Massimo Carrera

Massimo Carrera (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmassimo karˈrɛːra]; born 22 April 1964) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of Greek Super League club AEK Athens. Nicknamed La Bandera, he played as a defender for various European clubs, including Juventus, which he later managed, and the Italy national team. Between 2016 and 2018, Carrera was the manager of Spartak Moscow for three consecutive seasons.

Massimo Carrera
Carrera as Spartak Moscow manager in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth (1964-04-22) 22 April 1964
Place of birth Pozzuolo Martesana, Italy
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 AEK Athens (manager)
Youth career
Pro Sesto
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1983 Pro Sesto 30 (4)
1983–1984 Russi 28 (5)
1984–1985 Alessandria 31 (0)
1985–1986 Pescara 19 (1)
1986–1991 Bari 156 (4)
1991–1996 Juventus 114 (1)
1996–2003 Atalanta 207 (3)
2003–2004 Napoli 26 (0)
2004–2005 Treviso 12 (0)
2005–2008 Pro Vercelli 63 (1)
Total 686 (19)
National team
1992 Italy 1 (0)
Teams managed
2009–2012 Juventus (youth)
2012 Juventus (caretaker)
2012–2014 Juventus (assistant)
2014–2016 Italy (assistant)
2016 Spartak Moscow (assistant)
2016–2018 Spartak Moscow
2019– AEK Athens
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Carrera began his career at Pro Sesto, but rose to fame with Bari, enjoying five seasons with the club before moving to Juventus in 1991. Under manager Giovanni Trapattoni, he was deployed at right back, a role he had also held at Bari. He disputed an excellent first season, culminating with being called up for the Italy national team. In his second season, he won the UEFA Cup with the club.

Carrera unwittingly played a huge role in helping Milan go unbeaten in the 1991–92 Serie A season. During injury time of Juventus' home match against Milan on 15 September 1991, an innocent-looking cross from the right touchline hit Carrera's head, and the ball looped past a stranded Stefano Tacconi for the crucial equaliser. Milan would then go on to finish the season unbeaten, and embark on a record-breaking 58-match unbeaten streak.

In 1994, with the arrival of Marcello Lippi, he was deployed as a sweeper, in place of Luca Fusi, and subsequently as a central defender, becoming a pillar of the team, and winning both Serie A and the Coppa Italia in 1995. Carrera also reached the UEFA Cup final at the end of the season.

Due to the arrival of skilled defenders Pietro Vierchowod and Paolo Montero the following season, Carrera started more often from the bench, but still offered valued contribution when called upon.

After 166 caps with Juventus, and having won Serie A, the Coppa Italia, the Supercoppa Italiana, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup, he transferred to Atalanta in the summer of 1996.

Carrera quickly became captain and leader of the Orobici, playing there for eight seasons and totaling 207 caps and three goals. He left Bergamo in 2003 to join Napoli, and the following season, he settled in Treviso.

He stayed in Veneto for just a season, and on 28 October 2005, at the age of 41, Carrera signed for Pro Vercelli.

At the end of the 2007–08 season, at the age of 44, Carrera decided to retire from playing football to focus on coaching.

International career

Carrera's excellent performances with Juventus in his first year with the club earned him his first international call-up under manager Arrigo Sacchi in 1991; Carrera later made his debut and only appearance with the Italy national team on 19 February 1992, in a 4–0 friendly win against San Marino at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi in Cesena.

Managerial career

Juventus

Carrera was reunited with former Juventus teammates Antonio Conte and Angelo Alessio in the summer of 2011 when he joined the club's coaching staff as a technical director.[1]

Due to a ten-month ban against head coach Conte for alleged implications of his failure to report match fixing and a similar ban against his assistant Alessio, Carrera became Juventus' caretaker manager in July 2012.[2] In his first official match, he claimed the 2012 Supercoppa Italiana defeating Napoli in Beijing, winning 4–2 after extra time.[3] After Alessio's ban was removed, Carrera returned to the position of technical director, leaving the bench to Alessio.

Spartak Moscow

Before the 2016–17 season, Carrera was hired as an assistant manager for the Russian side FC Spartak Moscow. When previous manager Dmitri Alenichev left the club on 5 August 2016 after Spartak's elimination from the UEFA Europa League by AEK Larnaca, Carrera was appointed the caretaker manager.[4] On 17 August 2016, he was hired as Spartak's manager on a permanent basis,[5] making his debut on 21 August against Krasnodar, where red-white captured their first victory 2–0. No other Spartak head coach managed to start their work as successfully as Carrera did: Spartak collected 28 of 36 points in first twelve matches under him. On 7 May 2017, Spartak secured their first Russian Premier League title since 2001 under Carrera's leadership.[6] On 6 June 2017, he extended his Spartak contract to 31 May 2019.[7]

He was relieved of his duties in late 2018 following a number of poor performances, despite remaining seemingly popular among the fans, a move that caused controversy. In particular, many accused captain Denis Glushakov of actively supporting the decision and called for his removal from the team.

AEK Athens

On 8 December 2019, Carrera was unveiled as the new manager of Super League Greece club AEK Athens.[8]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 19 July 2020
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
PWDLGFGAGDWin %
Juventus 1 July 2012 19 October 2012 10 7 3 0 24 9 +15 070.00 [9]
Spartak Moscow 5 August 2016 22 October 2018 89 49 20 20 136 100 +36 055.06 [9]
AEK Athens 8 December 2019 Present 29 17 9 3 48 20 +28 058.62 [10]
Total 128 73 32 23 208 129 +79 057.03 —

Honours

Player

Bari

Juventus

Manager

Juventus

Spartak Moscow

Individual

  • Russian Premier League Coach of the Year: 2016–17

References
  1. "FIGC respond to Conte criticism". ESPN. 16 August 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013.
  2. "Juventus – Manager history". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  3. "Juventus 4–2 Napoli Report". Goal.com. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  4. ДМИТРИЙ АЛЕНИЧЕВ ПОКИДАЕТ «СПАРТАК» (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 5 August 2016.
  5. МАССИМО КАРРЕРА — ГЛАВНЫЙ ТРЕНЕР КРАСНО-БЕЛЫХ (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 17 August 2016.
  6. "Congratulations to Spartak Moscow" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 7 May 2017.
  7. МАССИМО КАРРЕРА ПРОДЛИЛ КОНТРАКТ СО «СПАРТАКОМ» (in Russian). FC Spartak Moscow. 6 June 2017.
  8. "Στον πάγκο της ΑΕΚ και επίσημα ο Μάσιμο Καρέρα". Kathimerini (in Greek). 8 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  9. "Massimo Carrera at FootballDatabase.eu". FootballDatabase.eu. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  10. "AEK Athens fixtures and results". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
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