Can Jose and Rafa catch up with Fergie?
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) |
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Sir Alex Ferguson |
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Manchester United (1997, 1999, 2002, 2007, 2008) |
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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) |
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Marcello Lippi |
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Juventus (1996, 1997, 1998, 2003) |
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Vicente del Bosque |
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Real Madrid (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) |
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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 Benítez |
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Liverpool (2005, 2007, 2008) |
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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).
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Discussion - 7 Responses
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Rafa is only two semi behind Fergie, and this by having been in the game for a much shorter period. Will Rafa ever catch up with Fergie? Not only catch up but crush that record, and there ain’t one doubt about that. Not to mention Rafa has already made more finals than Fergie, which certainly is more important than a semi, and that in only 3 years at lfc compared to the eternity Fergie has been at manu.
If Rafa stays as long as Taggart he will win us everything including the grand national and the eurovision song contest before taking over from the pope
Those two clowns Taggart and Arse have won nothing really for the amount of time and money they have had at their disposel When Sir Whiskey nose finally gives up next year stiill behind gods chosen people he will realise to knock us of our f—-ing perch takes more than man utd and arsenal.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sir Alex Ferguson hasn’t made as many semi’s and finals as he should have because they play exciting, attacking football which isn’t suited to the CL.
Jose and Rafa play crap defensive football which is what most teams win the Champions League playing. Enough said.
if only alex was to stay n get the record, but nxt season is his last, yes i h8 him n man utd bt thats a superb acheivment for any manager
good luck chelsea, liverpool, man uts and barcelona
put on the show of your lives
That’s one record Rafa can beat, no problem. 3 semifinals in 4 yrs alredy. and how long did it take alex?
Interesting spin Bilal. Choosing sem-finals as the criteria so as to put Ferguson in a better light. Semi-finals are one thing, finals are quite different thing altogether and on that score Ferguson’s record does not come into comparison with Benitez’s. 2 european cup ‘finals’ in 3 years is a great return on Rafa’s part. 1 final appearance in all of Fergie’s time of a club of Utd’s stature is pretty disgraceful, but by no means lost on Liverpool fans. Lol.