Scott Parker could become just third English manager ever to reach Champions League quarter-finals

Scott Parker
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Scott Parker has the opportunity to make history and become just the third English manager to have ever reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, should his Club Brugge side overturn a 2-0 first leg defeat against Benfica on Tuesday night. 

Potentially joining an exclusive club which contains Harry Redknapp and Craig Shakespeare, Parker travels to Lisbon, Portugal, knowing his side need to score two goals to have any chance of progressing further in Europe's elite club competition. 

Joao Mario and David Neres scored in the first leg for Benfica at Brugge's Jan Breydel Stadium to hand the advantage to the Portuguese side.

Sacked as Bournemouth manager at the beginning of this season, after losing 9-0 away against Liverpool, Club Brugge appointed the Englishman as their new boss on December 31, 2022. He succeeded Carl Hoefkens at Brugge, despite the Belgian helping the side finish second in a Champions League group containing Atletico Madrid, Porto and Bayer Leverkusen.

Regardless, Parker is now in charge and looking for a strong performance to match the record set by the aforementioned Redknapp and Shakespeare. 

Redknapp guided Tottenham to the final eight of the 2010/11 Champions League campaign, falling 5-0 to Real Madrid on aggregate. Shakespeare, meanwhile, oversaw Leicester City's run to the quarters as the newly-appointed manager, after Claudio Ranieri was sacked mid-season. 

Leicester lost 2-1 to Atletico Madrid over two legs on that occasion, a very promising performance for their first season in the Champions League. 

Graham Potter also has the opportunity to become another English manager to help a team into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with his Chelsea side taking on Borussia Dortmund on the same night.

Chelsea lost the first leg 1-0 in Dortmund, meaning a chance of progression is still very much likely. The Blues will need to play better than their league form is showing right now, though, with a lack of goals scored contributing to just two wins in the last 10 games in the Premier League. 

Potter is also under intense pressure from the board and fans alike, too, meaning victory against Borussia Dortmund is imperative if he is to survive the rest of the season. 

Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.