Carlos Bianchi

Beginning and consolidation

Like so many other Argentine men's footballers, Bianchi gave his first steps playing "baby fútbol", a five-a-side variant of futsal mainly played by children and youth, practised on smaller surfaces (usually parquetry, cement or synthetic grass). At 11 years old, Bianchi started playing for Club Ciclón de Jonte, a type of subsidiary of Vélez Sarsfield A representative of the club saw Bianchi's potential and took him to play at the youth divisions of Vélez Sársfield. By the time he was 16 yo, Bianchi had been promoted to the third division. Bianchi was finally promoted to the first squad by Vélez Sarsfield manager Victorio Spinetto, making his debut with the team at the age of 18 in a 1–1 tie against Boca Juniors. One year later, Bianchi scored his first goal in Primera v Argentinos Juniors, on July 7, 1968. One week later, Bianchi broke the long-standing Amadeo Carrizo's record of 769 minutes with his goal unbeaten. With only 19 years old, Bianchi was part of the Vélez Sarsfield team that won the 1968 Nacional championship and was consecrated as the top scorer of 1970 Nacional championship with 18 goals and 1971 Metropolitano with 36. His good performances with the team and a serious injury of forward Omar Wehbe allowed Bianchi to be the centre forward of Vélez Sársfield.

European career

In 1973, Bianchi was signed by Reims, a French team of Ligue 1. In his first season with the club, Bianchi was the top scorer of the league…

France

Bianchi made his debut as manager in March 1985 with Reims (where he had previously retired as player), spending three seasons in the Second Division without achieving promotion to the Ligue 1, despite the team reaching the semi-finals of Coupe de France twice. After his tenure with Reims, Bianchi was hired by Nice in Ligue 1, coaching the club in 24 matches between 1989 and 1990. Nice remained in the top division after beating Strasbourg in a playoff with an aggregate score of 7–3.

Argentina

Bianchi returned to Argentina in December 1992 to coach Vélez Sarsfield, the club where he had debuted, in place of Eduardo Luján Manera. His first match on the bench was on February 21, 1993, when Vélez beat Deportivo Español 2–0 with two goals by Omar Asad in the first round of the 1993 Clausura season. Vélez won that championship with 27 points in 19 matches played, achieving their 2nd league title. As Argentine champion, Vélez qualified to 1994 Copa Libertadores, where the team shared a group with strong and experienced rivals such as Boca Juniors and Brazilian Cruzeiro, and Palmeiras. Nevertheless, Vélez placed 1st in the zone; therefore, the squad qualified for the next stage. Vélez would then eliminate Defensor, Minervén, and Atlético Junior to face defending champions São Paulo in the finals. After both teams won one game each by the same score (10), a penalty shootout was run to decide a champion. After José Luis Chilavert stopped one shot and Roberto…

Bianchi is regarded as one of the best forwards of all time, because of his impressive record of goals scored both in France and Argentina. He is the all-time top scorer of Vélez Sarsfield with 206 goals. He is also one of the all-time top scorers of the French Division 1 with 179 goals scored.

Club

Manager

Player

Vélez Sarsfield

Primera División: 1968 Nacional Stade de Reims

Coupe de France runner-up: 1976-77

Manager

Vélez Sarsfield

Primera División: 1993 Clausura, 1995 Apertura, 1996 Clausura Copa Libertadores: 1994 Intercontinental Cup: 1994 Copa Interamericana: 1996 Boca Juniors

Primera División: 1998 Apertura, 1999 Clausura, 2000 Apertura, 2003 Apertura Copa Libertadores: 2000, 2001, 2003 Intercontinental Cup: 2000, 2003

Individual

Argentine Primera División Top scorer: 1970, 1971, 1981 French Division 1 Top Scorer: 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79 French Division 1 Foreign Player of the Year: 1974 South American Coach of the Year: 1994, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003 IFFHS World's Best Club Coach: 2000, 2003