With Mallorca confirmed to join Osasuna and Granada as the newly promoted teams in La Liga for 19/20, let’s take a look at the list of managers for various Primera Division clubs and their nationalities.
How many Spanish managers are there in La Liga?
17 of the 20 managers in La Liga have Spanish nationality.
Who are the foreign managers coaching in La Liga?
There are only three foreign managers- one from Argentina (Diego Simeone), one from Mexico (Javier Aguirre) and one from France (Zinedine Zidane). All three speak fluent Spanish. Mauricio Pellegrino (Argentina) managed Leganes till October, when he was replaced by Aguirre, so the number of foreign managers has stayed 3 for the entirety of the current Primera Division season.
Which teams are coached by non-Spanish managers in La Liga?
Three teams have foreign coaches- Atletico Madrid (Simeone), Real Madrid (Zidane) and Leganes (Aguirre). That means 3 of the 4 Madrid teams participating in La Liga for 2019/20 (Getafe have a Spanish coach) have foreign managers.
Deportivo Alaves– Asier Garitano (Spain)
Athletic Bilbao– Gaizka Garitano (Spain)
Atletico Madrid– Diego Simeone (Argentina)
Barcelona– Ernesto Valverde (Spain) Quique Setien (Spain)
Celta Vigo– Fran Escriba (Spain) Oscar Garcia (Spain)
Deportivo Eibar– Jose Luis Mendilibar (Spain)
Espanyol– David Gallego (Spain) Pablo Machin (Spain) Abelardo (Spain)
Getafe– Jose Bordalas (Spain)
Granada– Diego Martinez (Spain)
Leganes– Mauricio Pellegrino (Argentina) Javier Aguirre (Mexico)
Levante– Paco Lopez (Spain)
Mallorca– Vicente Moreno (Spain)
Osasuna– Jagoba Arrasate (Spain)
Real Betis– Rubi (Spain)
Real Madrid– Zinedine Zidane (France)
Sociedad– Imanol Alguacil (Spain)
Sevilla– Julen Lopetegui (Spain)
Valencia– Marcelino (Spain) Albert Celades (Spain)
Valladolid– Sergio Gonzalez (Spain)
Villarreal– Javier Calleja (Spain)
(Strike out means manager replaced/quit/sacked midway through the season)
For the big 5 leagues, think Spain with 85% of their managers being Spanish is some kind of record. Germany, Italy and France all have more foreign bosses.