Mourinho moves into elite company

José Mourinho has joined an exclusive club with FC Internazionale Milano's victory in the UEFA Champions League final – becoming only the third man to guide two teams to glory in the European Champion Clubs' Cup.

The Portuguese coach emulates the feat previously achieved by Ernst Happel and Ottmar Hitzfeld, having earlier won the trophy with FC Porto in 2004.

Happel lifted his first European Cup with Feyenoord, 2-1 winners against Celtic FC in 1970, and claimed a second 13 years later when Hamburger SV overcame Juventus 1-0. Hitzfeld steered BV Borussia Dortmund to the 1997 title when – as with Happel's Hamburg – they caused an upset in beating Juventus 3-1 before masterminding Bayern's 2001 defeat of Valencia CF, 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Both Happel – with Club Brugge KV versus Liverpool FC in 1978 – and Hitzfeld, thanks to Bayern's dramatic 1999 reverse against Manchester United FC in Barcelona, experienced setbacks in European Cup finals before their second triumphs.

Van Gaal, whose Ajax team were downed by Juventus in 1996, is the seventh coach to lose two European Cup finals. Marcello Lippi, defeated with Juventus in 1997, 1998 and 2003, is the only trainer to finish on the losing side in three finals.