FIFA 18: Juventus Career Mode Guide, player ratings, tactics, formations & tips

The Old Lady. Juventus have lifted the Serie A title six years on the trot, firmly cementing their place as the heavyweight of Italian football. Things look set to change however, with AC Milan splashing the cash in the summer, and Napoli & Inter Milan producing some fantastic football this season.

With some Juve legends coming towards the end of their careers, a period of transition is occurring at Allianz Stadium. Can you ease the club transition during this phase and continue their success on FIFA 18’s Career Mode? With no Champions League final win in over 20 years, there is still one title that is eluding I Bianconeri.

Team Rating

It’s a five star rating for Juventus on FIFA 18, with an 85 overall. This consists of 90 attack, 84 midfield and 84 defence.

Formation

You have plenty of options with the Juventus formation, with manager Massimiliano Allegri ditching the five at the back system after the departure of defensive linchpin Leonardo Bonucci to Milan. We have restored the defensive wall in our side, going for a 5-3-2, but 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 are other possible options.

The veteran Gianluigi Buffon is in goal, with the solid back five of Stephan Lichtsteiner, Andrea Barzagli, Medhi Benatia, Giorgio Chiellini and Alex Sandro looking to squeeze out opponents.

Juan Cuadrado provides the legs in midfield (92 sprint speed), and he is joined by Blaise Matuidi and Miralem Pjanic. The all Argentine strike force consists of Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain.

On the bench you should have Wojciech Szczesny (OVR 82), Benedikt Howedes (83), Mattia De Sciglio (76), Claudio Marchisio (85), Federico Bernardeschi (82), Douglas Costa (82) and Mario Mandzukic (83). 

Tactics

With Juve you should be able to overpower the lesser opponents in Italy, with patient buildup. Miralem Pjanic (89 short passing), will be the key to this, as will Gonzalo Higuain (91 finishing) who scores more often than not in front of goal.

Against the tougher opponents, you should be able to counter attack, using the pace of Juan Cuadrado (91 agility) and Alex Sandro (88 sprint speed), with Paulo Dybala (85 finishing) on hand to put the ball away.

Outside of that, look to shoot from range with Dybala (88 long shots) and utilise Pjanic from set pieces (91 free kick accuracy). 

Training

Training provides the opportunity to improve your players, particularly those not getting regular minutes on the pitch. Look to use the high growth players as much as possible which include Paulo Dybala (POT 93), Federico Bernardeschi (POT 88) and Daniele Rugani (POT 88).

The Transfer Market

Starting transfer market: £64 million

Starting wage budget: £331,000 a week

Who should go

It’s a tight squad at Juventus, so you don’t actually need to sell anyone. Alex Sandro is your premier left wing back, but there is a big gulf in class between him and backup Kwadwo Asamoah so you may look to bring in an upgrade. The Ghanaian international should collect your around £6 million for his 78 overall rating and save you £78,000 a week in wages.

Elsewhere, you can afford to let third choice goalkeeper Carlo Pinsoglio leave the club, but you are only looking at a transfer fee of around £620,000 for the 27-year-old. His wages are a hefty £30,000 a week.

Who to sign

New transfer budget: £70 million

New wages budget: £439,000 a week

Right wing back

33-year-old right back Stephan Lichtsteiner is the weak link in the side, so you can either move Juan Cuadrado into the wing back role, or bring in a replacement. The club lost Dani Alves over the summer, and he wasn’t replaced. The best player available is Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal, but the Spaniard won’t come cheap. You will need a massive £59.8 million to get hold of the 84-rated right back, but with a potential of 87, he may just be worth it. For hefty wages of £172,000 a week you will get the 25-year-old’s 86 spring speed, 86 sliding tackle and 84 stamina.

Alternative options:

  • Lukasz Piszczek – Borussia Dortmund, Age 32, OVR 83, POT 83, Cost: £21.7 million, Wage: £58,000
  • Antonio Valencia – Man United, Age 31, OVR 83, POT 83, Cost: £27.7 million, Wage: £114,000
  • Alessandro Florenzi – Roma, Age 26, OVR 82, POT 84, Cost: £34.4 million, Wage: £64,000
  • Hector Bellerin – Arsenal, Age 22, OVR 81, POT 88, Cost: £38.8 million, Wage: £80,000
  • Ricardo Pereira – Porto, Age 23, OVR 80, POT 86, Cost: £32.9 million, Wage: £13,000 

Left wing back

In disposing of Kwadwo Asamoah you need a new back-up left wing-back. Yes, Mattia De Sciglio can fill in there, but you will want a naturally left footed option to swing balls into the box. With only around £10 million to play with, you don’t get a huge amount of choice, but Villarreal’s Adrian Marin can be a superb acquisition. The 20-year-old has a release clause at £9.4 million, with his current wages just £13,000 a week. Marin’s 75 sliding tackle, 75 sprint speed and 74 interceptions will improve as his 72 overall grows to his 83 potential.

Alternative options:

  • Adriano – Besiktas, Age 32, OVR 78, POT 78, Cost: £9.2 million, Wage: £41,000
  • Jose Holebas – Watford, Age 33, OVR 78, POT 78, Cost: £6.7 million, Wage: £46,000
  • Eliseu – Benfica, Age 33, OVR 78, POT 78, Cost: £7 million, Wage: £12,000
  • Kenedy – Chelsea, Age 21, OVR 71, POT 81, Cost: £8.7 million, Wage: £42,000
  • Elmir Nabiullin – Rubin Kazan, Age 22, OVR 72, POT 81, Cost: £6.1 million, Wage: £20,000

Contracts

Five men have contracts expiring at the end of the season, and your defence will not look the same if you lose three of them. It looks as if it's Gianluigi Buffon’s last season in football, but you can still offer the 89 rated goalkeeper a new deal, and you need to keep the Juve and Italy legend at the club for as long as possible. 

With Leonardo Bonucci leaving for AC Milan, you cannot afford to lose Giorgio Chiellini as well. The 32-year-old’s contract is up at the end of the season, so make sure a renewal is high on your priorities. Sadly, the 36-year-old centre back Andrea Barzagli is retiring at the end of the campaign.

Stephan Lichtsteiner’s contract is also up, but you will want to keep the Swiss international at the club to make this transition period as smooth as possible. As for Kwadwo Asamoah, you should be selling the versatile 28-year-old in the summer transfer market.

Managerial objectives

The managerial objectives at Juventus are tough. After dominating Italian football for so long, the board want you to take it up a notch. For your ‘critical’ domestic and continental objectives, you will be asked win the treble. Yep, that’s the Serie A title, Coppa Nazionale and Champions Cup (Champions League). With this squad, that will be a massive test, so it's vital you start the season strong. You need to be unbeaten in the league before the Champions Cup kicks off to give yourself a chance.

For brand exposure, which is also critical, you will need to earn £176 million from shirt sales, which is fairly straightforward. If you bring in high profile transfers and score plenty with your star men, you should be all sorted here. 

Youth development has a medium priority, and you will need to sign a youth academy player and play them in 50% of matches in the following season. Get a youth network set up early, and use that youngster as much as possible in training to complete this one.

The next step

The clock is running out for Juventus. After six years of dominance, the wheels are starting to fall off for The Old Lady. Leonardo Bonucci (OVR 88) leaving for rivals AC Milan is the start, and the retirements of Andrea Barzagli and Gianluigi Buffon looks next on the menu. With Giorgio Chiellini also out of contract, Juve could have an entirely different goalkeeper and back three in the space of just 12 months.

You may only have this season to win the Champions Cup, as it may take you a season or two to bring in the players you want. Winning the treble is ambitious, but Juve have a history of making things difficult for any opponent, so you do have a shot of doing the unthinkable with Juventus.

Full Juventus squad player ratings

Player
Age
Pos
Country
OVR
POT
Value
Wage
Goalkeepers
Gianluigi Buffon
39
GK
Italy
89
89
£6.5m
£97k
Wojciech Szczesny
27
GK
Poland
82
84
£27.3m
£79k
Carlo Pinsoglio
27
GK
Italy
69
69
£600k
£30k
Defenders
Giorgio Chiellini
32
CB
Italy
89
89
£35m
£198k
Alex Sandro
26
LB LM
Brazil
86
88
£66.8m
£154k
Andrea Barzagli
36
CB
Italy
85
85
£5m
£92k
Medhi Benatia
30
CB
Morocco
84
84
£33.4m
128k
Benedikt Howedes
29
CB
Germany
83
83
On Loan
£44k
Stephan Lichtsteiner
33
RB RM
Switz'land
82
82
£8m
£101k
Daniele Rugani
22
CB
Italy
80
88
£30.9m
£77k
Kwadwo Asamoah
28
LB LM CM
Ghana
78
78
£11.6m
£78k
Mattia De Sciglio
24
LB RB
Italy
76
81
£12.9m
£64k
Midfielders
Paulo Dybala
23
CAM ST
Argentina
88
93
£119.9m
£189k
Miralem Pjanic
27
CM CDM
Bosnia
85
86
£66m
£141k
Blaise Matuidi
30
CDM CM
France
85
85
£41.4m
£128k
Claudio Marchisio
31
CM CDM
Italy
85
85
£47.9m
£141k
Sami Khedira
30
CM CDM
Germany
84
84
£42.1m
£141k
Federico Bernardeschi
23
RM CF LM
Italy
82
88
£49.7m
£97k
Douglas Costa
26
LM RM
Brazil
82
82
On Loan
£101k
Juan Cuadrado
29
RM
Colombia
82
82
£31.2m
£114k
Stefano Sturaro
24
CM LM
Italy
77
82
£17.5m
£71k
Rodrigo Bentancur
20
CM
Uruguay
71
85
£10m
£38k
Attackers
Gonzalo Higuain
29
ST
Argentina
90
90
£111.8m
£242k
Mario Mandzukic
31
ST
Croatia
83
83
£34.1m
£119k
Marko Pjaca
22
LW
Croatia
76
86
£20.4m
£78k

Who have you chosen in Career Mode? Let us know your progress in the comments section below.

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