Marcelino Garcia Toral has made an instant impact as the new manager of Athletic Bilbao.
Marcelino beat Real Madrid in only his second game in charge of Athletic and clinched a place in the final of the Spanish Super Cup, against Barcelona on Sunday.
He has made a habit of beating Real Madrid in his coaching career. He shot to fame when his unfancied Recreativo Huelva side won 3-0 at the Bernabeu Stadium in 2006.
Marcelino has beaten them with Villareal and Valencia, and, now, after toppling Zinedine Zidane's side in the Super Cup, which is now a four-club contest featuring the reigning champions and runners-up and both finalists from the Copa del Rey.
The mini tournament was originally scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia but moved back to Spain, with the games played in Andalucia in the south. The is final in Seville on Sunday will be between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona, who won on penalties against Real Sociedad.
'It would be wonderful to win this title,' said Marcelino after the victory against Zidane's Real. 'It's time to recover and then go with maximum conviction, this result will serve to increase the confidence and self-esteem of the players and progressively better performance.'
Marcelino returned to football as Gaizka Garitano's successor at San Mames at the beginning of January.
The 51-year-old has been without a club since September 2019 when he was ousted by Valencia despite qualifying for the Champions League and winning the Copa del Rey only four months earlier, beating Barcelona in the final, also held in Seville.
Marcelino was linked with a move to AC Milan and spoke to Arsenal as the Gunners sought a successor for Unai Emery and before they opted for Mikel Arteta.
