Champions League Winning Managers
Winning the Champions League is widely regarded as the pinnacle of excellence in European club football. The competition draws the biggest clubs in Europe, and in turn many of the greatest managers in the game. Since the 1992/93 season, when the European Cup transformed into the Champions League, no club has won twice a row, highlighting the extremely competitive nature of the elite competition.
Since the European Cup was born only Bob Paisley, Carlo Ancelotti, and most recently Zinedine Zidane have won the competition three times. A further 17 gaffers have won the Champions League twice, including Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, and Pep Guardiola.
Four managers have won the tournament with two different clubs; including Ottmar Hitzfeld, Ernst Happel, Mourinho and Ancelotti. Six men have won the competition as both a player and manager, with Zinedine Zidane the most recent gaffer to achieve this.
Italy hold the record for the total number of titles won by managers of each nationality, with 11, while Spain are second with 10, followed by both England and Germany with 7.
It's been well documented that an English manager hasn't won the competition since 1984 when Joe Fagan was victorious with Liverpool.
The Champions League has been a platform for managers to make their name in European football, just as Jose Mourinho did in the 2003/04 season when he spearheaded Porto's incredible journey to the top of the European ladder.
Brian Clough shot to international fame in 1979 when he lead unfancied Nottingham Forest to European Cup glory, which was made even more so impressive the following season when he repeated the feat.
Champions League Winning Managers Since 1992/93
- 1993: Raymond Goethals (Marseille)
- 1994: Fabio Capello (AC Milan)
- 1995: Louis van Gaal (Ajax)
- 1996: Marcello Lippi (Juventus)
- 1997: Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund)
- 1998: Jupp Heynckes (Real Madrid)
- 1999: Alex Ferguson (Man Utd)
- 2000: Vicente del Bosque (Real Madrid)
- 2001: Ottmar Hitzfeld (Bayern Munich)
- 2002: Vicente del Bosque (Real Madrid)
- 2003: Carlo Ancelotti (AC Milan)
- 2004: Jose Mourinho (Porto)
- 2005: Rafael Benitez (Liverpool)
- 2006: Frank Rijkaard (Barcelona)
- 2007: Carlo Ancelotti (AC Milan)
- 2008: Alex Ferguson (Manchester United)
- 2009: Pep Guardiola (Barcelona
- 2010: Jose Mourinho (Inter Milan)
- 2011: Pep Guardiola (Barcelona)
- 2012: Roberto Di Matteo (Chelsea)
- 2013: Jupp Heynckes (Bayern Munich)
- 2014: Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid)
- 2015: Luis Enrique (Barcelona)
- 2016: Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)
- 2017: Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)
- 2018: Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid)
- 2019: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)