Emery joins European greats with fifth major continental cup success
Aston Villa coach Unai Emery is carried on the shoulders of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez after the UEFA Europa League final soccer match between SC Freiburg and Aston Villa at Besiktas Stadium. Mustafa Alkac/dpa Unai Emery has joined an elite group of managers by becoming a five-time European trophy winner following Aston Villa’s Europa League triumph in Istanbul. Emery is just the fourth manager to win five major European finals after Italian greats Giovanni Trapattoni and Carlo Ancelotti, and Portuguese boss Jose Mourinho.
Here, the Press Association takes a look at how each one achieved the feat. Unai Emery The 54-year-old Basque has extended his record of Europa League wins as a manager to five following his previous successes with Sevilla (2014, 2015, 2016) and Villarreal (2021). He is only the second manager to win a single major European tournament at least five times, after Ancelotti, while his six finals – he was a Europa League runner-up with Arsenal in 2019 – matches Ancelotti, Sir Alex Ferguson and Mourinho and ranks behind only Trapattoni.
Emery is also the first manager to win the UEFA Cup or Europa League with three different clubs. Giovanni Trapattoni Former Italy and Republic of Ireland boss Trapattoni, 87, reached a record seven major European club finals as a manager, winning five. He guided Juventus to European Cup glory in 1985 and won the Cup Winners’ Cup (1984), plus the UEFA Cup on two occasions (1977 and 1993) with the Turin giants.
He also won the UEFA Cup with Inter Milan in 1991. He lost the 1974 Cup Winners’ Cup final as interim manager of AC Milan to Magdeburg and his Juve side were beaten by Hamburg in the 1983 European Cup final. Carlo Ancelotti Brazil head coach Ancelotti is the only manager to win the Champions League five times, securing the trophy twice with AC Milan (2003, 2007) and on three occasions with Real Madrid (2014, 2022, 2024).
The 66-year-old also led Milan to the 2005 Champions League final where they lost out to Liverpool on penalties. Jose Mourinho The 63-year-old won the UEFA Cup with first club Porto in 2003 and steered them to Champions League glory in 2004 before winning Europe’s premier club competition for a second time with Inter Milan in 2010. Mourinho also triumphed in the Europa League with Manchester United in 2017 and won his fifth European trophy while in charge of Roma, who lifted the inaugural Conference League in 2022.