Time for another set of FIFA 16 Player Rating Predictions and after the Premier League last week, of which Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 here, it's time for the big two in Liga BBVA, Barcelona and Real Madrid! Barcelona of course completed a fantastic treble last season so can expect some increases in ratings; as for Real Madrid, they only pieces of silverware they managed were the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup, so seeing their bitter rivals succeed at winning bigger and better things must have been hard to take. Los Blancos do of course possess some world class players though so I'd expect to see plenty of 85+ players below...
Sames rules apply as before:
- The player's ratings are NOT official, they are just a prediction. Nor are any of the ratings you've seen in FIFA 16 at Gamescom so far.
- The player's positions are NOT official, nor do they really mean anything
- Whether a player is rare or non-rare is NOT official. Again, it doesn't really mean anything, so please don't get bogged down over something petty like if your favourite player is not a rare
So, time for the Blaugrana and their potential ratings!
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FC Barcelona
Let's begin with the men at the business end of the pitch shall we, or as they're called in Barcelona, "MSN". Lionel Messi, for me the best player in the world, should comfortably retain his 93 rating after another exemplary season; whether he deserves a 94, a rating he received around the time he was breaking Gerd Muller's goal scoring record, I'm not so sure. The big question though of course is will he be a RW or a ST?! See the image below for my prediction...
A man who will most certainly be at ST though is Luis Suarez. His competitive debut for Barcelona of course only came on the 25th October due to the suspension he received for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup; however, from his performances during his first season at Barcelona, you'd think he'd been there for years! He managed 16 goals and 14 assists in 27 leagues appearances and that should see him up to a 90, perhaps even a 91 if EA are feeling generous. The final of the "MSN" trio is of course Neymar and the Brazilian, after a slightly slow first 2013/14 season, exploded into life last time out. He finished as the Champions League joint top scorer, alongside Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and was also only second to both Messi and Ronaldo in the goal scoring charts in Liga BBVA too. I'd expect the Brazilian to receive a +2 upgrade to an 88 - imagine how good he'll be in game if he retains his 5 star skills and weak foot!
The ever classy and new captain of Barcelona Iniesta is a tricky one to predict. He was named in the latest FIFPro TOTY and after a good campaign in which of course he won the Champions League and La Liga, can you see EA denying him a sneaky upgrade to a 90? Because I sure can't. Ivan Rakitic was another who had a fantastic campaign and finished the season especially in outstanding form; most notably of course he opened the scoring in the Champions League final against Juventus and I could see him being upgraded to an 85 with some awesome in-game shooting stats - the goal he scored against Roma last night, woof!
Finally, two men that, combined, have over 600 appearances for Barcelona finally re-found their form and their solidity. Dani Alves, presumably because of the pressure Douglas put on his place in the side (/sarcasm), ended the season in fine form and may well receive an upgrade because of it. As for Pique, he was another who was outstanding in the last campaign and looked back to his hold self after numerous shaky months. I can see the former Manchester United man being bumped up to an 86, and is also in with a very good shout of being in next year's FIFPro TOTY. Claudio Bravo, Jordi Alba and perhaps even Sergio Busquets may also all get upgrades.
Sod it, upgrades for everyone!
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Real Madrid
Such a disappointing season when you only win two trophies, am I right? Well it was enough for the board to rid Carlo Ancelotti of his duties, as well as allow Iker Casillas to leave for Porto, so to say the standards in Spanish capital are high would be an understatement. I would expect the vast majority of Real Madrid's starting XI to maintain their FIFA 15 ratings. Of course many fans of Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo would like to see him on par with Messi, however for me, Leo is just that tiny bit better. Ronaldo may have outscored Messi in the league, however Messi has last season's treble to boost his rating and I think we'll continue to see the Argentinian top of the tree when it comes to FIFA ratings.
Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos are two more of Real Madrid's world class names, however both may be on for downgrades in FIFA 16. Bale had a thoroughly disappointing season and for that reason I can see his rating dropping by 1; as long as Neymar's higher rated than the Welshman then I'm not too bothered really. Ramos might just hold onto his 87 after being named in the FIFPro TOTY, as well as receiving a TOTS card on FUT, but it would hardly be travesty if he was knocked down to an 86 too. Luka Modric had an injury hit campaign and only managed 16 appearances; I always feel a downgrade for an injured player is harsh, however I can't see him maintaining his 87 rating at this point in time. Who knows, if he starts the new season well he may well keep it.
The only upgrades I'm expecting for players currently at Madrid who played in the Bernabeu last season are for James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and perhaps the Brazilian Marcelo. I feel it'd be fair if Kroos joined what seems to be half of Real Madrid's team on 86 after another great season in midfield; he could even make the jump to 87 alongside James Rodriguez if he begins the new season in good form. As for the Colombia, he had a very good debut season which included some spectacular goals; 13 goals and 13 assists in the league from midfield is no mean feat. As for Karim Benzema and Pepe, I'd expect them to maintain their ratings from the previous year. The Frenchman Benzema of course has been heavily linked with Arsenal and would be a fantastic addition to the Premier League on FIFA.
The two new additions to Real Madrid's squad are goalkeeper Kiko Casilla and Brazilian fullback Danilo. The former may well sneak an upgrade of a point or 2, simply because of the step up he's made to a bigger club. However one could not question the fact that Danilo deserves a big upgrade; he began life as a 77 on FIFA 15 but could well be an 81 or even an 82 come FIFA 16 thanks to an outstanding season at Porto in Portugal.
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Below are some other standout players from these two great rivals that I didn't put in their respective XIs, however I feel are worthy of some recognition in this article for one reason or another. This could be due to the fact they're either new signings, players with interesting stats or players that'd be ideal for creating hybrids (Casemiro & Ter Stegen looks tidy!) on FUT. Remember as always to leave your thoughts in the comment section below!
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@Rawrdrigoo