Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo is usually one of the two highest-rated players in FIFA video games, but where is he in this year’s edition?
As the winners of nine straight Scudetti, Juventus have dominated Italian football like nobody else in recent memory. Naturally, amidst a historic run of dominance, Juve had had several players recognized as among the best in Serie A.
Their brilliance was reflected in FIFA 21’s ratings. As Italian Football TV pointed out on Twitter, a league-high four of Juventus’ players were rated as the top 10 best players by the video game franchise in this year’s edition. Inter Milan and Lazio had two players apiece, and Atalanta’s playmaker Papu Gomez made it as well.
Juve’s four players were Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, and center back Giorgio Chiellini.
FIFA’s ratings are often based on slight upgrades and downgrades from season to season, so huge adjustments are rare. Hence why Chiellini is rated significantly higher than Matthijs de Ligt despite struggling through injuries in 2019-2020, whereas de Ligt hit the ground running with a sensational second half of the season.
Cristiano Ronaldo is Juventus’ highest-rated player in FIFA 21
Ronaldo is, of course, FIFA 21’s highest-rated player in Serie A at 92, and Dybala is deservingly tied for second at 88.
It was surprising to see that the highest-rated goalkeeper wasn’t Juve’s Szczesny, who, per FBRef.com, led Serie A in save percentage and clean sheet percentage and won the official award for best keeper. Instead, Samir Handanovic of rivals Inter Milan was rated one point higher at 88, whereas Szczesny was placed at 87. Chiellini was also rated 87.
Around Serie A, the ratings look fairly accurate. There are some young players who should be on the rise, especially at the center back position. De Ligt and Milan’s Alessio Romagnoli come to mind. Romelu Lukaku could have swapped ratings with Ciro Immobile, but it’s hard to deny how good Immobile is after he scored 35 goals to lead the league in 2019-2020.
Overall, it’s great to see four players from Juventus recognized as the top players in FIFA 21. Although their ratings are, by and large, inaccurate (look at what they did to Thiago and Nicolas Pepe this year!), many people, especially young fans, take them seriously. So at least Juve didn’t get badly snubbed this year.
For winter upgrades, keep an eye on de Ligt and Merih Demiral, if he gets a chance to start, to get big boosts for the Bianconeri. They are the future of the defense and of the club in general, and de Ligt isn’t far off from being one of the highest-rated players in FIFA.