Football Manager 2018: 10 Challenging Teams You Will Need To Use
5. Athletic Bilbao
Playing as Athletic Bilbao is a classic Football Manager challenge that never gets boring. The club’s long-standing policy of only signing Basque players gives them a huge theoretically disadvantage, but they’re one of four clubs to never be relegated from La Liga, and with 8 league titles and 23 domestic cups to their name, they’re also Spain’s 4th most successful club.
Sticking to the ‘Basque only’ rule places obvious restrictions on what you can do in the game. The list of quality Basque players that aren’t already playing for Bilbao is short, and you’ll likely have to spend a pretty penny to acquire. Focusing on the club’s youth system is your best bet, but this does make this a long-term project rather than a save you can run through in just a season or two.
The ultimate goal should be keeping hold of your prize assets and eventually challenging for the title. The good news is that Bilbao’s players tend to be extremely loyal, so even if you’re teased with a big money offer, the likes of Aymeric Laporte may want to stick around anyway. This makes the task a little less daunting, but make no mistake, winning La Liga with Bilbao is going to take a while.