FCBARCELONA.CAT

15.11.2007 13:24

Five ex-Barça stars on the opposition bench

Jaume Marcet

Following on from the match against Getafe, managed by Michael Laudrup, FC Barcelona will come up against another four First Division sides managed by former Barça stars.

All of them played for Barça in the 80s or the 90s and have now established themselves as respected managers.

First season in Spain

Michael Laudrup and Ronald Koeman are in their first season as managers in La Liga. As players, Laudrup and Koeman were key elements in Johan Cruyff’s Dream team. They went on to start successful managerial careers back in their own countries, Laudrup with Brondby in Denmark and Koeman with Ajax in Holland.

Koeman also managed Benfica in Portugal before returning to Holland to guide PSV to the Dutch league title. He recently took over at Valencia in place of the sacked Quique Sánchez Flores. Laudrup spent five seasons with Barça (1989-1994) while Koeman remained for a further season (1989-1995).

Laudrup and Koeman are both assisted by former Barça players - Luis Milla in Getafe and José Mari Bakero in Valencia.

Experienced coaches

Unlike the others, Víctor Muñoz and Bernd Schuster did not spend their Barça playing careers under Johan Cruyff. Both of them left the Club before the arrival of the Dutch manager.

Víctor, 50, has managed eight sides including Mallorca, Lleida, Villarreal, Zaragoza and Panathinaikos (Greece) and has been in permanent employment since he retired as a player in 1995. For seven years (1981-1988) Víctor Muñoz was one of the stars of the Barça side that won a league title and was runner-up in the European Cup.

Schuster was a Barça contemporary of Víctor Muñoz (1980-1988) before playing for Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid. He began his managerial career in Germany in 1997, taking charge of Fortuna and Cologne. He then took over at Jerez in the Spanish Second Division before moving to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine. He subsequently returned to Spain to manage Levante, Getafe and finally Real Madrid.

Ernesto Valverde

Ernesto Valverde has been a manager for ten years and has had a rather more stable career than the others. He spent six years working with the youth teams of Athletic Club Bilbao before taking over the senior squad in 2003. Last season he returned to Barcelona to take charge of Espanyol. As a player, Valverde spent two years at Barça (1988-1990), the first two years of Cruyff’s managerial spell.