Quique Sánchez Flores returns to La Liga with Alavés, debuting at Mestalla | OneFootball

Quique Sánchez Flores returns to La Liga today as Alavés head coach, his sixth job in Spain, replacing Eduardo Coudet who left Vitoria for River. He debuts at Mestalla. According to AS, his 353 Primera matches, 618 overall, put him in the historical top 30 and fifth among active coaches behind Ernesto Valverde, Manuel Pellegrini, Diego Pablo Simeone and Marcelino García Toral.

His godfather Alfredo Di Stéfano made him a Valencia fan, sending shirts signed by 1971 champions Claramunt, Sol and Paquito.

Valencia signed him at 19 from Pegaso and he became one of their finest right-backs, quick, brave and technically polished. He later played three seasons under Di Stéfano at Mestalla.

He regards Mestalla as home. His Valencia totals are 321 games as a player across 10 years, plus 116 as coach over two years and two months. From the dugout he twice reached the Champions League and is the club’s last quarter-finalist, falling to a 90th-minute Essien goal in the second leg.

Amid chants of boredom at Mestalla, Juan Soler sacked him in the early hours of 29 October 2007 to appoint Ronald Koeman, a choice favoured by the president’s son. It followed defeat in Seville, with Valencia third, two points off Barcelona and four behind leaders Real Madrid.

Across the 6,705 days since, his name has resurfaced, yet he has only returned as an opponent. In eight visits to Mestalla with Getafe, Atlético, Espanyol and Sevilla he has not won, recording five defeats and three draws.

Source: AS