Upping the difficulty doesn't really make it any more 'realistic' per se or the opposition 'harder' in that they're creative. And there's always been a problem I noticed with the game. I did used to play older PES on top player but you really needed to pick a halfway decent team. Once you're on professional, the worst team in the league is practically as good as the best (Inter, Real) is on regular.
But the problem with professional is, it's too hard! I remember there was never much distinction between top player and professional (in fact me and my mates used to say professional was harder because the CPU attacks more on top player, leaving space open). So I thought, regular is too easy, up it to professional.
By Jan/Feb of the season I was cruising (they have a pretty good team + purchases), easily thumping 5 goals against poorer sides. I have been playing my first masterleague as Napoli, and I started on regular.
