After shedding the weight from the FIFA legacy,EA Sports FC 25finally feels like an iteration of this soceer goliath that feels authentic.
FC25 is the first game in years to satisfy the gameplay cravings of players who were previously married to Konami’s now-defunct PES eFootball 2021.
While the pitch-side action reached new heights,themanager careerin FC 25 feels pleasantly familiar.
EA Sports FC 25 Review
If you love the beautiful game and need an excuse to ditch that worn copy of eFootball PES 2021, this is it.
There are immersion-breaking bugs to iron out (like your player calling you the opposing team’s name in email conversations), and occasionallybroken social media feeds.
If you can look past that andthe tragic licensing situation, this is the right edition to start a long career-mode campaign.
These Seven teams have different stories, contexts, and leagues, but they are guaranteed to satisfy a manager seeking a challenge.
Just for clarity, we have leaned into various teams that offer a unique challenge or scenario that separates them from the norm akin to what you would find onR/FIFACareers, but we have also included a couple of teams that are less challenging managerial posts, and more fun, stress-free campaigns.
7Barcelona
2nd in 2023-2024 La Liga
Robert Lewandowski (ST, 35 y/o, 88 OVR)
Future Star
Lamine Yamal (RW, 16 y/o, 94 POT)
Board Expectations
League and Champions League titles
Almost everyone who has played a career mode before has picked a big club with endless money for a power trip. Butwhat if the money is gone?
Despiteyears of financial mismanagementmarked by astronomical salaries (with Messi earning a modest $109 million a year) and transfer flops,FC 25 charitably gives you north of €120 millionin the bank at the beginning of the career.
The budget comes with lofty expectations:managing Barcelona means trophies, trophies, trophies. If you are not ready to overtake Real Madrid, consider picking Spurs - they are used to not having trophies.
6AS Monaco
2nd in 2023-2024 Ligue 1
Aleksandr Golovin (LM, 28 y/o, 81 OVR)
George Ilenikhena (ST, 17 y/o, 86 POT)
Domestic title challenge
Ligue 1 is two leagues rolled into one, and your job is to change that.
For Paris Saint-Germain, this is a sideshowto the Qatari-funded Champions League dream. The rest of the teams enjoy a competitive league with few European spots.
Monaco has enjoyed strong seasons (with two notable blips) since its magical championship run in the 2016-2017 season, butthere is enough talent to break the PSG dominance.
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Monaco is hardly a poor team with a budget behind only PSG and Lyon in France, butthere is no sugar daddy to afford shopping sprees.
A solid Monegasque career meansfighting for trophies while buying cheap, developing players, then selling themfor tens of millions, keeping only a handful of leaders to coach the youngsters.
3rd in 2023-2024 Serie A
Bremer (CB, 27 y/o, 86 OVR)
Kenan Yildiz (LM, 19 y/o, 86 POT)
League title
Rome is the first great Italian empire to suffer a tragic fall from grace, butJuventus is not far behind.
After nine consecutive Serie A titles between 2012 and 2020,Juve has had abysmal league campaignswith two consolation Copa Italia wins.
The squad you inherit is chaotic, withstars like Locatelli and Vlahović sharing space with functional but lackluster names such as Weston McKennie. There is money in the bank to turn things around, but the competition is stiff.
Despite the goofy names due to licensing issues,Inter and Milan have vastly superior rosters. Napoli has a more functional starting XI, and Roma, while similar to Juventus in the inconsistent quality, boasts a much better attacking trio.
With some solid buys to reinforce the starters, Juve has a solid foundation for a long career mode ina Serie A that is at its most competitive in over a decade.
4Manchester City
1st in 2023-2024 Premier League
Erling Haaland (ST, 23 y/o, 91 OVR)
Claudio Echeverri (LM, 18 y/o, 87 POT)
League and Champions League trophies
The rest of the Premier League has beenpraying for Man City’s downfallas the club faces scrutiny over its finances, but that is a problem for accountants, not managers.
Picking up where Pep Guardiola left off gives youa ridiculously strong squad with no real weaknesses, and a cozy £180 million transfer budget should you want to burn some more cash.
Some team leaders are on the wrong side of 30 and will need replacing eventually, butthe second season brings back a lot of loaned talent,so there is no need to stress.
3AFC Wimbledon
10th in 2023-2024 League Two
Mathew Stevens (ST, 26 y/o, 64 OVR)
James Furlong (LB, 22 y/o, 75 POT)
Immediate promotion
Wimbledon has seen the lowest of lows and highest of highs since standing up against the soulless MK Dons project in 2002.The club enjoyed a long streak in League One between 2016 and 2022when it dropped to League Two again.
With a mediocre squad and a budget of only £1 million,the Wimbledon project needs a pragmatic and patient managerto succeed. This is where you come in.
The first season will be the hardestwithout any serious transfer, but with some luck andquality scouting, this earns a ticket to League One and a pair of decent free signings.
Unless you abuse the EA market, anAFC Wimbledon ‘success’ is not measured in titlesbut rather a timely return to the Premier League.
2Schalke 04
10th in 2023-2024 2. Liga
Kenan Karaman (CAM, 30 y/o, 73 OVR)
Felipe Sánchez (CB, 20 y/o, 80 POT)
- Liga title
In the 2017-2018 season, Schalke clinched silver in the Bundesliga and made it to the cup semi-finals.
The Gelsenkirchen stalwart has had a nightmare runsince then, marked by early cup exits, a sensational relegation in 2021, and an immediate drop following its 2022 return to the top flight.
There is no need to mince words:Schalke is terrible today. The team finished 10th in the 2023-2024 2. Liga season, and by the looks of it, this season will be no different unless you do something about it.
The squad you start with is mediocre but hasa serviceable core of young playersthat can grow into starters with some playing time.
Schalke has a budget of €9 million, which leaves some flexibility to pick up one or two starters in the 75-80 OVR range, especially if you fish fromthe free agent pool.
This is not about the money.It is about bringing dignity to Gelsenkirchenor bankrupting the club for good should you fail. Qualifying for the Champions League before the world ends would be magical.
3rd in 2023-2024 Primeira Liga
Pepê (CAM, 27 y/o, 82 OVR)
Diogo Costa (GK, 24 y/o, 90 POT)
League title and a good Europa League run
In 2004,Porto bested Monaco 3-0 in Gelsenkirchen to win the Champions League title. The year before, the Portuguese side had clinched the UEFA Cup, a feat repeated in 2011.
No international silverware has made it back to Estádio do Dragão since. To make matters worse, FC Porto only qualified for the Europa League this season, but maybe that is for the best.
The team offers you a young squadled byplaymakerPepê and the gloved wall by the name of Diogo Costa, a tight title challenge against Benfica and Sporting, and an unreal stadium atmosphere.
The resurgence of Sporting and a leadership crisis have plunged Porto tothe third spot in the Primeira Liga, but the board in FC 25 wants nothing short of gold.
Much like Monaco, this is a team that needs to flip talent to balance the books, but if you may hold onto the leaders for a couple of seasons, you might justrepeat the path of José Mourinhoin 2004.
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