Cristóbal Parralo Aguilera (born 21 August 1967), known simply as Cristóbal as a player, is a Spanish retired professional footballer, currently a manager. He played mainly as a right-back, but could also appear as a central defender.

Club career

A product of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

's youth ranks, Cristóbal was born in

Priego de Córdoba Priego de Córdoba is a town and municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It lies on the southeasternmost end of the province of Córdoba, near the headwater of the Guadajoz, and on the northern slope of the Sierr ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

, and he made his professional debut in 1987–88, being regularly used as the Catalans lifted that season's

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. Subsequently, he represented Real Oviedo and CD Logroñés, where solid displays earned him a return to the Camp Nou. Cristóbal was scarcely played in his second stint, and returned to

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

: in the subsequent nine campaigns (three plus six at ''Barça'' neighbours RCD Espanyol) he rarely missed a game, and left Spain in 2001 with 454

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

appearances to his credit. Aged 34, he still moved to

Paris Saint-Germain FC Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

, having two respectable

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

seasons before retiring at the end of 2002–03.

International career

Cristóbal earned six caps for

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, the first in a friendly in

with

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

on 4 September 1991.

Coaching career

After a brief spell with former club Espanyol as director of football, Parralo joined countryman Quique Sánchez Flores at S.L. Benfica's coaching staff, for 2008–09. In early February 2009 he returned to his country and signed with lowly SCR Peña Deportiva in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

, being one of two managers in a relegation-ending season. Parralo signed a one-year contract with

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

club

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

in June 2009. He was sacked on 26 October, with the team ranking penultimate with just seven points in nine matches. On 24 October 2017, after

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

first-team manager Pepe Mel was fired due to poor results, Parralo moved from the reserve side and was appointed caretaker until the following 30 June. After only three months in charge, and after conceding 14 goals in the last three matches (which included 7–1 and 5–0 away drubbings against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, respectively), he was relieved of his duties. On 19 June 2018, Parralo was named coach of second division side AD Alcorcón. He extended his contract in October to last until the end of the 2019–20 campaign, but was ousted a year early when Fran Fernández was named in his place. Parralo returned to the same league on 11 November 2019, replacing Iván Ania at a Racing de Santander side that had won one of 15 matches all season. He left by mutual consent the following 4 February, having won once in 11 games for the last-placed team. On 10 February 2021, Parralo replaced the dismissed Emilio Larraz at the helm of third-tier Racing de Ferrol. He led the club back to the professional leagues after a 15-year absence in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, and renewed his contract at the end of the following season after finishing tenth. Parralo was dismissed on 20 January 2025, with his side third-bottom in the table. He oversaw them in 164 matches, second only to Luis César Sampedro's 176.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Barcelona *

: 1991–92 *

: 1987–88 * European Cup: 1991–92 * UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1988–89 Espanyol *Copa del Rey: 1999–2000 Paris Saint-Germain *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

runner-up: 2002–03

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parralo, Cristobal 1967 births Living people People from Subbética 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Córdoba (Spain) Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División players CF Damm players FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Real Oviedo players CD Logroñés footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Ligue 1 players Paris Saint-Germain FC players UEFA Champions League–winning players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Catalonia men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Primera Federación managers SCR Peña Deportiva managers Girona FC managers Deportivo Fabril managers Deportivo de La Coruña managers AD Alcorcón managers Racing de Santander managers Racing de Ferrol managers S.L. Benfica non-playing staff Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal