Miguel Muñoz

Miguel Muñoz Mozún (19 January 1922 – 16 July 1990) was a Spanish football player and manager. A midfielder, he spent the majority of his career at Real Madrid before going on to coach the club, where he is widely considered one of the most successful and greatest managers in football history, leading the team to two European Cup victories and nine La Liga titles (winning seven major titles in both major competitions combined as a player). Muñoz later had a six-year coaching spell with the Spain national team, and led them to the final of Euro 1984.

Playing career Born in Madrid, Muñoz played for various junior teams in the area, but initially failed to attract the attention of Real Madrid, going on to subsequently represent Logroñés, Racing Santander and Celta. In 1948, he, together with the likes of Pahiño, helped the latter finish fourth in La Liga and reach the Copa del Generalísimo final, where he scored in the 1–4 defeat to Sevilla.

The following season, both players signed for Real Madrid, and Muñoz went on to appear in 347 official matches with the club from the capital. Additionally, he won seven caps for Spain, but never appeared in any major tournament.

Muñoz scored Real's first ever goal in the European Cup, helping to a 2–0 away win against Servette on 8 September 1955. Subsequently, he captained the team in two consecutive competition wins in 1955–56 and 1956–57, and retired from football the following year at nearly 36.

Coaching career Muñoz served a brief apprenticeship as coach of Real's reserve team, then named Plus Ultra, before being appointed coach of the main squad in 1959. His time in charge was one of the club's most successful eras as, under his guidance, it won the league nine times; this included a five-in-a-row sequence (1961–65) and another three consecutive.

On the European front, Muñoz led Real Madrid to two more wins in the European Cup, in 1959–60 and 1965–66. As a result, he became the first person to win the competition both as a player and a coach, which was later matched by Giovanni Trapattoni, Johan Cruyff, Carlo Ancelotti, Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane; he left in 1974 after 16 seasons, as the side's longest-serving and most successful coach, before being surpassed by Carlo Ancelotti in the number of titles in 2024.

Death Muñoz died in Madrid aged 68, from bleeding due to esophageal varices.

Managerial statistics

+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecord Real Madrid 21 February 1959 13 April 1959 Plus Ultra 20 April 1959 10 April 1960 Real Madrid 13 April 1960 15 January 1974 Spain 15 May 1960 10 December 1961 Granada 1 July 1975 20 May 1976 Las Palmas 1 July 1977 1 June 1979 Sevilla 5 July 1979 6 December 1981 Spain 27 October 1982 17 June 1988Career totals

Honours

Player Real Madrid La Liga: 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58 Latin Cup: 1955, 1957 European Cup: 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58

Manager Real Madrid La Liga: 1960–61, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1971–72 Copa del Generalísimo: 1961–62, 1969–70 European Cup: 1959–60, 1965–66 Intercontinental Cup: 1960

Individual France Football 14th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2019