Massimo Carrera

Massimo Carrera (born 22 April 1964 in Sesto San Giovanni) is an Italian association football manager and a former player, who played as a defender. He is the manager of FC Spartak Moscow in Russia.
He is nicknamed "la bandera". He was a caretaker manager of Juventus, due to head coach Antonio Conte's 10-month ban (later reduced to 4 months), effective from August 2012.

Carrera began his career at Pro Sesto, but rose to fame with Bari enjoying five seasons before moving to Juventus in 1991. Under Giovanni Trapattoni he was deployed at right back, a role also held at Bari. He disputed an excellent first season, culminating with being called up for the Italian national team.

In 1994 with the arrival of Marcello Lippi he is deployed as sweeper, in place of Luca Fusi, becoming a pillar of the team, winning both the Scudetto and the Italian Cup. He also lifts the UEFA Cup at the end of the season.

Due to the arrival of skilled defenders Pietro Vierchowod and Paolo Montero, on the following seasons he starts more often from the bench, but offers valued contribution when called.

After 166 caps with Juventus, and having won the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia, the Champions League, the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup, in the summer of 1996, he transferred to Atalanta.

He quickly became captain and leader of the Orobici, playing there for eight seasons and totaling 207 caps and 3 goals. He left Bergamo in 2003 to join Napoli, and the following season, he settled in Treviso.

He stayed in Veneto for just a season, and on 28 October 2005, at the age of 41, he signed for Pro Vercelli.

At the end of the 2007–08 season, at the age of 44, he decided to retire from playing football to focus on coaching.

Carrera's excellent performance with Juventus in the first year with the club earned him his first international call-up under manager Arrigo Sacchi; Carrera made his debut with the Italy national football team on 19 February 1992, at Cesena, in a friendly against San Marino.

Carrera was reunited with former Juventus teammates Antonio Conte and Angelo Alessio in the summer of 2011 when he joined the club's coaching staff as a technical director.

Due to a 10-month ban against head coach Antonio Conte for alleged implications of his failure to report match fixing and a similar ban against his assistant Angelo Alessio, Carrera was appointed in July 2012 as Juventus' caretaker coach. In his first official match he claimed the 2012 Supercoppa Italiana defeating Napoli in Beijing (4–2 after extra time). After Angelo Alessio's ban was removed he returned to the position of Technical Director, leaving the bench to Alessio.

Before the 2016–17 season, he was hired as an assistant manager for the Russian side FC Spartak Moscow. Manager Dmitri Alenichev resigned from his post of 5 August 2016 after Spartak's elimination from the UEFA Europa League by AEK Larnaca F.C., and Carrera was appointed the caretaker manager. On 17 August 2016, he was hired as Spartak's manager on a permanent basis.

As of 6 December 2016

Carrera unwittingly played a huge role in helping Milan go unbeaten in the 1991–92 Serie A season. During injury time of Juventus' home match against Milan on 15 September 1991, an innocent-looking cross from the right touchline hit Carrera's head, and the ball looped past a stranded Stefano Tacconi for the crucial equaliser. Milan would then go on to finish the season unbeaten, and embark on a record-breaking 58-match unbeaten streak.

Player

Juventus

• Serie A (1): 1994–95
• Coppa Italia (1): 1994–95
• Supercoppa Italiana (1): 1995
• UEFA Champions League (1): 1995–96
• UEFA Cup (1): 1992–93
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 1996
• Intercontinental Cup (1): 1996

Atalanta

• Serie B (1): 2005–06

Caretaker Manager

Juventus

• Supercoppa Italiana (1): 2012