5 best performing managers in the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League group stage

The UEFA Champions League's 2022-23 campaign has been exciting and intense after the opening five games of the group stage.

Several teams, including Bayern Munich, Napoli and Manchester City, have booked their spots in the round of 16.

Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Juventus, as well as some other big teams, have crashed out of the competition with one game remaining.

Many managers have performed well in helping their teams establish a decent start to the competition, while others have surpassed expectations.

As such, we take a look at the five best performing managers in the Champions League up till the group stages of the competition.

#5 Graham Potter (Chelsea)

Fulham FC v Brighton & Hove Albion - Premier League

The Englishman was appointed as Chelsea's manager after the dismissal of Thomas Tuchel and his performances have been impressive so far.

Potter has won three and drawn one out of his first four games in the competition so far. Furthermore, Chelsea are unbeaten in the UEFA Champions League under his reign.

The 47-year-old is the first Chelsea manager to go unbeaten in his first four Champions League games since Roberto Di Matteo in 2012.

Potter led the Blues to break Salzburg's 40 home games unbeaten record in their 2-1 win over Salzburg on October 25 and it will be interesting to see if he can lead Chelsea to win the trophy this season.

#4 Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)

Manchester City Training Session And Press Conference 2022-23

The Spaniard has guided Manchester City in transforming themselves into a formidable European powerhouse for several years.

Guardiola has led Manchester City in registering three wins and two draws in the competition so far this season. Furthermore, his team are currently unbeaten in this year's edition of the competition so far.

The 51-year old recently became the third manager in Premier League history to reach 600 goals at a single club.

With Erling Haaland in attack, who's one of the top scorers in this year's edition of the Champions League, it will be interesting to see if Manchester City go on to win the trophy.

#3 Christophe Galtier (Paris Saint Germain)

Paris Saint-Germain v Kawasaki Frontale - Preseason Friendly 2022-23

The Frenchman has arguably been one of the best performing managers in Europe's top five leagues this season and has improved Paris Saint-Germain on multiple fronts.

Paris Saint-Germain have won three and drawn two out of their first five group stage games in the competition this season.

Galtier deserves some credit for improving the performance of his attacking trio of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe as the trio have scored 40 out of 50 Paris Saint-Germain goals this season.

It will be fascinating to see if the attacking trio can help their team in securing the UEFA Champions League trophy this season, a trophy that they desperately desire.

#2 Julian Nagelsmann (Bayern Munich)

TSG Hoffenheim v FC Bayern München - Bundesliga 2022-23

German tactician Julian Naglesmann has taken Bayern Munich to another level in the Champions League so far this season.

Bayern Munich have won all five of their group stage games and have booked their spot in round 16 of the competition with a game in hand.

Nagelsmann led Bayern to secure a 5-0 aggregate win over Spanish powerhouse Barcelona and is the first manager in the history of the Champions League to win four games against Barcelona.

His tactical insight will be highly critical if the Bundesliga giants stand any chance of winning the trophy again after their last coup in the 2019-20 season.

#1 Luciano Spalletti (Napoli)

Italian tactician Luciano Spalletti is arguably the best performing manager in Europe's top five leagues this season.

Spalletti has led Napoli to win their first five games in the UEFA Champions League this season, netting 20 goals and conceding four.

Napoli are the current leaders in both the Serie A and their UEFA Champions League group. More impressive is the fact that they are unbeaten in all competitions this season.

The 63-year old has led his team in achieving the highest goal-per-game ratio in the Champions League this season and it will be interesting to see till where he can guide his team in this competition.

About the author

Abel is an European football journalist who focuses primarily on analysis pieces and preview copies at Sportskeeda. A B.Sc degree holder in Economics, he has a previous work experience of 3 years – a year at Opera News Hub where he was promoted as a 'Verified Sports Writer,’ and over two years at Sportskeeda as a revenue-share writer, where his writing skills have ultimately led him to be integrated into the in-house team.

A Manchester United fan who grew up in a family of Red Devils supporters, he started his journey as an ardent football fan in his childhood. He used to spend hours watching the sport with his family and developed a knack for writing about the beautiful game over the years.

He is a huge admirer of Paul Pogba owing to the midfielder's ability to thread passes from anywhere on the pitch and his favorite manager is Jose Mourinho due to the Portuguese's tactical mind. He feels France's triumph in 2018 is his all-time favorite World Cup moment, and reckons Lamine Yamal and Endrick could replicate the rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Abel always strives to verify information, especially statistics, before penning a word and offers constructive but not defamatory criticisms. Apart from Europe's top five leagues, he follows the Eredivisie and the Primeira Liga. He loves to spend his free time playing video games like EA FC and watching movies.

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Edited by Mudeet Arora