Challenges Badge 02: The Last Dance 2021

[Scratch]

This second badge from the Badge of Honour series (the concept is linked to in the spoiler below) focuses on great players from a great team coming together, to win glory together, one last time...

Spoiler

 

People are fascinated by stories of heroes.

In 2020, the hottest thing on Netflix was a documentary called The Last Dance. It covered Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls trying to win the NBA championship one last time before being broken up. The focus was on 3 players: Michael Jordan (the star, maybe the greatest of all time), Scottie Pippen (the sidekick, a great player, unable to win it all without MJ) and Denis Rodman (the wild man, but a great player in his own right). Spoiler: they conquer all the challenges put in front of them and win it all - what a story!

The 2021 version of the Last Dance takes us to Barcelona and a trio of heroes known MSN.

Unlike The Bulls, Barcelona have already lost their title, with Real Madrid winning La Liga last season. The team has already been broken up. The star (Lionel Messi) is still there, but wants out. The sidekick (Neymar) left long ago, not just sitting out half a season like Pippen, but for good. The wildman (Luis Suarez) has also been moved on. And MSN, perhaps the greatest trio of all time, is now just part of history.

But... what if... What if Barcelona was brave enough to bring the 3 heroes back together for one last season together. Imagine that! Messi. Suarez. Neymar. Coming together for one last dance. What a story that would be! Let's make it happen.
 

To earn your The Last Dance 2021 badge you need to manage Barcelona for a single season.

You must sign Neymar and Suarez. Note: You can sign both Neymar and Suarez, but you may need to a little creative for Neymar (think player exchanges, sell on clauses etc).

Your score will be goals and assists across all competitions for Messi, Suarez and Neymar.

The benchmark to beat is to make sure each player makes at least 30 contributions to the total. Additionally, Barcelona must win La Liga (the story cannot end in failure). If you meet both of these, you will earn your badge and your total score (goals and assists for Messi, Suarez and Neymar) will be submitted to the leaderboard. You can play our heroes in any position.

Rules:

• No unlockables;

• No cheating;

• Own formations;

• And that means don’t steal the BP and change one instruction - you know who you are! That is cheating;

• Any badge and reputation;

• Any database;

• Transfers, etc, allowed;

• You can attempt the challenge multiple times, but only your top score will be on the leaderboard;

• Again, don’t be a cheat

Credits: Thanks to @Rob for the Badges of Honour concept and talking through this challenge with me and thanks to @FuddledFox for the fantastic logo!

Now go rack up those scores!

 

Leaderboard

1. @Rob - 229 points (link)
2. @Ian - 221 points (link)
3. @Varf on fmm - 202 points (link)
4. @BIGBazz - 199 points (link)
5. @RichD - 197 points (link)
6. @vaxikpl - 197 points (link)
7. @smoggy90 - 196 points (link)
8. @Kun Aguero - 185 points (link)
9. @Scratch - 172 points (link)
10. @geordiekrispy - 171 points (link)
11. @Kanegan - 170 points (link)
12. @hhooo - 166 points (link)
13. @darlingtonvii - 166 points (link)
14. @itzChris92 - 157 points (link)
15. @Lagom - 149 points (link)
16. @FuddledFox - 146 points (link)
17. @Aaron Thornton - 144 points (link)
18. @Jsavfc - 136 points (link)
19. @Dai_ - 135 points (link)
20. @Plimmerz92 - 133 points (link)
21. @Ashez - 98 points (link)
22. @ScottishFMM - 96 points (link)

 

Edited January 20, 2021 by Scratch

[geordiekrispy]

Looking forward to it!

Got to try and finish my Kane & Son attempt first (at this stage Son might leave as he's already asked to be transfer listed 3 times and been injured for lost of the first season).

[smoggy90]

Great stuff mate, love it. I’m just about to post my first season of Kane/son and I’ll try this one as soon as I’ve done the second season. 

[Titjes]

Great challenge mate, will give it a shot soon 😄

[Rob]

Lovely challenge 

[Scratch]

Thanks everyone! Might try this one myself actually! 😄

[JamesVilla]

We have not got to play all 3 in a front line have we? So, Neymar can be a IF on the wing for example?

Great challenge though - Have to try and sign Neymar straight away i reckon so know what sort of budget will be left!

[Scratch]

1 minute ago, Jsavfc said:

We have not got to play all 3 in a front line have we? So, Neymar can be a IF on the wing for example?

Great challenge though - Have to try and sign Neymar straight away i reckon so know what sort of budget will be left!

Any formation is fine. I'm halfway through my 2nd attempt (first time around doesn't count because Suarez got a 2 month injury and I had to reload so I could check 30 each was reasonable) and I only have 1 upfront this attempt.

If it helps I got Neymar for £144M (with a sell on clause). You start with more than that and I sold a few players, so I still had plenty of cash. 

[Scratch]

I've got to warn you all that just like with Jordan, Pippen and Rodman, the players may not be the best version of themselves at the end. For example, here's my Messi in October:

 

But that makes the glory of them digging deep and winning together one last time all the more special! 😄

[broodje kip]

I like this idea! My TT formation would really help with this I’m very sure about it. Can’t wait to try this 😆

[Scratch]

9 minutes ago, broodje kip said:

I like this idea! My TT formation would really help with this I’m very sure about it. Can’t wait to try this 😆

I'm still struggling a little with tactics, though slightly better now I stopped trying to be too attacking. Can't wait to see how you go!

[Kun Aguero]

Lovely challenge, the leaderboard will soon be filled with some monstrous score for sure

[broodje kip]

I really wonder what people would think here. So should I have Neymar at AMC and Messi at ST or Messi at AMC and Neymar at ST? 😅

[Scratch]

4 minutes ago, broodje kip said:

I really wonder what people would think here. So should I have Neymar at AMC and Messi at ST or Messi at AMC and Neymar at ST? 😅

I guess you're going to have to play it a few times to see what works best! 😄

For what it's worth, I currently have Neymar playing as an RW and trying to get him to cross! Not that successfully it has to be said. I converted him to an RW a few years ago and it worked a treat, but maybe not the best approach for a one season save...

[JamesVilla]

29 minutes ago, broodje kip said:

I really wonder what people would think here. So should I have Neymar at AMC and Messi at ST or Messi at AMC and Neymar at ST? 😅

What about neither ha?

Im thinking more of Messi/Neymar out wide, Suarez in the middle as the striker. 

[ScottishFMM]

Started this and Neymar is already out for 2 months😬 otherwise a very fun save.

[broodje kip]

Bought them both and still got around £40m to spend  

[ScottishFMM]

19 minutes ago, broodje kip said:

Bought them both and still got around £40m to spend  

[vaxikpl]

i go for Henderson now, or Fabinho

[FuddledFox]

I still have another season and a bit of Kane and Son to do but I’m looking forward to getting stuck into this one after.

[Kanegan]

Another cracking challenge. 

[Kun Aguero]

Here's my attempt, 185 the final score

 

[Rich]

I like the sound of this one big time, back working in the office now, so not getting much time, but I will find time!

[Ian]

Nice challenge and one I’m just about to embark on.

[vaxikpl]

only 45mins play, Neymar is sick 

[Ian]

My attempt looks to have failed and isn’t worth posting as a career 😂

 

Neymar out for what you’d think would be the rest of the season on just 25 points.

I’ll maybe have another go later.

 

[geordiekrispy]

I don't know you might be able to sneak in 5 goals/assists in the last couple of games of the season.

[Ian]

9 minutes ago, geordiekrispy said:

I don't know you might be able to sneak in 5 goals/assists in the last couple of games of the season.

Yeah I’ve just been thinking and I think I’ll continue on as I’ve seen players come back a touch earlier on these longer injuries but I was also thinking that once he’s back on light training I could just risk him and put him on all set pieces. You never know he might do it.

[geordiekrispy]

Yeah a couple of corners, free kicks and penalties and you should be able to get him to scrape of the the line.
In all honesty, he could do that in 1 game...

[Scratch]

5 hours ago, Ian said:

My attempt looks to have failed and isn’t worth posting as a career 😂

 

Neymar out for what you’d think would be the rest of the season on just 25 points.

I’ll maybe have another go later.

 

Ouch! FWIW I put training on Low Intensity for the 3 lads. Might be why my Messi degraded earlier, but no real injuries this time around (but did get the 2 month Suarez one in my proof of concept save).

Hope you try again later (or push through).

Edited December 3, 2020 by Scratch