Bob Paisley (Liverpool, 1977, 1978, 1981), Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United, 1999, 2008, 2009), Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool, 2018, 2019, 2022), Miguel Muñoz (Real Madrid, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966), Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid, 2014, 2022, 2024), and Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid, 2016, 2017, 2018) – that is the list of managers who have reached at least three Champions League finals with the same club. It is not a long list, and Real Madrid alone accounting for three of them should not come as a surprise
to anyone either.
Diego Simeone was in a position to join them. Atletico Madrid reached the semifinal second leg against Arsenal on Tuesday, needing a result at the Emirates. They didn’t get it. El Cholo stays on two.
In 2014, Atletico came within minutes of beating Real Madrid in Lisbon before Sergio Ramos headed in a 93rd-minute equaliser, and the game went to extra time. Two years later, in Milan, they lost again on penalties.
Getting to a third final with Atletico would have put Simeone in genuinely rare company, but Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal had other ideas. The list stays as it is.
