Marcelino García Toral (; born 14 August 1965), known simply as Marcelino, is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder.
In a ten-year senior career, he amassed La Liga totals of 74 matches and two goals, all at the service of Sporting de Gijón. He became a manager in 1997, working in the top division with Recreativo, Racing de Santander (two spells), Zaragoza, Sevilla, Villarreal, Valencia and Athletic Bilbao, being named best coach in Spain for the 2006–07 and 2017–18 seasons and winning the 2018–19 Copa del Rey with Valencia and the 2020–21 Supercopa de España with Athletic. After a brief stint in charge of Marseille, he returned to Villarreal in November 2023.
Playing career Born in Villaviciosa, Asturias, Marcelino was irregularly used in his first four professional seasons, at Sporting de Gijón. He did appear in a career-best 33 matches in the 1986–87 campaign, as the club finished fourth in La Liga. His top-flight debut was on 22 December 1985, in a 1–1 away draw against Celta.
After two Segunda División spells, with Racing de Santander and Levante, both ended in relegation, Marcelino moved to the lower leagues with Elche. He retired in 1994 at only 28, due to injury.
Coaching career Beginnings Marcelino started coaching at 32 with lowly Lealtad, also in Asturias. In the early 2000s he worked in the Segunda División B, with Sporting's reserves.
From 2003 to 2005, Marcelino was in charge of the first team, finishing fifth and tenth in the second division, then signed with Recreativo de Huelva in the same league, which he led to promotion in his first season and a comfortable mid-table position in the top tier in the following, which made him the recipient of his first Miguel Muñoz Trophy.
Racing Santander and Zaragoza
Marcelino resigned at the end of the season and took over at former club Santander, leading the Cantabrians to a best-ever sixth-place finish, with the subsequent qualification for the UEFA Cup. However, on 29 May 2008, he again moved teams, returning to division two and joining Real Zaragoza with the objective of a promotion, which was finally achieved; in the process of signing, he had rejected Valencia, and became the country's best paid manager at €2.4 million per year following the departure of Real Madrid's Bernd Schuster.
On 13 December 2009, following a string of poor results (the last a 1–2 home defeat to Athletic Bilbao), Marcelino was fired by Zaragoza, with the Aragonese side nonetheless still above the relegation zone. In early February 2011 he returned to Racing Santander, replacing Miguel Ángel Portugal.
Sevilla Marcelino was appointed at Sevilla for 2011–12. On 6 February 2012, following seven games without a win – the last being a 1–2 home loss against Villarreal – and with the Andalusians ranking 11th, he was relieved of his duties.
Villarreal Marcelino signed with Villarreal on 14 January 2013, returning the team to the top flight at the end of the campaign and going on to subsequently achieve three top-six finishes, which included a fourth place and a semi-final run in the Europa League in 2015–16.
On 10 August 2016, a few days before the first official match of the season, Marcelino was sacked for differences with the board of directors, particularly over the removal of Mateo Musacchio from club captaincy.
Valencia On 11 May 2017, Marcelino was named at the helm of Valencia for the upcoming campaign after penning a two-year deal. He won the Copa del Rey in his second season at the Mestalla Stadium, defeating Barcelona 2–1 in the final held in Seville.
On 11 September 2019, however, Marcelino was dismissed.
Athletic Bilbao On 4 January 2021, Marcelino was appointed as head coach of Athletic Bilbao on a contract until 30 June 2022. In his first three games in charge, he lost against Barcelona in the domestic league and defeated the same adversary and Real Madrid to win the Supercopa de España. He was also on the bench for two Spanish Cup finals in two weeks (the first having been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic), losing both.
On 24 May 2022, Marcelino announced he would be stepping down on 30 June.
Marseille In June 2023, after one year of inactivity, Marcelino agreed to a deal at Ligue 1 club Marseille. He resigned on 20 September alleging personal reasons, seven matches into his tenure.
Villarreal return Marcelino returned to Villarreal on 13 November 2023, signing a three-year contract; he was their fourth manager of the campaign after Quique Setién and Pacheta, with Miguel Ángel Tena also having acted as interim for one game. The following 7 March, on his return to the Stade Vélodrome, his side lost 4–0 in the first leg of the Europa League last 16.
On 4 May 2026, having led the club to two consecutive UEFA Champions League qualifications, Marcelino announced he would be departing at the end of the season.
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamFromToRecord Lealtad17 February 199730 June 1998 Sporting Gijón B15 January 200119 July 2003Sporting Gijón19 July 200312 July 2005Recreativo12 July 200526 June 2007Racing Santander26 June 200728 May 2008Zaragoza28 May 200813 December 2009Racing Santander9 February 20117 June 2011Sevilla7 June 20116 February 2012 Villarreal14 January 201310 August 2016Valencia23 May 201711 September 2019 Athletic Bilbao4 January 202124 May 2022Marseille23 June 202320 September 2023 Villarreal13 November 202324 May 2026Total—
Honours Player Spain U20 FIFA U-20 World Cup runner-up: 1985
Manager Lealtad Tercera División: 1997–98
Recreativo Segunda División: 2005–06
Valencia Copa del Rey: 2018–19
Athletic Bilbao Supercopa de España: 2021 Copa del Rey runner-up: 2019–20, 2020–21
Individual Miguel Muñoz Trophy: 2006–07, 2017–18 Miguel Muñoz Trophy (Segunda División): 2008–09 La Liga Manager of the Month: September 2013, September 2015, March 2024, November 2025
Notes
References
External links