4 greatest managers who never coached Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the best players to have graced the beautiful game.

During a hugely successful two-decade-long career for club and country, he has scored goals and won big titles galore. To name a few, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is the top scorer in Real Madrid, Portugal, Champions League and European Championship history.

Still going strong at the age of 36, Ronaldo returned to Manchester United this summer after leaving the club on a world-record transfer in 2009. Over the years, the most prolific scorer in men's international football has played under a plethora of fine managers. Some of them include Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Massimiliano Allegri and Zinedine Zidane, to name a few.

However, Cristiano Ronaldo hasn't played under a few notable managerial names in the last two decades. On that note, here's a look at the four best managers who never managed Ronaldo:

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#4 Diego Simeone

Diego Simeone is one of the top managers in the game.

Diego Simeone is one of the top managers in the game at the moment. Under the Argentine's tutelage, Atletico Madrid have evolved from mid-table mediocrity to La Liga contenders and Champions League regulars.

The 51-year-old has been at the Atletico helm for a decade now. During this period, the Rojiblancos have won two La Liga titles, and also made as many Champions League finals. Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid thwarted Simeone's men in both European finals though.

In the 2014 final, Ronaldo was one of the Merengues' three scorers in extra-time as Real Madrid clinched their long-awaited La Decima with a 4-1 win. Two years later, the two teams again clashed in the Champions League final. Once again, Los Blancos emerged triumphant, with Ronaldo this time scoring the winning penalty in the shootout.

A year later, Ronaldo's hat-trick in the first leg of the semi-final of the competition ousted Simeone's Atletico.

After leaving Real Madrid for Juventus in the summer of 2018, Ronaldo continued to be a thorn in Atletico's flesh.

The Rojiblancos thought they had one foot in the 2018-19 Champions League quarter-finals after taking a 2-0 first-leg lead. However, a Ronaldo hat-trick helped the Bianconeri win 3-2 on aggregate.

Simeone has since admitted that Ronaldo is more than a 'football player'. He also lamented how the Portuguese has almost single-handedly thwarted Atletico's Champions League hopes at least thrice.

Ronaldo happens to be the only player to score a hat-trick against Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid.

Apart from his Champions League exploits against Simeone's Atletico, Ronaldo has also scored two La Liga hat-tricks against them.

#3 Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger has an enviable managerial resume.

Arsene Wenger is one of the top managers who never managed Cristiano Ronaldo. The long-serving Arsenal manager has an enviable managerial resume.

He is one of only four men to win at least three Premier League titles. More importantly, Wenger is the only one to lead a team unbeaten through an entire Premier League season (2003-04).

It was around this time that Cristiano Ronaldo emerged on the scene. In fact, Arsenal were the frontrunners to secure the then-teenage prodigy from Sporting Lisbon. But Manchester United stole a march on the Gunners, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Wenger later admitted that missing out on Ronaldo was one of his greatest managerial regrets.

Apart from his exploits against Arsenal in the Premier League, Ronaldo also thwarted the Gunners in Europe. A breathtaking Ronaldo brace in the 2009 Champions League semifinals denied Wenger's men a place in their second final in the competition in three years.

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#2 Jurgen Klopp

Jurgen Klopp is one of the top managers in the game.

Jurgen Klopp is one of the top managers in the game. Renowned for his 'heavy-metal' brand of high-pressing football, Klopp has found success in both his native Germany and abroad.

During a prolific stint at Borussia Dortmund, the German successfully managed to punctuate Bayern Munich's Bundesliga dominance. He also took BVB to the Champions League final, where they lost to the Bavarians.

Now at Liverpool, Klopp has assembled a star-studded roster brimming with quality in all positions. Last year, the German delivered the Reds their first title in the Premier League era. A year earlier, he ended Liverpool's 14-year Champions League duck.

Though his teams haven't locked horns with Ronaldo much, Klopp is a huge fan of the Portuguese.

Klopp, though, stopped short of picking either Ronaldo or Lionel Messi as the world's best, claiming both have different attributes.

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#1 Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola is one of the finest managers in the game's history.

Pep Guardiola has only been in management for just over a decade. But he has already carved out a niche for himself with his staggering exploits at three different clubs.

The 50-year-old has won three league titles at three different clubs. That includes a continental treble as part of an unprecedented sextuple at Barcelona in the late 2000s. The three-time Bundesliga and La Liga winner recently guided Manchester City to their third Premier League title in four years.

Renowned for his tiki-taka style of play, Guardiola has managed many fine players like Lionel Messi, Xavi, Robert Lewandowski and Philipp Lahm, to name a few. But he has never managed Ronaldo.

He came close to managing the Portuguese this summer when Ronaldo looked good to join the Cityzens. However, Manchester United lured the player back to Old Trafford in the last minute.

It remains to be seen if one of the game's greatest managers will get to manage one of the greatest players to have graced the game.