Five clubs outside the top five leagues with whom the challenge is to try to achieve success on the European scene in Football Manager 2023.
Five clubs outside the top five leagues with whom the challenge is to try to achieve success on the European scene in Football Manager 2023.
1. Dinamo Zagreb
Starting in Croatia is the wonderkid factory, Dinamo Zagreb. Dinamo’s youth system has produced players like Zvonomir Boban, Davor Šuker, Mateo Kovačić and, of course, Balon d’Or winner Luka Modrić. Dinamo have introduced a self-imposed rule of playing at least two academy products in the first team at all times. The club’s academy has led to almost relentless dominance of the Croatian league, but the Champions League is much harder to achieve. This season, however, Dinamo did beat Chelsea in the group stage. The likes of Mislav Oršić, Dominik Livaković and young talent Martin Baturina are a good base to lead Dinamo’s European challenge.
2. Club Brugge
Another club known for producing elite-level talents is Club Brugge. The Belgian champions currently have a squad which nicely blends youth with experience. Some of the younger players include fullback Bjorn Meijer and Andreas Skov Olsen meanwhile, the likes of Simon Mignolet and Dedryck Boyata lend experience at the back. In real life, Club Brugge waltzed through their Champions League group and have qualified for the knockout stages for the first time in their history. Can you emulate them?
Part of the famous Red Bull group, RB Salzburg are well-known for signing young players and selling them on for huge profit, having done so with the likes of Sadio Mané, Erling Haaland and, most recently, Karim Adeyemi. The next striker on that list will be Benjamin Šesko. In order to keep the wonderkid supply chain going, Salzburg starts FM23 with a £6m transfer budget. Rapid Vienna were the last Austrian side to get to a European final (losing to Everton in the 1985 Cup Winner’s Cup and again in 1996, losing to PSG). Can you improve on that with Red Bull Salzburg?
[post_ads_2]
Despite the horrific crisis in Ukraine, Shakhtar Donetsk have remained one of the country’s elite clubs. The fact that they continue to succeed in spite of having been displaced from their home stadium since 2014 makes this success even more remarkable. In the Ukrainian league, Shakhtar’s main rivals are Dynamo Kyiv, who they are, incidentally, sharing a stadium with these days. Overcoming the two-horse race with Shakhtar shouldn’t be too difficult, but providing the Ukrainian people with a welcome distraction by being successful in Europe will be harder.
3. Salzburg
Part of the famous Red Bull group, RB Salzburg are well-known for signing young players and selling them on for huge profit, having done so with the likes of Sadio Mané, Erling Haaland and, most recently, Karim Adeyemi. The next striker on that list will be Benjamin Šesko. In order to keep the wonderkid supply chain going, Salzburg starts FM23 with a £6m transfer budget. Rapid Vienna were the last Austrian side to get to a European final (losing to Everton in the 1985 Cup Winner’s Cup and again in 1996, losing to PSG). Can you improve on that with Red Bull Salzburg?
[post_ads_2]
4. Shakhtar Donetsk
Despite the horrific crisis in Ukraine, Shakhtar Donetsk have remained one of the country’s elite clubs. The fact that they continue to succeed in spite of having been displaced from their home stadium since 2014 makes this success even more remarkable. In the Ukrainian league, Shakhtar’s main rivals are Dynamo Kyiv, who they are, incidentally, sharing a stadium with these days. Overcoming the two-horse race with Shakhtar shouldn’t be too difficult, but providing the Ukrainian people with a welcome distraction by being successful in Europe will be harder.
5. FC Copenhagen
In the last 20 years, FC Kobenhavn have been the dominant team in Danish football. However, in recent times, clubs like FC Midtjylland and Brondby have been challenging the hegemony. In order to keep hold of the Superliga crown, the Danish champions start off with a hefty transfer budget of £9m, the biggest in Scandinavia. Also, FC Kobenhavn possess a strong youth system, so hopefully, the talents can continue to come through to make the squad even stronger.
READ ALSO: Huge List of Challenges and Save Ideas for Football Manager 2023
