Luciano Spalletti

Football coach
Born: Florence - 7 March 1959

Luciano Spalletti's football career began as a midfielder for various clubs in the Italian Serie C. His success in management began with the Serie C club Empoli, where he led the team to consecutive promotions into the Serie A (1995-1998). He went on to coach several Serie A teams, eventually ending up at Roma where in 2006, championing the 4-2-3-1 formation, he broke the record for consecutive wins (11) in the league and was voted Serie A Coach of the Year. The next season, Roma took second place in Serie A and also won the Coppa Italia, Spalletti's first major trophy. Financial problems at the club weighed on the team's record, however, and Spalletti resigned in September 2009.

Three months later, he signed with FC Zenit. The 2010 season proved the most successful yet for the team domestically. Zenit won the Russian Cup and went for a record 21 games undefeated in the Russian Premier League and won the league title two games before the end of the season. The team beat CSKA Moscow in the final of the Russian Super Cup in March 2011, and won a second consecutive league championship in the extended 2011-2012 season. In the 2011-2012 UEFA Champions League, Zenit also reached the last sixteen for the first time. The 2012/2013 season was to prove less successful for the team, although they still made second place in the Russian Premier League table. Nonetheless, after a series of disappointing results at the start of the 2013/2014 season, Spalletti was dismissed from the club.