1. Early life and playing career
Marcelino's early life and playing career laid the foundation for his deep involvement in Spanish football, from his youth development through to his professional playing days.
1.1. Birth and early life
Marcelino was born on August 14, 1965, in Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain.
1.2. Youth career
Marcelino began his football journey within the youth ranks, progressing through various age-group national teams for Spain. He was selected for the U-18, U-19, U-20, and U-21 national squads. A notable highlight of his youth career was participating in the 1985 FIFA World Youth Championship with the U-20 team, where Spain achieved a runner-up finish.
1.3. Senior club career
Marcelino's professional playing career, spanning from 1983 to 1994, saw him primarily as an attacking midfielder across several Spanish clubs. He began his senior career at Sporting de Gijón, where he was irregularly used in his first four professional seasons, though he made 74 La Liga appearances and scored two goals for the club. His top-flight debut occurred on December 22, 1985, in a 1-1 away draw against RC Celta de Vigo. In the 1986-87 campaign, he appeared in a career-best 33 matches as Sporting de Gijón finished fourth in La Liga.
After his time at Sporting de Gijón, Marcelino had two spells in the Segunda División with Racing de Santander and Levante UD, both of which ended in the clubs being relegated to the Segunda División B. He then moved to the lower leagues, joining Elche CF. Marcelino's playing career was cut short when he retired in 1994 at the young age of 28, due to injury. Throughout his senior club career, he amassed a total of 262 appearances and scored 17 goals.
2. Coaching career
Marcelino's coaching career began in the late 1990s and has since become extensive, marked by significant promotions, trophy wins, and controversial departures across numerous prominent Spanish and a brief French club. His strategic approach typically favors a disciplined, organized style of play, often utilizing a 4-4-2 formation.
2.1. Early coaching roles
Marcelino embarked on his managerial journey at the age of 32 in 1997, taking charge of CD Lealtad, a lower-division club also based in Asturias. He managed the team for two seasons, from February 1997 to June 1998, leading them to a Tercera División title in 1997-98.
In the early 2000s, he transitioned to managing Sporting's reserves in the Segunda División B, where he worked for five seasons, from January 2001 to July 2003, spending four of those in the Segunda División B. His performance earned him a promotion to manage the first team in the Segunda División from 2003 to 2005, where the club finished fifth in the 2003-04 season and tenth in 2004-05.
2.2. Rise to prominence (Recreativo, Racing, Zaragoza)
Marcelino began to gain significant recognition for his coaching prowess during his tenures with Recreativo de Huelva, Racing de Santander, and Real Zaragoza.
In 2005, Marcelino signed with Recreativo de Huelva in the Segunda División. In his first season, 2005-06, he successfully led the club to promotion to La Liga, winning the Segunda División title. The following season, 2006-07, Recreativo was widely considered a relegation candidate but, under Marcelino's guidance, achieved a comfortable mid-table position, finishing eighth, their best-ever league finish at the time. This notable achievement earned him his first Miguel Muñoz Trophy for the best coach in Spain.
Following his success at Recreativo, Marcelino resigned and took over at his former club, Racing de Santander, in June 2007. In the 2007-08 season, he guided the Cantabrians to a best-ever sixth-place finish in La Liga, with their robust defense conceding only 41 goals, the third-best record in the league. This historic achievement secured qualification for the UEFA Cup (now UEFA Europa League).
Despite the success, on May 29, 2008, Marcelino again changed teams, moving to Real Zaragoza in the Segunda División with the explicit goal of achieving promotion back to the top flight. This objective was successfully met in the 2008-09 season, as Zaragoza secured promotion by finishing second. During the signing process, he had reportedly rejected an offer from Valencia CF and became the country's highest-paid manager at 2.40 M EUR per year, following the departure of Real Madrid's Bernd Schuster. However, on December 13, 2009, after a string of poor results, including a 1-2 home defeat to Athletic Bilbao, Marcelino was dismissed by Zaragoza, despite the team remaining just above the relegation zone in 17th place after 14 matches (3 wins, 3 draws, 8 losses).
In early February 2011, Marcelino returned to Racing de Santander for a second spell, replacing Miguel Ángel Portugal. He led the struggling team to a 12th-place finish in the 2010-11 season. His tenure concluded in June 2011, reportedly due to a lack of trust in the club's owners following unpaid wages.
2.3. Challenges and major club stints
Marcelino's career at prominent clubs was marked by periods of significant success, often followed by controversial departures stemming from conflicts with club boards or external pressures.
He was appointed manager of Sevilla FC for the 2011-12 season in June 2011. However, his tenure was short-lived; on February 6, 2012, after a seven-game winless streak, including a 1-2 home loss against Villarreal CF, and with the Andalusian club sitting in 11th place, he was relieved of his duties.
Marcelino signed with Villarreal CF on January 14, 2013. He quickly led the team back to the top flight at the end of the 2012-13 season. Subsequently, he achieved three consecutive top-six finishes in La Liga, including a fourth-place finish in 2015-16, which secured UEFA Champions League qualification, and a semi-final run in the UEFA Europa League during the 2015-16 season. Despite this consistent success, on August 10, 2016, just days before the first official match of the 2016-17 season, Marcelino was controversially sacked. The dismissal was attributed to "differences with the board of directors," particularly over the removal of Mateo Musacchio from the club captaincy, and also amidst some speculation of match-fixing in the final game of the previous season against Sporting de Gijón.
On May 11, 2017, Marcelino was named the head coach of Valencia CF after signing a two-year deal for the upcoming 2017-18 campaign. In his second season at the Mestalla Stadium, 2018-19, he led Valencia to win the Copa del Rey, defeating FC Barcelona 2-1 in the final held in Seville. This triumph marked the club's first major trophy in eleven years. However, on September 11, 2019, he was controversially dismissed from his role due to reported conflicts with the club's board and chairman, Peter Lim.
On January 4, 2021, Marcelino was appointed head coach of Athletic Bilbao, signing a contract until June 30, 2022. In his first three games in charge, he initially suffered a defeat against Barcelona in the domestic league. However, he quickly achieved a significant success by defeating both Real Madrid in the semi-finals and Barcelona in the final to win the 2021 Supercopa de España. His tenure also saw Athletic Bilbao reach two Copa del Rey finals in quick succession (the 2019-20 final, postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2020-21 final), but the team lost both matches. On May 24, 2022, Marcelino announced he would step down from his position on June 30.
In June 2023, after a year out of management, Marcelino agreed to a deal with Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille, marking his first coaching role outside Spain. However, his tenure was brief and controversial. He resigned on September 20, after only seven matches, citing "personal reasons" and "non-sporting reasons" due to alleged pressure and threats from the club's ultras.
2.4. Return to Villarreal
Marcelino made a swift return to Villarreal CF on November 13, 2023, signing a three-year contract. His re-appointment made him the club's third manager of the 2023-24 La Liga season, following Quique Setién and Pacheta, with Miguel Ángel Tena also serving as an interim manager for one game. On March 7, 2024, in his return to the Stade Vélodrome (where he had coached Marseille), his Villarreal side suffered a 4-0 defeat in the first leg of the Europa League last 16 against Marseille.
3. Managerial statistics
The following table details Marcelino García Toral's managerial record by team and tenure:
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Lealtad | Spain | 17 February 1997 | 30 June 1998 | 63 | 36 | 15 | 12 | 107 | 65 | 57.14 | |
| Sporting Gijón B | Spain | 15 January 2001 | 19 July 2003 | 99 | 41 | 26 | 32 | 139 | 110 | 41.41 | |
| Sporting Gijón | Spain | 19 July 2003 | 12 July 2005 | 86 | 35 | 22 | 29 | 100 | 82 | 40.70 | |
| Recreativo | Spain | 12 July 2005 | 26 June 2007 | 84 | 38 | 22 | 24 | 124 | 90 | 45.24 | |
| Racing Santander | Spain | 26 June 2007 | 28 May 2008 | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 56 | 51 | 43.48 | |
| Zaragoza | Spain | 28 May 2008 | 13 December 2009 | 59 | 26 | 17 | 16 | 97 | 73 | 44.07 | |
| Racing Santander | Spain | 9 February 2011 | 7 June 2011 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 24 | 25 | ||
| 43.75 | |||||||||||
| Sevilla | Spain | 7 June 2011 | 6 February 2012 | 27 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 29 | 30 | ||
| 33.33 | |||||||||||
| Villarreal | Spain | 14 January 2013 | 10 August 2016 | 177 | 87 | 44 | 46 | 268 | 181 | 49.15 | |
| Valencia | Spain | 23 May 2017 | 11 September 2019 | 110 | 55 | 29 | 26 | 168 | 107 | 50.00 | |
| Athletic Bilbao | Spain | 4 January 2021 | 24 May 2022 | 75 | 28 | 26 | 21 | 92 | 79 | 37.33 | |
| Marseille | France | 23 June 2023 | 20 September 2023 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 42.86 | |
| Villarreal | Spain | 13 November 2023 | Present | 59 | 28 | 18 | 13 | 113 | 89 | 47.46 | |
| Total | 908 | 413 | 247 | 248 | 1326 | 988 | +338 | 45.48 | |||
4. Honours
Marcelino García Toral has accumulated several significant honours throughout his career, both as a player and as a manager.
4.1. As a player
Spain U20
- FIFA U-20 World Cup runner-up: 1985
4.2. As a 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
4.3. Individual awards
- Miguel Muñoz Trophy (La Liga): 2006-07, 2017-18
- Miguel Muñoz Trophy (Segunda División): 2008-09
- La Liga Manager of the Month: September 2013, September 2015, March 2024