With two of the greatest managers of all time in Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti facing off against each other as Manchester City face Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, it begs the question: Who is the greatest manager of the 21st century?
Well, Goal.com have come up with their ranking of the top 10 managers of the century, and it is stacked with some serious serial winners.
10. Antonio Conte
While the hot-headed Italian may not currently pop into your head as one of the greatest managers of the century following his tumultuous spell at Tottenham Hotspur, his record elsewhere embodies success.
Having won a Scudetto three-peat with Juventus and once with Inter, and a league title with Chelsea in his debut season in the Premier League, Conte has proven himself to be a commander of success domestically.
9. Luis Enrique
The phrase that can sum up Barcelona fans' feelings toward Luis Enrique best is probably 'you never know what you have until it's gone.'
Following Pep Guardiola's departure from the Camp Nou in 2012, Barcelona dipped and some may have questioned whether they could ever reach the levels of success experienced under Pep ever again.
However, in his debut season at the club as manager, Enrique shook up the team and led the Catalan side to a historic treble of LaLiga, the Copa del Rey, and the Champions League. Enrique retained the title the following season and won two further Copa del Rey titles with the team.
8. Vicente del Bosque
The only manager in this top 10 ranking who has delivered success at both club level and internationally is former Real Madrid and Spain boss Vicente del Bosque.
As manager of the iconic Galacticos side of the early 2000s, Del Bosque picked up two LaLiga titles and two Champions Leagues, along with a Spanish Super Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
Following a short spell at Besiktas and a sporting director role at Cadiz, Del Bosque was appointed as manager of the Spain national team, who he led to a period of historic dominance, winning Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup, followed by Euro 2012.
7. Diego Simeone
With Atletico Madrid being a club playing in the second division of Spain in the early 2000s and having only finished in the top four of LaLiga once in the 21st century (2008/09), Diego Simeone's transformation of the club is like no other during the period.
Under the Argentinian coach, the club have never finished outside the top four since his appointment, and have won two LaLiga titles and a Copa del Rey during that period.
6. Jose Mourinho
If this list was being written 10 years ago, Mourinho would have been a hot contender for the no.1 spot on this list. Despite his rate of success slowing down in recent years, he remains one of the top bosses in Europe.
The extremely confident Portuguese manager changed the image of football coaches when he burst onto the scene in 2004 as the Champions League winning coach of Porto.
And he certainly walked the talk when he moved to Chelsea that summer and broke the Man United / Arsenal duopoly to win back-to-back Premier League titles with The Blues.
Mourinho solidified his legendary status in football management when he went on to win his second Champions League title with Inter in 2010, along with the Serie A title and Coppa D'Italia.
5. Zinedine Zidane
While many question the place that Zidane holds as one of the great managers, one measurement that is unquestionable is silverware.
The France legend won three consecutive Champions League titles with Real Madrid, along with two LaLiga titles.
4. Jurgen Klopp
Similar to Simeone, Klopp's transformation of the sides he has managed places him as one of the greatest managers of the century.
Taking over a very unimpressive 13th placed Borussia Dortmund side in 2008, Klopp turned Dortmund into the heavy metal football force of Europe within just a few years, winning the Bundesliga in 2011 and 2012, before destroying Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid to reach the Champions League final in 2013.
And in 2016, a similar project came when Klopp was called on to awake the similarly placed sleeping giant of Liverpool. After bringing his style to the Premier League, Klopp brought back a sixth European Cup to Anfield in 2019, and ended Liverpool's 30-year wait for a title the following season. The German has also won the UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup, FA Cup, and League Cup at The Reds, restoring Liverpool as one of the biggest clubs in Europe.
3. Carlo Ancelotti
Ancelotti has been at the apex of the managerial game for over 20 years, having won his first Champions League title with AC Milan in 2002/03. The Italian has gone on to win another with Milan, and two with Real Madrid in 2014 and 2022 respectively.
Ancelotti holds the incredible statistic of being the only manager to have won the title in each of Europe's five top leagues. While his tactics may not be as in your face as Klopp's, Guardiola's, or Mourinho's, his trophy cabinet speaks for itself.
2. Sir Alex Ferguson
Manchester United fans look away now! You may have expected the Scotsman to top the ranking of the greatest managers of the century, but the former United boss will have to settle for second; something he most likely is not used to!
Ferguson came into Old Trafford in 1986 and the former Aberdeen coach vowed to "knock Liverpool off their perch." And by the mid-1990s, he had delivered on his promise.
Ferguson won The Red Devils' first league title in 26 years in 1993, before going on to win 13 league titles, five FA Cups, and two Champions Leagues.
Following his retirement in 2013 off the back of the club's 20th league title, Manchester United have never posed a serious title challenge since, going through six managers and two caretaker managers in that period.
1. Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has shown the perfect mix of transforming sides and changing the game tactically, while picking up silverware along the way.
Barcelona legend and Johann Cruyff student, Guardiola became the Blaugrana manager in 2008 and quickly created one of the greatest football teams ever seen at the Camp Nou.
Guardiola's Barcelona side went on to win a famous sextuple in 2009 (LaLiga, Copa del Rey, Supercopa de Espana, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup), before another Champions League and LaLiga double in 2011.
Guardiola then completed a Bundesliga three-peat, along with two German Cups, at Bayern Munich, before joining Manchester City in 2016.
At Manchester City, Guardiola has won the Premier League four times, the FA Cup once, and the League Cup four times, including a domestic treble in 2019.