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Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti (Italian pronunciation: [luˈtʃaːno spalˈletti]; born 7 March 1959) is an Italian football manager and former player who is the manager of Juventus.
He started his managerial career with Empoli in 1993 before coaching clubs in Italy, including two spells with Roma, where he won two consecutive Coppa Italia titles. Spalletti managed Zenit St. Petersburg from 2009 to 2014, winning two Russian Premier League titles. Following two seasons in charge at Inter Milan, he was appointed manager of Napoli in 2021, where he won the Serie A in the 2022–23 season before leaving the club in June 2023. In August 2023, he was appointed as coach of the Italy national team and led the team to qualify for UEFA Euro 2024, where they were eliminated in the round of 16. He was sacked as Italy coach in June 2025. In October of that year, he returned to club management as head coach of Juventus.
Born in Certaldo, Metropolitan City of Florence, Spalletti started his career as a semi-professional footballer in his mid-20s. Despite a relatively old age for a professional debut, he played for several Serie C teams such as Entella, Spezia, Viareggio and Empoli. After nearly a decade of lower-tier football in Italy, he retired in 1993 and remained at Empoli as a coach.
Spalletti's early career in management led him to struggling Empoli, where he served as head coach from July 1993 to June 1998. He led the Tuscan side to consecutive promotions from Serie C1 to the top-flight Serie A. Spalletti then coached Sampdoria from July 1998 to June 1999, and Venezia from July to October 1999. He attended the FIGC coaching school, at the Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano in 1998–99, graduating with a maximum mark of 110 cum laude; his thesis was entitled "The 3–5–2 playing system".
Spalletti had two spells as head coach at Udinese. The first was between March 2001 and June 2001, the second between July 2002 and June 2005. There was a period at Ancona in between spells.
At Udinese, he really began to make an impact as a manager. During the 2004–05 season, Spalletti guided Udinese to a sensational fourth-placed finish in Serie A, exceeding expectations and securing a spot in the UEFA Champions League. Spalletti became head coach of Roma in June 2005.
Such success for a traditionally unexceptional side with limited resources attracted the attention of Roma. The Giallorossi had come off a disappointing season in which four different coaches had spells in charge of the club. Spalletti was tasked with bringing order to this chaotic side. After an uninspiring first half of the 2005–06 season, he changed the team's tactics to a more offensive style rather than a defensive one. As a result, Roma climbed from 15th to 5th place in the table. However, by the end of the season, Roma failed to reach fourth place, therefore failing to qualify for the Champions League. Spalletti did manage to help Roma reach the 2006 Coppa Italia Final, but ultimately lost out on the title to Inter Milan. Nonetheless, as a result of the 2006 Serie A match-fixing scandal, Roma qualified for the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, as league champions Juventus were relegated, while Fiorentina and Milan both received point deductions for their involvement.
At the end of 2006, Spalletti was elected Serie A Coach of the Year and, in the following months, led Roma until the Champions League quarter-final after a 2–0 victory over Lyon at the Stade Gerland in the first knockout round. The team, however, succeeded in becoming the first team to defeat Roberto Mancini's Inter Milan in all competitions that year, emerging with a 1–3 result at the San Siro, a match that the Nerazzurri had to win to mathematically claim the 2007 Scudetto against the only credible rival they had in the championship. Roma would also win the 2007 Coppa Italia Final against Inter, with an aggregate score of 7–4; a resounding 6–2 in the first leg in Rome, followed by a narrow 2–1 defeat in Milan. It was the first important trophy in Spalletti's career, who had only won a Coppa Italia di Serie C with Empoli. But he was yet to add another piece of silverware to his cabinet, as Roma would again defeat Inter 0–1 in Milan in the opening fixture of the 2007–08 season to steal their Supercoppa Italiana crown.
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Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti (Italian pronunciation: [luˈtʃaːno spalˈletti]; born 7 March 1959) is an Italian football manager and former player who is the manager of Juventus.
He started his managerial career with Empoli in 1993 before coaching clubs in Italy, including two spells with Roma, where he won two consecutive Coppa Italia titles. Spalletti managed Zenit St. Petersburg from 2009 to 2014, winning two Russian Premier League titles. Following two seasons in charge at Inter Milan, he was appointed manager of Napoli in 2021, where he won the Serie A in the 2022–23 season before leaving the club in June 2023. In August 2023, he was appointed as coach of the Italy national team and led the team to qualify for UEFA Euro 2024, where they were eliminated in the round of 16. He was sacked as Italy coach in June 2025. In October of that year, he returned to club management as head coach of Juventus.
Born in Certaldo, Metropolitan City of Florence, Spalletti started his career as a semi-professional footballer in his mid-20s. Despite a relatively old age for a professional debut, he played for several Serie C teams such as Entella, Spezia, Viareggio and Empoli. After nearly a decade of lower-tier football in Italy, he retired in 1993 and remained at Empoli as a coach.
Spalletti's early career in management led him to struggling Empoli, where he served as head coach from July 1993 to June 1998. He led the Tuscan side to consecutive promotions from Serie C1 to the top-flight Serie A. Spalletti then coached Sampdoria from July 1998 to June 1999, and Venezia from July to October 1999. He attended the FIGC coaching school, at the Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano in 1998–99, graduating with a maximum mark of 110 cum laude; his thesis was entitled "The 3–5–2 playing system".
Spalletti had two spells as head coach at Udinese. The first was between March 2001 and June 2001, the second between July 2002 and June 2005. There was a period at Ancona in between spells.
At Udinese, he really began to make an impact as a manager. During the 2004–05 season, Spalletti guided Udinese to a sensational fourth-placed finish in Serie A, exceeding expectations and securing a spot in the UEFA Champions League. Spalletti became head coach of Roma in June 2005.
Such success for a traditionally unexceptional side with limited resources attracted the attention of Roma. The Giallorossi had come off a disappointing season in which four different coaches had spells in charge of the club. Spalletti was tasked with bringing order to this chaotic side. After an uninspiring first half of the 2005–06 season, he changed the team's tactics to a more offensive style rather than a defensive one. As a result, Roma climbed from 15th to 5th place in the table. However, by the end of the season, Roma failed to reach fourth place, therefore failing to qualify for the Champions League. Spalletti did manage to help Roma reach the 2006 Coppa Italia Final, but ultimately lost out on the title to Inter Milan. Nonetheless, as a result of the 2006 Serie A match-fixing scandal, Roma qualified for the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, as league champions Juventus were relegated, while Fiorentina and Milan both received point deductions for their involvement.
At the end of 2006, Spalletti was elected Serie A Coach of the Year and, in the following months, led Roma until the Champions League quarter-final after a 2–0 victory over Lyon at the Stade Gerland in the first knockout round. The team, however, succeeded in becoming the first team to defeat Roberto Mancini's Inter Milan in all competitions that year, emerging with a 1–3 result at the San Siro, a match that the Nerazzurri had to win to mathematically claim the 2007 Scudetto against the only credible rival they had in the championship. Roma would also win the 2007 Coppa Italia Final against Inter, with an aggregate score of 7–4; a resounding 6–2 in the first leg in Rome, followed by a narrow 2–1 defeat in Milan. It was the first important trophy in Spalletti's career, who had only won a Coppa Italia di Serie C with Empoli. But he was yet to add another piece of silverware to his cabinet, as Roma would again defeat Inter 0–1 in Milan in the opening fixture of the 2007–08 season to steal their Supercoppa Italiana crown.