With just one week to go before the returning of the eFootball™ Championship Pro for the final round of the 2023 season, it's worth taking a look back at what happened during the Regular League season, which finished on a high note last May 27th.
After seven matchdays and 84 games, FC Barcelona has topped the league’s table and obtained the direct pass to the semifinals along with second-placed Manchester United. Arsenal FC lost the leadership obtained in matchday 6 and will have to play the quarterfinals against an AC Milan that surprisingly got a clean sweep against the Gunners, securing for the italians the thought feat of reaching the KO Stages. The other quarterfinals will be FC Bayern München against AS Roma after the Bavarians lost all their 3 games against Manchester United and AS Roma took 6 points from their encounter with FC Barcelona. Sadly, the reigning champions, AS Monaco, has to say goodbye to the competition in a dramatic change of events to end the Regular League with. Despite finishing as the league’s top scorer with 20 goals, AS Monaco’s captain Usmakabyle and his teammates had to pack up and go back home, along with a very disappointing FC Inter.
FC BARCELONA (Regular League’s 1st position)
The Catalan club concluded the Regular Season of eFootball™ Championship Pro in first place, tied on points with Manchester United but with the goal difference in their favor. They were the second most victorious team with 11 wins, right after the Gunners with 12, and also made the second highest number of goals (39). The Blaugrana outfit, captained by Spaniard The Palma, the only returning player from last season, held the league lead from matchday two until the penultimate matchday, when they were beaten by Arsenal FC after a heavy defeat, but they regained the league lead on the final matchday to go straight through to the semifinals.The Culers players have put in a solid performance that has led them to be the team with the fewest defeats in the competition (5), of which only 1 was by Ettorito97, who finished as the player with the most wins (6) and the second most goals (18). Meanwhile, Spain's Alex Alguacil collected 4 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss and captain The Palma was only able to secure 1 win and 3 draws.
MANCHESTER UNITED (Regular League’s 2nd position)
Against all odds, the Red Devils finished the Regular League in second place tied on points, wins, draws and defeats with FC Barcelona, who ended up taking the lead thanks to a better goal difference in the direct match between the two teams. The Manchester side surprised everyone after securing a direct passage to the semifinals on the last matchday thanks to a full house against FC Bayern München, having started the last matchday in fourth place and looking a long way off a Top 2 finish. Their new squad of French talents such as Lotfi, Kilzyou and Nekza were expected to dominate matches from the beginning of the competition, but the ex-Monegasques started hesitantly and with lukewarm performances until they began to pick up form from mid-season onwards. Nekza, last season's MVP with AS Monaco, has scored the most points for his team with 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, while Kilzyou achieved one less win and Lotfi has not managed more than 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses. In addition, they received two Goal of the Day awards in matchday 2 and 5 for Nekza and Lotfi respectively.
ARSENAL FC (Regular League’s 3rd position)
The Gunners' good season has been marred by losing the league lead on the last matchday and falling to third place, out of direct qualification for the semifinals. The team captained by the usual Gunner INDOMINATOR has spent most of the season in second place, finishing as the winningest and highest scoring team with 12 wins and 40 goals scored, but also the third with the most defeats (8). They are also top in total shots (117) and shots on target (86). The Red players have had intermittent performances throughout the season, with tough defeats and, at other times, crucial victories. Roksa22 has been the lighthouse of this team, scoring five wins and two defeats with a total of 16 goals, which has taken him to third place in the scoring charts. The eEuro 2021 champion has been well accompanied by the Dutch INDOMINATOR, who has one less win than the Serbian, and the Polish Ostrybuch, who has finished the league with a balance of 3 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats. In addition, the Gunners have won two Goal of the Day awards in two consecutive matchdays, the third and the fourth, which went to Roksa22 and INDOMINATOR respectively.
FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN (Regular League’s 4th position)
The Bavarians have had to be content with fourth place in the league despite battling for a top-two finish all season long. The German side started the season with two setbacks after drawing with AS Monaco and losing to FC Barcelona by the narrowest of margins, but the Munich outfit recovered to the point where they were close to the Top 2 after matchday 5, where they would have settled had it not been for the 3-point penalty they suffered after breaking a rule. Even so, the team formed by Spaniards FCB_Jose and FCB_Mestre and Turkey's Mucahit21 have shown their defensive solidity and efficiency, being the lowest scoring team in the league with 24 goals (tied with FC Barcelona) and the third with the most clean sheets (5), having won many of their games by the minimum difference. Both captain FCB_Jose and FCB_Mestre have 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats each, while Mucahit21 has one draw less, as he did not play on matchday 2 in which his replacement, Jvictor, was defeated. In addition, FCB_Jose won the Goal of the Day award on matchday 6.
AS ROMA (Regular League’s 5th position)
The Giallorossi secured their place in the quarterfinals on the final day of the league season after comprehensively beating previously unbeaten FC Barcelona. However, the Romans have not had an easy season, with ups and downs and heavy defeats that have seen them languishing in mid-table and on the brink of the relegation places. But the team captained by Romanian ASR_URMA43 never gave up and thanks to their 3 wins and 2 draws, added to the points obtained with the four wins and three defeats of ASR_STIFFLER and the 3 draws and only win of ASR_Gagliardo28, they managed to secure fifth place as the team with the second most clean sheets of the season (6).
AC MILAN (Regular League’s 6th position)
The Rossoneri achieved the greatest feat of the season so far after qualifying for the quarterfinals with everything going against them. For the first time ever, the Milanese debuted in the competition at the top of the table after the first matchday, but after a series of bad results, they fell to the mid-table positions, and for the rest of the season they were always on the verge of not qualifying. Going into the final league matchday with too many handicaps and barriers to believe they could make it through to the quarterfinals, the Italians took advantage of AS Monaco's unexpected defeats against FC Inter and won all three games against then leaders Arsenal FC to sneak into the last free passage to the KO Stages. However, on the season's overall tally, a better performance was expected from the Milanese players, all of whom were tournament debutants. In the end, the Italian team has been the second with the most defeats (10) and the third with the most goals conceded (38) so far and they are not even in the top 3 teams with the most shots on goal despite being the third with the most total shots (100). Captain ACM Naples17x, champion of the eFootball™ Championship Open 2022 on XBOX had 3 wins, 1 draw and three losses, while ACM Kirito had only one win followed by 2 draws and two losses after which he was replaced on matchday 6 by the brand new MVP and champion of the Coppa eFootball™ Italia, FRANKINO, who gave his team 4 points from 1 win and 1 draw in the last two matchdays. For his part, ACM Sasinho has suffered 5 defeats and has only seen victory on two occasions, one of which he also received the Goal of the Day award in matchday 1.
AS MONACO (Regular League’s 7th position, eliminated)
The 2023 season has been a bitter experience for the reigning champions who have had to say goodbye to the competition earlier than expected. The team captained by the multi-champion Usmakabyle paid dearly for its dismal defensive record, as the team with the most draws (8) and the second most goals scored (39), was also the team with the second most goals conceded (40), with up to 8 defeats scored over the course of the season. Surprisingly, Usmakabyle finished as top scorer in the regular season with 20 goals after four wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat and yet this was not enough for the Monegasques to qualify for the KO Stages. Kams10_ did not perform up to standard with just 1 win, 3 draws and 3 defeats, while E_C_Oneill never found the net and after 3 consecutive goalless defeats was replaced by the young Polish player Zilo, who was able to hold his own in such a demanding competition, with 3 draws and his only defeat against a giant of the eFootball™ universe as Ettorito97.
FC INTER (Regular League’s 8th position)
The Nerazzurri have had a season to forget. The team from Milan made their debut in the competition with the expectation of at least qualifying for the KO Stage. They were able to count on two veterans of the professional circles like MeroMen and Christopher_M_M, joined by Turkish youngster ArdaGolaaazooo, but it quickly became clear that the level of the team was not up to the competition's standards. After only two games with two defeats, Christopher_M_M was replaced by another veteran of the competition EL_Matador, who has lost every game since his return. Only captain MeroMen and ArdaGolaaazooo have managed to score points for their team with two draws and five defeats for the German and one win, three draws and three defeats for the young Turkish. In total, 10 points and a -28 goal difference after being the highest conceding team in the league with 55 goals against and the team with the most defeats (13), which made their elimination inevitable.
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