Previously on La Plata: Colombia, 19-year-old Ricardo Caraballo hit over 30 goals in half a season.

The recent seizure of the Orinoco Belt (Faja Petrolífera del Orinoco), the largest petroleum deposit in the World, had allowed Hugo Ojeda to acquire unimaginable wealth. Oil had many uses: from the unrefined exports to the US, to the more refined manufacture of drugs itself. It was a versatile commodity, and it now belonged to Junior Club Head Coach, Don Hugo Ojeda.

To celebrate, he had invited the Guadalajara, Juárez, Sinaloa, Tijuana and Gulf Cartels to the 2023 Copa Libertadores Final in Barranquilla: Junior Club Vs São Paulo. On the eve of the club's biggest match in its 99-year-existence, Ojeda and the heads of the Mexican Cartel gathered in a warehouse that shipped the Orinoco petrol to the United States. Tens of thousands of barrels were moved daily to the land of the Free World, but now the warehouse acted as an auditorium for Latin America's most wanted.

It was here that Hugo Ojeda would make the sacrifice which, in his mind at least, would ensure a Junior Club victory. Placing his golden El Silencio pistol down on a barrel at the warehouse’s entrance, he headed to the central assortment of barrels where a mob associate handed a machete. The blade’s hilt was enamelled in the club colours of Junior: red, white and blue. Hugo Ojeda lifted the machete to the audience with his left hand, as his right reached into a black bag to reveal a Sinaloan milk snake. Hugo pinned his fingers over the red snake’s trachea region, as it wriggled around frantically, but its efforts were powerless to escape the grasp of the Venezuelan drug trafficker turned Football Manager.

"Associates and Friends. Witness my sacrifice. The snake of Sinaloa dies tonight and Junior will win tomorrow!" Hugo screamed to his bewildered audience, who stood close to the petrol barrels in silence. Hugo cut short any potential muttering from the crowd, as the machete was thrust down upon the snake in one swift motion. It's head completely severed from the body in one hit, as Hugo lifted the snake back up to the confused crowd.

At that precise moment, a noise from the high ceiling of the warehouse could be heard. A noise that followed no rhythm, which grew louder and louder. The uneasiness in the room developed further, as the Mexican Cartel reached for their sidearms. Bats. Like in Tijuana a decade or so before it, bats had come to Hugo's aid. They descended around Hugo, as he dropped the snake and fell to the floor. The snake had grown back three heads as it slithered away to hide between two barrels, What kind of sorcery is this? Hugo wondered. The sacrifice had turned into a farcical situation with the most powerful men in Latin America hiding among the barrels of petrol to escape the bats’ flightpath.

This was when the unthinkable happened. A chain of events that defied logic or reason, as El Silencio emptied its chamber onto the barrels of petrol facing it. Shot, after shot, the pistol’s unpredictable aim hit several barrels as the crude oil leaked out and onto the floor. The pistol had become faulty, Hugo mused…as he saw a member of the Gulf Cartel slip and fall into the puddle of oil in order to dodge El Silencio’s shots. As he slipped, the mob boss’ ignited cigar fell into the flammable liquid…sending one section of the warehouse into immediate flames.

By now, several other shots had been fired elsewhere. Whether it was the mob trying to deter the bats or more strange things happening, Hugo couldn’t be sure. The oil was now bursting out onto the floor from several areas, and the fire spread. With each passing moment the flames engulfed more and more of the warehouse, as the Mexican Cartel ran towards the exits. Hugo looked towards one group who hastily tried to force open the emergency exit at the far side of the warehouse. It was bolted and chained…he remembered instructing one of his henchmen to do this a few hours earlier. Now it all made sense to Hugo Ojeda.

He remembered who the sacrifice really was. It was not a single snake, it was an organisation. It was the Mexicans.

Notes from the Editor - Hugo’s sacrifice was originally intended to be a more intimate, and darker affair. Thanks to Chris (@FMEadster) who redirected me to start thinking about using the few items in Hugo’s arsenal: the bats, the pistol and the snake. Whilst we’ve been witness to Hugo’s descent towards darkness for some time, this is perhaps the biggest demonstration of madness & power that we have seen. In one swift move, the days of the Mexican Cartel are over.

In terms of Football Manager, that comes next: a Copa Libertadores Final awaits. Perhaps a defining moment in the save, so let’s see if the sacrifice is good on its word…

• Thursday 08 April 2021

• twitch.tv/fm_grasshopper

• Kick-off 2100 (UK time)

• Co-commentators: FM Samo & Ed Wilson Gaming

As always, thanks for reading/sharing/caring,

FM Grasshopper