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

#	Name	Nation	Clubs (years in which semifinals took place)
5	Carlo Ancelotti	ITA	Juventus (1999), AC Milan (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007)
5	Sir Alex Ferguson	ENG	Manchester United (1997, 1999, 2002, 2007, 2008)
4	Louis van Gaal	NED	Ajax (1995, 1996, 1997), FC Barcelona (2000)
4	Ottmar Hitzfeld	GER	Borussia Dortmund (1997), Bayern München (1999, 2000, 2001)
4	Marcello Lippi	ITA	Juventus (1996, 1997, 1998, 2003)
4	Vicente del Bosque	ESP	Real Madrid (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
3	Héctor Cúper	ARG	Valencia CF (2000, 2001), Internazionale (2003)
3	José Mourinho	POR	FC Porto (2004), Chelsea (2005, 2007)
3	Rafael Benítez	ESP	Liverpool (2005, 2007, 2008)
2	Fabio Capello	ITA	AC Milan (1994, 1995)
2	Arsène Wenger	FRA	AS Monaco (1994), Arsenal (2006)
2	Frank Rijkaard	NED	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).