Want to start a Road to Glory career mode on FIFA 20? Here's five teams that could be fun

It was bound to happen at some point. My longtime followers on Twitter know that my FIFA addiction isn't a secret. I'm not much of a fan of FUT though; nope, I'm a career mode man.

I've done some fun career modes over the years, but I think my Road to Glory's (RTG's) on this year's game are some of the most entertaining from a narrative perspective. There are lots of small teams you can take over this year that start with low budgets, promising young players and, of course, have banging kits to boot.

Here's my list of top five career mode RTG teams from nations that make up Europe's top five leagues.

I just finished up my own Venezia RTG about a couple weeks ago, and I have to say it turned out to be one of my favorites. It's too bad they don't have a real stadium; I would love to see the scenery of Venice around the field. But the idea of building a powerhouse in Italy's most beautiful city is definitely entertaining.

You may not get to enjoy the beauty of the canals, but take a look at those GORGEOUS home kits. Love the black, green and orange stripes. And the away kits are a nice, clean all-white look.

Luca Fiordilino, CM/RM (69 overall, 78 potential)

Fabrizio Caligara, CM/LM/RM (63 overall, 80 potential)

Gian Filippo Felicioli, LB/LM (65 over, 76 potential)

Youssef Maleh, CM (60 overall, 74 potential)

Alessandro Capello, ST/LW (67 overall, 72 potential)

Luca Lezzerini, GK (67 overall, 73 potential)

Lorenzo Lollo, CM/CF (70 overall, 70 potential)

I set a goal at the start to retain at least five OG players, and not only did I accomplish that, but thanks to dynamic potential they all still play important roles in a treble-winning squad.

Fiordilino ended up being my long-term captain. His pace and dribbling, along with his high defensive work rate made him a great No. 8 in central midfield, and I was able to work him up to an 87 overall.

Caligara is a loanee, but you can buy him back cheap after the first season and easily train him up to the mid-upper 80s. I was also able to get Lezzerini and Felicioli up to an 85, and got Maleh up to an 80 overall as a supersub CAM in my final season.

Capello and Lollo may not stay in your first team throughout the rebuild, but Capello served as a solid high-70s backup striker for me, and Lollo is a fantastic first captain for the team. I don't know how to explain it; he's just one of those dudes that balls out despite having lower-rated stats. He has the best finishing on the team, is one of the faster players, and he has a high/high work rate that tends to put him in the right spot to either score or save a goal.

If you still want to take over Serie A one day but aren't sold on Venezia, you might want to try another Serie B team like Pisa, a team from Tuscany with high-potential youngsters like Samuele Birindelli (RB, 68/82) and Marco Varnier (CB, 69/81).

If you don't feel like starting in the second division, Brescia is an interesting up-and-comer in Serie A, led by Italian wonderkid Sandro Tonali (CDM, 77/91) and infamous Italian striker Mario Balotelli. You could fight to keep them up in season one and build around those two to turn Brescia into a powerhouse.

This is my current RTG project, and even though I'm only in my second season it's already been a lot of fun. Based in the Vallecas neighborhood of Madrid, Rayo is pretty well set up to earn promotion to La Liga after the first season. And from there on out, the goal is to catch up to city rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. It's a tall task, but that's the point of an RTG.

It's not often you get a second-division team with three different kits, but Rayo has that, and all three of them are absolute beauties. They're based off of the kits from River Plate, the most famous club in Argentina (which is a great place to target for future transfers, cough cough).

My personal favorite of the three is the away kits. That red jersey with the black stripe looks SICK.

The third kit isn't too bad either; a nice black jersey with a blue stripe to give you a different look in case you're tired of seeing red.

Jose Pozo, CM/CAM (73 overall, 80 potential)

Andres Martin, ST/CAM/RM (67 overall, 81 potential)

Emiliano Velazquez, CB (73 overall, 78 potential)

Santi Comesana, CDM/CM (71 overall, 77 potential)

Martin, CB/CDM (65 overall, 79 potential)

Bebe, LM/RM (72 overall, 72 potential)

Luis Advincula, RB (74 overall, 74 potential)

The nice thing about Rayo Vallecano is there's already a good balance of solid veterans (yes, it's THAT Bebe from Manchester United) and ready-to-play youngsters with room to grow. Pozo and Comesana both look capable of taking up the mantle and becoming captains in midfield, Velazquez and Martin give you a solid partnership at the back, Bebe and Alvaro Garcia (LM/RM, 73/73) have decent enough pace down the wings and Andres Martin is a promising talent up top.

The biggest hole in the team is at left back. Luna and Saul are both on loan and are good enough to get you promoted in the first season, but you might want to go ahead and find a permanent solution there in season one so you can focus on adding younger wingers in season two.

If you're looking for a more challenging situation in the Spanish Segunda Division, try Deportivo de la Coruna. They have seven players loaned into the club and 14 players with contracts expiring after the first season, so you have to put together a plan quickly.

If you'd rather start off in La Liga, Real Valladoid has the second-lowest transfer budget but has some decent young players like Mohammed Salisu (CB, 75/85), who can anchor your back line the entire career, and Stiven Plaza (ST/LW, 69/83), who can lead your front line for years to come. Also, they have a player named Waldo (LM/ST, 75/81), so you can say "Where's Waldo?" when looking to start your counter attack.

If you're in it for the long haul, there's no better place to start than English League 2. And while it seems like everyone and there mother has done a Salford City RTG this year, you might find a Leyton Orient rebuild a little more interesting. "The O's" are the second-oldest football club in London, and while their main rivals are Southend United (League One), you can develop new rivalries with other London teams as you move up the ranks, eventually challenging and even surpassing the big boys like Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal.

These are actually some of my favorite kits in the game. I love the dragons in the team badge, and "Dream Team" is actually a pretty sick sponsor logo to have across the chest.

George Marsh, CDM/CM/RB (63 overall, 75 potential)

Kazaiah Sterling, ST (63 overall, 75 potential)

Dan Happe, CB/LB (59 overall, 74 potential)

Shadrach Ogie, CB/LB (52 overall, 74 potential)

Ruel Sotiriou, ST/RM/LM (54 overall, 71 potential)

Lee Angol, ST (62 overall, 65 potential)

Louis Dennis, CAM/LM (62 overall, 63 potential)

There's a lot less to work with at Leyton Orient than any other team on this list. Marsh and Sterling, the two highest potential players in the squad, are both loaned in from Tottenham, but you might be able to get them back if you have a decent first season and improve your transfer budget.

In the short term, players like Dennis and Angol have enough pace that you can catch Leage Two teams on the counter for scoring opportunities as you train up Happe and Ogie in your back line. Still, the key to this career mode is going to be finding young players who are quality enough to contribute in the lower divisions and have the potential to grow into stars but don't cost you your entire budget. Like I said, you've got to be in it for the long haul. You're starting off three or more seasons away from even gaining entry into the Premier League. Make sure you've built up enough quality that once you get there, you stay there.

If you still want to start in League Two, Salford City still is a pretty entertaining option. Located in Manchester, they were taken over by United's Class of '92 (Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt) in 2014 and have finally made their way up to the EFL this season. It's a great storyline, but if you're more into memes, I'd recommend Stevenage with their glorious Burger King jerseys.

If you don't have that kind of time and want to start a little higher up, there are still plenty of other good options. In League One, you could take Sunderland or Portsmouth back to Premier League glory. And if you want to start in the Championship, I'd go for Brentford, which is already pretty well set up with a solid front three of Ollie Watkins (ST/RW/LW, 76/81), Said Benrahma (LW/RW/RM, 76/81) and Bryan Mbeumo (RW/ST/RM, 74/85).

If you want to jump right into the Premier League, I'd go for Norwich. They're pretty well set up for the future: Max Aarons (RB, 73/85) and Jamal Lewis (LB, 73/83) as the long-term full backs, Emiliano Buendia (RM, 77/83) and Todd Cantwell (LM/RM, 74/82) as solid wingers and Adam Idah (ST, 65/84) as the eventual replacement to Teemu Pukki (ST, 77/77) up top.

Another small team with a gigantic cross-town rival. Paris Saint-Germain has dominated Ligue 1 for decades, but you can put a stop to that by building Paris FC from the ground up into a European contender.

To be quite honest, I liked last season's kits better, but these are still pretty clean. A nice navy blue home kit with light blue trim, and a crisp white away kit with black trim.

Vincent Koziello, CM/CDM (73 overall, 79 potential)

Axel Bamba, CB/RB (65 overall, 76 potential)

Lacine Diabyfadiga, ST (64 overall, 78 potential)

Mario-Jason Kikonda, CDM/CM (65 overall, 74 potential)

Jean Hugonet, CB (57 overall, 72 potential)

Sami Matoug, CAM (59 overall, 73 potential)

Obed Nkambadio, GK (54 overall, 74 potential)

Last year's Paris FC team had more promising young players that you could build on, but hey, who's to say you can't use dynamic potential to your advantage and turn some of these guys into stars? Koziello, the most promising of the bunch, is a loanee, but if you're able to earn promotion in season one, you might be able to buy him back. In the short term, try selling some of the higher overall older players and building up your youngsters.

If you're interested in bringing some former players back to Paris FC, there are plenty of great options: Silas Wamangituka (ST/LM/RM, 71/83), Jonathan Bamba (LM, 78/83), Romain Perraud (LB, 72/79) and Axel Disasi (CB, 72/80) could all make for interesting returns once you get up to Ligue 1.

If you want a team with a better chance of earning promotion from Ligue 2 in the first season, FC Lorient is your best bet. There are a few older players with decent overalls that you can ship off for younger talent, along with some nice cornerstone pieces like Yoane Wissa (LM/ST, 71/80) and Enzo Le Fee (CAM/CM, 68/83). Also, they've got a nice orange checkered home jersey that would make any Dutchman proud.

If you'd rather skip the promotion battle and start in Ligue 1, I might go with Stade Rennais, a team with a pair of youngsters with world class potential in Eduardo Camavinga (CM, 75/86) and Raphinha (RW, 80/85). If you want a team with a more immediate chance to contend for a title, go with LOSC Lille. They have 18 (!) players with a potential of at least 80 and six with 85-plus potential: Mike Maignan (GK, 82/86), Gabriel (CB, 78/85), Jonathan Ikone (RW/CAM, 79/86), Renato Sanches (CM, 78/85), Victor Osimhen (ST, 78/88) and Boubakary Soumare (CDM, 75/85).

Hope you aren't getting tired of the David-vs-Goliath battle for the city narrative. Bayern Munich has dominated the German Bundesliga over the last decade. It's going to take some time, but it would be oh so rewarding to put an end to their reign of terror by bringing up 1860 Munchen from 3 Bundelsiga to lifting the Meisterschale.

We've gone through some nice kits today, but these are some of my favorites. As a UNC basketball fan, I love seeing that Carolina blue stripe on the white home kit.

It looks just as nice on the trimming of the black away kits. The design reminds me of Liverpool kits, but in much sexier colors.

Dennis Dressel, CM/CDM (61 overall, 75 potential)

Prince Osei Owusu, ST (64 overall, 71 potential)

Noel Niemann, CAM/ST/LM (59 overall, 74 potential)

Fabian Greilinger, RM/LM (58 overall, 76 potential)

Leon Klassen, LB/LM (58 overall, 75 potential)

Niklas Lang, CB/CDM (52 overall, 72 potential)

Marco Hiller, GK (65 overall, 72 potential)

This rebuild is definitely going to be a slow burn, but you still have some guys who could stick around. At 6-3, Owusu can serve as a strong (81 strength) target forward with decent pace (77 sprint speed) that you can train up with dribbling and shooting drills to become a complete weapon. Niemann also starts out with decent pace (76 acceleration, 70 sprint speed and 83 agility) and could also develop into a decent attacking midfielder to complement Owusu. Greilinger and Klassen also bring decent pace on the flanks, so you could already have your starting midfield for years to come.

In the meantime, build up that back line. Lang probably won't be ready to play for a season or two, so try to find a young centerback who's quality enough to start but still has room to grow with you as you move up the ladder. Klassen can also play left back if you'd rather find someone else to fill the left wing.

If you aren't feeling the whole "battle the superior team in your city" storyline, maybe go for a team like Ingolstadt, a team that played a couple seasons in the Bundesliga before being relegated to 2 Bundesliga in 2017 and lost the relegation playoff in 2019, dropping them down to Germany's third division. They're good enough to earn promotion in season one, and there are enough players with decent potentials to carry you back to the Bundesliga.

Do you want to feel the rush of earning promotion without the grind of having to do it a second time? I'd go with either Greuther Furth, a team with Celtic-esque green jerseys as well as the American one-hit wonder, Julian Green (CAM/LM, 69/74), or St. Pauli, a club most renowned for their extremely progressive stances when it comes to social justice, as well as their unique brown jerseys.

Would you rather go ahead and beat Bayern now instead of waiting half a dozen seasons? For years, Borussia Dortmund has been the team best-suited to do just that but has consistently come up short. But you've got everything you need to compete: exciting young talents in Jadon Sancho (LM/RM/CAM, 86/94) and Erling Braut Haaland (ST, 80/90), grizzled veterans like Marco Reus (CAM, 87/87) and Mats Hummels (CB, 87/87), an amazing homefield advantage in front of the Yellow Wall at the Signal Iduna Park, and plenty of cash to go out and find that missing piece you need to overthrow Bayern.