Welcome back to the Aswijan Assignment, a Football Manager 2020 save in the fictional country of Aswijan – using a database created by @Chilled_Moose.
Khaliza Unidi were once again running riot in Aswijan, leading Liga Regale and still undefeated heading into 2026 inspired largely by the brilliance of midfield prodigy Ulrich Awono.
As a result, there was no need to sign any players but we did bring in £54 million in outgoings. While the winter break began with the extension to our Ard di Magia stadium being completed to take the capacity to 70,000.
And there was good news on the pitch as we started 2026 in flying form, smashing Berche 08 5-0 in the Copa Azore. Then an Awono brace inspired a 3-0 win over ACAT and he scored again in a 2-0 win at last year’s league runners-up Marrador FC.
Then we had one of the best team and personal performances I’ve seen on Football Manager. We had 6 different scorers but midfielder Ilaix Moriba scored 2 and created 3 in a 7-1 hammering of Al Aragha Athletik. Calvin Stengs also scored, which made him the club’s record goalscorer with 36 league goals. The result also set new club and league records for the biggest win.
Two top of the table clashes
That massive win sent us into a huge game at second-placed Aswijan Siti in high spirits. That showed us as Francisco José put us in front from an Awono free-kick, N’Golo Kanté equalised, only for Hugo Vandevelde to restore the lead from a Stengs free-kick. They equalised again just before the hour mark, but Awono stepped up to score 5 minutes later and seal a 3-2 win that moved us a huge 16 points clear.
We then took on Manouza, who’d climbed above Siti into 2nd. And we again made a strong start as Awono bagged his 24th goal of the season after 8 minutes, which set a new club record for goals in a season – in February! We dominated Manouza and Moriba wrapped up the win with a superb half volley late on.
Chasing a third title
We won 3-0 at Fari to rack up 10 consecutive wins, with Awono bagging a brace that took him past 25 goals for the season. The Belgian then broke the Khaliza Unidi league goalscoring record by getting to 20 with the opener at home to Uswana before laying on the second for Francisco José for his 20th in all competitions in a 2-1 win. The 21-year-old was again at the centre of things as previous champions Aldaia came to town, opening the scoring on 24 minutes before striker Gustavo Collado sealed a 2-1 win with a powerful strike.
And we then proved our dominance over the rest of the league by thrashing 4th-placed Hadria 5-1 with Moriba scoring a hat-trick and Stengs claiming a hat-trick of assists. This 13th win on the bounce broke the Liga Regale record consecutive victories. It also ensured we qualified for the Champions League and put us only 7 points away from a third consecutive title.
And we moved within a point of the title with a 2-0 win at Hadria Oskat then a 7-0 thrashing of Talat, in which all 7 goals were scored before half-time! Awono scored a club record 4 and Moriba bagged a brace, most of which were long-range screamers. And that once again broke the club and league biggest win records.
We went to 3rd-placed Wabani and raced into a 2-0 lead then conceded twice out of nowhere to draw 2-2. But, that sealed a third consecutive title for Khaliza Unidi!
An entire reserve 11 kept the run going with a 3-0 win over mid-table SC Marrador, with striker Faatih Vukojevic bagging a brace and a wonderful volley by midfielder David Castaneda. And that set a new Liga Regale record of 32 games unbeaten. Then the big boys returned for Aswijan Malikiy away and delivered a dominant 3-1 win led by another Awono brace. Since January, he’d scored 16 goals and got 8 assists in 18 matches.
I threw reserve players in for the remaining games, to save the first-team for the Champions League exploits below, and we ended up losing our only game of the campaign and drawing a few more. But we ended on 87 points – the joint-highest tally in the league throughout this save – and scored 89 goals – which is the most during this save.
Aswijan league and cup double
Aside from the excellent league form, we also sealed a first Copa Azore success in Khaliza Unidi’s history. We’d thumped Malikiy in the quarter-finals then edged past Kasra on away goals with a reserve 11. Then nicked a narrow 1-0 win over Aldaia in the final thanks to Awono’s injury-time goal.
Champions League knockout stages
We were drawn with Sevilla in the first knockout round of the Champions League and earned a 1-1 draw despite dominating the away leg. And we edged past them in the home leg with Collado’s opener and a trademark screamer by Moriba sealing a 2-1 win.
Our reward was a quarter-final with a strong Paris Saint-Germain side. PSG twice took the lead in the first half in Paris, with Awono and Collado immediately equalising both times. And we held on in a quiet second half for a good 2-2 draw. And PSG again went ahead early at our place through Kylian Mbappé but Collado latched onto a loose ball to equalise early in the second half. And that ensured we qualified without ever leading in the tie!
That took us into the semi-finals and a huge tie with Barcelona. We were at home in the first leg and absolutely dominated the Spanish giants but just could not find a way through. That was, however, until we brought on academy product striker Priamo Bourdon, who scored what looked like being an 84th minute winner to end a 13-hour goal drought. But a minute later Collado tapped home a rebound then Awono made it comfortable with an injury-time penalty, sealing a big 3-0 lead to take to Barcelona.
Barca went ahead early in the return leg but we sured up the defence and they failed to threaten our goal for the rest of the match. So we were heading to the Champions League Final for the second successive season! And our opponent there was also going to be Inter again, who defeated Arsenal 8-1 on aggregate.
Second Champions League Final
Athens’ 87,000 capacity OAKA Spyros Louis was the venue as Inter Milan and Khaliza Unidi locked horns in the Champions League Final for the second successive season.
A quiet first half saw neither side create too much until Stengs crossed for Awono to drive home the opener with a superb volley on 40 minutes. I encouraged the boys to push on in the second half and Awono teed up Moriba for a trademark long-range strike that doubled our lead on 68 minutes. Then 8 minutes later Collado won a penalty that Awono stepped up to smash home his 40th goal of a magnificent campaign.
Khaliza Unidi were the first Aswijan team ever to win the Champions League! And, we wrapped up a famous league, cup and European treble.
It was fitting that Awono was the star of the show in the final, following a season in which he’s very much been – in my opinion – the best player in Aswijan and Europe.
I put Awono in the top three players I’ve ever managed on Football Manager – only behind a couple of players in my Atalanta save. For an attacking midfielder playing in an unnatural left-wing role to score 40 goals in 47 appearances – and 28 goals in 30 league games – is truly exceptional. And he’s very much up there with the best players in the world.
Youth prospects
We had a great player come through our youth intake in centre-back Marcos Acevedo, who looks like an exciting talent. In addition to that, our Under 18s won the Aswijan U18 Division 1 for the first time.
Join us next time as we review a magnificent season of huge success in Aswijan and Europe. And, with the Champions League sealed and three straight league titles, this may be our final season in Aswijan.
I hope you’ve enjoying reading about our adventures in the fictional nation of Aswijan. If you have any questions or want more info on specific players in the squad, just let me know in the comments or get in touch on Twitter.
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