FIFA 22 Barcelona Career Mode Guide: Starting lineup and who to sign

Barcelona is perhaps the biggest club in world football, but it's been a downward spiral for the Spanish giants over the past few seasons.

So, have you got what it takes to rebuild the great team that once was and take Barca back to Champions League glory in FIFA 22 Career Mode?

Team Rating

Barcelona has a 5-star rating in FIFA 22.

The breakdown of the ratings is as follows: ATT 85, MID 84, DEF 80.

Starting Lineup and Formation

The 4-3-3 holding formation is most suitable for Barcelona's players, in order to get the most out of their attackers whilst remaining defensively solid at the back.

Starting with the attacking trio, we have Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembele providing width on the wings, with Memphis Depay through the middle.

The two box-to-box central midfielders are Frenkie de Jong and young Pedri.

Anchoring the midfield is none other than Barca legend, Sergio Busquets.

In the full-back positions, we've gone for Jordi Alba and Sergino Dest, whilst Clement Lenglet partners Ronald Araujo in central defence.

And of course, world-class 'keeper, Marc-Andre ter Stegen is the man between the posts.

Tactics and Instructions

With Memphis Depay being the main man up front, we want to maximise his goal threat.

So, instruct the striker to Stay Forward, Get In Behind and Stay Central to give him the best possible chance of a sight at goal.

Instruct Dembele to Cut Inside and Get Into The Box For Cross in order to utilise his five-star weak foot finishing.

The two full-backs are good going forward, so instruct both Jordi Alba and Sergino Dest to Overlap but also Stay Back While Attacking.

Make sure you instruct your defensive midfielder to Cover Centre and Stay Back While Attacking, or you may leave yourself vulnerable to the counter attack.

Development Plans

When it comes to developing youngsters, it's difficult to know where to start with this Barcelona squad which is packed full of high-potential players.

Frenkie de Jong (POT 92) and Pedri (POT 91) can develop into a truly world-class midfield duo with just a few years of training.

There's plenty of room for improvement for the two wingers, with Ansu Fati (POT 90) and Ousmane Dembele (POT 88), but we'd recommend converting Dembele into a striker, as we think his stats are best suited to that position.

Ronald Araujo (POT 86), Clement Lenglet (POT 85) and Eric Garcia (POT 85) can become three top-class centre-back options.

Transfer Market

Starting budget: £112 million

Who should go?

Barcelona seems to have several ageing players in the squad who do not fit the FIFA 22 'meta' and therefore can be sold.

Gerard Pique (OVR 84), Philippe Coutinho (OVR 82), Sergio Roberto (OVR 81), Samuel Umtiti (OVR 80) and Martin Braithwaite (OVR 77) can all be sold to free up funds.

We would also be tempted to let Sergio Busquets (OVR 86) leave too, as he is 32-years-old and has lost a lot of his pace, but this does mean you'll need to buy a new defensive midfielder.

The following youngsters can also be sold as their potential rating is not high enough in FIFA 22 to challenge for a first-team spot:

Hiroki Abe, Moussa Wagué, Álex Collado Gutiérrez, Matheus Pereira da Silva

Loans

Pablo Martin Paez Gavira (POT 85) is one of the most promising youngsters on the books who aren't near the first team at the moment, so a loan spell early on could do him the world of good.

Alejandro Balde Martinez (POT 83), Nicolas Gonzalez Iglesias (POT 83), Kays Ruiz-Atil (POT 81) and Arnau Tenas Urena (POT 81) are all promising young players capable of reaching the highest level.

Barca already has several players out on loan too, with Francisco Trincao (POT 85) the main one to keep an eye on.

Who to sign?

As we mentioned before, once you sell Sergio Busquets, the main position to be filled is in defensive midfield.

A defensive midfielder who can break up the play ad distribute the ball is what you should be looking for.

AC Milan’s Franck Kessie (OVR 84) is our favourite in this position, and if you are prepared to wait a season you could snap him up on a free!

With an incredible 94 Stamina and high work rates both defensively and offensively, Kessie really does cover every blade of grass.

Transfer Options (CM/CDM)

We would also recommend finding a top-class CB, as despite having young players who can improve in the future, Barca don't currently have an outstanding centre-half at the club.

The centre-backs we've focused on are a little pricey, but you most definitely have the cash to splash.

Transfer Options (CB)

Board Expectations

You will have to keep a VERY close eye on your board expectations as manager of Barcelona in FIFA 22 as they are a demanding bunch, to say the least!

Brand Exposure, Domestic Success and Continental Success are the most important targets for your popularity with the board, as they see all three as critical to the success of the club.

The board also have assigned high priority to Youth Development, though this should not be hard to fulfil with the famous La Masia producing wonderkids every year.

The Financial targets are a low priority, so you don't need to stress too much about this.