Marcelino García Toral

Marcelino García Toral ([maɾθeˈlino ɣaɾˈθi.a toˈɾal]; born 14 August 1965), known simply as Marcelino in his playing days, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and a manager.

During a ten-year senior career, he amassed La Liga totals of 74 matches and two goals, all at the service of Sporting de Gijón. He became a manager in 1997, working in the top division with Recreativo, Racing de Santander (two spells), Zaragoza, Sevilla, Villarreal and Valencia.

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 RC Celta de Vigo.

After two Segunda División spells, with Racing de Santander and Levante UD, both ended in relegation, he moved to the lower leagues with Elche CF. Marcelino retired in 1994 at only 28, due to injury.

García Toral started coaching at 33 with lowly CD Lealtad, also in Asturias. In the early 2000s he worked in Segunda División B, with Sporting's reserves.

From 2003 to 2005, García Toral was in charge of the first team, finishing fifth and tenth in the second level, then signed with fellow league team Recreativo de Huelva, which he led to promotion in his first season and a comfortable mid-table position in the top flight in the following, which made him the recipient of his first Miguel Muñoz Trophy.

García Toral 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 to 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 CF, 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), García Toral was fired by Zaragoza, with the Aragonese club nonetheless still above the relegation zone. In early February 2011 he returned to Racing Santander, replacing fired Miguel Ángel Portugal.

García Toral was appointed at Sevilla FC for 2011–12. On 6 February 2012, following seven games without a win – the last being a 1–2 home loss against Villarreal CF – and with the Andalusians ranking 11th, he was relieved of his duties.

García Toral signed for Villarreal on 14 January 2013, returning the team to the top flight at the end of the campaign and going on to subsequently achieve three top-six finishes, which included a fourth place and a semi-final run in the UEFA Europa League in 2015–16.

On 10 August 2016, a few days before the first official match of the season, García Toral was sacked for differences with the board of directors, particularly over the removal of Mateo Musacchio from club captaincy. On 11 May of the following year, he was named at the helm of Valencia for the upcoming campaign after penning a two-year deal.

García Toral won the Copa del Rey in his second season at the Mestalla Stadium, defeating FC Barcelona 2–1 in the final held in Seville. On 11 September 2019, however, he was dismissed.

As of 1 September 2019

Player

Spain U20

• FIFA U-20 World Cup: Runner-up 1985

Manager

Recreativo

• Segunda División: 2005–06

Valencia

• Copa del Rey: 2018–19

Individual

• Miguel Muñoz Trophy: 2006–07, 2017–18
• Miguel Muñoz Trophy (Segunda División): 2008–09
• La Liga Best Coach: 2017–18
• La Liga Manager of the Month: September 2013, September 2015