Career with Atletico: When Lewandowski Keeps You Awake and Oblak Decides to Be a God

After a long break, I decided it was time for some virtual coaching grind. My choice? Atletico Madrid. Why? Because… well, it’s Atletico. A team that plays with heart, fights like a lion, and occasionally drives you to the brink of insanity. Kind of like playing this game, right?

First Impressions: Wait, Is This Actually… Fun?

First impressions? Surprise! I remember when the gameplay resembled chess for retirees rather than soccer. But this time? Suddenly things flow, it’s smooth, the ball doesn’t bounce around like a tennis ball off a dead dog. Yeah, at times I actually enjoyed it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call progress!

The classic career start—two games, a full dose of emotions. First shift against Barcelona in the league. Three goals against us. Zero on our side. Zero chance of playing decent football. Barcelona simply showed that when they want to, they’ll steamroll you like a bulldozer over an anthill. No laughing matter. The second game? A city derby (or rather Barcelona derby?) against Espanyol. They’re, with all due respect, struggling at the bottom of the table. And it showed. A comfortable 2-0 win. And who decided it? Of course, Antoine Griezmann. That guy is simply a magician in the game. Dribbles, shots, penalties… everything just works. My new virtual hero. At least until the next update or his first injury.

Administrative Hell and Scouting Dilemmas

But just when you think everything’s running smoothly, the reality of game career management hits. The menu. Oh, that cursed menu! It keeps popping up with “Review training plans!” Seriously? I have an automated plan—what am I supposed to keep examining? Whether my players sweat more than usual while running uphill? It’s just a necessary evil, one of those classic game monkey businesses that forces you to click even when you have no idea why.

And then scouting. A report came in on Nico Williams. Stats? Speed 93, weak foot five stars. Value: 94 million and 55 thousand euros. Awesome! I check who’s playing in his position… yeah, I’ve got people there. But he’d be useful! You always need someone worth a hundred million, right? Virtual manager logic in practice.

Time for Revenge (or Another Slap in the Face)?

But enough paperwork, let’s get to the main event! Cup semi-final. Barcelona again. At home. After that league humiliation. Will it be revenge? Or another lesson? It was raining before the match. “The pitch will be slick, it’s going to be slippery.” Yeah, sure, because that’s exactly what decides big matches—how slippery the grass is! Not player skill or coach tactics. Just make sure it’s slippery!

The match started… interestingly. Rough tackle in the 4th minute, no card. Barcelona hit the crossbar. Of course they did. They dominated. Then came a blessed moment—a yellow for Balde for a last-man tackle from behind. And right after? Penalty! Handball in the box. Griezmann took the ball, sent the keeper the wrong way and… GOAL! We’re up 1-0! Twenty minutes gone and we’re leading against Barcelona! This is a dream! Now just “defend precisely and keep possession.” Yeah, right. In reality, that meant a few unnecessary losses and luck that Lewandowski hit a defender in a clear chance. Half-time survived, still leading.

Second half. Beautiful play, Griezmann laid it off in front of an empty net, but our striker… missed. Well, happens. Classic. And then came what had to come. Huge mistake in our build-up, Barcelona pressed, we lost the ball, and Lewandowski… equalized. 1-1. Because it wouldn’t be football if we didn’t sabotage ourselves, right?

The match was nearing its end. Griezmann had another chance, alone in front of goal, but… wide. Ugh. Barcelona’s pressure intensified, we defended with everything we had. Oblak in goal did what he could. End of regular time. Extra time. We had used all our substitutions. So no help from the bench for tired legs. Perfect.

Penalty Drama and a Hero Who Catches the Impossible

Extra time without goals. Obviously. Penalties it was. That moment when you sweat more than your virtual players. Our shooters: Griezmann, Alvarez, Llorente, Gela… wait, Gell? Well, why not. And Lino. Barcelona: Lewandowski, Yamal, Olmo, Pedri, De Jong. Sounds like a list of future nightmares.

Griezmann: Down the middle, goal. Ok. Alvarez: Also middle, also goal. So far so good. Llorente: Keeper saved it! First stumble. Gell?: Who is that? Saved again! You’ve got to be kidding me! Lino: If he scores, we advance. But… he missed! Oh, the drama!

And then it happened. Fate was in Jan Oblak’s gloves. De Jong steps up for the penalty. Oblak… SAVED IT!!! Yes! SAVED IT! Hero! Legend! Beast!

We won on penalties! After such a battle, after such drama, after such mistakes! Through to the final! And who’s waiting there? Real Madrid. Of course, what else. Madrid derby in the cup final. It’s going to be epic. Or will we trip over our own feet again? We’ll see next time!

For now, I’m going to recover from that penalty heart attack and review those training plans, just so nobody can say I didn’t!