Top 7 Champions League Winners as Players and Coaches
Updated: Oct 5
There is something special about winning the European Cup or Champions League once. Winning it as a player is a career-defining achievement. Winning it as a coach is another level entirely. But doing both? Only seven people have managed it.
The list includes some of the greatest football minds and players of their generations: Carlo Ancelotti, Johan Cruyff, Pep Guardiola, Miguel Muñoz, Frank Rijkaard, Giovanni Trapattoni and Zinédine Zidane.
Their achievements span several generations of European football, from the early European Cup era through to the modern Champions League. So, who are the seven people who have won Europe's biggest club competition both as players and coaches?
The 7 Champions League Winners as Players and Coaches
The seven below are listed according to their combined European Cup and Champions League victories as players and coaches, with their overall influence and achievements also taken into account.
The competition was known as the European Cup until 1992, when it was rebranded as the UEFA Champions League. The historical records are therefore treated as one continuous competition.
1. Carlo Ancelotti
Player: AC Milan (1989, 1990)
Coach: AC Milan (2003, 2007); Real Madrid (2014, 2022, 2024)
Carlo Ancelotti sits alone at the top of the list when it comes to combined European Cup and Champions League victories. As a player, the Italian was part of Arrigo Sacchi's outstanding AC Milan side that won consecutive European Cups in 1989 and 1990.
Ancelotti was a technically gifted midfielder, but his influence on European football became even greater after he moved into coaching. He guided AC Milan to Champions League glory in 2003 and 2007 before adding three more victories with Real Madrid.
The 2014 triumph delivered La Décima — Real Madrid's long-awaited 10th European Cup — while Ancelotti later guided the club to further Champions League victories in 2022 and 2024.
That gives him two European Cup victories as a player and five as a coach, for a remarkable total of seven. UEFA lists Ancelotti's five coaching victories as the competition record.
He also holds the record for the most Champions League final victories as a coach and has won the competition with two different clubs.
If this list is about combining playing and coaching success in Europe's premier club competition, Ancelotti is the clear benchmark.
2. Johan Cruyff
Player: Ajax (1971, 1972, 1973)
Coach: Barcelona (1992)
Johan Cruyff did much more than win European trophies. He helped change the way football was played. As a player, Cruyff was the central figure in Ajax's Total Football era and won three consecutive European Cups between 1971 and 1973.
Ajax's style under Rinus Michels and later Stefan Kovács became one of the most influential footballing philosophies in history, with Cruyff at its centre. He then carried that footballing philosophy into management.
As Barcelona coach, Cruyff guided the club to its first European Cup in 1992, beating Sampdoria 1-0 at Wembley thanks to Ronald Koeman's extra-time free-kick. UEFA confirms his three European Cups as a player and one as a coach.
That 1992 triumph is sometimes described as Barcelona's first Champions League victory, but technically it was still the European Cup. The competition adopted the Champions League name later that year.
Cruyff therefore belongs among the rare footballers who conquered Europe from both the pitch and the dugout. His influence also stretched far beyond the trophies.
The football he helped develop at Ajax and Barcelona influenced generations of players and coaches, including Pep Guardiola.
3. Pep Guardiola
Player: Barcelona (1992)
Coach: Barcelona (2009, 2011); Manchester City (2023)
Pep Guardiola's inclusion gives the list another fascinating connection. He was a player in Johan Cruyff's Barcelona team that won the European Cup in 1992.
Guardiola was a technically intelligent midfielder who became one of the most important figures in Cruyff's Barcelona side. Years later, he returned to the competition as a coach and built one of the most successful club teams of the modern era.
Barcelona won the Champions League under Guardiola in 2009 and 2011, with Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and other outstanding players forming the core of the team. Guardiola eventually completed the set with Manchester City.
His 2023 Champions League victory was City's first European Cup/Champions League triumph and gave Guardiola his third title as a coach and fourth overall. UEFA records his combined total as four: one as a player and three as a coach.
There is something particularly fitting about Guardiola appearing on the same list as Cruyff.
The Dutchman helped shape his footballing education. Guardiola later took many of those principles and developed them into his own highly distinctive style.
4. Miguel Muñoz
Player: Real Madrid (1956, 1957, 1958)
Coach: Real Madrid (1960, 1966)
Miguel Muñoz belongs to the earliest chapter of European Cup history. As captain of Real Madrid, he was part of the team that won the competition's first two editions in 1956 and 1957. He was also part of the squad that won again in 1958.
His teammates included some of the biggest names in European football, including Alfredo Di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás. But Muñoz's European story did not end when his playing career finished.
He later took charge of Real Madrid and guided the club to European Cup victories in 1960 and 1966. The 1960 final was particularly memorable. Real Madrid defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 at Hampden Park in one of the most famous finals in European Cup history.
Muñoz therefore won three European Cups as a player and two as a coach, giving him five in total. He was not merely a participant in Real Madrid's early European dominance.
He became one of the people responsible for continuing it.
5. Frank Rijkaard
Player: AC Milan (1989, 1990), Ajax (1995)
Coach: Barcelona (2006)
Frank Rijkaard's playing career alone would have been enough to make him a European great. The Dutch midfielder won consecutive European Cups with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990 before returning to Ajax and helping his boyhood club win the competition again in 1995.
Rijkaard was an outstanding defensive midfielder who combined physical strength with technical ability. He was also part of one of the greatest midfield units of the era alongside players such as Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten at Milan.
His fourth European Cup victory came from the dugout. As Barcelona coach, Rijkaard guided the club to Champions League glory in 2006, beating Arsenal 2-1 in the final in Paris.
That Barcelona side included Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and a young Lionel Messi. Rijkaard's success also helped lay the foundations for the extraordinary Barcelona team that Guardiola would later take to further European glory. His final total was three European Cups as a player and one as a coach.
6. Giovanni Trapattoni
Player: AC Milan (1963, 1969)
Coach: Juventus (1985)
Giovanni Trapattoni's route to this list was built on discipline, intelligence and longevity. As a player, Trapattoni was a midfielder for AC Milan and won the European Cup in 1963 and 1969.
Sixteen years after his first European Cup triumph as a player, he lifted the trophy again — this time as a coach. Trapattoni guided Juventus to European Cup glory in 1985, defeating Liverpool 1-0 in the final in Brussels.
The occasion is remembered for tragic reasons as well as sporting ones because of the Heysel Stadium disaster, which occurred before the match.
On the footballing side, however, Trapattoni had built Juventus into a formidable European team. His achievement gave him two European Cups as a player and one as a coach.
That combination makes him one of the most decorated figures in European Cup history.
7. Zinédine Zidane
Player: Real Madrid (2002)
Coach: Real Madrid (2016, 2017, 2018)
Zinédine Zidane may have the shortest playing record on this list, but few people could question his place among the seven. As a player, Zidane won the Champions League with Real Madrid in 2002.
His left-foot volley against Bayer Leverkusen remains one of the most iconic goals ever scored in a European Cup final. Zidane then returned to Real Madrid in a completely different role.
As coach, he achieved something that had not been done in the Champions League era: he guided the same club to three consecutive titles, winning in 2016, 2017 and 2018. UEFA records Zidane as the only coach to win three consecutive Champions League finals.
The 2017 victory was particularly significant because Real Madrid became the first team to retain the Champions League trophy under the modern format. A year later, Zidane completed a remarkable hat-trick.
He therefore finished with one European Cup/Champions League victory as a player and three as a coach. Not bad for someone who had only recently moved into senior management.
The Seven Winners at a Glance
Person | As a player | As a coach | Total |
Carlo Ancelotti | 2 | 5 | 7 |
Miguel Muñoz | 3 | 2 | 5 |
Johan Cruyff | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Pep Guardiola | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Frank Rijkaard | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Zinédine Zidane | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Giovanni Trapattoni | 2 | 1 | 3 |
UEFA's historical records confirm these seven as the only people to have won the European Cup/Champions League both as players and coaches.
Who Has Won the Most European Cups as a Player and Coach?
Carlo Ancelotti is the clear leader. His two victories as a player with AC Milan, followed by five as a coach with AC Milan and Real Madrid, give him seven European Cup/Champions League victories overall.
Miguel Muñoz is next with five, while Johan Cruyff, Pep Guardiola, Frank Rijkaard and Zinédine Zidane have four each. Giovanni Trapattoni completes the exclusive group with three.
The fact that only seven people have achieved the player-and-coach double shows how difficult the feat is. Plenty of great players have become successful managers. Plenty of great managers were outstanding players. Very few have conquered European club football in both roles.
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