Local managers are key to championship in European football leagues

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

ANKARA (AA) — Teams coached by local managers enjoyed championship success in four of Europe's top football leagues — Germany, France, Spain and Italy.

Thomas Tuchel of Bayern Munich led his team to victory in the German Bundesliga, as did Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)'s Christophe Galtier in the French Ligue 1, Barcelona's Xavi Hernandez in the Spanish La Liga, and Napoli's Luciano Spalletti in the Italian Serie A.

The only exception in the top European leagues was Britain, where Manchester City's Spanish coach Josep Guardiola clinched the English Premier League title this season.

- Local coaches win Bayern Munich's last 4 championships

Bayern Munich won its last four league championships in the German Bundesliga with local coaches at their helm.

The club, who won the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons with German coach Hansi Flick, then claimed the title with German manager Julian Nagelsmann in the 2021-2022 season.

The Bavarians started the 2022-2023 season under Nagelsmann's leadership, but replaced him with another German manager, Thomas Tuchel, in March.

The Munich club became champions in the Bundesliga with 71 points and a goal difference in front of Borussia Dortmund.

- PSG turn to local coach for first time since 2016

Paris Saint-Germain, which bagged the Ligue 1, was led by a local coach in the 2022-2023 season for the first time since 2016.

French manager Laurent Blanc took charge in PSG three times in 2013-2016, before Spaniard Unai Emery took his place, followed by German Thomas Tuchel and Argentinian Mauricio Pochettino.

Christophe Galtier, another Frenchman, took over the Parisians this season after leading Lille to championship in the 2020-2021.

- Barcelona's last 9 titles bagged with Spanish coaches

Barcelona won their last nine championships with Spanish coaches after their La Liga title win with Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard in the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons.

Josep Guardiola was top coach for the 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011 season wins, while Barca's 2012-2013 season victory came with Tito Vilanova at the helm.

Luis Enrique led the team to claim the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 titles, preceding Ernesto Valverde in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, and Xavi Hernandez in 2022-2023.

- Domestic coach dynasty in Serie A

The last 13 Serie A seasons saw the championship go to Italian-coached sides.

Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho was the last foreign coach to lead the league's champions after bagging victory for Inter Milan in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010.

Since then, half a dozen titles went to Massimiliano Allegri during his tenure at Juventus, while Antonio Conte got it a total of four times while at the helm of the Turin club and Inter. Maurizio Sarri, Stefano Pioli, and Luciano Spalletti also led their teams to the Serie A championship once each.

Spalletti ended Napoli's 33-year championship drought in the last Serie A season.

Declaring the championship with five weeks to go, Napoli scored 90 points in the competition this year, also winning Spalletti his first Serie A title in his three-decade coaching career.

- Foreign coaches enjoy success in Premier League since 1992

English coaches have yet to win a single English Premier League championship in 30 years.

In the 1991-1992 season, Leeds United won the championship under the coaching of English Howard Wilkinson, who was the last British manager to bag the title to this day.

Scottish coach Sir Alex Ferguson bagged 13 championships in the Premier League, while French Arsene Wenger and Portuguese Jose Mourinho both clinched three each.

Italian coaches Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Mancini, Claudio Ranieri, Antonio Conte, German Jurgen Klopp, Scottish Kenny Dalglish, and Chilean Manuel Pellegrini enjoyed the championship success once each.

Spaniard Josep Guardiola left his mark in recent years by leading Manchester City to victory five times in the last six seasons.

- Tradition of success of Turkish coaches goes on in Turkish Super League

Turkish coaches won the championships in the last 16 seasons in the Super League, where Galatasaray took home the 2022-23 season title under the leadership of Okan Buruk.

The series started with Cevat Guler in the 2007-2008 season and continued with Mustafa Denizli, Ertugrul Saglam, Aykut Kocaman, Fatih Terim (four), Ersun Yanal, Hamza Hamzaoglu, Senol Gunes (two), Sergen Yalcin, Abdullah Avci and Okan Buruk (two).