Best Italian managers

Calcio is a huge deal in Italy, the country's most popular sport by far and for many, almost a religion.

Italy are four-time World Cup winners and twice European champions in men's football. When the Azzurri are in action, the nation stops to watch.

Home to some of Europe's biggest and best-supported clubs, Italy has produced some of the finest footballers in history.

Traditionally, Italy has also long been at the forefront of tactical innovation and coaching excellence. Here, a look of some of the greatest in a long line of top-level Italian managers...

32. Roberto Di Matteo

Roberto Di Matteo led MK Dons to third place in League Two in his first coaching role, but went one better as he finished second with West Brom and earned promotion to the Premier League in 2010.

Sacked after a run of disappointing results, he was appointed by former club Chelsea in March 2012 and steered the Blues to the FA Cup and the Champions League at the end of the 2011/12 season. However, he was gone by November and made minimal impact in short spells at Schalke and Aston Villa after that. Not one of Italy's elite coaches, but still one of a select group of Italian managers to win the Champions League.

31. Gianluca Vialli

Gianluca Vialli was appointed as Chelsea's player-manager after Ruud Gullit was sacked in February 1998 and steered the Blues to League Cup and UEFA Cup Winners' Cup wins later in the season.

Vialli also oversaw a UEFA Super Cup win over Real Madrid and led Chelsea to a third-placed Premier League finish in 1998/99. He was sacked five games into the 2000/2001 season following an indifferent start and amid reports he had fallen out with several star players. He later had a season at Watford, but left in 2002 and never managed again.

30. Roberto De Zerbi

Roberto De Zerbi's eye-catching brand of attacking football has made him one of the most exciting coaches of his generation and by the end of his career, the Brescia-born former midfielder may feature very high up on lists like this.

De Zerbi steered Sassuolo to consecutive eighth-placed finishes in Serie A and, after a spell at Shakhtar Donetsk where he won a Ukrainian Super Cup, he joined Brighton & Hove Albion in 2022. The Italian led the Seagulls into Europe for the first time in their history after a sixth-placed finish in the Premier League and then to the last 16 of the Europa League. He left Brighton at the end of the 2023/24 season and joined Marseille.

29. Cesare Prandelli

In a long coaching career spanning more than 30 years, Cesare Prandelli became one of Italy's most-respected tacticians.

Flexible with formations and able to adjust to the squads at his disposal, Prandelli favoured an attacking philosophy. He never won a major honour, but was Serie A Coach of the Year in 2008 after guiding Fiorentina to fourth place and later led Italy to the final of Euro 2012.

28. Stefano Pioli

After spells with Lazio, Inter and Fiorentina, Stefano Pioli spent five years at AC Milan and in 2022, he led the Rossoneri to their first Serie A title in over a decade.

Pioli was named as Serie A Coach of the Year following that achievement and in 2022/23, his Milan side reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. One of five coaches in history to have secured 100 or more league wins at Milan, he stepped down after the Rossoneri finished as runners-up to Inter in 2023/24.

27. Luigi Delneri

Known for his attack-minded football philosophy, influenced by Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan and Dutch total football, Luigi Delneri's colourful coaching career spanned 35 years.

Delneri is best remembered for his time at Chievo, when he led the small Verona club into Serie A and then oversaw a fifth-placed finish, with his team having topped the table for the first half of the 2001/02 campaign. He was named Serie A Coach of the Year for that season and later took Sampdoria to fourth place in the 2009/10 campaign, but had difficult spells at Juventus and Roma, while he was sacked by Porto without even playing a game in August 2004 after alleged indiscipline.

26. Alberto Bigon

Alberto Bigon took over from Ottavio Bianchi at Napoli in 1989 and led the Blues to their second-ever Serie A title in his debut season in 1989/90.

But with star player Diego Maradona banned after testing positive for cocaine, Bigon's side could only finish eighth in 1990/91 and he was not kept on. Later, he won a Swiss Super League and a Swiss Cup with Sion in 1996/97, plus a Greek title at Olympiacos in 1999/2000.

25. Alberto Zaccheroni

Alberto Zaccheroni led AC Milan to the Serie A title in 1998/99 and also had spells in charge of Lazio, Inter and Juventus.

Known for his use of 3-4-3, with an attacking midfielder supporting the three forwards, Zaccheroni was successful with Japan after leaving Juve as the Samurai Blue secured the Asian Cup in 2011 and the East Asian Cup in 2013.

24. Luigi Radice

Luigi Radice started and finished his playing career with AC Milan and the full-back won five caps for Italy, but he became a legend as a coach in Turin.

Radice led Torino to the Serie A title in 1975/76, finishing two points ahead of city rivals Juventus. It remains Torino's only Scudetto win since the Superga air disaster in 1949. The former defender later had spells at AC Milan, Inter and Fiorentina, among others, and led Torino to a second-placed finish in Serie A on his return to the club in 1984/85.

23. Eugenio Bersellini

Nicknamed Il sergente di ferro ("The iron sergeant"), Eugenio Bersellini led Inter to the Serie A title in 1979/80 and to two Coppa Italia crowns.

Bersellini also won a Coppa Italia at Sampdoria, which was the club's first-ever major honour, in 1984/85. Ahead of his time with his training methods, he was one of the first coaches to employ full-time fitness staff.

22. Carlo Parola

Carlo Parola played virtually his entire career at Juventus and the defender was best known for popularising the overhead kick in the 1940s and 1950s.

Parola also represented Lazio and won 10 caps for Italy. After retirement, he led Juventus to back-to-back Serie A titles in 1960 and 1961, later adding another in a second spell at the Bianconeri in 1975.

21. Maurizio Sarri

Maurizio Sarri played football at amateur level and was forced to work his way up slowly after beginning his coaching career in the eighth level of Italian football.

After climbing through the divisions with a series of smaller sides, Sarri led Empoli to Serie A in 2014. In three seasons at Napoli, he finished second, third and again as runners-up. He was named Serie A Coach of the Year in 2016/17, led Chelsea to the Europa League title in 2018/19 and won Serie A with Juventus in 2019/20. The chain-smoking Italian moved to Lazio in 2021.

20. Simone Inzaghi

Simone Inzaghi may have been somewhat in the shadow of his brother Filippo during their respective playing careers, but the younger man has established himself as an elite coach.

After winning a Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles at Lazio, Inzaghi led Inter to the Serie A title in 2023/24. Before that, he also won two Coppa Italia crowns and three Supercoppa Italiana titles with the Nerazzurri and took the Milan club all the way to the Champions League final in 2022/23.

19. Giuseppe Viani

After leading Salernitana and then Roma to Serie B titles and promotion to Italy's top flight, Giuseppe Viani won the Scudetto twice with AC Milan, in 1956/57 and 1958/59.

Viani devised a system, dubbed "vianema" by the Italian media, which saw one of his midfielders tasked with picking up the opposing team's centre-forward, allowing his full-back (similar to a modern-day centre-back) to operate as a sweeper. He also led Milan to the European Cup final in 1958 and had a brief spell as Italy coach in 1960.

18. Ferruccio Valcareggi

Best remembered for his eight-year spell as Italy coach between 1966 and 1974, Ferruccio Valcareggi led the Azzurri to a continental crown at Euro 1968 and to the World Cup final in 1970.

Known for his rigid tactics, inspired by catenaccio, Valcareggi also employed the unpopular staffetta policy, which saw him use his two playmakers – Sandro Mazzola and Gianni Rivera – for one half each during matches in order to maintain the team's balance.

17. Ottavio Bianchi

All the credit went to Diego Maradona, but Ottavio Bianchi was the coach in charge of Napoli for their historic Scudetto success in 1986/87 and their UEFA Cup win in 1988/89.

Bianchi left Napoli after that triumph and later led Roma to a Coppa Italia win in 1991, narrowly missing out on another UEFA Cup title as the Giallorossi lost in the final to Inter over two legs.

16. Gian Piero Gasperini

Gian Piero Gasperini started his coaching career with the Juventus academy in the 1990s and worked at Genoa and briefly at Inter between 2006 and 2011.

But the former midfielder made his name at Atalanta, transforming a struggling side into a Serie A powerhouse as he earned a fourth-placed finish in 2016/17, fifth in 2022/23, and oversaw a remarkable run to the Europa League title in 2023/24.

15. Claudio Ranieri

Claudio Ranieri's managerial career will forever be remembered for leading Leicester City to the Premier League title in 2015/16.

As well as masterminding that spectacular season with the Foxes, Ranieri won trohies at Valencia and Fiorentina, as well as earning promotions with the Florence outift, at Cagliari and with Monaco.

14. Osvaldo Bagnoli

Osvaldo Bagnoli is best remembered for taking unfancied provincial club Hellas Verona to the Serie A title against all odds in 1984/85, earning him the nickname "Il mago della Bovisa" (the wizard from Bovisa).

Bagnoli spent nine years as coach of Verona and took the Gialloblu up to the top flight in his first season. Later, he led the club to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. At Genoa, he reached the semi-finals of the same competition and he finished second in Serie A with Inter in 1992/93.

13. Luciano Spalletti

Luciano Spalletti ended Napoli's long wait for a third Scudetto as he led the Blues to the Serie A title in 2022/23.

A two-time Coppa Italia winner with Roma, Spalletti was named Serie A Coach of the year in 2006, 2007 and 2023. The former midfielder also won two Russian Premier League titles with Zenit Saint-Petersburg and after leaving Napoli, he was appointed as Italy boss in August 2023.

12. Enzo Bearzot

After retirement as a player, Enzo Bearzot worked as an assistant at Torino and later as coach of Serie C side Prato but opted against a club career, preferring to take a job with the Italian Football Federation instead.

Bearzot started out as Italy's Under-23 coach, before working as an assistant at the 1974 World Cup and taking the top job a year later. After finishing fourth at the 1978 World Cup and Euro 1980, he led the Azzurri to glory at the 1982 World Cup. An adaptable and shrewd tactician, he coached Italy a record 104 times in total and stepped down after the Azzurri went out in the last 16 of the 1986 World Cup.

11. Carlo Carcano

Before it was achieved by Maximiliano Allegri in the late 2010s, Carlo Carcano was the only man in Serie A history to win four league titles in a row.

Carcano led Juventus to those four Scudetto successes in the early 1930s and also worked as an assistant to Vittorio Pozzo as Italy won the 1934 World Cup. He was mysteriously removed from his post in the 1934/35 season amid rumours about his sexuality and did not work again at the elite level until spells at Inter and Atalanta a decade later, after the Second World War.

10. Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte won five Serie A titles as a player at Juventus and the former Italy midfielder was coach for the first three of the club's nine consecutive Scudetto successes between 2012 and 2020.

Conte also ended that run as he led Inter to the title in 2020/21. He won the Premier League and an FA Cup at Chelsea and was in charge as an unfancied Italy side made it to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

9. Roberto Mancini

Roberto Mancini led Italy to the European Championship in 2021, with victory over England on penalties in the final of the delayed Euro 2020 tournament at Wembley.

Later in the year, Mancini's Italy set a new record after going for 36 matches unbeaten, but he resigned in 2023 with the Azzurri having failed to qualify foe the previous year's World Cup. Earlier, he won three Serie A titles at Inter, one of which came after Juventus were stripped of their wins due to the Calciopoli scandal, and a first ever Premier League title at Manchester City.

8. Massimiliano Allegri

Massimiliano Allegri won a Scudetto with AC Milan in 2010/11 and added another five Serie A titles in a row in his first spell at Juventus between 2014 and 2019.

Allegri also led Juve to two Champions League finals in 2015 and 2017. He was less successful in his second spell, winning just a Coppa Italia before stepping down in 2024. He was named Serie A Coach of the Year in 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2018.

7. Nereo Rocco

An early proponent of the catenaccio style at Padova in the 1950s, Nereo Rocco went on to enjoy huge success at AC Milan in the following decade.

Across two spells at Milan, Rocco won two Serie A titles, two European Cups, three Coppa Italia crowns, two UEFA Cups and an Intercontinental Cup. Cited by Giovanni Trapattoni as an influence, he is regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time. 

6. Marcello Lippi

Marcello Lippi led Juventus to five Serie A titles and numerous other prizes across two successful spells with the Bianconeri. Juve also reached three Champions League finals in a row under his tutelage, winning the first of those and losing out in the other two.

Lippi steered Italy to the World Cup trophy in 2006, their first since 1982. He was unsuccessful in a spell at Inter between his two stints at Juve, and also in a second period with Italy as the Azzurri went out in the group stages of the 2010 World Cup. Later in his career, he won three Chinese Super League titles with Guangzhou Evergrande.

5. Vittorio Pozzo

Born in 1886, Vittorio Pozzo played for Swiss side Grasshoppers and Torino as a midfielder, before carving out a successful career as Italy coach.

After taking charge of Italy for three short spells, Pozzo coached Italy for 19 years between 1929 and 1948. A pioneer who was one of the first coaches to use pre-tournament training camps, he is also credited with having introduced a number of tactical advances, including the use of full-backs. Pozzo led Italy to back-to-back World Cup wins in 1930 and 1934, to an Olympic gold medal in 1936 and to two Central European International Cups (an early version of the European Championship).

4. Fabio Capello

Fabio Capello was described as an "iron sergeant" by Zlatan Ibrahimović in the Swede's autobiography and the Italian coach was known for his authoritarian style of management.

Capello's defensive-minded approach may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but it brought four Serie A titles at AC Milan, two more at Juventus (later revoked due to the Calciopoli scandal) and another at Roma, plus a Champions League crown with the Rossoneri and La Liga titles in both of his season-long spells at Real Madrid. Later in his career, he managed England and Russia.

3. Arrigo Sacchi

Arrigo Sacchi did not have a successful career as a footballer and was forced to work his way up to the top as a coach. "I never realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse first," he famously said.

Sacchi went on to enjoy huge success, leading AC Milan to back-to-back European Cups in 1989 and 1990. He also came desperately close to winning the World Cup with Italy, as the Azzurri lost the 1994 final against Brazil on penalties. But even more significantly, he revolutionised the modern game by popularising high pressing, the offside trap and a high defensive line.

2. Giovanni Trapattoni

Giovanni led Juventus to seven Serie A titles in a trophy-laden spell in the 1970s and 1980s and won another Scudetto at Inter, making him the most successful coach in the competition's history.

Trapattoni also won a European Cup, two UEFA Cups and a European Cup Winners' Cup with Juve, another UEFA Cup at Inter and league titles at Bayern Munich, Benfica and Red Bull Salzburg. He was less successful in charge of Italy, with the Azzurri knocked out in the last 16 of the 2002 World Cup and in the group stages of Euro 2004. Both exits were somewhat controversial, however, and he is a legend of Italian football. Later in his career, he led the Republic of Ireland to a Nations Cup win in 2011 and qualified for Euro 2012.

1. Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti might not be the most influential Italian coach in history, but he is certainly the most successful. Tactically astute and versatile, Ancelotti is a master at adapting to different squads and consistently gets the best out of his teams with magnificent man-management skills.

A multiple Champions League winner with AC Milan and Real Madrid, the former Italy midfielder was also the first coach to pick up league titles in Europe's top five leagues – with Milan, Madrid, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.