Portuguese coaches in Serie A | OneFootball

Over the past quarter-century, we’ve seen quite a few Portuguese footballers grace the football pitches of Serie A. Rafael Leão helped Milan return to the promised land after an 11-year title drought, Rui Costa struck up a phenomenal partnership in Fiorentina’s attack alongside Gabriel Batistuta, Beto emerged as Udinese’s attacking talisman before heading to Everton, whilst Bruno Fernandes cut his teeth at Udinese and Sampdoria before enjoying superstardom at Sporting and Manchester United.

Today, there are currently 12 Portuguese footballers who are plying their trade in Italy’s top-flight, making it the eighth-most represented foreign nationality after France (39), Spain (26), Argentina (25), Netherlands (14), Brazil (14), Denmark (13) and Croatia (13). But for all the foreign footballers who are showcasing their skills in Italy, foreign coaches don’t quite have the same ubiquitousness. Out of the 20 teams in Serie A, only four have foreign managers.

In contrast to the Premier League, who haven’t had an English manager win the top-flight since Howard Wilkinson led Leeds to glory in 1991/92 (back when it was still called the First Division), Italian coaches dominate Serie A. In fact, since the start of the 2000/01 campaign, only one non-Italian manager has lifted the Scudetto: José Mourinho.

Today, we’re taking a look at the Portuguese managers that have coached in Serie A.

José Mourinho

When José Mourinho joined Inter Milan in 2008, he had already staked a claim as one of the finest managers in Europe, guiding Porto to a UEFA Cup and a UEFA Champions League before taking England by storm and steering Chelsea to two Premier League titles. The Special One became the first Portuguese manager to coach in Serie A and quickly went about making Inter into a powerhouse. Having initially used a 4-3-3 formation, Mourinho decided to switch to the 4-3-1-2 utilized by his predecessor Roberto Mancini, with Dejan Stanković operating as a playmaker behind Zlatan Ibrahimović and Adriano. The Nerazzurri would proceed to claim a fourth straight Scudetto and finish ten points above Juventus and Milan, before taking their game to the next level in 2009/10. With Mourinho at the helm, Inter won their first Champions League title in 45 years and became the first and only Italian team to complete a treble.

Rather than continue building his project, Mourinho rode off into the sunset and bounced around from Real Madrid to Chelsea to Manchester United to Tottenham Hotspur before eventually returning to Italy in 2021. It didn’t take long for him to make an impact, ending a 13-year trophy drought and guiding Roma to the UEFA Europa Conference League, before leading them to the UEFA Europa League Final the following year. Mourinho departed his post in January 2024 and is now coaching at Fenerbahçe.

Paulo Sousa

Having begun his coaching career with Portugal’s youth teams, Paulo Sousa enjoyed sojourns in England, Hungary, Israel and Switzerland before eventually trying his luck in Italy. Expectations were high for Sousa after taking charge of Fiorentina in 2015, with the club previously finishing fourth in each of their last three seasons under Vincenzo Montella. They ascended to the top of the table after winning six of their first seven, only to suffer a dismal second half of the campaign and limp to the finish line en route to a fifth-place finish. La Viola regressed even further by finishing eighth in 2016/17, although their nadir came in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32; after leading 3-0 in the second leg, Fiorentina would proceed to concede four straight goals to Borussia Mönchengladbach and lose 4-3 at home.

Sousa was relieved of his duties at the end of the season and yo-yoed between China, France, Brazil, as well as a brief spell with the Polish national team, before eventually taking charge of Salernitana in February 2023. He managed to stop the bleeding and make them into a competitive unit, enabling them to avoid relegation after a strong finish to the campaign. However, after managing just three points from his first eight matches in 2023/24, he was dismissed from his post in October 2023. Today, Sousa is coaching Shabab Al Ahli Club in the United Arab Emirates.

Paulo Fonseca

Paulo Fonseca spent the entirety of his life in Portugal until 2016, when he made the move to Shakhtar Donetsk and steered them to seven trophies in three years. His impressive chapter in Ukraine prompted the attention of Roma, who appointed him as their new coach in 2019. Fonseca steered Roma to fifth place, a slight improvement on their previous sixth-placed finish, before taking them to seventh in 2020/21. He also led them to the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League semifinals, where they would lose to Manchester United.

After two years in the Italian capital, Fonseca was replaced by Mourinho and decided to take his talents to France, where he enjoyed success and stability with Lille. He returned to Italy in 2024, but struggled immediately and would have likely faced an abrupt dismissal, had it not been for Milan’s derby win against Inter in September. Fonseca never quite managed to adjust to life at the San Siro, and on 29 December he was sacked with the team in eighth place in Serie A. However, it hasn’t taken him long to find a new role, returning to Ligue 1 and taking the reins at Lyon.

Sérgio Conceição

Just like at Roma, Fonseca was replaced by yet another Portuguese coach: Sérgio Conceição. He boasted plenty of experience in Italy, having played at Lazio, Parma and Inter Milan, and he was coming off a seven-year spell at the Dragão which had seen Porto put an end to Benfica’s dynasty and claim three league titles. Conceição enjoyed a stellar start to proceedings, with Milan pulling off back-to-back comeback victories against Juventus and Inter in Saudi Arabia to prevail with the Supercoppa Italiana, their first trophy in nearly three years.

“I followed him a lot in Portugal, and I’m not surprised that he went to Milan, or that he managed to win a title immediately after joining, a title against none other than Inter,” stated ex-Udinese man Diego Gavilán.

“Conceição is a coach who can mark an era at Milan due to his personality, methodology, history, and way of being,” added Gavilán, who became the first Paraguayan to play in the Premier League. “Those viral videos of him celebrating in the locker room show players see him in a different light and have an important bond, and enjoy a more comfortable coexistence on a day-to-day basis. I think that he can do very well in Milan.”

Conceição’s first match in Serie A would see Milan draw 1-1 to Cagliari, before beating Como 2-1 and losing 2-0 at Juventus. Since then, they have beaten Parma, drawn to Inter, and beaten Empoli, whilst they also defeated Roma 3-1 to confirm their spot in the Coppa Italia semifinals. Milan are also still in the Champions League, where they will have to come from behind against Feyenoord in the playoffs having lost the first leg 1-0 in Rotterdam on Wednesday.