Marcelino García Toral returns to the bench for the 2023/24 season. He will do so at a historic team in French and European football: Olympique de Marseille. “We are convinced of the project. I know the responsibility that this task represents and our commitment will be total”, said the Asturian coach in reference to his coaching staff. His words were reported on the club’s website.
Marcelino, who replaces Igor Tudor, will live his first professional experience abroad. He will coach the only French team to have lifted the European Cup/Champions League. Founded on 31 August 1899, Olympique touched the sky in Munich in May 1993 with a 1-0 win over Milan. The late 1980s and early 1990s were the club’s most successful period (they played in another European Cup final, against Red Star in 1991).
In this new challenge, he will coincide with Pablo Longoria. Current president of the Marseille club, Pablo has opted to hire Marcelino after the sucessfull experiences they had together at Recreativo de Huelva, where MGT received his first Miguel Muñoz Trophy as Best Coach of La Liga (official award given by the Marca newspaper), and Valencia, where in addition to the Copa del Rey in 2019 he won his second award as best coach in La Liga. The coach’s first challenge will be to overcome two preliminary rounds to reach the group stage of the Champions League. From there, he will look to challenge PSG’s hegemony in Ligue 1 and be competitive in the Coupe de France (a tournament format in which he has achieved numerous successes). All this with the support of one of the most loyal and spirited supporters in European football. .
The coach’s first challenge will be to overcome two preliminary rounds to reach the group stage of the Champions League. From there, he will look to challenge PSG’s hegemony in Ligue 1 and be competitive in the Coupe de France (a tournament format in which he has achieved numerous successes). All this with the support of one of the most loyal and spirited supporters in European football.