Just as well I claimed FM24 for free from epic…
I cracked my FM20 Kaiserslautern save back open a few nights back. I’d put it away for a few months as whilst I had built a great young side (averaging maybe 23 in age) that won the Bundesliga 3 of the last 5 seasons, I was constantly getting knocked out in the first knockout stage of the champions league. Most of the other teams are outspending me on wages by 4 or 5 times. Save is maybe 11 seasons old.
Couldn’t be arsed to push through 3 or 4 seasons to get my team to their peak just get knocked out anyway.
Decided to give it one more go, save was about half way through the season approaching end of group stage, come second having had my team handed it’s arse to it by a dominant Chelsea side twice, albeit the last game we had both already qualified and they would be first and FCK would finish 2nd regardless.
Gave my B team a run (an entirely different 11), including a 34 year old who had come up with me from 3. Liga to the Bundesliga, become a legend of the club but went elsewhere for game time in his peak. The rest of the team are still decent to good players , probably capable of a comfortable top half finish in the league.
Brought him back for sentimentality reasons last season, even though he wouldn’t make a Bundesliga 2 side, figured I could afford the EUR4k pw salary.
Get drawn first leg at home agaisnt Barcelona. Somehow the kids are outrageously clinical on the counter and we win first leg 3 0 despite 38% possession, and we hang on to 1 all away.
Real Madrid next… and again get the home leg first. We actually do well in the first leg but poor finishing means we only finish 1 nil. Get smashed in first half of the 2nd leg and very lucky to go in having only conceded 1. Mentally prepare to put the save out to pasture.
Lose my shit in the dressing room, has no impact but on 65 minutes, a real player loses their head, 2 foots one of mine, red card and from there it’s all over for them, we score 3 and I start wondering what if…
Meanwhile, in the league my lead has reduced from 7 points to 2 as said B team is playing the majority of the games so that I have a fresh side for the ECL (and domestic cup) challenge. Have dropped the 34 year old from the B team cos he sucks.
Tottenham next - home leg first again… more clinical finishing sees 3 nil in the first leg and 3 1 away as we pick them off on the counter. Stats suggested a 3 2 aggregate loss or so would have been more representative, but my keeper and striker had great games, theirs didn’t.
Other side of the draw sees top of the EPL Man Utd vs 8th place in Bundesliga (Hoffenheim I think). Hope for the upset, but no, 5 nil to utd.
League lead has built back to 7 with 2nd place having 3 to play, me only 2. My next game is 1st vs 2nd, start stressing about whether to play the 2nd team in that game to prioritise champions league or not.
Watch their game in hand which they some lose to a mid table lot! Problem solved.
Domestic cup run continues and we make the final of that too. Fairly straightforward win there too, my team being much fresher due to heavy use of the B team in the league over the final months.
Turns out the champions league final is to be played at Old Trafford. Against Man Utd, I figure that the game is conspiring against me. Decide that if I lose, I’m going to pack up FM again for the next forever, because it’s the hope that kills you.
Game day comes. We are completely dominant due to the freshness of our players, but we only score one in the first half and they equalise on half time. Start second half in the same way, my world class striker and (not world class) left wing having terrible games missing sitters and easy passes. Get hit on the counter on 60 minutes and again Mentally prepare to put the save away forever.
Bring on an out of position AM to play left wing and bring on my 2nd best striker. Think about a triple change but keep one sub up my sleeve just in case.
3 min later, my subs combine. 2 after that, it happens again. Penalty in the 85th seals it (and the hattrick for my sub striker), and as I had the one sub remaining, bring on my 34 year old legend for injury time.
Having now won the treble, have packed the save up anyway!
TL;DR
Picked up my old save which I stopped playing because I thought it would be too much effort to play another 5 seasons to still miss out on winning the champions league, win it immediately, bringing on an aging club legend in the 89th minute (who was retiring next day) so he could lift the trophy.
In real life, said legend Theodor Bergmann left FCK after like 2 seasons and retired at the age of 27 or so. Someone somewhere suggests he didn’t have his contact extended as he refused to get jabbed, no idea how true that is.
I prefer FM20 Theodor.
