7 legends who won the Champions League as both player and manager

7) Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff won the Champions League three years in a row with Ajax

The Dutchman has been hailed for laying the foundations that transformed Barcelona into the footballing superpower it is today and rightly so. Cruyff’s magic touch at Ajax helped him at the Camp Nou as well as he went on to build the ‘Dream Team’ that saw the club win its first European Cup in 1992.

Player: Cruyff spent most of his career at Ajax and Barcelona, but it was with the Dutch side that he became a football legend. He won the Eredivisie an astonishing eight times in 11 seasons that were spread across two stints.

But the highlight of his career was winning the European Cup three years in a row between 1971 and 1973 as Ajax saw off Panathinaikos, Inter Milan and Juventus in successive years.

Johan Cruyff’s philosophy helped Barcelona become the club it is today

Manager: Retirement from the game could not keep Cruyff away from football and he quickly became a manager, taking over the reigns at Ajax. The father of ‘Total Football’, the Eredivisie club was a learning curve before he enforced his philosophy at Barcelona.

The Spanish side went on to win four consecutive league titles between 1991 and 1994. But it was the Dream Team’s 1992 European Cup win that kick-started a new era for Barcelona. The Dutchman would eventually retire with 28 major trophies to his name as player and manager while also taking home three Ballons d’Or.