As the UEFA Champions League reaches its decisive stages, attention naturally turns from the players on the pitch to the masterminds on the touchline.
- +FULL LIST: Top 10 Champions League managers ranked by points per match
This season, several elite managers are not only chasing glory but also looking to strengthen already impressive records in Europe’s premier competition.
This season, several elite managers are not only chasing glory but also looking to strengthen already impressive records in Europe’s premier competition.
One way to measure managerial impact is through points per match (PPM), a metric that evaluates consistency and success across campaigns.
Using that lens, here are 10 managers who have excelled in the Champions League era.
As reported by Planet Football on Friday, here are the managers who made the list
Just sneaking in ahead of Carlo Ancelotti and Julian Nagelsmann is Thomas Tuchel, who has a points per match ratio of 1.96 after his 67 games in the competition.
Those matches have been spread across four clubs – Dortmund, PSG, Chelsea, and Bayern – but it was with the London club where he got his hands on the trophy.
Having lost the 2020 final with PSG, he went one better the year later as Chelsea defeated Manchester City in the 2021 final.
The former Manchester United boss has taken charge of four clubs in European competition, starting with Ajax back in 1994.
It was with the Dutch club that he won the competition, defeating Milan 1-0 in the 1995 final, and Ajax again reached the final in 1996, this time losing to Juventus.
A move to Bayern from Barcelona saw him again reach the last match, but he again tasted defeat to Italian opposition, this time via a 2-0 loss to Inter. 8. Zinedine Zidane – 2.02
Zidane has only got 53 Champions League games on his managerial record, but has won the tournament a remarkable three times.
He guided Madrid to three titles on the spin, and although he has been linked with plenty of clubs since leaving the Bernabeu, he has not yet taken one, with reports suggesting he has his eye on the France gig.
Zidane has the impressive accolade of having won the Champions League in three of the five seasons he has entered it.
Critics of Guardiola will suggest the Champions League has been a weak point on his resume, especially with Bayern, but the City boss still has three titles on his record.
The first of those came in 2009 with Barcelona, and he repeated the trick two years later with a final performance that many have said was the best in history.
He did, though, have a barren run of 12 years before lifting the trophy again, this time with Manchester City in 2023. 6. Frank Rijkaard – 2.05
Rijkaard’s managerial career is a weird one in the sense that Barcelona was the only top club side he ever managed.
He joined them from Sparta Rotterdam and won the Champions League in 2006, but joined Galatasaray in 2009 and then Saudi Arabia to end his managerial career.
The Dutchman has been credited with laying the foundations for Guardiola to improve upon.
Luis Enrique may well be on his way to a third European title after turning PSG from a side of superstars to one of the best teams in the world.
He first tasted European success at Barcelona, where he had possibly the greatest front three of all time in Messi, Neymar, and Suarez, and he is not short of attacking options at PSG either.
Last season, he ended the Parisian club’s wait for European success and could well retain the title this campaign.
While his ability to get over the line is still in question, Arteta deserves credit for turning Arsenal into a club that can compete in Europe.
Wenger’s teams had the ability but were no strangers to a battering, while Arteta’s defence-first approach has ensured Arsenal don’t lose too many games in Europe and earns him the big bucks.
The Spaniard has a PPM of 2.19 from his 37 games in charge, but is still waiting for his first European trophy.
Kompany has just 27 games on his record, the fewest of any manager in the top 10, but could be on his way to a Champions League trophy already.
While there were some doubts raised about hiring the recently relegated Burnley boss, Kompany has proven himself to be the perfect fit at Bayern and is seeking the club’s first European success since 2020.
When there is a debate on the greatest managers ever, Heynckes is not a name that is mentioned too often, but perhaps it should be.
The German had two Champions League titles on his record, first with Madrid in 1998 and then Bayern in 2013.
It was that Bayern team that was particularly impressive and was a counter movement to Guardiola’s tiki-taka way of doing things.
In that season, which was planned to be Heynckes’ last before retirement, he won the treble, and when Bayern were after a manager in 2017, they called Heynckes, who managed to get them to the semi-finals.
Hansi Flick started his managerial career with a bang as he won the treble with Bayern.
The Champions League success came via a 1-0 win over PSG in the final, but he has yet to reach that stage since.
He has got two quarter-final exits on his record, including this season, and a semi-final last year. But overall, Flick has not tasted defeat very often in the competition.
