One of Europe’s true giants, Barcelona are one of the most successful sporting teams in the 21st century.
The Catalan club have won ten La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues since 2000, but the names associated with the club may overshadow even those recent accomplishments. From Johan Cruyff to Rivaldo, Pep Guardiola and of course Lionel Messi, they have long been connected to the best footballers and managers in world football.
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In Football Manager 2020, Barcelona does not offer a rags-to-riches story, but instead offers you the chance to manage the greatest player in football and challenge straight away for the biggest prizes in football.
Can you handle the pressure?
Club vision
This new feature has been a big success in FM20. It is both a short-term and long-term set of goals for the club under your direction, as laid out by the board.
It includes play style aims, financial targets, and competition results, with increasing expectations over each year of your tenure.
The expectations at Barcelona are understandably high.
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You are required to win both the La Liga title and the Champions Cup (Champions League). That will be no easy task, and maybe you will be forgiven for a semi-final appearance, but failure to win either competition could well result in your termination.
The club culture requires you to play possession and attacking football while also sign high-reputation players and develop players using the club’s youth system.
Tactical style
It would be a football crime to not play some version of tiki-taka at Barcelona. There are plenty of other tactical styles that could fit this team, but gegenpress or control possession aren’t quite right.
Use tiki-taka as your main style, but having vertical tiki-taka as a slightly more direct form of attacking play in a second tactical slot would be a wise move.
Formation
The 4-1-4-1 DM Wide fits this team perfectly thanks to their star trio of forwards and dominant midfielders.
Your starting XI should feature Marc-Andre ter Stegen in goal, with a back four of Sergio Roberto, Gerard Pique, Clemente Lenglet, and Jordi Alba.
Sergio Busquets should sit in front of the defenders as the deep-lying playmaker, while Ivan Rakitic and Frenkie De Jong take up the roaming playmaker and attacking playmaker roles.
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Your front three will consist of Lionel Messi on the right, Antoine Griezmann on the left, and Luis Suarez leading the line.
On the bench you should have Neto, Nelson Semedo, Samuel Umtiti, Arturo Vidal, Arthur, Riqui Puig, and Ousmane Dembele.
Key players
Barca have a lot of high-quality players that would make the starting XI for any team. Who are they?
Lionel Messi – CA 5 star (195), PA 5 star (199)
What really needs to be said about Lionel Messi? He is the club’s all-time leading goal scorer with over 650 goals to his name, six Ballon d’Or awards, six European Golden Shoes, and the 2014 World Cup Golden Ball.
He is the best player in FM20. With a maximum 20 rating for dribbling, finishing, passing, technique, decisions, determination, flair, vision, agility, and balance he is quite simply amazing.
Luis Suarez – CA 4.5 star (180), PA 4.5 star (188)
The Uruguayan forward first came to prominence with Ajax before moving to Liverpool in 2011. After scoring for fun in the Premier League he moved to Barcelona for £65 million in 2014 and continuing to find the back of the net.
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In Football Manager 2020 he is an elite striker. 18 finishing, 17 technique, and 17 off the ball he can find the right place in the box and finish with confidence.
Antoine Griezmann – CA 4.5 star (179), PA 4.5 star (182)
The French star began his career at Real Sociedad but rose to prominence after moving to Atletico Madrid in 2014. After years of speculation, he finally made his massive move to Barcelona in 2019 for the massive fee around £112 million.
A natural at ST, AML, and AMC, Griezmann is an amazing talent. With 19 first touch, 18 finishing, and 17 dribbling he is deadly, while his 18 off the ball, 17 flair, and 16 vision making him a strong creative force too.
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