Football Manager 2021 Barcelona | Team Guide | Tactic | FM21

Barcelona tactic and team guide for Football Manager 2021. FC Barca club vision, tactic, key players, youth prospects and transfers in FM21.

FC Barcelona tactic and team guide for Football Manager 2021. Club vision, tactic, key players, youth prospects and transfers in FM21.

Here is a brief analysis of the Barcelona squad, their club structure, relationship any potential managers will have with the board, expectations and possible tactics any FM manager can use.

About the club

FC Barcelona or Barca are a professional football club that ply their trade in the La Liga. Futbol Club Barcelona is a Spanish professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. 

Founded in 1899, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism. Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the fourth-most valuable sports team in the world, and the world's second-richest football club in terms of revenue. 

Domestically, Barcelona has won a record 74 trophies; 26 La Liga, 30 Copa del Rey, 13 Supercopa de España. In international club football, the club has won 20 European and worldwide titles, amongst them; 5 UEFA Champions League titles, a record 4 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, a joint-record 5 UEFA Super Cup, and 3 FIFA Club World Cup. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid; matches between the two teams are referred to as El Clásico. 

Barcelona is one of the most widely supported teams in the world, and the club has one of the largest social media following in the world among sports teams. Barcelona players have won a joint record number of Ballon d'Or awards (11), as well as a record number of FIFA World Player of the Year awards (70. In 2010, three players who came through the club's youth academy (Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, and Xavi) were chosen as the three best players in the world in the FIFA Ballon d'Or awards, an unprecedented feat for players from the same football school. 

Barcelona is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never been relegated from the top division since its inception in 1929. Barcelona are the first club to win the continental treble consisting of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the UEFA Champions League, and also became the first Spanish football club to win six out of six competitions in a single year. With such a rich history of dominance in the sport it is easy to see why Barcelona remain the favourite of most FM Managers. 

Board Expectations

Barcelona finished runner up in La Liga in the 2019-2020 season. The minimum board requirements as you would expect is huge,



    1. Win the La Liga

    2. Reach the semi-final of the UEFA Champion’s League

Additionally, you will be required to play attacking possession-based football, be required to sign high profile players and promote players from the youth system. Barca's transfer budget as you would expect is very minimal to start off with just as it is for almost all the clubs in the game but Barcelona have already spent over £ 100m in player transfers. The club has also sold players for over £100m.

Barcelona have top class training facilities and one of the best youth setups in the world. Their youth academy LA Masia is renowned for producing some of football’s biggest stars.

ALSO READ: Football Manager 2021 Transfer Budgets

Squad, Formation and Tactical Style

Barcelona are a very attacking team that plays possession hungry football. Vertical tiki-taka is probably the best tactic to go with considering what the board wants but since the squad is versatile you can alter the formation as you see fit.

    A 4-2-3-1 formation is how Barcelona line-up in real life under Koeman and is probably the best-suited formation to the available squad of players. This also helps them maintain the width with the overlapping fullbacks who are very attacking in nature.

A rough example of what your line-up would look like in a 4-2-3-1 formation is as follows; 





Please note that this squad is the best available squad and injuries have not been taken into consideration while making this.

    Marc-Andre Ter Stegen as a sweeper keeper.

    Gerard Pique & Clement Lenglet as the 2 ball-playing centre backs.

    Sergi Roberto & Jordi Alba as a fullback and wingback respectively, both naturally attack-minded players.

    Sergio Busquets & Frenkie De Jong as the 2 Central Midfielders with the former operating as a playmaker with defence duty and the latter in a Mezzala role.

    Ousmane Dembele & Coutinho as the 2 wide players in an inside forward/Inverted winger role.

    Lionel Messi plays behind the striker as a playmaker or a Trequartista.

    Antoine Griezmann as the Advanced Forward.

With many of the players being extremely versatile you can also switch things around by playing Messi in a wider role or operating with 3 midfield options in a 4-3-3 formation especially in tough away games.

Key Players ⭐

The entire squad is riddled with key players with some players are the best in their positions in the entire world.

    1. Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi is widely regarded as the best player in the world. He has produced double digit goals & assists for 13 seasons in a row, he is also excellent from set-pieces and has the most free-kick goals in world football over the last 5 seasons.

    2. Antoine Griezmann

Although Griezmann has struggled a lot in real life for Barcelona he still has excellent stats in the game and is extremely versatile easy to fit him in multiple positions and in multiple roles.

    3. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen

Ter Stegen is one of the best goalkeepers in Football Manager 2021. In a team riddled with the best-attacking talent, his contributions can never be undermined in maintaining balance.

    4. Philippe Coutinho

Although his Barcelona career hasn’t really taken off in real life, Coutinho remains as one of the best players in the game. His versatility and ability to score goals from different positions make him an alluring prospect to manage.

ALSO READ: Football Manager 2021 Best Players

Weaknesses

1. With the fullbacks being very attack-minded, Barca are left open to a lot of counter-attacks and could be difficult to manage against good counter-attacking teams.

2. Although it is may come as a surprise, Barcelona do not have a strong bench and fail to replicate the quality of the main eleven. Injuries will definitely have a detrimental effect to the results.

3. Some of the best talents of the club are ageing and may be impossible to replace.

4. With key players injured, the central defence is down to bare bones with only 2 fit players available to manage at the start of the season and without a good transfer budget, quality replacements are almost impossible to find

Best Youth Prospects 👶

There are a few exciting young prospects in the ranks who have the potential to be some of the best players in the league. A few examples are,

    1. Ansu Fati

Easily one of the best wonderkids in the game, Ansu Fati will already be an important player for most LA Liga sides at just 17. His versatility and the ability to play across multiple positions make him very easy to fit in the team.

    2. Pedri

Just as with Fati, Pedri is one of the best young players in the game. He is also extremely versatile and can be developed into a world-class star.

    3. Ilaix Moriba

Currently a part of Barca u19s, Moriba has the potential ability to become the best-attacking midfielder in the game. He will definitely be pushing for the first team starts in just a couple of seasons and is a massive goal threat from midfield.

[Note] Although Jean Clair Todibo is one of the best centre back wonderkids in the game, we cannot mention him here because he is currently on loan with Benfica with an option to buy meaning he may not be with Barcelona for much longer. 

ALSO READ: Football Manager 2021 Wonderkids Shortlist

Potential Transfers (In)

Barcelona team already boast of some of the best stars in the world, however, these players could be welcome additions to the side.

    · Neymar

    · Virgil Van Dijk

    · Milan Skriniar

Potential Transfers (Out)

These players may be surplus to requirements at the club or may not be of the expected quality.

    · Miralem Pjanic

    · Jordi Alba

    · Samuel Umtiti

Summary

To Summarize, Barcelona is a dream to manage for most FM managers. With a plethora of stars and the reputation of being one of the best clubs in the world, it is easy to see the allure. 

However, Barcelona have fallen short of willing the UCL for 4 seasons in a row and have lost the La Liga crown to Real Madrid most recently. There is also growing discontent with the Barca board who have made some questionable decisions in selling some of their best players. 

Could you be the one to take over Barca and bring them back to where they belong?