Your weekly source of information and entertainment, Sports Journal #26 brought to you by our journalists, is here! 📖⚽

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1/ FOOTBALL QUIZ

2/ ACHIEVEMENTS OF “CLASSIC” PLAYERS #2

3/ SUPERLEAGUE SEASON 73

4/ F2P PLAYER'S EYES #3

5/ BALLAD OF THE SUPERLEAGUE BY BORAT

6/ TEAMS QUALIFIED FOR THE 2025 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

FOOTBALL QUIZ

👑 The winners of the last edition are: (Classic)

100 Keys 🔑 Premium - nobody

10,000 ⚡ Energy - nobody

Hello! I'm here with another part of the football quiz series. Of course, there are prizes in the form of 100 Keys 🔑 Premium for the first person to answer correctly and 10,000 ⚡ Energy for two random people with the correct answer. Let's get started!

1/ Football club:

A Uruguayan football club founded in 1922 in Montevideo. Initially playing in the lower leagues, in 1947 it was promoted to the Primera División, where it spent over 50 years. In 1960, the club finished second in the league, and between 1965 and 1968 it finished third four times.

The club made its debut in the Copa Libertadores in 1994, and was relegated to the second tier in 2005, quickly returning to the top flight in 2007. The club played in the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana again in the following years, although they had little success on the international stage. Despite this, they remain a key team in Uruguayan football.

2/ Manager Name and Surname:

Argentine coach known for his attacking philosophy and intense pressing. Over the years, he has managed clubs and national teams including Argentina, Chile, Athletic Bilbao and Leeds United, who he brought back to the Premier League after a 16-year absence.

He has gained cult status as a coach thanks to his unconventional personality, precise tactical analysis and attention to player development. His football philosophy has inspired many top coaches, including Pep Guardiola and Maurizio Sarri. Although his teams haven't always won trophies, the way they play has won him many fans around the world.

Author: Wylewinho

ACHIEVEMENTS OF “CLASSIC” PLAYERS #2

Dear readers!

Yes, this is the day! It's time for another article from Sports Journal issue 26 on the classic server. The previous work brought positive feedback in private messages, for which I thank you very much and remind you, I encourage you to be active in the comments section, and maybe YOU will appear in the next newsletter!

I am Andrzejek and I invite you, dear reader, to my article in which we will focus on the achievements of players from the classic server. Without further ado, let's start...

ryko007

Ryko007 is not only an assistant for the Cosa Nostra team, but also their main player, who is responsible for an important aspect of our beloved FootballTeam game, namely scoring goals! When I saw his player's achievements during the player selection, I knew right away that it would be a good choice. Although ryko007 is not a world-class striker, his individual statistics are very impressive for a first-league "striker":

League: 278G/6A in 97 matches

CT/ET: 27G/0A in 14 matches

NC: 9G/0A in 8 matches

Friendlies: 210G/7A in 93 matches

Which gives a total of 524 goals and 13 assists in 212 matches! Such numbers are not few, which is why every player, and certainly many a first-league team, would want such a striker in their ranks!

When we take a closer look at the display case, or more precisely his cabinet with medals to confirm such a number of goals, ryko007 can boast a medal of the best scorer of the first English league and a medal of the third best scorer of the first English league (both medals won while playing for Nankatsu SC).

As for the club trophies won, these are:

Spanish National Cup

8th place in the Super League

1st place in the English league

3rd place in the English league

Chódy

Every club has its star, so in this case it couldn't be any different. The Unicorn Team has an assistant, a mainstay of the defense and a handsome guy in one - here's Chódy! He is a defensive midfielder who usually plays his matches on the Super League pitches representing the colors of the previously mentioned Unicorn Team.

Do defensive midfielders score goals at all? Let's check it out!

League: 11G/57A in 81 games

CT/ET: 4G/1A in 6 matches

NC: -

Friendlies: 52G/93A in 95 matches

Which gives a total of 67 goals and 151 assists in 182 matches, which for a defender is certainly impressive. It is worth mentioning that despite everything, interventions are very important in the defensive line position, of which he scored a total of 245 in 182 matches. As an individual achievement, Chódy's one, but very important, is the medal for first place - the award for the best defender in the Super League in the third season.

When it comes to the club's showcase, it is a bit worse, but it is worth remembering that this is a team game based on competition:

3rd place in the Top Club Week

4th place in the Super League

7th place in the Super League

1st place in the English second league

Kaneki Ken

The talented central midfielder of the FC Szturmownik team Kaneki Ken is undoubtedly their undisputed leader of the midfield. At first glance, this player stands out not only with a higher OVR level than his teammates in the locker room, but he is also characterized by intense training and the work he puts in to become a better player every day.

Kaneki Ken's individual achievements may not be the best, to put it mildly, but he won a very important trophy on his own, which is a nice distinction. Before we move on to awards and trophies, let's first take a look at the statistics:

League: 83G/119A in 86 matches

CT/ET: 19G/12A in 15 matches

NC: 8G/6A in 7 matches

Friendlies: 62G/72A in 83 matches

Which gives a total of 172 goals and 209 assists in 191 matches. So the statistics are worthy of praise. As I mentioned earlier, Kaneki Ken won individual awards, which are the silver boot for the third season and the medal for the second best midfielder in the Italian second division.

As for the club's showcase, we can see a modest cup here, but it gives promotion for first place in the Italian second division in the first season.

That's it! Thanks for today and I invite you to the comments section 🙂

Author: Andrzejek

SUPERLEAGUE SEASON 73

We have had a new adjustment to the game, which has led the best-ranked teams to new national leagues. But this week, our focus is on the SuperLeague, which is still in its current format.

After two rounds, we will bring you the teams' rankings and individual highlights from this new season.

First place in the game rankings, Public Enemies is the big favorite in the Super League, and has started by winning its first two games, scoring 13 goals and conceding only 1.

Second place in the rankings, Кремень is fifth in the competition, with one win and one loss, scoring 5 goals and conceding 10.

Third place in the rankings,  Monster FC, is also third in the competition, with two wins, scoring 12 goals and conceding 2.

Fourth place in the rankings, TeamTsubasa is second in the competition with two wins, scoring 13 goals and conceding 1.

Fifth place in the rankings, The Legends OW is sixth in the competition with one draw and one loss, scoring 2 and conceding 8 goals.

Sixth in the ranking, ФК Беркут, is fourth in the competition, with one win and one defeat, scoring 5 goals and conceding 10.

Seventh in the ranking, FC HIENAS, is eighth in the competition, having suffered two defeats, scored 2 goals and conceded 12.

Eighth in the ranking, Новиград, is seventh in the competition, having scored 3 goals and conceded 11 goals.

Let's look at the individual statistics:

Top scorers

1st Rob727 1208, from TeamTsubasa, who scored 11 goals

2nd Chazz Palminteri from Public Enemies, who scored 10 goals

3rd Adam76 from Monster FC, who scored 7 goals

Top assists

1st Drivery from Monster FC, who gave 4 assists

2nd Mazotik from  Monster FC, with 3 assists

3rd Gusar from Кремень, with 2 assists

Top defenders

1st Matushevsky US, from TeamTsubasa

2nd Żniwiarz Dusz from TeamTsubasa

3rd Teyo from Новиград

Goalkeepers

1st Gianluigi Buffon from Public Enemies

2nd DamianosDW from TeamTsubasa

3rd Lewan RS from Monster FC

And we still have many rounds before the end of the season.

See you next week.

Author: Fábio Muri

F2P PLAYER'S EYES #3

Today's article is a kind of summary of this series of articles, in which the most famous and recognizable F2P players share with us their thoughts on the market, earning credits and the general situation in the game. For "dessert" my interlocutor is Łasica, a character who, through his actions, even got special packages from the game administration, and in addition, he always has something to say about the game, especially event packages.

How would you compare the FootballTeam market with what it used to be and what it is now, what did you earn the most from during your years of playing on the Polish server?

Comparing the current market in the game to that from years ago, even though drinks and fragments were added to the game, which is why there are now more options to buy/sell, it was much easier for me personally in the past and I will give two examples why.

The first is the booster market from years ago, here I mean the times of the old specialization unlocking system, when the unlocking cost increased by 5 boosters for every 5 levels of trained specialization, it was the one that in my opinion could generate the greatest profits.

This system caused a huge demand for boosters related to the most frequently trained skills. Boosters for fitness sometimes exceeded the price of 100 credits for 1 booster, and those for gameplay 80 credits. Supply was a paradise for traders and a problem for the rest of the players and the entire game. There were no collections in which you could hit them, there were no booster packs, and the only way to obtain them was to hit them with a training bonus.

Interestingly, despite the fact that the general number of players had no chance of "producing" so many boosters that everyone could train, someone on the market practically every day added some of them, always at a price of 10 credits each. There are a few theories as to where they came from, but this will probably remain a secret of FootballTeam.

In any case, active traders would catch these incredibly attractively priced boosters and then sell them for many times more (including me). Catching such a cheap booster was not that easy, however, because on the market from the time they appeared to the time they disappeared in the vast majority of cases in 2 seconds at most.

A daily earnings of 3000-5000 Credits was not a great feat back then, but in the long run it was also risky, because it was possible that the administration was reluctant to believe that someone would want to refresh the market every now and then for an hour or two and did not necessarily treat such a user as a human being, so to speak. Not to mention the load on the server when more people flew there in search of a bargain and everyone refreshed the page every second.

The current booster market is no longer as attractive, since you can buy boosters for fitness for 5 credits and boosters for gameplay for 4, because even if someone wanted to earn 1 credit, many players buy them individually, so that the seller would pay 1 credit "fee" for each one, which makes it completely pointless.

Generally, despite the absurdity and considerable flaws of that system, which had to be changed, I fondly remember the booster market from back then and sometimes I said that never before or ever after did so much happen in FT.

And what was the second way, apart from the booster market?

The second way of earning money, which in my opinion has lost its importance over time, and which I used a lot, is trading gray and blue items. The demand for them came from the greater willingness of players to exchange collections of items. Many players, wanting to sell such a gray or blue item, only checked its lowest price looking only at its color, but they did not take into account either the country/club that such an item represents or the type of item. For example, they put the cheapest grey Italy shirt for 15 credits, when they were worth 2-3 times more and sold out quite quickly, especially when the event for triple rewards for collections came on.

Now, because the prices of such items do not often exceed 20 credits per item, the chance of earning money has decreased (but it still exists), because even if we hit an item for 1 credit, we will not earn as much on it as we could before. For example, once by hitting a grey Russia item for 20 credits, where the minimum price of a grey Russia item was 80 credits, and during the event even 150-200, we could earn at least 55 credits. Now, by also hitting a Russia item even for 1 credit, we will earn a maximum of 16 credits on it.

I do not know what exactly caused the trade in these items to stop being as profitable as it used to be; whether it was the drop in interest in collections after the administration's decision that there would be no more "x3" events, the growing importance of event packs, or simply a smaller number of players, but to this day I have over 3,500 items from those better times that I couldn't sell, or didn't want to sell anymore.

Where does your attachment to event packs come from?

Probably unintentionally.When the item market declined and I didn't really want to follow it anymore, the package market seemed like an interesting alternative, it was simple and predictable at first. Everything was under one tab, the default prices were known because they were dictated from above by the administration, everything was fine... until they started removing them without giving any reason and in a chaotic, unpredictable order.

Why do event packages always stay with you until the very end, which is why you often argue with the administration about them and ask why these particular packages should be removed?

Why do I keep them until the very end and I'd rather have them removed than just open them?

Well, because I buy them with the intention of reselling them and I'm waiting for the right price.

How many credits did you have the most on your account and what did you earn the most on?

Hmm... the credits alone were around 190 thousand, but I can't say what I earned the most on at one time, I guess it was one of the event packages.

Why do you spend less time on the market now and is it not as interesting to you as it used to be?

In recent years, the rivalry between clubs in leagues and cups has decreased significantly, usually it is clear from the very beginning who will win. Because of this, the desire to spend time trying to be better, knowing that it won't change anything in the competition decreased. Since for a long time we had no chance of first place in the league anyway, at some point I came to the conclusion that I don't care so much about those extra 500 ZP and 1000 Energy per season for taking a higher place in the league to spend several dozen minutes a day on the market.

Card duels also played a large part in this, as you have to devote a lot of time to them, since the rewards for them are higher than for the league. And somehow they have to be played according to the principle that if I'm playing a football game, it means that I'm interested in this aspect of the game, but since the second module has bigger rewards than the basic one, should I focus on it?

Well, I guess so, although let's face it, it's quite strange, but I didn't come up with it.

Author: Carlos Moura

BALLAD OF THE SUPERLEAGUE BY BORAT

Good day, esteemed readers of the sports magazine!

Today, my article will be in a slightly different format, and I hope you enjoy it.

In the movie "Gladiator," Marcus Aurelius said: "Once, Rome was a sacred dream. It was spoken of in whispers. We feared that the dream could vanish — so fragile was it."

Once, for many, the SuperLeague was a dream. At first, the dream was simply to get there, then to achieve the first victories and win the first trophies. Much later, some had another dream — to become the most titled hero by winning the SuperLeague the most times. But this dream broke through the very principle of the SuperLeague's existence. 

This obsession led to the necessity of becoming stronger at any cost, so that no one could hinder the path to this goal. Your opponents grow weaker, their strength dwindling. And then you become so strong that you dominate! Your opponents tremble before you! After months, the peak of the mountain is within reach; you just need to extend your hand. One last step, and the goal is achieved! Hooray! Elation… it seems…

But there is no joy on your face. The goal you have been pursuing is right in front of you; you’ve grasped it with a steel grip, and it will not slip away. But where is the elation? The formation of this goal has choked all other desires at its roots. And you are left with nothing. Alone on the mountain of greatness, with the crown of the victor. And no one but you needs your crown, just as no one needs your greatness. And you no longer need it, either.

You want to return to the past when you only dreamed of entering the SuperLeague, dreamed of battles that would inspire legends! But that is impossible. You do not yet realize it, but ahead of you lies only oblivion.

The fragile dream shattered against your own ego, leaving behind only emptiness.

But you are not alone in this; you are merely the first. Not much time has passed, and many heroes have already gone through this, and many more will follow, and just like their predecessors, they will also fall from the summit!

And now, another hero stands proudly before the challenge of becoming the best among the best. A long journey awaits, but even now, when the dream is still far away, a thought quietly creeps into the minds of the travelers: will this path be interesting, filled with great battles against worthy opponents, or is there only a desolate wasteland ahead, where they will have to walk alone… for a long time?

While their spirit is not yet broken, the thrill of recently defeated opponents still echoes among them. But this thrill will not last long. What awaits them ahead will plunge them into despair, rather than make them tremble…

And I have been in such a SuperLeague! I was a hero, vanquishing my enemies without resistance, and I was a speck against a stronger hero. But I was also in another SuperLeague. The one I dreamed of, the one spoken of in whispers… There were many heroes there, but there was no desire to dominate; there was a desire to fight. And those were glorious battles.

Now that SuperLeague is no more, and it hasn’t been for a long time. It has changed, and a Damoclean sword has silently been cast over it. It has not much time left. Soon, its story will come to an end, just as it has for its heroes, whose names are almost forgotten.

But even after it, there will be a loser — only one hero could not conquer this peak. He was a loyal companion to many travelers who overcame this summit, but he himself never climbed it. Yet their spirit is as strong as Кремень. No other hero possessed such character. And if he had had more time, I guarantee that this hero would eventually conquer the peak. He would outlast all the others and steadily continue on his way. Even if it took him a very long time. 

Well, how much time is allotted to the Super League, only the gods know…

“Is this really the epilogue? Let the titans be remembered! People bloom and wither like ears of corn in the fields, but these names will never die.” - Odysseus, film “Troy”

Author: Борат 

TEAMS QUALIFIED FOR THE 2025 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAYOFFS: A NEW ERA OF EXPLOSIVE CONFRONTATIONS

The 2025 Champions League group stage has come to an end, and with it, the excitement and unpredictability that marked this historic edition. Eight teams have secured direct places in the round of 16, while 16 others will face thrilling playoffs in search of glory.

Round of 16

Liverpool, Barcelona, ​​Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atlético de Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa.

Playoffs

Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Milan, PSV, PSG, Benfica, Monaco, Brest, Feyenoord, Juventus, Celtic, Manchester City, Sporting and Club Brugge.

Playoff Favorites

Despite the unpredictability of football, some teams stand out and can be considered favorites for the playoffs:

Real Madrid

The greatest winner of the Champions League, with an experienced squad accustomed to playing under pressure, as well as a history of success in European competitions.

Bayern Munich

Another European giant, with a star-studded squad and an attacking and engaging style of play, which could be very effective in the playoffs.

Manchester City

One of the richest and most powerful teams in the world, with a squad full of talent and a top coach in Pep Guardiola. The English team plays an attacking and dominant style of football, which could be difficult to stop in the playoffs.

Other Candidates

In addition to the three favorites mentioned above, other teams could also surprise in the playoffs. Paris Saint-Germain, for example, has a star-studded squad and an ambitious project to win the Champions League. Liverpool, Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid are also traditional teams with the potential to go far in the competition.

Stay Tuned

The playoff draw will be held on Friday, January 31.

The playoff games will be played in February 2025.

The 2025 Champions League Round of 16 will begin in March 2025.

Author: Fábio Muri