On Wednesday, 9 April, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson reached his fifth Champions League semifinal after his club progressed at the expense of AS Roma.
Only Carlo Ancelotti has reached so many semifinals as head coach in this competition. What’s interesting to note here is both Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benitez have made it to 3 semi-finals each, and at their (relatively) young age it’s quite likely that they will get to a few more semi-finals, assuming that they go in the upward trajectory that their career paths have suggested till now.
Head coaches with most Champions League semifinal appearances
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Name |
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Clubs (years in which semifinals took place) |
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Carlo Ancelotti |
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Juventus (1999), AC Milan (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007) |
|
|
Sir Alex Ferguson |
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Manchester United (1997, 1999, 2002, 2007, 2008) |
|
|
Louis van Gaal |
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Ajax (1995, 1996, 1997), FC Barcelona (2000) |
|
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Ottmar Hitzfeld |
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Borussia Dortmund (1997), Bayern München (1999, 2000, 2001) |
|
|
Marcello Lippi |
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Juventus (1996, 1997, 1998, 2003) |
|
|
Vicente del Bosque |
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Real Madrid (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) |
|
|
Héctor Cúper |
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Valencia CF (2000, 2001), Internazionale (2003) |
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|
José Mourinho |
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FC Porto (2004), Chelsea (2005, 2007) |
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Rafael BenÃtez |
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Liverpool (2005, 2007, 2008) |
|
|
Fabio Capello |
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AC Milan (1994, 1995) |
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Arsène Wenger |
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AS Monaco (1994), Arsenal (2006) |
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|
Frank Rijkaard |
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FC Barcelona (2006, 2008) |
Avram Grants makes it to his first Champions League semi-final – and if he makes it to his first Champions League final there will be pandemonium in Moscow (not to mention a meltdown at Anfield).
