About me

"Being a player before a coach brings added value when managing"

Player

A knee injury deprived Marcelino of a longer career. Even so, he played in the First Division and was international with Spain in the lower categories.

Originally from Villaviciosa, a small town in Asturias, in Northern Spain, Marcelino trained in the lower categories of Sporting de Gijón. He made his debut with the first team on December 22, 1985, in a 1-1 draw at home against RC Celta de Vigo. In Sporting he played four seasons, participating in a total of 86 games.

After two seasons with Racing Santander and Levante UD, MGT ended up at Elche CF, where he retired prematurely in 1994 at the age of 28 due to a knee injury.

MGT was regularly called up to play with the lower categories of the national team. Between the U18 and the U21, he added 25 caps, reaching the final of the 1985 U-20 World Cup.

Coach

In less than a decade , Marcelino went from making his debut in the Third Division to being named Best Coach in Spain.

He began training at the age of 33 with the humble CD Lealtad, a Third Division team in Asturias with which he achieved promotion to Second B. At the beginning of the 2000s he joined the club where he had made his debut as a footballer: Sporting de Gijón.

For two years he headed the Sporting de Gijón first team, finishing fifth and tenth in the Second Division, with a group of young players and one of the lowest budgets in the league.

2005-07 His next stop for him was RC Recreativo de Huelva, the oldest team in Spanish football. There he led the promotion to La Liga in his first season and achieved a creditable eighth position in his debut season in the highest category of Spanish football. For the club it was its highest position on the table in its history. MGT received its first Miguel Muñoz Trophy as Best La Liga Coach (official award granted by Marca newspaper).

2007-08 2007-08: After resigning in Huelva, MGT took over the management of Racing de Santander. He led the Cantabrians to a sixth place in the league, the best position in their history, achieving qualification for the UEFA Cup. That same season also saw the best participation of Racing in the Copa del Rey, where they reached the semifinals. At the end of the season, MGT left the green-and-white team for Zaragoza. 2011-12 Years later Marcelino lived a second stage in Santander, where he arrived with the team in relegation places, but managed to redirect the situation and save the category.

2008-09

In the summer of 2008, Real Zaragoza in the Second Division trusted MGT to return the club to the First Division. The bet was a success and the goal was achieved that same season.

2011-12

After his second stage in Santander, Sevilla FC signed MGT in the summer of 2011. Despite a good start, the course of the season changed and in February 2012 he was dismissed. Both Marcelino and key leaders of the Sevilla club agreed that there had been failures by both parties and both assumed their responsibility.

2013-16

In January 2013 MGT started a fantastic journey with Villarreal CF, in Second Division. The first success was to return the team to First Division. In the following three seasons, they managed to finish the league in the top six, including a fourth place and qualification for the UEFA Champions League.

In addition, during this stage he reached two semi-finals: one in the Copa del Rey and another in the UEFA Europa League, where he even won the first leg against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.

2017-19

On May 11, 2017, Valencia CF announced his hiring as the team’s coach from the 2017-18 season in which he achieved a fourth place and qualification for the Champions League.

A season later, he repeated the fourth position in the League and was proclaimed champion of the Copa del Rey after beating FC Barcelona in the final and obtaining a new title for the Valencian club 11 years after their last success in this competition.

However, at the beginning of the 2019-20 season, Peter Lim decided to dispense with the services of the Asturian coach.

2021-2022

MGT arrived at Athletic Club on January 4, 2021. After 12 days in his current position, he won the Super Cup semifinals against Real Madrid. 3 days later he won the second title of his career, the 2021 Super Cup, beating FC Barcelona in the final. He reached the Supercup final again in 2022 after beating Atlético but this time he could not win the trophy against Real Madrid.

In the league his team finished in the eighth position, with 55 points (9 more than the previous one). That is the best score of the Athletic Club in its last five campaigns. In Copa del Rey he was one step away from the final after winning Barcelona and Real Madrid consecutively.

2023

On 23 June 2023, Olympique de Marseille announced the signing of MGT and his coaching staff for two years from the 23-24 season onwards. “We are convinced of this project. I know the responsibility it represents and our commitment will be total.” The historic French club, Champions League winners in 1993, was the first experience away from Spain for MGT and his staff.

For non-sporting reasons, unfortunately only 89 days later, the sporting project could not be continued due to serious threats from the ultras’ leaders to the club’s directors. As OM acknowledged in a press release, there are no “good conditions” for the Asturian coach and his collaborators to complete the role for which they were hired. “As a result of this deplorable situation, Marcelino and his staff will not continue their mission” despite the fact that in Ligue 1 the team had not lost a game (two wins and three draws) and was third in the French league table, two points behind the leader.

Club owner Frank McCourt lamented the “unacceptable situation” that led to the coach’s departure just two months and 26 days after it was announced.

2023-now

In November 2023, seven years after his first spell, Villarreal calls Marcelino again to lead a project. ‘Let’s get excited again’ wishes the club, which trusts the MGT coaching staff until June 2026.