Changes to Match engine?

Tue 7th Apr, 2026 06:43
I've been wondering if there was either a change in match engine or there is a penalty for league winners in the next season.

Last season I won my league and cup and gotten to semis in International cup, but what bothers me is shots I get per match right after the season ended. Previous season(s) there were 15-20 shots per game easy, whereas this season that number literally halved. Even against bots! During this time I've even strengthened my team considerably, held to the same formation, yet performance has fallen off a cliff.

I have no idea what to contribute that to and would appreciate any insight

Tue 7th Apr, 2026 13:02
This is really something Marko could explain better. Here in Brazil this has been happening quite often: no one has been able to win the championship two seasons in a row. I myself won the league and, this season, I started very poorly.

So far, we’ve always had new champions in both the league and the national cup. If there is truly no penalty for the champion in the following season, then it’s probably just a coincidence.

Tue 7th Apr, 2026 15:23
I've noticed this first last season where reigning champion could barely win matches after he won the league. We'd basically walk over the entire league the season prior.

I'd be interested to see shots per match to compare, but we can't access results from previous seasons.

I'm not trying to base my poor results on match engine here. In fact, I'd like to understand it better, but the difference has been too significant to ignore.

Wed 8th Apr, 2026 14:14
In the last match against Fortaleza, i've suffer to get a draw, playing home, against a squad that almost every player was on the incorrect position, and players rating much worse than mine first squad.

https://www.dugoutsoccer.com/match/42729

Thu 9th Apr, 2026 10:32
Sure, but you still had 17 shots in that match. That's the thing that dropped greatly for me since winning the league.

Sat 11th Apr, 2026 15:04
In my team, Nordkysten Titans, I'm also having problems in the national league, having won the last one with some advantage. This also happened after I won the league in the first season.
Meanwhile, in the Champions League, the team is flying high. I only didn't maintain 100% because in the last game I conceded an equalizing goal in the 91st minute.

I also improved the team for this season, having spent more than 50 million.

Sun 12th Apr, 2026 17:57
I kept the same team as last season (Makachev) and bought two strikers for 42m in total (rating 34 and 32, compared to 31 and 30 I had) and CDM for 10m. I just lost 3 in a row, two against bot teams :) safe to say, engine doesn't like me. If someone has like 35 rating CB or GK they would like to sell, I am your guy. Need that so I don't finish last in the league :)

Mon 13th Apr, 2026 13:29
Marko, could you clarify this a bit further? Have there been any adjustments to create more balance in the league and prevent the same team from dominating for multiple seasons, giving everyone a fairer chance to compete for the title? Or is all of this just a coincidence?

Wed 15th Apr, 2026 05:03
same experience, 1st season 2nd, 2nd season 2nd from bottom (winning National cup).. and see the same, with our 2 last champions..

Fri 17th Apr, 2026 19:54
We'll just have to be patient, I do feel your frustration guys.

At this moment in the game development, the match engine is a just a bad joke.
You don't know why you lost and you don't know why you won.

The amount of inconsistency and random is to the roof. I won games against much stronger opposition, while lately I'm loosing against much weaker sides with players in wrong positions in the field.

I really hope that something drastic will change in the next 3-4 seasons in this area of the game.
And I am cautiously optimistic about it just because I saw some developing happening in the past 2 seasons.