Marcelino García Toral

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 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.

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.

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. 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…

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