Miguel Ángel Sánchez Muñoz, known as Míchel (; born 30 October 1975), is a Spanish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is the manager of

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

. In a 20-year senior career, he amassed

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 ...

totals of 182 matches and 25 goals, adding 169 games and 18 goals in the

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 ...

and playing mostly with

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

(17 seasons, three spells). As a manager, Míchel led Rayo,

Huesca Huesca (; ) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Aragon between 1096 and 1118. It is also the capital of the Spanish Huesca (province), ...

and

in both top divisions, winning promotion with all three clubs including as champions with the first two.

Playing career

Míchel was born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. A product of

's youth system, he appeared once for the first team in the 1993–94 season, then alternated between them and the reserves two more years. After a loan to

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

in the

, Míchel returned to Rayo, being essential as the capital outskirts side finished ninth in 1999–2000 and

qualified Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the subsequent

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

through fair play. The following campaign, he scored a career-best ten times in 33 games (all starts) as they ranked 14th; he added six goals in the UEFA Cup, in a run that ended in the quarter-finals at the hands of fellow

club Alavés. Míchel moved in 2003 to

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

for a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

2,7 million fee, being relatively used in his

first year A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

, which ended in top-division relegation. He appeared very rarely, however, in his final two seasons, which included a six-month loan spell with

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

in 2004–05, where he was also sparingly used. In July 2006, Míchel returned home and to Rayo, helping it return to the second tier in the 2007–08 season. He continued to be

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

and, during the 2010–11 campaign, still contributed two goals in 20 matches as they returned to the top flight after eight years.

Coaching career

Rayo

On 9 July 2012, after having appeared in only nine games as Rayo retained their league status – just 246 minutes of action – the 36-year-old Míchel retired from football, being immediately appointed coach of his main club's youth sides. On 21 February 2017, he replaced Rubén Baraja at the helm of the first team, debuting four days later with a 1–0 loss at neighbours

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

via a last-minute

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

by Chechu Dorado; the side eventually achieved promotion to the top division in the 2017–18 campaign as champions. Míchel signed a new one-year contract with the option of a second, before 2018–19 began. He was dismissed on 18 March 2019 after seven consecutive defeats left the

Vallecas Vallecas was a municipality of Spain that disappeared as such in 1950, when its annexation to the municipality of Madrid took place. Nowadays, the territory is roughly occupied by two districts: Puente de Vallecas (population 240,917) and V ...

club six points inside the relegation zone; he was replaced by

Paco Jémez Francisco "Paco" Jémez Martín (born 18 April 1970) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a central defender. He is the current manager of Ibiza. Over 11 seasons, he played 269 La Liga matches in representation of thre ...

as the team suffered relegation.

Huesca

On 1 June 2019, Míchel was named manager of

, recently demoted to the second tier. He and his side won another promotion, again in the top position. On 12 January 2021, as the team ranked in last place, Míchel was relieved of his duties, while the season ended again in descent.

Girona

On 9 July 2021, Míchel signed as coach of

on a one-year deal with the option of a second year. He achieved promotion in his first season after a 3–1 win over

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

in the playoff final, while also making the last 16 of the

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 ...

where the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

lost 2–1 at home to his former club Rayo. Míchel signed a new contract on 19 May 2022, while his club's promotion was still uncertain; his new deal was to 2024. They eventually achieved this in the playoffs. Girona finished the first part of the 2023–24 season in first place, level on 48 points with

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 ...

. On 4 May 2024, he led his team to a 4–2 win over

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, securing their first ever

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

Tactics

In his spell as Girona manager, Michel was noted for utilising a low build-up style in a 3–3–1–3 formation, with principles such as the goalkeeper playing as a center-back and a diamond midfield. He also deployed two wingers high and wide, and a striker pinning the stoppers to create space for the number-ten and inverted full-backs occupying the space left in the middle.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Rayo Vallecano *

: 2017–18 Huesca *Segunda División: 2019–20 Individual * La Liga Manager of the Season: 2023–24 *

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

(Segunda División): 2019–20 * La Liga Manager of the Month: September 2023, November 2023, January 2024, November 2024

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Michel 1975 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Rayo Vallecano B players Rayo Vallecano players UD Almería players Real Murcia CF players Málaga CF players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Rayo Vallecano managers SD Huesca managers Girona FC managers