ICON Butragueño (87)

This is it, this is the one I have been waiting for.  El Buitre.  I truly believe that if it were not for my reviews and a need to constantly shuffle coins, that I would have Butragueño in my squad full time all year.  This card epitomizes everything that I love in a striker and for three years running has delivered the goods in my Weekend League reviews.  FIFA 21 was no different as Butragueño combined the deadly combination of Pace, Dribbling, Shooting & Player Architype to a fantastic scoring return across his 20 matches.  In the end, I believe I came to the right choice to apply a HUNTER chemistry style to the Spanish speedster and I was extremely satisfied with the results.  If you read my review on Record Breaker Jadon Sancho or follow me on Twitter: @IVIaeNine you would know that Butragueño paired with the Dortmund man for a few matches before teaming up with Neymar for the remainder of the weekend.  Butragueño slotted in perfectly as the left hand striker in my 4-4-2 formation, punishing opponents all weekend in the following squad:     


Starting Formation:

Overall

Rating: 9.5/10
Pace Rating: 9.5/10
Dribbling Rating: 9.5/10
Shooting Rating: 10/10
Passing Rating: 9/10
Physical Rating: 8.5/10
Defending Rating: N/A

There are times in FIFA when you apply a chemistry style and you wonder whether or not the boost was even applied.  The statistic says 99 but it is hard to determine if there was a notable increase in performance at all.  This can not be said for Butragueño and the Pace boost he received from the application of the HUNTER chemistry style.  Originally I thought it would be best to apply the DEADEYE chemistry for the much needed Passing boost, mixed with the perfect results to his Shooting… and truth be told it went quite well.  However, after one game of applying the HUNTER chemistry style, it became clear that this was the way to go.  The 99 ACCELERATION and 99 SPRINT SPEED on a 168cm (5’6) player was incredible and would have caused defenders issues all weekend by itself… but then there is the dribbling.  88 AGILITY & 87 BALANCE would be a great combination on any player, but with the smaller player archetype and mixed with Butragueño’s pace it was a recipe for some of the most responsive left stick dribbling I have felt in this FIFA.  I realize that the 3 STAR SKILLS will be off putting for some, but it is not a deal breaker for me and I found Butragueño to be an absolute wizard on the ball with his close control.          
      
          

Main Statistic - Shooting
Main Attribute - 5 STAR WEAK FOOT

Shooting Rating: 10/10
Weak Foot: * * * * *
Traits: Finesse Shot 

Lethal. Ruthless. Cold-blooded. Clinical.  You run out of adjectives to describe the finishing with this card.  The variety and quality of finishing that was on display this weekend are exactly why I have always been a huge fan of this card.  99 FINISHING feels exactly as it should and was just as potent on either foot, which is not always the case in all 4 or 5 STAR WEAK FOOT players.  89 SHOT POWER has exactly the right velocity to find the top bins, out of the keepers reach from anywhere inside and outside of the box.  99 VOLLEYS make the double X chipped pass a non-issue to hit first time. While the 95 POSITIONING is evident in the movement and areas that Butragueño finds himself in throughout a match, making it easier to take advantage of his ridiculous shooting.  Honestly, everything about this card was built for finishing and the 31 goals in 20 matches were only hindered by the 10 rage quits during the review.   

Value/Coins & Good vs. Bad 

Value/Coins Rating: 5/5
Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

For 1.1 million coins you are definitely expecting quality and certainly wanting results from your hard earned coins. Butragueño delivers both by the bucket load.  The question here was never really is he worth it, but rather, what else is out there in the same price range?  In terms of ICONs, Stoichkov and Drogba are sitting close to Butragueño and both I am sure offer their own intriguing options.  I have not used either but now I am certainly looking harder at them both, as I would personally like to know the “best ICON for around a million coins” ... seems like a good YouTube series.  Beyond the ICONs there is Neymar of course, who for me just edges Butragueño in terms of overall quality, but can be difficult to link.  Then finally you have the potential for both RTTF Rashford and RTTF Aubameyang … but you won’t see the results for those spent coins until closer to March.  So in the end I arrive at the conclusion that Butragueño is about perfect value, and worth every coin even by comparison. 

It was not all sunshine and rainbows with this card, but after about his third hat-trick of the weekend, I started to forgive any shortcomings without much thought.  However, it is worth noting that two weaknesses caused minimal issues throughout the weekend.  One was the obvious weakness attached to Butragueño’s 61 STRENGTH.  Given the pace and dribbling it is quite difficult to lay a hand on Butragueño and more often than not I lost the ball actually trying to dribble through my opponent, not because of a challenge involving a battle of strength.  But the few times I did, I lost them all, and for some that might be a deal breaker.  Secondly, the Passing with this card is just not as crisp as you would like.  Ultimately this is the main reason I mentioned Neymar above Butragueño in the end, as it is truly the only thing separating them.  It was not as if Butragueño was like a fire hose spraying passes everywhere, there were just some instances where tight spaces required pinpoint passing and he simply fell short.  
 

Closing Words

With all of that said and done I just want to double down on how incredible this card is.  I realize that I am eventually going to have to sell this little general, but I am truly sad to see him go.  It is the reliability for me.  There are not many cards in FIFA that are almost a guaranteed thing in front of goal and for me, Butragueño has always been way up there in that respect.  Even better, Butragueño has the guile and pace to put himself in those positions and I am not looking forward to marching into battle this weekend without him.  If you are in the position to spend a million coins and looking for a card that can truly pull your squad forward, look no further ... he may be small, but he is mighty.  Cheers for reading. 
 

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