Miguel Muñoz, Luis Enrique and Marcelino. Aside from being great Spanish coaches, the three of them share a very meritorius stat. They are the last coaches to be in three Cup consecutive Cup finals. In Marcelino’s case, also, the stat comes from two different teams (Valencia CF y Athletic Club). Miguel Muñoz (1960, 1961 y 1962) and the current national team coach (2015, 2016 y 2017) played the three matches from the same team (Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively).
Marcelino joined this special list after the 2020/21 Copa del Rey Final. Between January, February and March, the Athletic coached by the Asturian beat consecutively UD Ibiza (1-2), CD Alcoyano (1-2), Real Betis (On Penalties, after drawing 1-1) and Levante UD (1-1 at San Mamés and 1-2 after the extra time in Ciutat de Valencia). It is remarkable that in all those matches his team had to comeback. This is a personality sign that proves competitive determination, something the team must prove again on April 17 against FC Barcelona.
It was precisely the Catalan team with Leo Messi upfront, the adversary of Marcelino’s Valencia in the Copa del Rey FInal of 2018/19 (1-2 was the final score). On that day, goals from Gameiro and Rodrigo coronated the excellent planning of the Asturian coach and his team.
The postponement of the decisive tie of the Copa del Rey 2019/20, with the pandemic as a cause, took the match to April 3rd, with Athletic Club and Real Sociedad in the fight to conquer the title. This very special context made Marcelino dispute two Cup finals in less that 20 days, that add to the one played and won with Valencia in 2019.
