🔮 Trophyless Barca? How many goals will Messi score at PSG? Football Manager 2021 experiment
Hi guys, I've already done something like this before (actually, when Messi wanted to leave Barca last year) but it's time to come up with something truly big... and even historic in some way.
I took up the challenge! No Messi, no new world-class players – pure hardcore with DDG (Dembele-Depay-Griezmann) as our best frontline trio.
And I've played the whole season with the weakened squad and a 4-3-3 formation that usually looked like that.
Araujo in midfield seems weird but Busquets is way too poor defensively in this game (which is quite realistic, let's be fair) while the Uruguayan beast is a real stalwart in between the defence and the central midfield.
Riqui Puig was receiving more game time than Pedri simply because he was more prolific in front of goal – we'll take a look at Riqui's individual stats later.
So, let's review the competition results.
Spanish Supercopa
Nothing to boast about here. Lost to Real Sociedad on penalties in the semifinals (they went on to win the trophy, wow!).
All 4 goals were scored within 8 minutes, sensational.
Copa del Rey
A decent campaign overall but we lost to Real Madrid in the grand final.
Just to clarify – I've only edited Barca's squad to make it relevant, other teams have 2020/21 squad lists.
Champions League
Excited?
At first, I thought the last-16 stage would be our limit as we crawled into the knockouts with great difficulties, giving way to RB Leipzig and taking on Juventus in the last 16.
Imagine my surprise when we actually reached the semifinals and almost got the better of Liverpool!
Last 16
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
The Anfield nightmare again... This time not as horrifying as 2 years ago.
LA LIGA
Now onto the greatest thing about this whole post.
WE WON LA LIGA!
We almost finished the season unbeaten, as you see – the only loss came away against Sevilla.
The lads were fully focused on claiming the title and they've done it even despite the recurring injuries of our forwards and, of course, Messi's absence. Fantastic.
Now, let's proceed to the players' individual stats. This is going to be fun.
Top scorers
1. Memphis Depay - 20
2. Antoine Griezmann - 16
3. Sergio Aguero - 16
4. Ousmane Dembele - 15
5. Gerard Pique - 12 (most goals are penalties)
This is impressive because everyone upfront was working hard and, as a result, recorded a great season individually.
Top assist providers
1. Sergi Roberto - 11
2. Ousmane Dembele - 10
3. Riqui Puig - 10
4. Antoine Griezmann - 10
5. Frenkie de Jong - 9
Well, this is quite surprising. Roberto was really effective on the pitch, turning his touches into scoring chances (I ONLY used him in the midfield) while Riqui Puig has finally shown what he's got – these 10 goal-leading passes aside, Riqui also netted 7 goals.
...
Oh, I haven't mentioned Messi since paragraph two. How is he doing at PSG?
24 goals, 11 assists. One of his worst seasons ever, yet it was enough for him to win Ligue 1.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that he scored just ONE goal in the Champions League. Overall, the Parisians didn't meet their fans' expectations, losing to Bayern on pens in the last 16.
So, as you see, there are some really positive glimpses about Barca's post-Messi era – hitting almost 100 points in La Liga and losing just one game is definitely the brightest one.
❓What would you like to know about this experiment? Or maybe you'd like me to come up with something new? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments!
Comments
mate I like the effort u put into this but I don't trust any computer simulation anymore but I'm hoping for barca to do the best in every tournament
Aadit Sharma, Football Manager is far better than the supercomputer in my opinion 😂 Realistically, I think it would be much easier for us to win a cup competition than La Liga but let's see.
@Kosta könig do you play football manager?
The only DDG i can think about is the rapper
I see some real issues in the lineup. Araujo is a defender and definatley not a defencive midfielder. Busquets or De Jong are dm. Griezmann should be put in center and Depay on the left. Griezmann is best in the center and Depay is the best forward in the team right now at the left side. Pique should be cut for Araujo and with Busquets or De Jong as dm Pedri would have the last midfield spot.