GUIDES
Your lineup is the eleven on the pitch and up to nine on the bench for the next match. If it’s short, or there’s no goalkeeper, the match isn’t played normally and that team loses 0:3.
Choose a formation, such as 4-4-2 or 3-5-2. Auto lineup places the strongest available players into the formation you are using. From version 1.8.12, turning Auto Formation on runs that fill immediately, not only later in the day. If you leave auto lineup on, it runs again on matchdays at 14:30 Europe/Berlin. Incomplete lineups are also completed at 17:00, shortly before the matchday calculation at 17:30.
Injured and suspended players cannot be picked. Condition and fitness below 90 weaken a player in the match. If you change the lineup after planning substitutions, those substitutions can become invalid and must be set again. The substitution rules themselves are on the tactics page. Individual attributes and the season numbers are under player profiles and statistics in the game. Premium adds a more detailed statistics view. It is not required to field a team.
Before kickoff the referee checks that both teams are allowed to play. If a goalkeeper is missing, or fewer than 7 outfield players are selected, with a maximum of 11 players on the pitch, the green-table decision applies. The match is not played as a normal game. The incomplete side loses 0:3.
Typical causes are a squad thinned by bans and injuries, a goalkeeper left off the teamsheet, or an auto lineup that had nobody legal to pick. The same shortage can appear during a match if red cards and injuries leave too few outfield players on the pitch. Bench depth, planned substitutions and discipline are part of the teamsheet, not a separate menu. Card bans are counted separately for league, cup and international games, so a player banned in the league can still be legal in the cup. The counters are on competitions.
Every player starts with an experience value of 1.000. The range is 0.800 to 1.200. After each matchday the value moves with how the player was used:
Experience affects a player’s strength in matches, how training lands, and market value. A player who never travels slowly becomes less useful and less valuable. That is a reason to rotate on friendlies when the league week is empty, and a reason not to carry a huge squad you cannot select. The wage side of a large squad is on contracts and finances.
Open the teamsheet before 14:30 Europe/Berlin if you want your own choices to stick. Confirm a goalkeeper, at least seven outfield players, and that suspended or injured names are off the pitch. If you edited the eleven, reset substitutions. Only leave auto lineup on if you’re happy for it to replace your picks at 14:30. Training is a different clock: 12:02 the same timezone, described under training.
The lineup costs you nothing. What limits you is who is fit, who is banned, and whether the formation still has a goalkeeper when the referee checks the sheet.
