The Master League adventures thread

[the_dude]

Season 2 under way
Needed to strengthen a few positions
First up CB position
Rafael Toloi from Atalanta
Triggered his buy out clause at €18 millions
View attachment 332724

Next one same position.
Mancini from Roma (owned by Atalanta) also triggered his buy out clause at €21 million
View attachment 332725

Left winger/defender Jorge from AS Monaco
A bargain at €8 million
View attachment 332728

Last but not least, I dusted off Pippo Insaghi from the lower leagues.
At 38 he'll be a valuable asset in the locker room and coming on the pitch when needed
View attachment 332729

Might get another striker for the future in at this window but I feel I have all I need at the moment.

First silverware in, The Supercoola Italiana where I beat Inter in a 2-1 thriller.
Good start to a long tough season where I'll be fighting with both Inter and Juventus for the Scudetto
View attachment 332731
View attachment 332732

How many players are in your squad? It will be a lot more difficult having more games. I always sign good old veteran players as the back up too.

 

[rockstrongo]

How many players are in your squad? It will be a lot more difficult having more games. I always sign good old veteran players as the back up too.

Think i have 27 players on my roster as it is
A few of them has multiple positions they can play as well, so hopefully I'm good for a long season

 

[rockstrongo]

Milan at home was a weird game, Carlos Bacca scored a hattrick onme first half and the score just before the final min of the first half ,the thing that changed this outcome of the game happened.
Milans Bertolacci came in with a brutal tackle and got sent off with a straight red card

After that the tide was changing, lots of gaps and spaces in Milans team and i could take over the game completely scoring both 3-3 and in the end even 4-3
Both young Simeone and Diego Laxalt had two goals a piece


Bologna at home followed, and not much to talk about regarding my first half, very tight hardly any chances created either way, but it opened up a bit mid second half and i had a spell of chances and pressure on Bologna making it 1-0.
Late game I made it 2-0 from Laxalt, who's been brilliant so far
This game could have gone either way tbh

Next up will be a Europa League clash at home Vs Irish Linfield followed by Chievo away.
Form is going up and slowly we're building a solid team spirit

 

[millossobek]

@millossobek
I'm trying to follow both the rules (very lenient EU rules though) but also house rules.
When playing a bigger tram, I'm not really doing that, but for smaller teams always (or as much as possible)

Not signing any free transfers unless older players, not the great players with no team attached to them.

Always trying to have at least 2/3 of homegrown players in my squad.

No regens, always hated them.
Could make an exception if I get the chance to edit them first.

My plan for regens is: if and when they become important in my save (for example in other teams), I will try to keep an eye on them and then find them and edit them in edit mode, giving them a "fantasy" appearance and change their name (unless I feel like they fit my campaign).

 

[slamsoze]

Finally completed my Spezia ML on Pes 21.

Here a recap on how it ended:


It was treble, and a very thrilling one. Beating Milan in a very one sided Coppa Italia final, and Barça in a more balanced Champions League epilogue, I think winning Serie A totally took the spotlight. I was far beyond my direct rivals Juventus, after beating them in another epic clash in the 31th fixture, 8 points clear from them, so I was pretty comfortable to already have the League in my pocket.. but when the games that would gave me the mathematical victory started to play out, I lost and draw one after another, until I had only the last game against Sampdoria, in which I needed at least a draw..

Well, after a more or less dominated game, Sampdoria scored me at the 78th minute a goal that would have meant losing the Scudetto.. I almost tilted, but in a desperate effort with all the team on the offensive I found the draw with a Gvardiol tap in just few virtual minutes before the end, making me end at even points with Juventus (who beaten Milan) and gifting me the title just based on the direct confrontations (or maybe it's goal difference? Not too sure with rules in this game🤔).. probably the craziest ending I've ever had on a ML or Career ever 😅 :

Spoiler

View attachment 333286

It was especially emotional to win this one after 8 seasons (and I think something like 3 RL years of playing on and off this save?) and growing/discovering almost all the players that brought me here.. the georgian GOAT Davitashvili, bomber Wind, captain Pobega that IIRC it's the only one left out of the original team, Moises Caicedo that wasn't still this famous when I bought him, and many many others (good mention to Martinelli, who was my favourite winger of all the save although certainly already famous on his own) that all felt unique.

Godlike adventure. Watched the CL final, it was a very well piloted win.

As for the League finishing evens, you can check the league info in every league to see the clauses.

For Serie A, as i checked yesterday, the only head-to-head comparison when you finish evens, is points in matches between two teams.

So i assume you had better results in Spezia-Juventus matches. The strange is that ML for Serie A takes only one clause when you finish in same position, so this creates the question, what would be the conclusion if you were 1-1 in wins, or 2 draws.

IIRC other leagues have usually 2 or more clauses, like head to head matches, goal difference, etc.


As for Serie B that @rockstrongo mentioned, it has some weird playoff ruling, which I fell victim some years before. It's something like 2 teams promote directly and the the 3rd to 8th go to playoffs if the difference between 3rd and 8th is less than 15 points, something like this.

Which i find meaningless, since the playoffs are in knock out format and not new mini league.

 

[slamsoze]

Congratulations Mac!! A historical and beautiful treble indeed, mate!!
This is a truly amazing and epic feat that will live on long in the records of Madmac's football!!

Rock, that's cool you are enjoying PES 2017. It's perhaps my favorite game of all time! I played 4 seasons with Reggina (starting as the lowest ranked team in the Calcio, maybe kinda similar to your campaign in that sense).. And it was one of my most rewarding experiences ever! There's something about 2017 I really love, it's the total package for me.

--------------------------------------------

Switching topics for a second, wanted to ask all of you guys a question..

How closely do you follow country transfer rules or other restrictions? I'm playing a campaign with Incheon United (PES 2021, custom made Option File), and I want to try to follow the K-League country rules as much as I can (total of 6 foreign players total, 4 in matchday squad). I think this is going to be a bit difficult in the long run because not all Korean regens come back to the same league, and also very few Korean free agents in my Option File, but I would still like to try.

But in anycase, I would love to know if you guys manage this "country rule" or any other self-imposed restrictions when signing players/building your team?

Usually setting some house rules, but it's difficult to stay loyal for long time.

If the squad building was more flexible, regarding size, eligibilities etc, it would be easier.

I remember the last FM i played, FM2006 had a decent implementation of the real life rules with homegrown and something else (national grown) players. It was so realistic, that it as you progressed to later seasons, it expanded to how it was planned by UEFA to be on the future, ie in 2008 season you had to have more HG players etc.

Now back to PES given how ML worls, i am trying to have 55% in 40 players, the same nationality as the club, and in each match to start 5/11 or the bare minimum 3/11. And the captain to be from the country, like now in Santa Clara, my cap is Portuguese, and my visecap too.

But it's rough to do it while seasons pass.

 

[Madmac79]

Godlike adventure. Watched the CL final, it was a very well piloted win.

As for the League finishing evens, you can check the league info in every league to see the clauses.

For Serie A, as i checked yesterday, the only head-to-head comparison when you finish evens, is points in matches between two teams.

So i assume you had better results in Spezia-Juventus matches. The strange is that ML for Serie A takes only one clause when you finish in same position, so this creates the question, what would be the conclusion if you were 1-1 in wins, or 2 draws.

IIRC other leagues have usually 2 or more clauses, like head to head matches, goal difference, etc.


As for Serie B that @rockstrongo mentioned, it has some weird playoff ruling, which I fell victim some years before. It's something like 2 teams promote directly and the the 3rd to 8th go to playoffs if the difference between 3rd and 8th is less than 15 points, something like this.

Which i find meaningless, since the playoffs are in knock out format and not new mini league.

Thanks my friend. I indeed won both games with Juventus, but I'd still be curious as well about what would happened if those where both draws. Shame that it'a scenario maybe not impossible, but very very hard to replicate.. my guess is that it perhaps would still go to goal difference even if it's not written. Ironically enough (and also rightly so, for once), in 2022 Serie A brought back a final Scudetto match playoff in case of even points in the first place (it was abolished in 04-05), would have absolutely loved to see it in Pes 21.

Speaking of playoffs, yeah Serie B ones are kinda weird and I've not even ever delved that much into it since they were created, I guess they reflect well the absolute chaos and neglect Serie B actually verse in.

 

[isureaper31]

Ultimate Master League 2025 - Houston Dynamo: Year One - Episode 7


Club News

Transfers In this window

• Mateus Vital (AMF) signed for $1.746M from Cruzeiro (Brazil)
• Heitor (FB) on a 6 month loan for $142K from Guarani (Brazil)
• Donovan Pines signed on Free Transfer
• Joao Pedro (CB) on a 6 month loan for $115K from Charlotte (USA)
• Pedro Morisco (GK) signed for $866K from Coritiba (Brazil)
• William Agada (CF) signed for $1.925M from Kansas City (USA)
• Yannik Engelhardt (DMF) on 1 year loan for $544K from Como (Italy)
• Alexandru Mățan (AMF) signed for $1.738M from Columbus Crew (USA)
• Daniel Anyembe (FB) signed for $577K from Viborg (Denmark)

Transfers Out this window

• Tate Schmitt (FB) released for $440K to Los Angeles (USA)
• Brad Smith (FB) released for $866K to Eibar (Spain)
• Latif Blessing (AMF) released for $968K to Luton Town (England)
• Ousmane Sylla (WF) released for $465K to San Lorenzo (Argentina)

Total Transfer Fee spent to date: $5,641,350

Players to be released (not wanting to renew contract)

• Jimmy Maurer (GK)
• Micael (CB)
• Daniel Steres (CB)
• Junior Moreno (DMF)
• Jefferson Valverde (DMF)
• Adalberto Carrasquilla (CMF)
• Hector Herrera (CMF)
• Brooklyn Raines (CMF)
• Amine Bassi (AMF)
• Sebastian Kowalczyk (AMF)
• McKinze Gaines (WF)
• Exon Arzú (WF)
• Sebastián Ferreira (CF)
• Gabriel Segal (CF)
• Stephen Gyamfi (CF)

Club Performance

 

[millossobek]

After discussing it with @slamsoze and also following you guys' recommendations, here's what I think I'm going to do with my K-League team.
The current Real Life K-League rules are, 6 maximum foreigners, 4 in matchday squad.
But that is unsustainable in a longer term ML, because of the way ML works, it is very hard to do..
So I decided to create this in-house rule: Maximum 5 Foreigners on the pitch at the same time, 9 in the entire team.
That way, at least 51% of my team is made up of Nationals, but I have more flexibility when signing transfers and in my ML as a whole.
Right now, I have 4 Foreigners on my team (Mugosa-Montenegro, Pereira-Colombia, Raul-Brazil, Gerso-Guinea)
Let's see how this goes!!

 

[isureaper31]

Ultimate Master League 2025 - Houston Dynamo: Year One - Episode 8

Club News
Transfers In this window

• Eduardo Santos (CB) signed for $693K from Red Bull Bragantino (Brazil)
• Ozzie Cisneros (CMF) signed on Free Transfer

Transfers Out this window

• Hector Herrera (CMF) released for $2.134M to Bournemouth (England)

Total Transfer Fee spent to date: $4,199,910

UEFA Best Player Award


Current Aggregate MLS Table


MLS Cup Bracket

 

[isureaper31]

Ultimate Master League 2025 - Houston Dynamo: Year One - Episode 9

Club News

• Houston promotes 16 year old CF (Maunder) from the Houston Dynamo Academy

Current Aggregate MLS Table

 

[rockstrongo]

Europa League night at Marassi.
A pretty "easy" opponent in Irish Linfield, turned out to be just that.
A comfy 3-0 win

I could really try new stuff out during this game since i felt i was in total control of it, lots of 1v1 against their defenders, trying out new dribbling moves, a lot of and very random things happening in this game if played "right"
And what could have been with this rocket of a shot from Cerci.

Then off to Verona for a game vs Chievo.
Total domination in the first half and 2-0 up, but Chievo started to bite back second half, but could control the game and walk away with a 2-0 win


Will be playing Spezia in the Coppa Italia for my next two games.
Most likely rotate a bit
I have ,except a few players like Pandev/Burdisso a very young team, shitty budget so I'll be trying to develop those in to great players, and I'm looking fw to that

 

[rockstrongo]

Spezia in my Coppa Italia didn't cause me much problem.
A tougher a ay game than my first at home, but a good win Vs them in both games

A bit of a life line when they got a goal late in my first game at home

Away to them was a bit trickier, fun to see how much they pushed their team up late in the game trying to chase a goal , left the pitch wide open for counter attacks


Some of the goals in a highlight video
Especially the second from G Simeone was a beauty

Next up is a league game vs Empoli away

 

[rockstrongo]

Rosenborg at home in my 3rd Europa League was. It much of a competition
Easily took care of them in a very secure win


Next being a league game Vs Empoli away, my 4th game in 11 days and my squad is really tired and out of shape, patching holes everywhere in my eleven and having team spirit diving to a low 60 making this game very tough, and tough it was.
Empoli played a very high defensive line threatening my constantly.
In the end a 2-0 win but a very hard fought win.


Going in to a patch of tough games after this again, 4 games in 12 days, having Atalanta/Juventus/Rosenborg/Torino and 3/4 away from home is going to be tough.
Probably need to put a very reserve like team on the pitch for my EL clash since i have a gap down to 2nd place there.

 

[rockstrongo]

Atalanta away was a fairly tough game, though this is Gasperinis first year at Atalanta and his first out of Genoa my magic 8 ball predicts a bright future.
Got a goal each half and could shut down the game with a clean sheet

And after 10 straight wins in all competition I was facing Juventus for my next game at home.
Some rotation in the squad led me to have a bit of a weaker team than i usually have, my team spirit reflected that when it hit low 60s

Anyway, a very tight and rigid game, Juventus threatening outside the box but didn't create more than a few chances on me.
My attacking game was shut down by a very tough Juventus defence, created 2-3 semi chances.
Second half was more or less a midfield battle with very few chances last third of the pitch.

So a draw was pretty much the best outcome for this game.

My next game is Vs Rosenborg in the 4th round of my EL group stage, will rest a lot of my fatigued key players for this one

 

[isureaper31]

Ultimate Master League 2025 - Houston Dynamo: Year One - Episode 10


Current Aggregate MLS Table

 

[Kopite1990]

Hopefully this is okay to post here guys but after feeling fatigued with PES21 and really struggling to build any kind of longevity with an FC25 career mode, I have mixed things up a bit for my next football fix.

The issues with eFootball 25 and the lack of offline modes is well known, especially with no Master League. However, personally, I find the gameplay pretty decent and I have decided to make a ‘mock’ Master League using some pretty firm ground rules using the MyLeague mode. Obviously the full immersion of ML will be missing but hopefully I can use this thread for people to follow my story and progress. With promotion, relegation and league titles on the cards there is still plenty to play for 👍🏻

I have opted for JEF United Chiba in the J2 League as my club of choice. They are a pretty successful team in Japan with a great history and fanbase, however they have recently found themselves down in the second tier of Japanese football. This gives me the chance to fight for promotion in the first instance and hopefully add some longevity to the save.

To begin with, I traded in all of my original MyTeam squad/packs so that I was able to sign all of the authentic JEF United players. Meaning we start the season with their current squad.

In the absence of the ability to create a manager, I opted for one of the lowest ranking Brazilian managers with an in-game face. As a result, our manager persona will be André Jardine (Current manager of Liga MX side America). This meant we headed into our 1st MyLeague season as shown below:





We have made a positive start to our promotion push with 3 wins out of 3, and we currently sit top of the table. Performances have been okay but we have definitely flattered ourselves with a couple of the results. The last two games have been really cagey affairs but Derek has been clinical up front, meaning we have been able to snatch the wins.



I mentioned that I would implement some strict ground rules to hopefully add some immersion and an ML feel to this save, these include:

- Progression set to manual, as a result player progression will only be decided by me and player stats will not automatically increase. My initial feeling is that I will wait until the end of the season and only those players who have had exceptional seasons (i.e a top scorer etc.) will be allocated progression points. Even then, this will be restricted to one or two points for key stats
- No player over the age of 30 can receive progression points
- New players can only be added to the the team at the end of each season and this will be limited to 3 new players each season
- J League rules will apply, meaning only 4 (J2) or 5 (J1) foreign players can be in the squad at any time
- Players cannot be added from teams in the same league, as this will effectively duplicate the player in the league

All games will be played on Superstar.

Hopefully this is okay to post as I know it is strictly not ML, however the premise is the same and hopefully the ground rules above mean we have a few seasons to run at this before it fizzles out 👍🏻

The ultimate goal will be promotion and to become J1 League Champions. JEF United have won the top flight previously in 1976 and 1985, prior to the formation of the J League in 1993.

Let’s bring the glory days back to Chiba

 

[rockstrongo]

Hopefully this is okay to post here guys but after feeling fatigued with PES21 and really struggling to build any kind of longevity with an FC25 career mode, I have mixed things up a bit for my next football fix.

The issues with eFootball 25 and the lack of offline modes is well known, especially with no Master League. However, personally, I find the gameplay pretty decent and I have decided to make a ‘mock’ Master League using some pretty firm ground rules using the MyLeague mode. Obviously the full immersion of ML will be missing but hopefully I can use this thread for people to follow my story and progress. With promotion, relegation and league titles on the cards there is still plenty to play for 👍🏻

I have opted for JEF United Chiba in the J2 League as my club of choice. They are a pretty successful team in Japan with a great history and fanbase, however they have recently found themselves down in the second tier of Japanese football. This gives me the chance to fight for promotion in the first instance and hopefully add some longevity to the save.

To begin with, I traded in all of my original MyTeam squad/packs so that I was able to sign all of the authentic JEF United players. Meaning we start the season with their current squad.

In the absence of the ability to create a manager, I opted for one of the lowest ranking Brazilian managers with an in-game face. As a result, our manager persona will be André Jardine (Current manager of Liga MX side America). This meant we headed into our 1st MyLeague season as shown below:

View attachment 336755

View attachment 336756

We have made a positive start to our promotion push with 3 wins out of 3, and we currently sit top of the table. Performances have been okay but we have definitely flattered ourselves with a couple of the results. The last two games have been really cagey affairs but Derek has been clinical up front, meaning we have been able to snatch the wins.

View attachment 336757

I mentioned that I would implement some strict ground rules to hopefully add some immersion and an ML feel to this save, these include:

- Progression set to manual, as a result player progression will only be decided by me and player stats will not automatically increase. My initial feeling is that I will wait until the end of the season and only those players who have had exceptional seasons (i.e a top scorer etc.) will be allocated progression points. Even then, this will be restricted to one or two points for key stats
- No player over the age of 30 can receive progression points
- New players can only be added to the the team at the end of each season and this will be limited to 3 new players each season
- J League rules will apply, meaning only 4 (J2) or 5 (J1) foreign players can be in the squad at any time
- Players cannot be added from teams in the same league, as this will effectively duplicate the player in the league

All games will be played on Superstar.

Hopefully this is okay to post as I know it is strictly not ML, however the premise is the same and hopefully the ground rules above mean we have a few seasons to run at this before it fizzles out 👍🏻

The ultimate goal will be promotion and to become J1 League Champions. JEF United have won the top flight previously in 1976 and 1985, prior to the formation of the J League in 1993.

Let’s bring the glory days back to Chiba

Best of luck mate, ger that you have fatigue from playing Pes 21, I get that from 20/21 as well, and a hell of a lot quicker than you, can't stand the stiff game play, and very predictable ai.
Hope you're getting your fix this way

 

[Kopite1990]

Best of luck mate, ger that you have fatigue from playing Pes 21, I get that from 20/21 as well, and a hell of a lot quicker than you, can't stand the stiff game play, and very predictable ai.
Hope you're getting your fix this way

Cheers Rock 👍🏻 I know you have been in similar positions with 20/21 in the past too. I’m PES through and through so unfortunately EAFC never scratches the itch for long enough or well enough, so it is back to the drawing board.

I’ve enjoyed following your recent dip back into 2017 mate, a great game when it flows 👍🏻

 

[millossobek]

Personally, I haven't grown tired of PES 2021 after all this time.. I think it's the great number of mods and customization options which gives the gameplay lots of options and variety IMO!

I think the only major plus of efootball not releasing an ML is that the PES 2021 modding community keeps growing and growing!

Great to see this thread being updated constantly! Enjoy your campaigns, bros!

 

[Kopite1990]

Personally, I haven't grown tired of PES 2021 after all this time.. I think it's the great number of mods and customization options which gives the gameplay lots of options and variety IMO!

I think the only major plus of efootball not releasing an ML is that the PES 2021 modding community keeps growing and growing!

Great to see this thread being updated constantly! Enjoy your campaigns, bros!

Hope you are doing well Milloss 👍🏻

PES21 has definitely served me well over the years and I would have been lost for a football game without it. Unfortunately I am stuck without mods due to playing console. Option Files are the best I can do but no doubt I will be back to it soon enough!

 

[millossobek]

@Kopite1990 Cheers man!! That's great to hear!! Oh hey, BTW, I thought of our conversation recently
Remember what we talked about regarding the possibility of Neymar at Santos?

It has become a reality! LINK

I wasn't a huge fan of his in Europe, but I'm really enjoying his return to Brazil!

Anyway, that was short parenthesis heheh..Back to the ML's!

 

[rockstrongo]

Back to business with my Genoa PES 17 ML.
European night away in Norway was my next stop.
A very reserve orientated team went to Trondheim for the 4th game in my Europa League campaign Vs Rosenborg
Tough game that saw me getting a early 1-0 goal and keeping that result for 90 min.

Since I've had an amazing EL run with 4/4 wins and no goals conceded I'm already through to the last 32 , and can play/SIM my games with more of a reserve team and try to keep my Coppa Italia and Serie A run with a stronger and refreshed team


Then it was of to Torino for a clash with Torino FC.
This game was amazing and so hard to get any chances created , and my defending (for at least 88+ min) was solid and this game came alive the last 10 min.


Sitting pretty good in the table after 10 games played, hopefully grabbing a top 5-6 position in the end


I'm focusing on the upcoming game, which is the big one.
Derby della lanterna vs Sampdoria.
Will be an epic battle.

 

[rockstrongo]

Okay, i kinda forgot how intense and rough the derbies are on PES 17, and this was no exception.
Me going in with a string of great games and a solid 3rd position in Serie A vs a Sampdoria second to last in the table.

Gloves came off straight away with 4 yellow cards for Sampdoria in the first half, should have been a red too if the ref had the guts to call a second yellow for Ricky Martinez
Game was dictated by me, created a lot of good chances first half and was 2-1 up.

Second half was just a battle to not get scored on some nice Sampdoria piled up a lot of chances, Muriel and Quagliarella being a real threat constantly.
Kept a cool head defending and managed to get myself a third goal and that was the final result
Completely drained after this game

My next game will be Vs Pescara, hope I don't get some derby backlash