The latest reports suggest a massive overhaul could take place at Camp Nou due to the economic slump.
Tribuna.com have developed a gripping scenario: Xavi is finally back at Barca while the board re-sign La Masia graduates with the greatest potential. Then we've simulated the season in arguably the most realistic football simulator, Football Manager 2020.
That's what came out of it.
Players sold: Ter Stegen, Neto, Lenglet, Umtiti, Firpo, Semedo, De Jong, Arthur, Rakitic, Vidal, Griezmann, Turan, Dembele, Luis Suarez, Braithwaite.
Players bought: Pepe Reina, Andre Onana, Hector Bellerin, Marc Bartra, Alex Grimaldo, Thiago Alcantara, Adama Traore, Pedro Rodriguez, Dani Olmo, Cristian Tello, Gerard Deulofeu, Munir El-Haddadi.
Remaining transfer budget: €120m (€10m before the massive sale).
Most featured starting XI: Onana; Grimaldo, Bartra, Pique, Bellerin; Busquets; Thiago, Sergi Roberto; Olmo, Messi, Traore.
Head coach: Xavi.
La Liga results
The challenge was obviously tough for the team – only 4 key players stayed put from the initial 2019/20 squad: Messi, Pique, Alba and Busquets. Interestingly, Xavi was giving both Pique (29 apps) and Alba (35 apps) much time to rest in his debut season as a Barca manager.
As a result, Barca finished just 5th in the league table, securing the Europa League group stage spot for the next season.
Real Madrid took advantage of this rare opportunity to celebrate the league glory – but let's not forget that all other teams, apart from Barcelona, were unchanged. And even despite their dominance, we managed to win a home Clasico, Messi scoring a game-winner in his finest tradition.
Champions League results
For the first time in ages, Barcelona didn't qualify for the second knockout round as the first two spots went to Ajax and Inter Milan. However, the Catalans came a long way in the Europa League knockouts, reaching the competition's final and losing to Manchester United on penalties.
Oh, and by the way, the Europa League probably saw the most epic vengeance that could ever happen in football. After crashing to Roma at Stadio Olimpico 3-0 (something we've seen in real life at least once), Barca produced a stunning home comeback!
Best players
Leo Messi once again proved he doesn't depend much on his partners – 22 goals and 11 assists despite missing a month through an injury.
Thiago showed he could still be a perfect fit for Barca even after spending 6 years abroad. 8 goals, 2 assists and a very solid average passing success – 94 per cent.
Alex Grimaldo proved Barca were wrong to let him go. The highly-rated left-back broke new ground and became one of Barca's key men in both defence and attack.
- 3 goals
- 9 assists
- 92 per cent passing success (per game)
- 3.1 tackles (per game)
Marc Cucurella was initially expected to play a back-up role under Xavi but the boss used him on 41 occasions in which the left-back scored 6 goals and registered 3 assists. The 21-year-old simply locked the left-wing for his opponents, registering 3.16 tackles per 90 mins.
Rafinha surprisingly ended up as the team's second-best scorer with 8 goals. The Brazilian was Barca's main man upfront in Messi's absence, although there were Munir and Pedro ready to take this status from him.
Adama Traore displayed his best skill in full – the winger registered 6.23 dribbles per game in 33 appearances. His goal contribution was rather poor, however – 5 goals and 5 assists.
Key conclusions
- Barca's front line was too weak: 51 goals scored in La Liga rank Blaugrana 7th, even below Levante (56) and Real Sociedad (53).
- The lack of a solid centre-back pairing ruined the season: one could hardly win big things with Pique, Bartra and Araujo as the only CB options.
- New beginnings are always difficult: there were simply too many changes made at once and it played a dirty trick on Barca.
❓ Do you want us to carry out another FM experiment? Or maybe play another season with this side? Have your say in the comments – we'll gladly listen to your suggestions!
