save with Millonarios! After 6 very hard fought matches, I qualified to the next stage of the Copa Libertadores! Here are the actual results for every one of my matches:

Millonarios 1 Club Nacional de F. 1
Liga de Quito 0 Millonarios 0
Millonarios 1 Defensa y Justicia 1

Defensa y Justicia 0 Millonarios 1
Millonarios 0 Liga de Quito 1
Club Nacional de F. 3 Millonarios 3

As you can see, the group stage was very tight, starting out with 3 straight draws! I was actually a bit worried after the first part of the group stage, because it seemed to me that the teams were very evenly matched! Especially in the second match, against Liga De Quito, chances were very hard to come by, as the 0-0 result shows! I knew that in the second part of the group stage, I would have to improve on my performance and at least get 1 win if I wanted to qualify to the next round.. One thing I could tell though, after this first part, is that all 4 teams had very similar levels, at least I felt how tight and close every single match was!!

Historically speaking, 6 points (which would be the double of what I had after 3 matches), has not been enough in the Copa Libertadores to progress to the next stage, so I knew I had to pick it up, and indeed I did pick it up, against perhaps the toughest team in the group, Defensa y Justicia!

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This was a very satisfying win, in their stadium, where they became Copa Sudamericana champions! It is always tough to play in Argentinean stadiums, the pressure from the crowd was intense, and since they were leading the group, they came out in a defensive stance, trying to preserve a draw. However I was able to prevail, once again scoring 1 goal, from my top goalscorer Ricardo Márquez. :BSCARF:

Now I wanted to ensure qualification by winning at home against Liga de Quito, but once again, the Copa Libertadores would get all dramatic on me, as I wasn't able to win at home, and lost 0-1 in another tight game. Unlike the first match in Ecuador, however, bad luck played a factor.. Because in this match I came out aggressively and had many more chances, but wasn't able to capitalize on them. As the saying goes, "en fútbol no siempre gana el mejor", which means that in football, the better team doesn't always win. That's part of what makes this sport so great, its unpredictability, but in this case it worked against me.

I was actually quite concerned, because this defeat against Liga De Quito meant that my Libertadores destiny wasn't in my hands anymore. I had to do everything possible to win my last group match, against Club Nacional de Fútbol, but even if I won, this didn't guarantee anything, because I was dependent on the other match!! 😒

Basically, with one match left to go, my situation looked like this......

Liga de Quito: 10 points, +5 goal difference
Defensa y Justicia: 7 points, + 1 goal difference
Millonarios: 6 points, +0 goal difference
Club Nacional: 4 points, -6 goal difference

So even if I won my last match, I had to hope that Liga de Quito beat or draw against Defensa y Justicia. if DYJ won their last match, no matter what happened, I would've been out of the cup. So I was understandably anxious before the last match at Uruguay.

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What ended up happening was a minor miracle! The match finished 3-3 in very dramatic fashion! I started out winning 0-1 as you can see, as I definitely came out with aggressive tactics, trying to win it all! Actually, Club Nacional also came out aggressively, I guess they were trying to go for broke to see if there was a mathematical chance to qualify.. I was going for the win. However, the match was very back and forth, and the game was tied 2-2 at the 85th minute! I was still going all out, especially because there was no way of knowing the outcome of the other match, so I really had no way to know. All I knew is that if I lost, it was over. Then, the Nacional forward, Thiago Vecino, scored 3-2 in the 85th minute, and I was very frustrated, because that meant for sure elimination.. but then, in the 91st minute, I was able to equalize!!!! With a beautiful goal by Cristian "El Chicho" Arango. Man, moments like these is why I love football, and why I love PES! :BSCARF: :DANCE: :YES: :YES::DANCE:

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Even if I had drawn the match, 3-3, I was still not sure if I had qualified. These were some suspenseful moments until the final whistle for sure! Here's when I thought.. It'd be great if PES had a live scores update, haha, but in this case I guess it was even more dramatic, since it made the celebration so epic. Once the final whistle blew, and I saw my players celebrating, I knew I had qualified for the next round! :DANCE: :) :DANCE: :)

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I was very, very fortunate. Liga de Quito had managed to beat Defensa y Justicia by one goal, 1-0, and this meant that I qualified to the round of 16 based on TOTAL GOALS SCORED. Amazing, right? As you can see in the table above, both Millonarios and Defensa y Justicia finished with 7 points, +0 goal difference. But the actual fact that I scored 6 goals and they scored 4, means that I qualify to the next phase, where I will be facing Colo Colo of Chile! There is only one thing left to say.... My objective is complete, no matter what happens from here on out....... 🏆 :YES: :TU: :COOL: :BSCARF::YES:

MILLONARIOS qualifies to the knockout stage of the Copa Libertadores de América!!!!!!!!

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.... stay tuned....
 
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🏆 🏆 COPA LIBERTADORES ROUND OF 16 MILLONARIOS VS COLO COLO 🏆 🏆
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Hi bros! Well, continuing on with my story, I actually felt a bit lucky in my first draw in the round of 16 stage! Given that I had finished second in my group, I could've drawn against very very tough opposition, such as River, Palmeiras, etc.. But I drew Chile's Colo-Colo. A good team, for sure, but definitely the one I felt was the best possible draw for me! They finished first in what I considered to be the weakest group, and so therefore the matchup was made.

But like we ALL know, games have to be played. Even though I felt I was the slight favorite in this matchup, I was still nervous, and felt like I had to go all out, like always! Colo-Colo is the winningest team in Chile's history, they've won over 30 local titles, and, even if their Copa Libertadores history wasn't as impressive, it is still a strong, historical South American side!

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The first match was played at Colo-Colo's stadium. The game was pretty tight throughout, and the Chilean side scored first midway through the first half. As you can see, they played a lot of long balls and crosses. I was getting a bit worried, because their defense was very tough, as evidenced in the fact that I could only get 4 shots off the entire game! ⚽ The good part was, I was able to make one of them count, with an 88 minute equalizer by once again, Ricardo Márquez, who is fast becoming one of my best performers under pressure! :COOL: This was a vitally important goal, because as you know, in the Copa Libertadores, the away goal rule is enforced, meaning that even if this game was a draw, I could come back to Bogotá with a slight advantage given that I had scored at their stadium! This eased my mind quite a bit, although I did know I had to play well throughout, and not lower my guard!

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The series moved back to my hometown! I was excited to be playing in front of my crowd. Here, the ML immersion had me throughout, as I could really feel the excitement of playing in the first round of 16 for Millonarios since 1995! It felt awesome to be back on friendly grounds. :DANCE: :BSCARF:

Back in Bogotá, I was faced with a decision. Should I play defensively, trying to preserve the 0-0 draw and therefore ensure my qualification to the quarterfinals through the away goal rule, or should I come out aggressively, trying to shut them down for good? I decided to do a mix of both, playing with my usual tactics and waiting to see what they would do. As expected, they came out aggressively in the first half, but I was able to score very early in the match, close to the 5 minute mark, courtesy of Cristian Arango. This gave me a nice advantage, but I couldn't relax, because if Colo-Colo was able to score, then all things would be back to square one.

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The match progressed with a lot of tension, but I refused to adopt a defensive stance. I figured if I played my lines back too much, they would gain possession of the ball and perhaps greater chances to score. So, I decided to maintain tactics. As the match went on and the score was still 1-0 in minute 70, Colo-Colo suddenly went in all out attack. Thankfully, my defenders were very solid, and I decided to switch my tactics from possession to counterattacking and play more long balls, because their offensive tactics were leaving big holes in their midfield and defense. And I was able to score the second goal at the 80 minute mark, courtesy of a nicely executed counterattack which left their defense open! The final whistle had blown, I really can't believe that after setting my goal at the beginning of my Master League, I can say that I've come this far! Seeing the satisfaction on manager Alberto Gamero's face was quite something, given the long road Millonarios had to traverse getting to this point!! :YES: :YES:

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Bros, The dream is still alive! Next up, is another tough opponent, Argentinos Jrs of Argentina. Stay tuned my friends!!!! :BSCARF: :BSCARF: 🏆 🏆


Millonarios is in the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores!!!!

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Marching on! 💪
You could foresee the opposition getting tougher and tougher from this point on, but I think you still have a chance against Argentinos Jrs. Come on, let's bring Millonarios in the semis! 💙🤍
 
🏆 🏆 COPA LIBERTADORES QUARTERFINALS MILLONARIOS VS ARGENTINOS JRS 🏆 🏆

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Continuing on with my story bros! After a dramatic (but not too complicated, in the end) win after Chilean Colo-Colo, the Copa Libertadores had a different challenge for me awaiting in the quarterfinals, with Argentina's historical side, Argentinos Jrs!

For those of you who are probably not too familiar with Argentinos Jrs, they are also called "El Semillero del Mundo" roughly translated as "The Hotbed of the World" given that their academy has produced historical players such as Maradona, Redondo, Riquelme, Sorin, D'Alessandro and many others. They won the Copa Libertadores once, back in 1985, and are definitely one of the most well regarded Argentinean teams, even if not one of the big "five", they are definitely part of their history!

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The first match was played at their stadium, aptly named "Estadio Diego Armando Maradona". Stadium Server definitely did a good job with the atmosphere in this stadium, as the crowd was pretty fired up at the beginning of the match! I was able to score first, a goal by my Brazilian winger Fernando! I must say that I got quite lucky in this goal, since it was a blooper from their goalkeeper! (Thanks to @Holland PES 2017 gp, which enables these kinds of realistic errors!). The goal came from a corner kick, and after a furious scramble in the box, their keeper butterfingered the ball, and it rebounded off his gloves. Fernando was there to clean up the miss! As we say, goal scorers have a way to find their goals!!!!! :TU: :BSCARF:

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Minutes later, unfortunately, they were able to come back with a 1-1 equalizer, courtesy of a dodgy Penalty Kick. I actually felt it was a pretty clean challenge, but the referee whistled it against me, due to body contact! My keeper wasn't able to stop it, and the match was back even 1-1.
Fortunately though, I was able to score a late game equalizer, courtesy of once again, of Ricardo Márquez, who is really cementing his legend as a late game hero with my Millonarios! This was a very nice win, at their stadium, with the advantage of two visiting goals, and I was ready and primed to go back home and finish them off!

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And that it exactly what happened!!!!! With a historic hat-trick by Cristian Arango, a beautiful Free Kick and two counterattacks! Argentinos Jrs came out aggressively, looking to equalize the series (also given the 2 visiting goals I scored in Argentina), and their over-zealousness cost them dearly, as in the 10th minute, a reckless challenge by their player Centurión resulted in a red card, given that he obstructed a clear path to goal (last man). After Arango scored the beautiful free kick, they started to get more and more reckless and desperate. With a man down, and now down by 2 goals, they started attacking all out and leaving gaping holes in their defense, which Arango capitalized on and scored yet another 2 goals in the last 10 minutes of the game! Final score, 3-0, aggregate score, 5-1! Completely unexpected domination of the Argentinean side!!!!! Millonarios advances to the semifinals!!!!!! :DANCE: :BSCARF:

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A very satisfying win by Millonarios against a very tough foe! Now the stage is set for the semifinals. On the one hand, we have mighty and historic River Plate vs Talleres de Córdoba, both Argentinean sides.. And waiting for me, in the other leg, is 2020 Copa Libertadores two time champions, PALMEIRAS OF BRAZIL! Man this WILL be a challenge, they are not only one of the biggest clubs in Brazil, but in the entire South American continent. This is definitely the first time I feel like I am encountering a giant of the continent, and in the semifinals no more and no less! But I know that Millonarios will be up to the challenge, I will go for the win, and whatever happens, I will leave it all on the field!!!!!! :YES: :YES: For now, there is nothing left to say but..

🏆 🏆 Millonarios is in the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores!!!! 🏆 🏆​
 
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Congrats on trashing Argentinos Jrs! 🍐🍐🍐🍐🍐

Tough match ahead indeed. Well, it could be foreseen: the more you advance the tougher the opposition becomes, usually.
There's a saying the Atalanta ultras use and it may apply here: it is "Pura de nesű, schefe de negòt" which more or less translate in "(we're) scared by no one, disgusted by nothing".

Have no fear, and you'll have a chance to reach the final. Can't wait to see the outcome of this!
 
🏆 🏆 COPA LIBERTADORES SEMIFINALS MILLONARIOS VS PALMEIRAS 🏆 🏆

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So my friends! I decided to go straight ahead into the semifinals, after a 1 day break (I played the quarterfinals yesterday), and it was time! Millonarios, my dear childhood team from my Hometown Bogotá, Colombia against Palmeiras of Brazil!!

As I mentioned in the previous post, Palmeiras is a one of the biggest teams in South America. It has 10 Brazilian national titles, 2 Copa Libertadores, and many many more regional and local cups and honors. It has one of the largest fanbases in all of South America (if not the world!) and it is recognized as one of the most influential and historical teams! I knew that I had to be on my top game against them, and my plan was to go all out. I proceeded to start up my PES, hook it up to my big screen tv, and go for broke! :TU:

The first match was in Bogotá, Colombia my hometown. There were a couple of interesting points here to consider. 1. My top goalscorer and "offensive 9", Ricardo Márquez, came into the match in terrible form (red arrow). I had to substitute him with Mateo Casierra, a talented player who plays a completely different game. While Márquez is quick and incisive, Casierra is a big, physical center forward, very good in the air but perhaps not as good in definition. But I had to make this change, given Márquez' situation. The other point was.. Who should I start? 77 rated Daniel Ruiz, or 72 rated Juan Camilo Salazar? Normally my undoubted choice would've been Ruiz, since he is my star creative playmaker and passer, but he had bad form (orange arrow) and Salazar had good form (green arrow). What would I choose? I chose Ruiz. He was my proven playmaker, I decided to risk his form and continue on with my gameplan, since he is an integral part of the team! i would risk having a "fair form" player while the rest of the team had good form. There he is in the middle of the bottom row, #17!

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What proceeded was a tense, defensive game, with very few chances, especially by Millonarios. I could immediately sense the difference in quality from Colo-Colo and Argentinos Jrs when compared to Palmeiras. The Brazilians defended much better and were quicker. They were a tough nut to crack, and they were good at retaining possession. At the half, it was 0-0. I was faced with a conundrum. I knew I was playing against the better team, with better players, so I did not want to risk going off too offensively, and be vulnerable to a away goal counterattack. But I didn't want to play too defensively either, and give them the possession. I decided to keep balanced tactics, while switching from possession to counterattacking football, to make the best of my limited opportunities. Their defense was still tough though, and approximately in minute 70, I decided to substitute Ruiz with Salazar, and bring in my veteran striker Fernando Uribe to substitute Casierra. I hoped these changes gave my attack a bit more dynamism, since Salazar was quicker than Ruiz (and with better form at the moment), and Uribe was a better passer than Casierra.

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What happened though was nerve wracking! Even though my offense improved, I wasn't able to score and in minute 87, a PK was whistled in Palmeiras' favor! You can see Gallese protesting here, even though it was a good call caused by a keeper charge. Man, this was really frustrating! After 87 minutes of keeping Palmeiras scoreless, a penalty?? Damn.. However, Peruvian International Pedro Gallese was able to save the day!! I guessed correctly and was able to stop the shot, which went right!! A few moments later, the match was over, a 0-0 draw in Bogotá!!! I didn't know whether to feel relieved, nervous, or both!! :LOL:

Next was the return match, in Sao Paulo, Brazil! It was really quite daunting to face these giants in their historical stadium, Allianz Parque, with their huge banners and passionate fans. But like you said, @*aLe , no fear, no disgust, I came out to win!!!! :BSCARF:

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I had a piece of great news though.. My star striker, Márquez and my playmaker, Ruiz, both had excellent and good form, respectively!! There would be no second guessing this one, I was coming out with my best team, with Gallese at goalkeeper, and everyone with great form!

I was pumped up, and very focused. Unfortunately though, they scored first, in the 16th minute, and I could really really tell that they came out aggressively with their home crowd behind them. They were fast, incisive, and their first goal was a screamer. I tried to keep cool. I thought to myself.. Ok.. it's fine. One goal is manageable, if I'm able to score one goal, the away goal rule would give an advantage to Millonarios. So I decided not to press the issue too much. I kept playing, trying to keep my lines steady, and was very concentrated. But before I knew it, Palmeiras had scored their second goal, around the 30th minute mark! Man, what a tough team!

Ok, this did it. I had to change my tactics now. One goal was not going to get the job done. I had to risk it. I pushed my lines up, changed to counterattack, went on the offensive, and at first it paid off! I was able to respond with a goal, courtesy of Emerson Rivaldo Rodríguez, just before the half! this gave me a lot of hope going into the second half. 2-1. If I was somehow able to equalize in their home grounds, victory would be mine on away goals! I just had to keep plugging at it, keep attacking. ⚽ 🥅

That is exactly what I did, attack and attack in the second half. What has interesting though, is that Palmeiras refused to back up their lines. I thought they would go on the offensive, but they did the exact opposite, and kept attacking. What ensued was a very exciting second half, full of chances by both teams. In minute 70, approximately, I had a VERY clear opportunity to equalize, a beautiful pass from Ruiz to Marquez left him one on one against the Brazilian goalie, but he was able to save the day! Man, time was running out. I decided to substitute my wingers (including my goalscorer, Emerson), since they were very tired, bring in some fresh legs and push up my lines even more! By minute 80, I switched to full press, knowing that I had to score. However, in a counterattack, Palmeiras was able to score, just like that, making the match 3-1 and effectively ending the Copa Libertadores dream for Millonarios! 😭 😭 The fact that Palmeiras went on to the final, and lost to River Plate 1-0 in a single match is almost an afterthought....

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However, friends if I could redirect you to a quote I wrote at the beginning of this journey, almost a month ago.... :TU::TU: :COOL: :COOL:

millossobek said:
Basically, I have one very important goal. My most important goal:

To qualify to the Copa Libertadores, and have a strong showing there. 🏆
Click to expand...

I feel like I passed this with flying colors! Qualifying out of a very tough group stage (with some late game heroics), beating two historical and tough teams such as Colo-Colo and Argentinos Jrs in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively, and reaching the first semifinal of the Libertadores for Millonarios in our history is.. more than a strong showing, it is a historical one!!!!! :YES: :YES: :COOL: :COOL: Even thoughI wasn't able to lift the Copa Libertadores this time, rest assured, I will try again sometime, with my beloved Millonarios!!!! 🏆 💙 💙 🤍 🤍

Here is my favorite song to celebrate my team, and our strong showing in the Copa Libertadores de América, La Gloria Eterna!!!!!! 💙 💙 🤍 🤍

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Thanks for reading and accompanying me on this journey, my friends!!!!! I really enjoyed this Master League story, and I wanted the first one to be with the team that I love. I will be back with another Master League soon..... :TU: The last thing I'll say is..


:BSCARF:THIS IS WHY I LOVE PES, AND WHY I LOVE FOOTBALL! THANK YOU ALL! :BSCARF:
:BSCARF: VAMOS MILLONARIOS!!!! :BSCARF:​
 
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Sad to see your run end like this but hey, you managed to fight until the very end.
The 3-1 goal was pretty much obviously going to happen with you going all out attack but it was the only thing you could do.

I agree with you in saying that you went way over what the expectations were, though. Congrats!
 
millossobek said:
Well, I guess I'll start. :TU:

I am currently playing several ML's at the same time, but I have decided to focus on my main save, my team, Millonarios FC. :BSCARF: :LOVE:

This first post will include some introductory background information of my team, and I will add my Master League information in the next post.

I'll start with a bit of location info:

My city is Bogota, the capital of Colombia. We are quite a large metropolis, with approximately 8 million people. My city is not the typical image that people have of Latin America. It is cool and sometimes rainy (which I prefer). The average temperature is 14-18 C during the day, and the weather almost never changes at all during the year. This is because we are in the middle of the Andes Mountains, 2600 meters above sea level. :TU:

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As for my team, Millonarios, we play in Estadio El Campín, capacity 36,343 people. It is quite an old stadium, but nice and historical, and you can get a cool view of the mountains and buildings as you can see..

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I've been a fan of Millonarios for as long as I can remember, we are a team that is quite entrenched with the local culture of our city. While most other Colombian teams play in humid, hot, tropical climates, we are high up in the Andes Mountains, and this I feel contributes greatly to the identity of our city, as well as our team. A lot of our matches are under rainy, cold conditions. We're not a touristic city like Cartagena, or Medellin, but more gritty, more industrial, yet at the same time a very cultural and artistic city with a lot of flavor and our own flair. 🌆

Millonarios is perhaps the most historical team in Colombia, with 15 local championships. We have struggled a little lately, (even though our last championship was in 2017), and other teams, such as Atletico Nacional, and America de Cali, have accumulated titles too, but we are one of the largest and perhaps the most loyal fanbase in the country! :BSCARF: We are looking to recapture our local glory, and improve on the Copa Libertadores tournaments.. 🏆

The name Millonarios comes from the fact that back in the 1950's, the team used to have a lot of money to hire Argentine players, so the nickname became official name. Actually it has nothing to do with supporters. In fact, we come from all socioeconomic classes, rich poor middle class etc.. :TU: in fact if you go to some of the poorest areas of my city you will see so much support for my team.

Our nickname is "Los Embajadores", translation in English, "The Ambassadors", because we used to represent Colombia with a lot of pride in South American international cups, a glory which we are looking to find once again.

Millonarios is also quite unique in the sense that we have not one but two recognized derbies: The Clásico Capitalino, against our rivals Santa Fe, also from Bogota, and also against Atletico Nacional, perhaps our most intense rivalry, and is considered by many as the national Colombian Derby.
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We are a proud team, with a proud history and one of the largest and most loyal fanbases in Colombia. Right now, we are tied for second place in local titles, (Atletico Nacional has 16, we have 15 tied with America de Cali) and we would love to recapture the leadership in local titles. We were runners up in the last tournament, against Deportes Tolima, a smaller but up-and coming team.. But we're looking to take the title this time and qualify for the most important tournament in South America, La Copa Libertadores.. 🏆

I will follow up with my save information!! ⚽
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great introduction to your team & also the explanation of the league structure!. That stadium is beautiful with those mountain ranges surrounding it. I'm a bit late but I will watchlist this & slowly catch up on your story.
 
Take your time, Joga! Make sure you savor every part of the story, I took a long time playing it and writing it!
Thanks for your support bro! :BSCARF: :YES: :COOL: :YES: :TU:

I will be back soon.. I'm still trying to decide what my next Master League will be! :LOL:
 
@damienferriggi I also started reading the first quarter or so of your journey. This sentence got me good for some reason .. "I was having the time of my life assisting goals and stopping them too. After two months I've got injured by Fernandinho from Arsenal." You were so mad you remembered which player got you :LOL: Also Nordin Amrabat playing & scoring for Madrid :LMAO:
 
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