Juan Ramón López Muñiz (born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, currently a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Playing career

Muñiz was born in

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and municipality by population in the autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea in the Bay of Biscay, in the cent ...

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

. During his playing days, he represented hometown club

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...

(making his first-team debut in the 1991–92 season, at already 23),

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

– scoring four goals from 40 appearances during 1998–99, which granted the

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

side

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

promotion via the playoffs even though they finished fifth – and

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

. Muñiz retired at the end of the 2001–02 campaign at the age of 33, as the team from

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populati ...

could only finish in 17th position in Segunda División. In 11 years as a professional, he appeared in 332 games and scored ten times (234 matches and six goals in the top flight).

Coaching career

Muñiz started as an assistant manager at Málaga in 2003, under Juande Ramos. His first head coach experience arrived in early 2006 with lowly

UD Marbella Marbella Fútbol Club, formerly known as Unión Deportiva Marbella, is a Spanish football team based in Marbella, the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1997 it currently plays in Tercera Federación – Group 9 (the 5th level of the ...

, and he subsequently returned to Málaga as the main manager for two seasons, achieving a runner-up place in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and thus promoting the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

ns to the top tier after a two-year

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: *Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure * Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species '' Hiatus fulvipes'' * Gl ...

. In July 2008, Muñiz switched to fellow league team

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league syst ...

. At the season's end, he was released from contract and promptly returned to Málaga, replacing

Antonio Tapia Antonio Tapia Flores (born 13 November 1959) is a Spanish football manager. Career Born in Baena, Córdoba, Tapia had an unassuming career as a footballer, only representing Atlético Malagueño and amateurs UD Fuengirola. Still not in hi ...

who took over relegated neighbours

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

. In late June 2010, after leading Málaga to the 17th position, last above the relegation zone, Muñiz was sacked. Shortly after, he rejoined Ramos at

FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club Dnipro ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб «Дніпро́», ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club was owned by the Privat Group that also owns BC Dnipro and Budivelnyk Kyiv. In 2018 FC Dnipro was force ...

. Muñiz was appointed

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 1, holding home matches at the Municipal de Sant ...

manager on 8 June 2015, after four years in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Roughly one year later, he signed with fellow division two club Levante UD, achieving promotion at the first attempt as champions. On 20 June 2018, Muñiz returned to Málaga for a third spell after agreeing to a two-year contract. He was dismissed the following 14 April, following a 1–2 home loss against

Extremadura UD Extremadura Unión Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in Almendralejo, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 2007, it last played in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Francisco de la He ...

. On 5 July 2020, after more than a year without a club, Muñiz took charge of

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

in the top division until the end of the campaign.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Levante * Segunda División: 2016–17 Individual *

Miguel Muñoz Trophy The Miguel Muñoz Trophy ( es, Trofeo Miguel Muñoz) is a football award for team managers in Spanish football, established by Spanish newspaper Marca in 2006, in memory of the legendary Real Madrid manager Miguel Muñoz. The award is based ...

( Segunda División): 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Muniz, Juan Ramon Lopez 1968 births Living people Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Gijón Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Sporting de Gijón B players CD Izarra footballers Sporting de Gijón players Rayo Vallecano players CD Numancia players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Málaga CF managers Racing de Santander managers AD Alcorcón managers Levante UD managers Deportivo Alavés managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine