The 8 managers to win two or more Champions Leagues: Ferguson, Pep…
Since the European Cup was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992, eight managers have won the trophy more than once. We’ve taken a look at each of them here.
Some of the greatest bosses in the history of the game, such as Arsene Wenger and Jurgen Klopp, are not present on this list. This only serves to highlight the immense achievement of the eight managers that are listed.
We’ve gone through each of them to highlight just how this milestone was achieved.
Carlo Ancelotti
Ancelotti has won four Champions Leagues in his career, two with AC Milan and two with Real Madrid – including the famous ‘La Decima’ title with Real Madrid in 2014.
‘Don Carlo’ led his Milan side to glory against Juventus in 2003 and Liverpool in 2007, and after Madrid beat Liverpool last season, he became the first-ever manager to win four European Cups.
READ: How Carlo Ancelotti ended Real Madrid’s 12-year wait for La Decima
Zinedine Zidane
No one could have quite predicted how the legendary midfielder would fare as a manager after taking over from Rafa Benitez at Real Madrid in 2015, but he somehow led Los Blancos to Champions League glory in his first season as a manager.
He then pulled off the remarkable feat of winning back-to-back European titles, which no one else has managed in the modern era, and he wrote himself into the history books by doing it for a third year in a row in 2018.
Zidane left the Bernabeu on a high note after beating Liverpool in the 2018 final but returned to the club less than a year later after their struggles following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Vincente Del Bosque
Yet another Real Madrid manager to appear on this list, the Spaniard won the Champions League twice in three years, in 2000 and 2002.
The 2002 final saw Zidane score one of the greatest goals ever…
READ: Comparing Gareth Bale and Zinedine Zidane’s CL final stunners for Madrid
Pep Guardiola
One of the most successful coaches of all time, Guardiola built arguably the greatest club side ever at Barcelona and won two Champions Leagues in three years.
The first came in his very first season of management in 2009 as Barcelona won a historic sextuple of trophies, and beat Manchester United in their European final.
Barcelona would beat United again in 2011, and put on an absolute footballing spectacle at Wembley in 2011.
Lionel Messi was the star of the show, of course.
💥💥 Leo #Messi! 2-1!
🔙 May 28, 2011
⭐️ @ChampionsLeague final pic.twitter.com/eEu2jkHxkJ— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 28, 2021
Sir Alex Ferguson
Quite probably British football’s greatest-ever manager, Ferguson brought European glory to Old Trafford twice, nine years apart.
The first came in 1999 as part of their historic treble and saw Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer come off the bench to turn it around in injury time against Bayern Munich.
United then did the double in 2008, winning the league while beating Chelsea on penalties in Moscow following a 1-1 draw.
Ferguson would then lose twice to Barcelona, preventing him from further European glory, but his two Champions Leagues marked two of the best seasons the club has ever seen.
Jupp Heynckes
The legendary German coach won the Champions League twice, 15 years apart with two different clubs.
His first triumph came with Real Madrid in 1998, beating Juventus 1-0 in the final courtesy of a Predrag Mijatovic winner, before completing a treble with Bayern Munich in 2013.
The 2013 final at Wembley saw Heynckes beat Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund, with a late Arjen Robben strike proving to be the winner, and he bowed out in style before Guardiola arrived.
Jose Mourinho
Mourinho has had a glorious career which has never been short of drama and famously took Porto to shock Champions League glory in 2004 before he joined Chelsea.
His second title would follow with Inter in 2010, completing a famous treble after building one of the most iconic sides of the century.
Diego Milito scored twice in a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu after Inter had knocked out Mourinho’s former side Chelsea and his future foes Barcelona en route to Madrid.
Knocking out Barcelona was one of his most iconic moments as a manager, as a tactical masterclass saw Inter, who were down to 10 men, hold on for an aggregate win.
“It was incredibly tense today, against a team such as Barcelona, with 10 men, it was something historical, mythical,” Mourinho stated after his side progressed to the final.
“It was the sweetest 1-0 defeat of my life but the players out there didn’t deserve to lose. We were perfect tactically and defensively.
“We showed great discipline. We worked very hard to deny them space.”
Ottmar Hitzfeld
The German coach won the Champions League at two different clubs. A shock victory with Borussia Dortmund over Juventus in 1997 was followed by more glory with Bayern Munich in 2001.
The victory with Dortmund was more convincing, beating a Juventus team filled with superstars 3-1 in Munich, while his Bayern side needed penalties to overcome Valencia at San Siro four years later.
Hitzfeld would go on to manage Switzerland before retiring in 2014 and is the only manager on this list to win two Champions Leagues with two clubs from the same country.
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