6 managers with the most Champions League trophies
The UEFA Champions League, formerly called the European Cup, is one of the best club competitions in world football since its inception in 1992.
Whenever we hear the iconic Champions League anthem, we are reminded of the amazing crop of players who have graced the competition. While they do deserve credit for winning games for their clubs, the competition's format makes a manager's role equally important, if not more.
It is very difficult to win the Champions League as a player, but winning it as a coach is even tougher. On that note, here we take a look at six managers who've lifted the glistening Champions trophy on most occasions.
Note: Ottmar Hitzfeld and Vicente del Bosque have won the Champions League on two occasions, but here we have given preference to managers who have won the competition twice and have also won a treble in doing so. European Cup winners are not considered in this list.
Six managers with the most title wins in Champions League history:
T2. Alex Ferguson - Two | 1999, 2008 (Manchester United)
Sir Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager in British football history, and he also found success in the Champions League, winning the elite competition twice with Manchester United.
As the United manager from 1986 to 2013, he won a record 114 European Cup / UEFA Champions League matches. One of the biggest achievements of his career was pulling off the miracle in Barcelona. Injury-time goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær helped him secure an unprecedented treble that season.
Sir Alex Ferguson lifted his second Champions League title in 2008 with a strong squad that also made it to the final in 2009 and 2011, only to be defeated on both occasions by a flawless Barcelona side led by Pep Guardiola.
Manchester United have not made it past the Champions League quarterfinals since 2010-11 but have found success in the Europa League, winning it for the first time in 2017.
T2. Jupp Heynckes - Two | 1998 (Real Madrid) and 2013 (Bayern Munich)
'The child of Bundesliga', as Jupp Heynckes describes himself, is best known for his spells as the manager of German heavyweights Bayern Munich.
Heynckes had an illustrious 35-year-long managerial career, which took him across three different countries and nine different clubs. He retired from coaching after helping Bayern Munich lift the Bundesliga title in 2018.
Though he might not have a lot of silverware to show from his travels, his record in the Champions League has been exceptional. It might come as a surprise, but the German has only led a side into the Champions League on four occasions, once with Real Madrid and thrice with Bayern Munich.
He won the Champions League in his debut season with Real Madrid in 1997-98, bringing the trophy at Santiago Bernabeu after an agonising wait of 32 years.
However, his biggest achievement was winning the treble with Bayern Munich in 2012-13 . Heynckes also holds the record for most consecutive victories (12) in the competition.
Also See: European Team of the Season (2019/20) according to ratings.