Football Manager - Big Fish Save

The Big Fish save on Football Manager can be so satisfying. The contrast of dominating your domestic rivals while the real challenge awaits in Europe.

The Big Fish save on Football Manager can be so satisfying. The contrast of dominating your domestic rivals while the real challenge awaits in Europe.

It’s no secret that I love a “big fish in a small pond” save. The contrast of utterly dominating your domestic rivals while the real challenge awaits in Europe feels so satisfying to me, especially when you build your club to a point of contention on the continent. This is also often the basis for a great youth development save, as you can use your domestic superiority as the perfect opportunity for your promising youngsters. Without further ado, here are my favourite clubs for this type of save.

Celtic/Rangers

The Old Firm clubs are perfectly placed for a Big Fish save. Your only real challenge is the other Old Firm side, domestic domination is expected from day one, and European football guaranteed every season. It’s not difficult to rack up an impressive trophy count; and both clubs have a track record for punching above their weight in Europe. You also have the facilities, coaching and recruitment to look to your youth academy, and the reputation to steal away any promising youngsters from other Scottish clubs.

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Olympiacos

The Greek giants have an unparalleled dominance of Greek football throughout their history. They are the only club in the world to ever win five consecutive titles on five separate occasions. Their 47 titles are more than double that of their nearest rivals, Panathinaikos. In short: you’ll be hard pressed to find any side in the world who boasts such dominance over their domestic rivals. In Europe, Olympiacos have been something of a disappointment. They’ve reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League once, and the same stage of the Cup Winners Cup once. While Greek sides lack the financial muscle of some of the other leagues in Europe, underdog status has never stopped Greek football before; just look at their Euro 2004 win. It’ll be a big job, but a hugely rewarding one, to launch Olympiacos to the summit of European football.

READ ALSO: 10 Teams to Manage to a Champions League Title on FM22

Dinamo Zagreb

Since the formation of the Croatian top flight in its current guise, Dinamo have won 23 of the available 30 titles, including the 2014-15 title undefeated, and the last 5 consecutively. In that time, they also have 16 Croatian cups and 7 Croatian super cups. Their tumultuous history also claims an impressive 16 Yugoslav trophies and an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Similar to Olympiacos, domestic dominance seems a far cry from future European success, but your famously successful youth academy gives you an advantage. Using player sales to fund growth of the club, eventually, you’ll reach a point where your promising youngsters will feel they can achieve their goals in Croatia, and you can launch your assault on the upper echelon of European football. A slow burn, but ultra rewarding and an old favourite of FM stalwarts.

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Sporting/Benfica/Porto

This one is slightly different from the others: in that whichever side you pick, the other two will be snapping at your heels domestically. You’ll need to be at your best, but if you can build some momentum over your domestic rivals, you’re well placed to take on the continent. While Porto have had some European success in the recent past, it is nearly 20 years since a Portuguese team was champions of Europe. You have an opportunity not just to launch a club into Europe’s elite, but to gate crash the big 5 leagues and turn Portugal into a real force to be reckoned with.

Hopefully, this list has given you some inspiration for taking some of Europe’s smaller league’s biggest sides into battle. The perennial underdogs will always be football’s greatest stories, and the best FM saves you’ll play.