Mourinho, Emery & Co – The managers with the most points in Europa League history

​

Jose level with Robson 

José Mourinho was the star attraction as the legendary Portuguese boss faced his former side Manchester United with Fenerbahce on Thursday night. The 61-year-old spoke of his affection for United ahead of the Europa League clash but his unrelentingly winning mentality was evident in Istanbul as he was sent off for remonstrating with the fourth official in the 1-1 draw.

Mourinho famously made his name by winning the competition with Porto in 2024 before spectacularly leading the Portuguese side to Champions League glory in the following season. With two Europa League titles to his name, Mourinho is one of the most successful coaches in the competition’s history. Only two managers have won the competition more times than the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager – Unai Emery and Giovanni Trapattoni. The UEFA Cup was reformatted to the Europa League in 2009 but which managers have collected the most points since the competition’s inauguration for the 1971/72 season? Let’s find out! 

Unsurprisingly, Emery has won the most points (213) in Europa League history and the 52-year-old has won the competition more than any other manager, winning it three times in a row with Sevilla between 2014 and 2016 and once with Villareal in 2021 – Emery also reached the final with Arsenal in 2019. As the graphic above illustrates, Trapattoni ranks second after collecting 180 points across 98 games with eight different clubs. The Italian won the competition three times, twice with Juventus and Inter Milan in 1991.

Jorge Jesus has collected the most points in the competition without ever winning it with the Portuguese boss runner up twice with Benfica – Otto Rehhagel is the only other manager in the top ten list not to have won it. After drawing with Man United, Mourinho moved onto 124 points in 63 games in the competition which brought him level with his mentor Sir Bobby Robson. Mourinho began his journey into coaching as the iconic Englishman’s interpreter at Porto before becoming his assistant and following him to Barcelona. Also on Thursday night, Ernesto Valverde moved ahead of his countryman Rafael Benítez in the all-time standings after Atletico Bilbao beat Slavia Prague.