7 legends who won the Champions League as both player and manager

Zinedine Zidane has won the Champions League as both player and manager

Winning the UEFA Champions League is no mean feat. Winning it multiple times puts you among the pantheon of greats. But winning it as a player and then to win the ‘Big Ears’ as a manager puts you on an elite list of people. A list that contains only seven people. 

We look at those who have lifted the trophy wearing team’s kit first followed by a well-tailored suit. 

Note: This article was updated on 5 June 2017 following Zidane’s back-to-back triumph in the Champions League. 

1) Zinedine Zidane

One of the finest players of his generation, Zinedine Zidane has now won the Champions League three times as a player and manager (four if you count the fact that he also won it as an assistant manager).

Player: Zidane’s career spanned 18 seasons in the top flight in France, Italy and Spain. Having first made a name for himself at Juventus, Real Madrid paid the equivalent of £46.6m to sign him when he was 29. He was part of the ambitious Galactico project and had already won the Ballon d’Or apart from leading France to World Cup and Euro glory.

Zidane with the trophy after the 2002 final

He was a success in his very first season and he made it a memorable one by scoring one of the greatest goals in Champions League history. In the 2002 final, he fired Madrid to the title with a thunderous volley with his weaker foot to score the winner in a 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen. 

Manager: No team had managed to win back-to-back titles ever since erstwhile European Cup was rebranded in the 1992/93 season and became what is now known as the Champions League. Clubs such as AC Milan, Juventus and Manchester United had all failed to do so when they reached consecutive finals. Then came Zinedine Zidane.

In managerial terms, Zidane barely has any experience at the top flight. Yet, here we are with the Frenchman having won three major titles and five trophies in all in just one-and-a-half years. 

He took over a team in crisis following the sacking of Rafa Benitez midway through the season. Having been a world class player himself, he knew how to handle the big egos in the dressing room and he rallied his troops in 2016 to beat Atletico Madrid in the final. 

A year later, Real Madrid looked a much better team under him in spite of not signing any big stars and this time they beat Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Juventus to win their 12^th Champions League title.