Most successful managers in football history by trophies won: Ferguson, Guardiola and others

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Sir Alex Ferguson is widely considered the greatest football manager of all time, having won a wide array of titles in domestic and European events throughout his legendary career.

The Scottish coach has enjoyed unprecedented success. Most of his titles came with Manchester United, which he coached between 1986 and 2013.

He led the Red Devils to two Champions League titles, five FA Cups, one European Super Cup, one FIFA Club World Cup, one Intercontinental Cup, one European Cup Winners' Cup, 13 Premier League trophies, and four League Cups across a 27-year spell.

The 81-year-old managed East Stirling, St. Mirren, Aberdeen FC, and Scotland. But he achieved major success during his time at Old Trafford.

Ferguson, together with Arsene Wenger, has been the best ever to manage in Premier League history.

His managerial CV also includes three Scottish Premier Division titles, four Scottish Cups, one European Cup Winners' Cup, and one European Super Cup with Aberdeen before joining the United.

- Pep Guardiola chases a historic treble of trophies

Pep Guardiola, who started coaching with Barcelona B in 2007, has cemented himself as arguably the greatest manager of the century and continues his incredible record of bringing success to every club he's managed.

During Guardiola's stint at Camp Nou, Barcelona became the only club in European history to have clinched the treble – league, domestic cup, and European Cup in the same season.

He also became the youngest head coach to claim the Champions League at the age of 37.

The Spaniard's first season in 2013 with Bayern Munich saw they go on a record 28-match winning streak and sealed Bundesliga in March, the earliest in the German top-tier history.

Bayern also won the DFB-Pokal to clinch a domestic double also the UEFA European Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

In 2016, the 52-year-old tactician moved to Manchester City after quitting the Bavarians, but his debut campaign saw him complete without a cup for the first time in his coaching career.

During his time as manager of the English side, he collected 12 trophies, including five Premier League titles.

He also has two Champions League titles, two FIFA Club World Cup trophies, two UEFA Super Cup titles, and three La Liga titles with Barcelona.

Guardiola also holds the record for the most consecutive league games won in three different top leagues, La Liga, the Bundesliga, and the Premier League.

Across his stints at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City, Guardiola has won 33 titles.

The Spaniard bagged his 12th domestic title with Manchester City after his side secured their fifth Premier League title in six seasons last week.

Guardiola's men have already claimed the title of English Premier League for the third straight time as they collected 88 points, seven points ahead of Arsenal.

Manchester City could record a historic campaign if they manage to triumph in the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup this season.

The Premier League club will face their archrivals Manchester United to win their seventh FA Cup on June 3 and will play in the UEFA Champions League final against Inter Milan at Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on June 10.

Here is the list of the other head coaches boasting the largest trophy cases:

- Mircea Lucescu, 37 titles (1981 - present)

One of the most successful managers in the modern era, Mircea Lucescu is second on the list of most trophies won by a manager in football history with 37 titles.

The 77-year-old led some European clubs such as Dinamo Bucarest, Reggiana, Rapid Vienna, Brescia, Inter Milan, Galatasaray, Besiktas, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit and the national teams of both Türkiye and Romania.

Lucescu enjoyed his biggest success as a Galatasaray manager.

During his coaching spells at Shakhtar Donetsk, he won eight Ukrainian Premier League titles, six Ukrainian Cups, seven Ukrainian Super Cups and one UEFA Cup.

The Romanian will be forever remembered in Türkiye for wining the UEFA Super Cup in 2000 with Galatasaray.

He also won two Turkish Super Lig titles with Galatasaray and Besiktas.

- Valeri Lobanovsky, 26 titles (1969 - 2002)

The Ukranian manager kicked off his managerial career at Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in 1968 and served for Dynamo Kyiv and the national teams of the Soviet Union, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Ukraine.

He spent the majority of his career managing the Kyiv side and helped them to win European Cup Winners' Cup twice and European Super Cup.

Lobanovskyi picked up a total of 25 trophies with Dynamo Kyiv, including eight Soviet Top League titles, six Soviet Cups, three USSR Super Cups, five Ukrainian National League titles, three Ukrainian Cups.

He also helped Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk to win the Soviet second division title in 1971.

- Ottmar Hitzfeld, 25 titles (1983 - 2014)

Hitzfeld took his first steps into management as a coach of the Zug 94 in 1983 and spent the majority of his career managing Bayern Munich.

The 74-year-old is one of only five coaches to have clinched the European Cup or UEFA Champions League with two different football sides.

The legendary manager clinched the Champions League trophy with both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.

Hitzfeld, who won 25 club titles, led Aarau, Grasshopper, and the Swiss national team.

He also has been named IFFHS World's Best Club Coach of the Year in 1996 with Borussia Dortmund and in 2000 Bayern Munich.

- Other managers with most trophies