Ancelotti leads Champions League coaching records
UEFA’s figures list Carlo Ancelotti as the competition’s most experienced coach and its leading winner, with Pep Guardiola second for victories.
Carlo Ancelotti leads UEFA’s records for most matches coached and most wins in the UEFA Champions League, according to figures last updated on 20 October 2026.
The UEFA list credits Ancelotti with 218 matches and 124 wins. Pep Guardiola is second for wins, with 117 from 189 matches.
Ancelotti’s record across eight clubs
Ancelotti’s Champions League coaching matches have come with AC Milan, Chelsea, Bayern, Juventus, Paris, Parma, Real Madrid and Napoli, UEFA reports. He became the first coach to reach 200 matches in the competition during Real Madrid’s 3-3 quarter-final first-leg draw at home to Manchester City in 2023/24.
UEFA also identifies Ancelotti among the select group to have won the competition as both a player and a coach, alongside Frank Rijkaard, Zinédine Zidane and Guardiola.
Guardiola and other leading coaches
Guardiola’s 117 wins place him behind Ancelotti and ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson, whom he moved past on Matchday 2 of the 2023/24 campaign. His Champions League coaching record spans Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester City.
Ferguson is listed with 102 wins in 190 matches. Arsène Wenger has 82 wins from 178 matches, while José Mourinho has 82 from 155. Diego Simeone’s 131 matches and 64 wins place him among the coaches with at least 100 appearances and more than 50 victories.
UEFA notes that Mourinho reached 150 Champions League matches when Benfica beat Napoli on Matchday 6 in 2025/26. Luis Enrique became the latest coach to reach 50 wins in the competition in a 2025/26 semi-final first leg; he did so in 77 matches, quicker than Guardiola’s previous mark of 79.
Figures reflect the competition’s current format
The records cover the Champions League from its 1992/93 season onward, from the group stage or league phase through to the final. UEFA’s appearance list includes nine coaches with at least 100 matches; Jürgen Klopp is listed with exactly 100.
The figures describe coaching records across clubs and seasons, rather than a single season’s standings. They were published by UEFA, which identifies 20 October 2026 as the latest update date.
Newsroom
Ancelotti remains first in both headline categories in UEFA’s updated figures, with Guardiola the closest listed challenger for coaching wins.
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Sources
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UEFA Champions League
Official source · 19/10/2026 23:00
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