4 greatest managers who never coached Cristiano Ronaldo

#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.