Rebuilding FC Barcelona on every FIFA since FIFA 14 Part 8: FIFA 21
By Jim James
The second last part of the series. We’re getting to the oober-new FIFAs now. I have some good experience in this FIFA, so I can’t wait to get started. Mbappe on the cover, and finally position converting. I longed for this on so many FIFAs. I would’ve signed a lot of different players if I could have converted their position, so the imagination can just run rampant. On to the FIFA 20 accolades.
Top Scorer:
Kylian Mbappe, 68 goals
Top 3 Signings:
- Kylian Mbappe
- Neymar
- Virgil Van Dijk
Season 1
In the last squad update of FIFA 21, they got Messi to PSG, so we actually start without him. I’m using this to sign the best player that I haven’t signed in the whole series so far. Cristiano Ronaldo. CR7 is going to lead our front line after we sign him for $90 million. This team is going to be the one I make the most changes as the only two players in the entire team fit for Champions League winners that we start with are De Jong and Ter Stegen. However, we do get a 5x winner, so that helps. This will be one of the trickiest CMs yet.
We put almost the entire team on the TL, and we sell Samu Umtiti for $38 million and Antoine Griezmann for $85 million. To replace Griezmann, a flashy, emotional, successful international player who’s career has plummeted since 2019 and can barely score, we get a player who’s the exact opposite. A cool-headed and not flashy, unsuccessful international player, who’s career has jumped higher than Cristiano Ronaldo for a header since 2019 who can’t get out of the way of goals, a player linked with Barca in real life, Erling Haaland. We get him for a cut-price $175 million, as Dortmund got an at least $100 million counterweight, and a direct Haaland replacement, Martin Braithwaite in a player swap + cash deal.
We loan out Ansu Fati to Torino for 2 years, sell Junior Firpo to Arsenal for $28.5 million, and Sergi Busquets to Liverpool for $59.7 million. We put a few players out on loan, with Iliax Moriba and Pedri highlighting it. We sell Jordi Alba for $60 million, Nico Gonzalez for $2 million, Sergi Roberto for $40 million, Phil Coutinho for $48 million, and we sign wonderkids to replace them. We’re in for the long haul. We sign Rodri for $139 million, Nicolo Barella for $89 million, Gab Martinello for $20 million, Evan Ndicka for $32 million, and Rayan Cherki for $3 million + Alex Collado.
In January Lenglet’s release clause of $108 million is activated, so to replace him we sign De Ligt for $184 million. We move to the knockouts.
Man Utd first. The less said about the last time we played them in the Champions League in this series, the better. We’re at full strength for the first leg, and in FIFA 21 we have live sim, so we’ll use that. The leg in England, here we go!
23rd minute, Dembele snags the ball on the counter attack, runs for a while, passes to Ronaldo inside the box who passes to an open Erling Haaland who scores. 0-1 us.
27th minute, Ronaldo passes to Barella off the throw in, puts it to Martinelli who plays a couple of passes with Rodri, who turns and shoots from inside the box and scores, 0-2 us.
Full Time, 0-2 us, looks like we’re going through!
Full Strength for the second leg, let’s go!
79th minute, Pique gets the ball on the edge of the area from the corner, and shrugs off 1, 2, 3 and puts it into the corner past De Gea, Messi vs Napoli style! 1-0 us, 3-0 on aggregate
WE’RE GOING THROUGH! 3-0 aggregate!
PSG in the quarters. The first time in the whole series we’re facing Messi, and the front 3 that won us the champions league in FIFA 20, is now standing in our way. It’s a very poetic matchup. Here we go, the leg in Barcelona first.
41st minute, it’s a long ball by Rodri who finds Dembele on the counter, he gets to the box and fires the shot past Navas and into the goal. 1-0 us.
57th minute, Martinelli finds himself with a defender between him and Haaland, but he tries the long ball anyway. The ball deflects off the defender to Haaland, who scores. 2-0 us.
66th minute, Ndidi gets the ball for PSG, he puts it to Mbappe who puts it to Draxler, who scores. 2-1 us.
90th minute, Barella finds himself with the ball on the edge of the area. He plays it to Ronaldo in the box, who finds Haaland with an open net who scores. 3-1 us.
We leave Barcelona with a two-goal lead and our fingers crossed.
In Paris now, squad still at full strength, we go on for the 2nd leg.
71st minute, Messi is running down the wing. He plays a 1-2 with Neymar, gets into the box, and fires it past the keeper. 1-0 them 2-3 us on aggregate.
88th Minute, Mbappe has the ball on the edge of the area, puts it to Neymar, who scores. 2-0 them, 3*-3 on aggregate, PSG leading on away goals.
90th minute, Messi snags the ball from kickoff, who puts it to Mbappe, who runs for a while, and then scores to seal the game. 3-0 them, 4-3 on aggregate.
It’s a saddening defeat. Especially with Messi orchestrating two of the goals. But we go again next season. It’s the first time we’re knocked out before the final since FIFA 15. Again, a good run but with our team you can’t expect Champions League glory in season 1, if it took 5 years to do it with treble winners.
We do win the domestic double, so it isn’t an abysmal season.
Season 2
We’re starting the season with a madness. Selling Dest for funds, and signing two staples of the series to go along with Ronaldo and Haaland, Lionel Messi for $120 million and Kylian Mbappe for a series record $225.2 million. We also sell Dembele for $142 million and sign Milan Skriniar for $130 million.
Halfway through the season, we’re 2nd in La Liga, in the Copa Del Rey, and we won the group. Inter is first in the knockouts.
The matchup is here. MHCM is ready for liftoff in the knockout stage. Italian leg, here we come.
33rd minute, some passing outside the box, Ronaldo finds Nicolo Barella bursting through with space, and he passes to Barella, who scores. 0-1 us.
Full time, we get the 1-0 win, should be enough to get us to the quarterfinals.
Entire squad still healthy for the second leg, let’s begin!
9th minute, Hakimi fouls Ronaldo in the box, who converts the penalty. 1-0 us, 2-0 on aggregate
44th minute, Inter’s Antoine Griezmann finds himself in the box, and passes to Lukaku who has an open net, who scores. 1-1, 2-1 us on aggregate.
50th minute, Messi and Haaland play a 1-2 inside the box and it gets to Messi who blasts it past Handanovic. 2-1 us, 3-1 us on aggregate.
55th minute, de Jong finds Mbappe bursting past the defense, and plays a through ball to him, and he fires it past Handanovic. 3-1 us, 4-1 us on aggregate.
Full time, and we get past Inter with ease, 4-1 on aggregate.
Dortmund in the next round. However, it is the home leg first. We need a big result here. Haaland vs his former team.
13th minute Mbappe running on the counter, finds Erling Haaland in the middle, who blasts it home. 1-0 us.
20th minute, Messi finds Barella, who runs to the 1-on-1, however he finds himself at a bad angle, but that isn’t a problem for him, he scores anyway. 2-0 us.
38th minute Ronaldo gets the ball from a throw-in, sees Barella in the box, passes to him, and he scores. 3-0 us.
45th minute Messi gets the ball from a short corner, crosses it to Rodri who heads it past Anthony Lopes. 4-0 us. It’s HALF TIME.
A big win is what we wanted, and a big win was what we got. 4-0 vs Dortmund, and Semi-Finals here we come!
Second leg, full strength. Let’s close out this tie and maybe get a few more!
21st minute, playing off confusion, Brandt passes it to Thorgan Hazard, who’s free, and he scores. 1-0 them, 1-4 us on aggregate.
33rd minute Rodri runs up the pitch, finds an open Ronaldo, who turns, shoots, and scores. 1-1, 1-5 us on aggregate.
81st minute Ronaldo fires a shot but it’s saved, he gets it back passes it to Haaland who one-times it home. 1-2 us, 1-6 us on aggregate.
There we go, full time, we pound Dortmund. 6-1, semi finals, here we come!
Man U is up next. We’ve done well vs them recently, full strength, 1st leg in Barcelona, let’s make it to the final!
13’ Luke Shaw fouls Ronaldo in the box, and Ronaldo converts the penalty! 1-0 us.
29th minute, Mason Greenwood on the edge of the box, finds Marcus Rashford, who scores. 1-1.
90th minute, Barella on the wing, passes to Rodri who finds de Jong in the box, who scores. 2-1 us.
Just a 2-1 is worrying, but I think we can hold off Man U at Old Trafford in the second leg.
Let’s hold them off, let’s win, let’s go through to the final!
7’ Messi gets the ball back, runs with it, passes it to Haaland, who finds Mbappe with an open net, who scores. 0-1 us, 1-3 on aggregate.
28’ Rafa fouls Mbappe in the box, Ronaldo converts the pen! 0-2 us 1-4 us on aggregate!
58’ Pogba has the ball on the edge of the box, passes to Rafa, who passes to Bruno, who scores. 1-2 us, 2-4 on aggregate.
Full Time, and we’re through to the champions league final!!!
Man City in the Champions League Final. Full Strength. Here we go.
9’ Ferran has the ball on the edge of the area, crosses to De Bruyne who heads it in. 1-0 them. An awful start.
24’ Gabi Jesus runs down the field, deking out player after player, and scores. 2-0 them. Oh no.
Full-Time. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
I just want this to be over, but for the first time since FIFA 15, we’re having more than 2 seasons. We win the Copa Del Rey, and we finish 2nd in La Liga. We move.
Season 3
Gerard Pique and Cristiano Ronaldo both went to Man U on frees, so we switch our formation from the old time 3-3-4 formation to a 3-4-3 diamond. We also have some money, so we raid the club that beat us in the Champins League final for Phil Foden ($163.8 mil + Ansu Fati) and Ruben Dias ($135 mil + J.C. Todibo). We also sign Antony from Ajax as a Messi backup and future Messi heir for $61 million + Gab Martinelli.
After signing him for $139 million, we sell Rodri for the biggest fee ever in this series, and probably the biggest fee I’ve ever received for any player in the entirety of my playing FIFA; $305 million to Man U. That’s a lot of players to Man U this window, but when a $305 million offer comes in for anyone, you accept it. We also sell Neto for $17 million, Matheus Fernandes for $3.7 million, Miralem Pjanic for $36 million, and we loan out Francisco Trincao. I’ve got Rodri’s replacement sorted, don’t worry.
Joshua Kimmich is in for $155 million. I also signed Matvey Safonov for $34 million from Bayern as a backup, and Harvey Elliott was a free agent so I signed him, too. I’ll use the rest of the money in January.
We sign Vini Jr. for $146 million in January as a backup left winger.
Champions League knockouts, I think they’ll be the last of FIFA 21. Away leg vs AC Milan. Erling Haaland is suspended so I’m playing Messi striker and Vini on the right. Here we go.
18’ Skriniar on the edge of the box, plays it to Mbappe in space who scores. 0-1 us.
32’ Theo runs on the the counter, goes to the edge of the 18, passes to Saelemaekers who finds Jeremy Boga who scores. 1-1.
40’ Vini Jr passes to an open Messi who turns past Lacroix and fires it past Donnarumma. 1-2 us.
83’ Phil Foden passes the ball to Messi, his shot is saved by Donnarumma, but not hard enough. It more deflects off of him and Messi pounces. 1-3 us.
Full Time. 1-3 us, we have to be through now.
2nd leg, Haaland’s back let’s seal this tie!
27’ After some passing, Kessie finds Rebic who scores, Milan have one of the 3 they need. 0-1 them, 3-2 us on aggregate.
59’ Kimmich and Mbappe pass to each other for a bit, until Mbappe does the “Pass and Go” technique, Kimmich lobs to him, Mbappe one-times it into the net. 1-1, 4-2 us on aggregate.
75’ Skriniar fouls Rebic in the box, but Tielemans misses the penalty.
88’ De Jong on the edge of the box, fake shots it, finds Mbappe, who furthers the embarrassment. 2-1 us, 5-2 us on aggregate.
Full Time, and vs AC Milan, we were always going to beat them.
Inter in the quarters, and Ruben Dias is injured, after being injured before, too. He’ll miss the whole tie, and probably even the semi-finals should we make it there. But vs Inter, we should. The away leg first.
11’ Kimmich has the pass to the running de Jong, who passes to Barella, who passes back to de Jong who scores. 0-1 us. An early lead in Milan.
32’ de Jong runs into the box, plays a 1-2 with Foden, and scores his brace. 0-2 us.
45’ Haaland passes with Mbappe, but he spots Foden running into space, so he passes to him, and Foden scores. 0-3!
59’ Foden has the ball outside the box, and as he’s just scored the defense are marking hi tightly, allowing Mbappe to get free. Foden spots this, gets the ball to Mbappe who practically has a 1-on-1. He scores. 0-4 in Milan!
Full Time, a HUGE win, misery for Milan as I’m about to knock out both of their teams.
2nd leg. Ruben Dias, as I said, still injured. Same team as the first leg, let’s go!
23’ Hakimi runs into the box, finds an open Galeno who scores. They’ve got one back. 0-1 them, 4-1 us on aggregate.
Full Time, 4-1. Onwards and upwards!
Man City in the Semi-Finals. We lost to them in the Champions League final, snagged two of their players, gave them two, however only one of them is starting. Ruben Dias is still injured, and none of the players I gave to Man City appear to be starting. Antony now gets a place in our full strength starting XI, he’s better than Messi now, the 1st leg in Manchester begins!
8’ Antony runs down the wing, passes to Barella, who passes to Haaland who passes to Foden who scores! A goal vs his former side! 0-1 us!
23’ Ndicka plays a long ball to Erling Haaland, who gets it on the edge of the area, he passes to an open Kimmich who scores. 0-2 us!
90’ de Ligt fouls Sterling in the box, but Nmecha misses the penalty.
Full time, and we may have just sealed our place in the final.
Ruben Dias is healthy for the second leg, let’s go, and get to the final!
13’ Bernardo Silva gets the ball 35 yard out, passes to Immobile, who scores. 0-1 them, 2-1 us on aggregate.
26’ Barella gets the ball on the counter, plays it to Haaland, who scores. 1-1, 3-1 us on aggregate.
37’ De Bruyne makes something out of nothing and passes to Bernardo Silva, who scores. 1-2 them, 3-2 us on aggregate. Why does this always have to happen?
Full Time. We’re through after a nervewracking second half.
Chelsea in the final. A young team on both sides, my heart is pounding. Let’s go.
35’ Messi gets the ball. He passes to de Ligt, who passes it to Haaland, who passes it to Mbappe who has an open net. 1-0 us.
Full Time. WE’VE WON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!!!!!!
As well as winning The Champions League, we won the treble! We won La Liga with 94 points nd beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the Copa Del Rey final.
The longest post yet, despite it being only 3 seasons. I have a headache currently. This took so long. Part 9 out soon, likely tomorrow, so see you soon.
p.s. Happy 4th birthday to Barca’s 3-0 win vs Real Madrid on Christmas Eve Eve. The Good old Days.