Alex Ferguson shouted five

Manchester United beat Arsenal 3-1 to reach the 2009 Champions League final. Alex Ferguson will lead a team out for the fifth time in a European final, a feat achieved by only eight head coaches before him.

Giovanni Trapattoni is the record holder with seven European finals as head coach of Juventus, Internazionale and AC Milan.

Trapattoni is also the only head coach to win five European finals, a record which Ferguson can equal on 27 May having been on the winning side of his four previous European finals as head coach.

Most European finals as head coach
# Name Nation European finals as head coach

7 Giovanni Trapattoni ITA Champions Cup 1983, 1985; Cup Winners’ Cup 1974, 1984; UEFA Cup 1977, 1992, 1993
5 Miguel Muñoz ESP Champions Cup 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966; Cup Winners’ Cup 1971
5 Ernst Happel AUT Champions Cup 1970, 1978, 1983; UEFA Cup 1976, 1982
5 Udo Lattek GER Champions Cup 1974, 1977, 1987; Cup Winners’ Cup 1982; UEFA Cup 1979
5 Raymond Goethals BEL Champions Cup/Champions League 1991, 1993; Cup Winners’ Cup 1977, 1978, 1982
5 Johan Cruijff NED Champions Cup/Champions League 1992, 1994; Cup Winners’ Cup 1987, 1989, 1991
5 Sven-Göran Eriksson SWE Champions Cup 1990; Cup Winners’ Cup 1999; UEFA Cup 1982, 1983, 1998
5 Marcello Lippi ITA Champions League 1996, 1997, 1998, 2003; UEFA Cup 1995
5 Alex Ferguson SCO Champions League 1999, 2008, 2009; Cup Winners’ Cup 1983, 1991
4 José Villalonga ESP Champions Cup 1956, 1957; Cup Winners’ Cup 1962, 1963
4 Helenio Herrera ITA Champions Cup 1964, 1965, 1967; Fairs Cup 1960
4 Don Revie ENG Cup Winners’ Cup 1973; Fairs Cup/UEFA Cup 1967, 1968, 1971
4 Nereo Rocco ITA Champions Cup 1963, 1969; Cup Winners’ Cup 1968, 1973
4 Bob Paisley ENG Champions Cup 1977, 1978, 1981; UEFA Cup 1976
4 Vujadin Boskov YUG Champions Cup 1981, 1992; Cup Winners’ Cup 1989, 1990
4 Ottmar Hitzfeld GER Champions League 1997, 1999, 2001; UEFA Cup 1993