Internet Desk: Real Madrid’s Zinédine Zidane could become the seventh man to win the European Cup as a player and a coach; lets have a look at the other six who have already done it.
Miguel Munoz (1956, 1957, 1958 as a player and 1960, 1966 as a manager)
In the early days of the European Cup Real Madrid were totally dominant, winning all of the first five competitions.
Munoz, a midfielder who scored his club’s first every goal in the tournament, was involved in the first three as a player, before moving into coaching and leading Real to the fifth title in 1960.
In his 14 years in charge of the club he won nine La Liga titles, and another European Cup six years later.
Giovanni Trapattoni (1963, 1969 as a player and 1985 as a manager)
There were few more difficult jobs in 1963 than marking Eusebio, but Giovanni Trapattoni managed it when AC Milan faced Benfica in the European Cup final. The defender kept the brilliantly talented forward out of the game as Milan won 2-1 at Wembley.
Trapattoni won it again in 1969 before retiring from playing. He won the trophy for the first and only time as a manager in 1985 with Juventus against Liverpool.
Carlo Ancelotti (1989, 1990 as a player and 2003, 2007 and 2014 as a manager)
Before he became the eyebrow-raising manager who won the Champions League with AC Milan and Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti was a brilliant midfielder who helped Milan win two consecutive European Cups in 1989 and 1990.
He played a key role in the 1989 success as Milan beat Steaua Bucharest 4-0, and had a moment of individual brilliance when he dribbled past two Madrid players before scoring in the semi-final.
Johan Cruyff (1971, 1972, 1973 as a player, 1992 as a manager)
It only took Johan Cruyff six years to turn Ajax into European Cup winners, having finished 13th in the Dutch top flight in his first season at the club. They won their first by beating Panathinaikos 2-0 in London.
Cruyff followed it up with another in each of the next two seasons. After retiring he managed Ajax, and deserves some credit for their Champions League win in 1995 which followed his preferred system, but also won it himself in 1992 with his famous Barcelona ‘dream team’.
Frank Rijkaard (1989, 1990, 1995 as a player and 2006 as a manager)
It took a move to AC Milan and the clever coaching of Arrigo Sacchi to turn Frank Rijkaard into the holding midfielder that he was born to be. Like Ancelotti he was part of the 1989 European Cup winning side and scored the only goal of the game against Benfica in 1990 to win the tie. Upon his return to Ajax in 1995 he won the competition again.
While Rijkaard’s managerial career has faltered somewhat over the last 10 years, he did win the Champions League with Barcelona against Arsenal in 2006.
Pep Guardiola (1992 as a player and 2009, 2011 as a manager)
It took just a week for Cruyff to decide that Pep Guardiola would be the player to build his Barcelona team around. Guardiola was the pivot around which the team revolved, and he was integral as they won the European Cup in 1992.
Guardiola made a similarly telling impact in his first season as a manager, taking Barcelona to a Champions League win in 2009. He followed that up with another victory in the competition in 2011 as they comfortably beat Manchester United at Wembley.