Top Managers Who’ve Won the European Cup/UCL as Players and Coaches
- Think Football Ideas
- Jun 3
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 4
There’s something mythic about the Champions League, sorry, and the European Cup for the purists. Lifting that big silver jug once is career-defining. Winning it as both a player and a manager? That’s footballing immortality. It means you didn’t just play the game; you understood it so deeply that you could command it from the touchline years later.
So, who has won the Champions League as a player and coach? Only a handful. A sacred few. These are the men who’ve conquered Europe from the pitch and the dugout. Legends? That word barely does them justice.
Below are the Top Managers Who’ve Won the European Cup/UCL as Players and Coaches
1. Carlo Ancelotti
Player: AC Milan (1989, 1990)
Coach: AC Milan (2003, 2007); Real Madrid (2014, 2022, 2024)
If European royalty had a surname, it might just be Ancelotti. As a composed midfielder, “Carletto” pulled the strings for Arrigo Sacchi’s all-conquering Milan side, winning back-to-back European Cups in 1989 and 1990. But his managerial CV is something else.
Ancelotti brought Milan back to the summit in 2003 and again in 2007 (revenge over Liverpool, no less).
Then, the Real Madrid chapters: La Décima in 2014, a tactical masterclass in 2022, and the fairy tale in 2024, after rebuilding Los Blancos post-Karim Benzema. Calm, classy, and with five UCL trophies as a coach, he’s the undisputed Don of European management.
2. Johan Cruyff
Player: Ajax (1971, 1972, 1973)
Coach: Barcelona (1992)
Johan Cruyff didn’t just win trophies, he reshaped the very idea of football. As a player, he led Ajax’s revolutionary Total Football dynasty to three consecutive European Cups.
The grace, swagger, and genius were jaw-dropping, and that turn wasn’t even his greatest trick. Fast forward to 1992, and Cruyff did the unthinkable: he gave Barcelona their first-ever European Cup as a manager - the inaugural triumph as the competition was rebranded as the Champions League.
That Dream Team, which had the likes of Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, and Hristo Stoichkov, was his masterpiece. His influence still echoes through the corridors of the Camp Nou (and in Pep Guardiola’s notebooks).
3. Pep Guardiola
Player: Barcelona (1992)
Coach: Barcelona (2009, 2011); Manchester City (2023)
Pep Guardiola was part of Cruyff’s ’92 side, how’s that for a passing of the torch? As a player, he was a cerebral midfield general.
But it’s as a manager where Pep really exploded: at Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, with Lionel Messi at his peak, turned football into ballet. Then came the great English experiment. After years of “he hasn’t done it outside Barca,” he finally shut everyone up.
Manchester City’s 2023 UCL triumph wasn’t just historic, it was inevitable. Total control, relentless standards, and a Champions League medal both as a maestro and mastermind.
4. Miguel Muñoz
Player: Real Madrid (1956, 1957, 1958)
Coach: Real Madrid (1960, 1966)
Now here’s a name history buffs love. Muñoz was there at the start, as a player in Real Madrid’s first three European Cup wins in the 1950s, playing alongside Di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás. That alone was remarkable.
But then, he took the reins and won it again in 1960 (with that legendary 7–3 final vs Eintracht Frankfurt) and once more in 1966. Muñoz didn’t just ride the wave, he helped build the Real Madrid dynasty from the inside out.
5. Frank Rijkaard
Player: AC Milan (1989, 1990), Ajax (1995)
Coach: Barcelona (2006)
Frank Rijkaard’s playing résumé? It is Stacked. Dominant with Milan in the late ’80s, then part of Ajax’s youthful 1995 Champions League win. He could pass, tackle, and score. Whatever you needed, Rijkaard delivered.
Then came the coaching phase. Barcelona were in disarray when he arrived, but by 2006, they were European champions again, beating Arsenal 2-1 in the final.
With Ronaldinho’s magic, Samuel Eto’o’s finishing, Ludovic Giuly's pace and Deco’s guile, Rijkaard let them flourish. He laid the groundwork for what Pep would perfect later on.
6. Giovanni Trapattoni
Player: AC Milan (1963, 1969)
Coach: Juventus (1985)
Old-school grit meets sharp-suited tactical nous. Trapattoni was a hard-nosed defender in Milan’s golden ’60s era, winning two European Cups. He was not flashy, but boy, Trapattoni was effective.
As a coach, he made Juventus a powerhouse. His 1985 triumph was bittersweet, coming on the night of the Heysel disaster, but tactically, Juve were a force. As for Trapattoni’s legacy? He brought structure, steel, and silverware in equal measure.
7. Zinédine Zidane
Player: Real Madrid (2002)
Coach: Real Madrid (2016, 2017, 2018)
Zinédine Zidane aka Zizou, the artist. That left-foot volley in the 2002 final, everyone talks and writes about? Top Notch. He sealed Real’s ninth European title as a player. You could stop there, and he'd still be a legend.
But as a coach? Madness. Three Champions Leagues in a row from 2016 to 2018, an era of dominance not seen since the old Real days of the ’50s.
Quiet, intense, tactically savvy, and Zidane proved he wasn’t only born with magic feet, but with a mind to match it.
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