Beam me up, Scotty - Rangers & Scotland CM Story

Not getting out of group H then😉

Celtic won't get out of their's either.

Interesting start to the league, with Hibs deciding to get in on the act.  Going to be interesting to see if that continues.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:

Not getting out of group H then😉

Celtic won't get out of their's either.

Interesting start to the league, with Hibs deciding to get in on the act.  Going to be interesting to see if that continues.

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Yes, probably not! But I suppose I'd be an underdog in any group, so regardless of the draw I would always need some luck to push a bit beyond what is expected. And the same goes for Celtic! Spoiler alert: A minor upset already in their first group game 😉

I do hope for a third wheel in the league,  but I'm pretty sure it won't last. Aberdeen started well in the last couple of seasons too, but they weren't really close, when it was decided in the end. Kudos to Hibs for a good start. But it's not going to last.

Good draw against Bayern.  The Arsenal result is reallu unexpected.  The game does throw up weird things from time to time.

Celtic match; Luimo Boas Santos.  Now that's a player I haven't used for a while.  I bought him several versions ago when he was a kid and he was quite prolific.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:

Good draw against Bayern.  The Arsenal result is reallu unexpected.  The game does throw up weird things from time to time.

Celtic match; Luimo Boas Santos.  Now that's a player I haven't used for a while.  I bought him several versions ago when he was a kid and he was quite prolific.

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Yes, the group is already going down a rather surprising path. Interesting how that will eventually turn out. I'm keeping an eye on Celtic's group as well, they beat PSG 4-2 away... Another EA classic, isn't it? You can't make that up...

I've never heard of that Luimo Boas Santos fellow. From what I understand he's an in-game generated player to resemble a real-life Brazilian, who couldn't be in the game due to licensing issues. I do very much prefer to play with real players, so I always avoid these fake ones myself. Unless they are academy players or regens that come to life during my CM save. But you may have a point about him being quite profilic. He did score twice against me and seems to be their answer to fill the gap from the departed Armando Broja.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
It's quite interesting about Arsenal generally in this game overall. They seem to be quite fragile, as I have found out in my current Plymouth save and in the Manchester United one I had started. They don't seem to be anything like the Arsenal we see IRL. Interesting to see how they are struggling in your CL group. I wonder if the programmers at EA have something against them...

4-0 against a Hibs side that were tracking close to you until that match is a good result, too.

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It's true about Hibernian. But they had already slipped a great deal before I met them. 5 wins in the first 5 games. But no wins for them from match 6 to match 10. I knew they wouldn't last, but I didn't expect such a full stop from them.

I agree with the Arsenal part. I haven't played in England yet in this game, but I did do it quite often in recent editions, and I seem to recall Arsenal often starting quite well, then dropping off later on to see someone else run away with the title. If this checks out, then it has to be one of the more realistic things to happen in Career Mode.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
So, Hearts are the team looking to join the title fight. Interesting to see how much longer that lasts.
The odd weird result, though. Only a draw against Dundee, who are hovering near the bottom.
Maybe Arsenal will produce a great escape and send you into the Europa...I think they'll have to do the unlikely and beat Bayern to stand a chance, though, as you should beat Braga.

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Dundee is actually quite the bogey team this season, especially for Celtic, who lost their first match against them 2-1, at Celtic Park. Later they drew 3-3 at Dundee, so half their lost points are so far on the hands of Dundee. Or feet. And in that light I suppose my home draw and away 2-0 win seem quite reasonable.

Hearts, yes, they're keeping up so far. I do also expect them to drop off, as has been the case with both Hibs and Aberdeen in recent seasons, but it's nice to see a little competition now and then. They also seem to do well in Europe, contrary to the two former, who could be about to end last in their respective groups.

Should beat Braga? Well, I couln't the first time, and they've proven to be quite competitive in this group. I certainly won't take anything for granted, but anything less than a win could put me in a tricky position before the final game, perhaps needing a win at Bayern to go through. A "Man United situation", one might call it.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
Given that Arsenal won 4-1 and got a draw against Bayern, I can't see them failing to beat Braga, but you never know.
A nice cliff-hanger, this.

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Well, they didn't. It looks like you responded to my first post and didn't see the second one. Arsenal did fail to beat Braga, who took the second place, with me drawing Bayern. Again.

2 points from the two Bayern games. Good.

3 points from the two Arsenal games. Good.

Only 2 points from the two Braga games. I should have won one of them, 4 points would have been good and enough to advance.

Arsenal lost twice to them though, so perhaps they just have a freakishly good season, the Portuguese. As some clubs do, from time to time.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
Rutter has got off to a good start, it seems. Interesting buy.
I used to buy Max Aarons, quite a few years ago, when he was a kid. In those days he developed really quite well, but I've not paid him much attention in recent years.

I see you've broken the Dundee curse...

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Thanks, yeah Rutter is one I looked at some time ago in a save in FIFA23, I think. He played for Galatasaray there. I've watched him a few times for Leeds since, and he strikes me more as a winger than a natural goalscorer. So he actually didn't match my search criteria for this window, as I started looking for a more proper number 9. But with 6 goals and 3 assists in his first three games, I suppose he's on the right path to prove me wrong...

Max Aarons, the same here. I looked him up a few times, when he was younger and had just got a scanned face in the game. I'm not sure I've ever signed him, but he seemed like a good option now, continuing the approach with "failed talents" from the Football League; James Tavernier, Todd Cantwell etc. And I suppose there's a Bournemouth link too, with Lewis Cook, Marcus Tavernier and now Max Aarons arriving at Rangers.

Big turnaround in the derbies this season.  You had the upper hand for most of last season, but not this.  Interesting development.

Some big scores recently in the Cinch Prem.  It underlines how two-sided the league really is.  As you predicted, it is really down to a two-horse race again.

Close call against Viktoria in the first leg but a comfortable return match.  Given the 'names' left in the competition, Stade Rennais isn't a bad draw.  The Milan-United draw iooks to be quite tasty.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:

Big turnaround in the derbies this season.  You had the upper hand for most of last season, but not this.  Interesting development.

Some big scores recently in the Cinch Prem.  It underlines how two-sided the league really is.  As you predicted, it is really down to a two-horse race again.

Close call against Viktoria in the first leg but a comfortable return match.  Given the 'names' left in the competition, Stade Rennais isn't a bad draw.  The Milan-United draw iooks to be quite tasty.

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Yes I agree. It's the third consecitive season with Rennes in the Europa League knockouts, so they shouldn't be taken lightly. But with a number of usual Champions League teams in the mix, I'm sure we could have done much worse.

The derby development IS quite funny actually. I was on some upgoing curve in the derbies, winning back to back domestic doubles and outperforming Celtic in Europe too. But last season they beat me in the semi final in the Europa League, and now it seems the tables have turned with them reaching the Champions League knockouts and having the upper hand in the derbies. It does make my overall experience from this game better though, not just going from strength to strength, but also encountering a bump on the road along the way.