Carlos Bianchi

Carlos Arcecio Bianchi (born 26 April 1949), nicknamed El Virrey, is an Argentine former footballer and current manager. Although he had a bright career as a goalscorer in Argentina and France, Bianchi is best known as one of the most successful coaches of all time managing Vélez Sarsfield and Boca Juniors to a great number of titles each. Bianchi is the only coach to win four Copa Libertadores. He most recently served as manager of Boca Juniors.

Born in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bianchi was raised in a middle-class family. In 1972 he married Margaret Mary Pilla and they had two children: Mauro Carlos and Brenda. Now has four grandchildren: Paul, Carlos and Matthew (who are sons of Mauro) and Mateo (son of Brenda and Hurricane defender Eduardo Dominguez). His father worked in a sales position in which Carlos regularly helped until he made his debut as a player in first division football for Vélez Sarsfield, the club which he was a fan of.

During his tenure as coach of Vélez Sarsfield he was known as the "Virrey", named by sports writer Victor Hugo Morales. The reason is based on footballing and historical grounds as Bianchi obtained several titles as a player and coach with Vélez Sarsfield. The club is located in the neighborhood of Liniers alluding to the Virrey Liniers, who was in command of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata by early 1800.

Carlos Bianchi debuted with Vélez Sarsfield at the age of 18 in a 1–1 tie against Boca Juniors. He joined the professional staff that won the 1968 Torneo Nacional and was consecrated as the top scorer of 1970 with 18 goals and the Metropolitan Championship of 1971 with 36.

In 1973 Bianchi was signed by Stade de Reims, a French team of Ligue 1. He showed his scoring touch scoring 107 goals in four seasons and being the top scorer in the French championship in 1974, 1976 and 1977 marking 30, 34 and 28 goals, respectively. In 1977 he joined Paris Saint-Germain in which Bianchi was again the top scorer of the league in two seasons spent in the club.

In the 1979–80 season he played for Racing Club de Strasbourg, without success, scoring only eight goals. Bianchi returned to his home country in 1980 to play for Vélez Sarsfield where he became top scorer in the 1981 with 15 goals. He would return to Stade de Reims where he would retire in 1984.

Bianchi is the top scorer in the history of Vélez Sarsfield with 206 goals and 9th overall in Argentine football. He is also the 9th top scorer in the history of the French League with his 179 goals. After his retirement, Bianchi is recognized by FIFA as Argentina's top scorer in the history of first division tournaments of the world scoring a total of 385 goals (206 in Argentina and 179 in France) surpassing Alfredo Di Stefano (377 goals) and Delio Onnis (352 goals, 53 in Argentina and 299 in France), a great merit not recognized by many due to his coaching career greatly overshadowing his days as a player. Carlos Bianchi is the 8th top scorer in the history of first division football.

He also earned 14 caps for Argentina, scoring 7 goals, during the period from 1970 to 1972.

Club statistics

Player

Vélez Sarsfield

• Argentine Primera División (1): 1968 Nacional

Individual

• Primera División Argentina Top Scorer (3): 1970, 1971, 1981
• French Division 1 Top Scorer (5): 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979

Manager

Vélez Sarsfield

• Argentine Primera División (3): 1993 Clausura, 1995 Apertura, 1996 Clausura
• Copa Libertadores (1): 1994
• Intercontinental Cup (1): 1994
• Copa Interamericana (1): 1994

Boca Juniors

• Argentine Primera División (4): 1998 Apertura, 1999 Clausura, 2000 Apertura, 2003 Apertura
• Copa Libertadores (3): 2000, 2001, 2003
• Intercontinental Cup (2): 2000, 2003

Individual

• South American Coach of the Year (5): 1994, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003
• IFFHS World's Best Club Coach (2): 2000, 2003