What's the smallest league you've won the Champions League (or Europa league) in?

[johncmcleod]

What's the smallest league in which you've managed a team that won the Champions League? Or the Europa League? Have you ever had success in Europe (not necessarily winning anything) with a team from a really small league? I'm trying to win the Champions League with a Portugese team right now (Sporting).

This is a much different skill than taking a team through the divisions. Of course taking a League Two side up to the Prem and being successful requires a lot of skill, but it's a different type of skill to be consistently successful with a team from a small league. In that scenario, you have a very small budget (compared to the teams from big leagues), your players constantly want to leave your team for a bigger league whenever they get good, and in European competitions your team is much worse than the opposition.

This is a very unique challenge, but from what I've seen no one is really interested in doing it. It seems like no one manages a team out of the top 3 or 4 leagues. Most peoples' idea of a challenge is to take a team from the bottom leagues and move them up to the top (in England, Spain, or Italy). Of course this is fine, but I'm just surprised that no one seems interested in trying to be successful in a small league. In my opinion, winning the Champions League with Anderlecht and having consistent success in European competitions with them is even better than winning it with QPR or Oxford or whoever.

 

[Alex]

I think one of the main reasons that people weren't interested in this, was because the League Reputation was static.

So no matter how well you went, players still wouldn't want to go and play in your crummy league.

Now, I think we'll see people moving towards this type of thing more often.

The Succession game thread actually mentioned almost exactly this.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Ukraine I guess. My great Steaua teams never could get it done in Europe so after 10ish years I bolted for Milan.

 

[hallinho]

Only team I won it with is Man Utd

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Had a damn good team in Austria too, but don't think I ever came close to the CL Title. Actually went to Inter in that game.

 

[nor-rbk]

Only managed to this on FM05 which was to easy, won the CL with Ajax, EL with Rosenborg and WC with Norway. I rarely succeed in CL, only won it once as I can remember after that win with Ajax, and that was with Liverpool on FM10. Got a few wins in the EL though.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Won the World Cup with Ivory Coast in 08 I believe. I didn't think it was THAT impressive, but I had a hell of a time winning a WC in 09 (took me 4 tries after a 3rd place and 2 runners-up) with the best teams at the time. Shakhtar winning the CL though... I'm most proud of that. Had there been Dynamic League Reputation I think I could have continued that game for decades; instead Liverpool wouldn't hire me the summer after I won the CL with a Ukrainian club and went 29 wins and 1 draw in the Ukrainian League.

UGHHHH.... just thinking about that Shakhtar season. 1 DRAW! At Dynamo on one of the last matches of the year. I know I posted screenshots in here. I think I had a young kid, maybe 18-21 who missed a sitter in like the 87th minute. I've never had a perfect season, in fact it's the last thing I haven't accomplished in any FM/CM game. It's my white whale. Call me Ishmael, or Ahab, or Don Quixote.

 

[Mus]

a perfect season in fm is godly, theres always so many games where the team underperforms or you get unlucky

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Well... that's why Ukraine is ideal. There is such a huge gap in money and only 30 games. Like I said, I was 27-0-0 or something like that and was unfortunate not to beat Dynamo at the Valeri Lobanovskiy.... ah well, gotta keep trying. But yeah, even in video games ONE game is bound to go wrong.

 

[Mus]

i remeber once seeing someone do it in the russian league, how close did you get with your man city?

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Honestly, not close at all. Almost every season I lost to a **** team in the first or second game of the year

 

[Mus]

the best bet is to probably find a league with the shortest season, the A-league has 27 games i think

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Well... I was something like 27-0-0 in Ukraine and finished 29-1-0 with a draw at Kiev. Such a shame.

 

[Alex]

I had a perfect season in 2024-25 in a game of Championship Manager 2001-02.

The season before I went undefeated (but drew a load of games), I had a huge squad of superstars and was playing for a side I made up (and took from the bottom tier with loads and loads and loads of cash - a bit like the succession game), but in England. By that late stage of the game though, I had a ridiculous side, and I was using the With/Without Ball and other tactical exploits of earlier versions a bit.

 

[Filipower]

I've won the Champions League with Porto in almost every FM since CM03/04, if you want to put the Portuguese League in that pot


But yeah, it's a slightly different challenge than picking up a team from the lower leagues, that's why I was ecstatic last year when I managed to win the treble with Leeds having picked them up from League Two.

And people are definitely going to do that more often now that there's DLR.

 

[Sir Calumn]

I once won the UEFA cup with Leeds whilst not in the Premier League (had won the FA cup the season before in league one). Never won with a club from outside the big leagues though, as I dont tend to play outside Spain, England, Germany, France or Italy.

Never had a perfect season either. Also, to be a PERFECT perfect season, you shouldnt concede a single goal - try that for an impossible challenge!

 

[ShiftyPowers]

To be even more perfect your team should score with every touch of the ball.

 

[Filipower]

plus, get 100% possession.

 

[Mandieta6]

Win every match by having the opposition exceed the red card limit. Surely that's possible in this FM?

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Hahaha, not sure how you'd do that. Have a bunch of high dribble, high flair players with 4 pace?