Zinédine Zidane is gunning to be the first coach to win the European Cup in three successive seasons as Real Madrid take on Liverpool, and can join a number of other exclusive clubs in the process.
The 45-year-old steered his old side to UEFA Champions League success in 2016 and 2017 and would be the first coach to win the European Cup in three campaigns in a row if his team get the better of Liverpool in Kyiv. He is already the only coach to have won back-to-back titles in the UEFA Champions League era – and the first to win successive editions of Europe’s top club competition since Arrigo Sacchi doubled up with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990.
Most successive final wins:
UEFA Champions League
2= Zinédine Zidane (Real Madrid 2016, 2017)
European Cup
2= Luis Carniglia (Real Madrid 1958, 1959)
2= Brian Clough (Nottingham Forest 1979, 1980)
2= Béla Guttman (Benfica 1961, 1962)
2= Helenio Herrera (Inter Milan 1964, 1965)
2= Ștefan Kovács (Ajax 1972, 1973)
2= Dettmar Kramer (Bayern München 1975, 1976)
2= Bob Paisley (Liverpool 1977, 1978)
2= Arrigo Sacchi (AC Milan 1989, 1990)
2= José Villalonga (Real Madrid 1956, 1957)
2= Zinédine Zidane (Real Madrid 2016, 2017)
He would not be the first coach to win the trophy three times. Bob Paisley became the first manager to receive Old Big Ears for a third time when his Liverpool side beat Real Madrid in the 1981 edition.
Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, set a precedent by winning the competition three times in the UEFA Champions League era when he claimed the silverware with Real Madrid in 2014, having led AC Milan to successes in 2003 and 2007.
Zidane would match Ancelotti’s record with a victory in Kyiv, and would have won the trophy for a fourth time – having scored one of the most memorable goals in the competition’s history in Real Madrid’s 2-1 final success against Leverkusen in 2002.
Ancelotti, though, will still have the edge on Zidane, having won the competition in 1989 and 1990 as a player with Sacchi’s Milan: five wins in total.
Most final wins:
UEFA Champions League
3= Carlo Ancelotti (AC Milan 2003, 2007, Real Madrid 2014)
European Cup
3= Bob Paisley (Liverpool 1977, 1978, 1981)
3= Carlo Ancelotti (AC Milan 2003, 2007, Real Madrid 2014)
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