Nevio Scala

Born in Lozzo Atestino, Province of Padua, Veneto, Scala enjoyed a successful career as a midfielder for several Italian top-flight teams — Roma, Milan, Vicenza and Internazionale acf Fiorentina — and subsequently played for lower-ranked clubs Foggia, Monza and Adriese in the final years of his career. As a player, with Milan, he won the Serie A in 1967–68, the European Cup Winners' Cup also in 1967–68, and the European Cup in 1968–69.

As a coach, he led Calabrian third division club Reggina to Serie B in 1988, and then moved to Serie B club Parma. He held that position for six years, leading the Emilian club to its first promotion to the Italian top flight in 1990, and subsequently turned the team into one of the major clubs in the Italian Serie A, thanks also to the relevant financial backing from chairman and Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi, winning several domestic and European titles. During his time at Parma, Scala won the Coppa Italia in 1992, the Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup in 1993, and the UEFA Cup in 1995. He also managed runners-up medals in the Coppa Italia in 1995, in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1994, and twice in the Supercoppa Italiana in 1992 and 1995, while his best result in the league were third-place finishes during the 1992–93 and 1994–95 Serie A seasons. He left Parma in June 1996. During the 1996–97 season, Scala accepted an offer from Luciano Gaucci to become head coach of struggling Perugia, but did not manage to escape relegation to Serie B for his side, missing out on potential salvation by a single point. He successively pursued a number of experiences abroad, becoming head coach of German club Borussia Dortmund in 1997, with whom he won the Intercontinental Cup that season; he left the club in 1998. In 2000, he became another Italian coach after Giuseppe Meazza and Sandro Puppo to manage a Turkish team by accepting an offer from Beşiktaş; hs time at the club was not…

Scala was a pragmatic manager, who was known for his high-tempo, offensive–minded, possession–based style, which was inspired by Dutch total football; he was also influenced by the calm style of Nils Liedholm and the charisma of Nereo Rocco, under whom he had played. He was also influenced by Helenio Herrera and Giovanni Trapattoni. His tactical approach was in stark contrast to other styles popular in Italy at the time, which were either the gioco all'italiana inspired by the man-to-man marking of catenaccio, or Arrigo Sacchi's zonal 4–4–2. Scala instead used a fluid and innovative 5–3–2 formation, which could easily transform into a 3–5–2 formation when attacking, with the full-backs, such as Antonio Benarrivo and Alberto Di Chiara at Parma, frequently running into spaces to overload the flanks and give his team a numerical advantage. He used this system at almost every club he managed, except Spartak Moscow, where he did not have players suited to this formation and used a 5–2–3 instead. He is credited as being a pioneer of this 3–5–2 or 5–3–2 formation, which later became highly popular in Serie A. At Parma, Scala used a zonal marking system off the ball throughout most areas of the pitch, and a high defensive line, but also used elements of man-to-man marking in defence, with a non systematic use of the offisde trap. He also made use of a ball-playing sweeper – Lorenzo Minotti – flanked by two stoppers: Luigi Apolloni and Georges Grün. He also deployed an intelligent…

Managerial

As of match played 24 August 2024