Title with Bayern, Chelsea & Co
This article was first published on April 23rd and has now been updated following the Real Madrid championship.
“I think winning the title in LaLiga is more complicated than in the Champions League,” Carlo Ancelotti said during his first spell at Real Madrid shortly before the 2015 season finale. In the end, he failed to lift either trophy that year and had to leave. But seven years later, the time has come: After winning the LaLiga title, the 62-year-old achieved something with the “Royal” that no one before him had achieved. The Italian was the first coach ever to win championships in all of Europe’s top 5 leagues.
Coaches with the most different championship titles in the top 5 leagues
Ancelotti started his championship haul in 2004 with the Serie A title with AC Milan, followed by the Premier League with Chelsea in 2010, three years later he helped Paris Saint-Germain become Ligue 1 champions and in 2017 he achieved his fourth championship FC Bayern in the Bundesliga.
Guardiola, Mourinho & Co.: who comes closest to Ancelotti
A look at the TM database shows: Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho are closest to Ancelotti’s heels. Both boast three top-division titles each, but have won more league titles overall than Ancelotti, who has four. Man City coach Guardiola has nine and Roma coach Mourinho has six.
Leaving the focus on the top five leagues, there are a few contenders who have already claimed the crown in four or even five different championships. Topping the list is Eric Gerets, who has won the Eredivisie, Jupiler Pro League, Süper Lig, Saudi Professional League and Qatar Stars League in his coaching career.
The head coaches with four titles include Giovanni Trapattoni, Ernst Happel and Tomislav Ivic. The former, who is now retired as a football teacher, was also champion in Serie A as well as in the Portuguese and Austrian Oberhaus in addition to the Bundesliga with the Munich team. The late Happel also clinched the trophy in Germany – back in the heyday of Hamburger SV in the 80s – and was also successful in the Jupiler Pro League, the Eredivisie and Austria’s Bundesliga. Ivic, who died in 2011, meanwhile won the championship cups in Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and what was then Yugoslavia. He could have done this in France as well, but in the 1991/92 season he was released prematurely by the eventual champion Olympique Marseille.
Comparison among players: 19 professionals with 3 different top league titles
While Ancelotti is alone in the front when it comes to coaches in a comparison of the top 5 leagues, there are 19 players at the top – with the maximum number of different championships won being three. Some professionals also celebrated under the Italian title. During his tenure at PSG, these included Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Maxwell, David Beckham, Thiago Motta and Kingsley Coman, who was later able to celebrate again with Ancelotti at FC Bayern. His ex-protégés in Munich also join the select circle: Arjen Robben and Arturo Vidal.
Players with the most different league titles in the top 5 leagues
The 19 players also include Cristiano Ronaldo, who has already won the Premier League, Serie A and LaLiga, and two Germans. Both Ronaldo’s ex-colleague at Real, Sami Khedira, and Jens Lehmann can call themselves champions in three different top leagues. Both won the Bundesliga and Serie A, with Khedira the Spanish title is also added, with Lehmann it is the Premier League, in which no other team was able to beat Arsenal FC in 2003/04 – the Gunners’ last championship to date .
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