But not all of the action will take place on the other side of the white line.
That’s because the 2022 UCL final will see esteemed managerial pair Carlo Ancelotti and Jurgen Klopp facing off for the 11th time across their careers, with a fascinating tactical battle once again being expected to ensue on the touchline.
With Madrid’s Italian boss holding the upper-hand across previous meetings between the two, can he add another victory to his collection against Klopp that would see Real take a record-breaking 14th Champions League crown?
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What’s Ancelotti and Klopp’s head-to-head record?
As mentioned before, Ancelotti currently holds the upper-hand across the previous 10 meetings between these two managers.
The Italian has won four of those outings whilst Klopp has tasted victory in three. The other three have ended in stalemate.
Interestingly, across the 10 prior meetings between the two managers, both sides have only scored in the same match on three occasions, which could point to another cagey affair between Liverpool and Real in the 2022 UCL final.
Complete list of previous Ancelotti-Klopp meetings
Ancelotti in charge of Real Madrid, Napoli and Everton with Klopp in charge of Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool respectively.
The first of those Ancelotti victories came in his very first meeting with Klopp back in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League campaign at the quarterfinal stage. The first leg of that tie saw his Real Madrid side defeat Klopp’s Dortmund outfit comfortably at the Santiago Bernabéu thanks to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Isco and Gareth Bale.
The second leg saw Klopp claim his first head-to-head victory as his Dortmund side put in a spirited performance to record a 2-0 win although the German giants still lost out on aggregate.
Perhaps the most significant result between the two, however, saw Ancelotti’s Everton beat Klopp’s Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield during the 2020/21 Premier League campaign. Not only was that the first time that Everton had got the better of their fierce rivals in 25 attempts since the 2011/12 season, but it was also the Toffees’ first victory at Anfield since September 1999.
Has Ancelotti or Klopp won more trophies?
Carlo Ancelotti - 22 major trophies Jurgen Klopp - 11 major trophies
Given that Ancelotti took his first job in management back in 1995 with Italian side Reggiana, it perhaps won’t come as a surprise that he’s won more trophies on the touchline than Klopp during his career to date, though the gap isn’t as wide as some may think.
From the Italian manager’s first title with Juventus back in 1999, when his side won the now-defunct UEFA Intertoto Cup, Ancelotti has since added 21 more trophies to his personal collection in spells with AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
On top of that, Real Madrid’s 2021/22 La Liga title marked individual history for Ancelotti as he became the first manager to win all five of the traditional top-five European leagues, whilst the 2022 UCL edition will prove to be his fifth time in the showpiece final, the most of any manager in history.
Klopp on the other hand has now won 11 trophies as a manager after Liverpool added both the 2022 FA Cup and 2022 Carabao Cup to their long list of previous accolades this campaign.
Winning five trophies with Borussia Dortmund prior, a move to Anfield has since seen him pick up six more titles as Liverpool boss with the 2019 Champions League crown acting as his most iconic to date.
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Has Ancelotti or Klopp won more personal awards?
Carlo Ancelotti - 17 personal awards Jurgen Klopp - 27 personal awards
Given their trophy hauls as managers over the seasons, it won’t come as too much of a surprise then that both Ancelotti and Klopp have also won a plethora of individual awards throughout their careers to date.
This time it’s Klopp who takes the accolades as during his managerial career, he’s now been awarded 27 personal titles. That includes three ‘German Football Manager of the Year’ awards, two ‘LMA Manager of the Year’ titles and nine ‘Premier League Manager of the Month’ awards to name but just a few.
Ancelotti on the other hand has picked up personal accolades in just about every managerial role he’s taken during his career. As well as being twice named ‘Serie A Coach of the Year’ in 2001 and 2004 with Milan, he also took the ‘Ligue 1 Manager of the Year’ accolade in 2013 and similar to Klopp, was awarded the ‘Premier League Manager of the Month’ award on five separate occasions during his stints with Chelsea and Everton.
Both managers have also won the prestigious ‘Best FIFA Men’s Coach’ title on two occasions with Ancelotti claiming that award in 2006 with AC Milan and 2014 with Real Madrid and with Klopp picking up that award twice as Liverpool boss, in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
