Partly as we recently predicted, AC Milan’s Alexandre Pato has grabbed the top spot in the FTBL world ranking of U-21 forwards from Real Madrid’s France international Karim Benzema in style by boosting his overall FTBL rating by 30 rating points in just 2 games, but he has moved past the 150-point mark a few days earlier than we predicted.

Pato is now 20 rating points clear at the top, but his dramatic climb might abruptly stall here: in his next 5 games, the Brazil international will have to “defend” 100 rating points, while Benzema will have to clear a combined plank of less than 40 rating points.

However, if the Rossonerri can beat Real Madrid once again on November 3 in the Champions League, Pato will then have a chance of retaining the top spot.

But even if that happens, a plank of 100 rating points remains a daunting hurdle: we reckon Pato’s overall FTBL rating will retreat to a more realistic 140 points by the end of November.