Manuel Jiménez Jiménez

Manuel 'Manolo' Jiménez Jiménez (Spanish pronunciation: [maˈnolo xiˈmeneθ]; born 26 January 1964) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a left back, and is the current manager of Greek club AEK Athens.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Jiménez and the second or maternal family name is Jiménez.

Manolo Jiménez
Jiménez as manager of Sevilla in 2010
Personal information
Full name Manuel Jiménez Jiménez
Date of birth (1964-01-26) 26 January 1964
Place of birth Arahal, Spain
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Left back
Club information
Current team
 AEK Athens (manager)
Youth career
Sevilla
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1984 Sevilla B
1984–1997 Sevilla 354 (1)
1997–1998 Jaén 9 (0)
Total 363 (1)
National team
1986 Spain U21 1 (0)
1988 Spain U23 1 (0)
1988–1990 Spain 15 (0)
Teams managed
2000–2007 Sevilla B
2007–2010 Sevilla
2010–2011 AEK Athens
2011–2013 Zaragoza
2013–2015 Al-Rayyan
2017–2018 AEK Athens
2018 Las Palmas
2019 AEK Athens
2019–2020 Al Wahda
2020– AEK Athens
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

His career was intimately connected with Sevilla as both a player and manager, and he competed solely in La Liga with the club in the former capacity. He represented Spain at the 1990 World Cup.

As a coach, Jiménez also had four different spells at AEK Athens in the Super League Greece. Abroad, he also worked with Al-Rayyan and Al Wahda.

Playing career

Jiménez was born in Arahal, Province of Seville. He made his La Liga debut for Sevilla FC in 1983–84, and went on to make more than 400 competitive appearances over 14 seasons with his hometown club; he retired in June 1998 at the age of 34, after spending one year with neighbours Real Jaén in the second division.[1]

Jiménez earned 15 caps for the Spain national team. He made his international debut on 12 October 1988 in a friendly match with Argentina played in Seville, and was selected for the 1990 FIFA World Cup squad, appearing against Uruguay in the group stage (0–0)[2] and against Yugoslavia in the round of 16.[3]

Coaching career

Sevilla

For seven seasons, Jiménez was the coach of Sevilla's reserves Sevilla Atlético, leading them to the second level in 2006–07. On 27 October 2007, following the resignation of Juande Ramos, he was appointed manager of the main squad, initially until the end of the campaign.[4] He guided the Andalusians to fifth place, finishing third in 2008–09 with a subsequent return to the UEFA Champions League.

Jiménez took the team to the final of the Copa del Rey in 2010, notably beating Pep Guardiola's FC Barcelona in the last-16 stage on the away goals rule.[5] On 24 March 2010, however, after a 1–1 home draw to bottom-placed Xerez CD, he was sacked following three draws – all at home – and two losses in the last five league games, also having been eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16.[6]

AEK Athens

On 7 October 2010, Jiménez took over from the sacked Dušan Bajević at AEK Athens FC, agreeing to a two-year deal.[7] Ten days later he led the team in his first game, a 4–0 Super League Greece win at Aris Thessaloniki FC.[8]

After losing in the UEFA Europa League against R.S.C. Anderlecht (0–3, away), Jiménez achieved his second league win, against Panathinaikos FC. The team eventually finished 21 points behind champions Olympiacos F.C. in third place in the league.

On 30 April 2011, Jiménez won his second trophy as a manager after a 3–0 defeat of Atromitos F.C. in the final of the Greek Cup.[9] On 5 October, he left the club by mutual consent;[10] he had been nicknamed "Papatzis" by local newspapers in a reference to the shell game, because of his frequent tactical changes.[11]

Zaragoza

Jiménez was appointed head coach of Real Zaragoza on 31 December 2011, replacing the fired Javier Aguirre.[12] He was relieved of his duties at the end of the 2012–13 season, as the Aragonese were relegated to division two after four years.[13]

Al-Rayyan

On 4 November 2013, Jiménez signed with Al-Rayyan SC.[14] They were relegated from the Qatar Stars League at the end of his debut season, but achieved promotion the following year.

Jiménez's contract was terminated on 20 May 2015.

Return to AEK
Jiménez as manager of AEK Athens in 2017

Jiménez returned to AEK on 19 January 2017, succeeding José Morais who had resigned the previous day. He signed a contract until the end of the season, extendable by one year subject to satisfactory performance in domestic competitions.[15] He oversaw the team's qualification to the group stage of a European competition on 24 August (after a six-year absence), following a 3–0 home win against Club Brugge KV in the Europa League play-off round.[16]

At the end of the 2017–18 campaign, the club won the national championship for the first time in 24 years.[17] He left the Olympic Stadium on 25 May 2018 at the end of his contract, however, after negotiations for its renewal proved unsuccessful.[18]

Las Palmas

The same day, Jiménez agreed on a return to Spain and was appointed manager at UD Las Palmas, who had been relegated from the top tier the previous season.[19] On 16 November, he was dismissed.[20]

Later years

On 5 February 2019, Jiménez returned to AEK Athens for a third spell.[21] In October, he switched to the UAE Pro League with Al Wahda FC.[22]

On 27 December 2020, Jiménez yet again returned to AEK Athens for a fourth spell, on an 18-month deal.[23]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 4 February 2021[24]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Sevilla B 1 July 2000 27 October 2007 297 139 88 70 380 225 +155 046.80
Sevilla 27 October 2007 23 March 2010 136 74 22 40 228 147 +81 054.41
AEK Athens 7 October 2010 5 October 2011 50 25 8 17 76 62 +14 050.00
Zaragoza 31 December 2011 10 June 2013 66 22 11 33 65 98 −33 033.33
Al-Rayyan 4 November 2013 20 May 2015 56 29 12 15 142 66 +76 051.79
AEK Athens 19 January 2017 25 May 2018 79 47 21 11 130 42 +88 059.49
Las Palmas 26 May 2018 16 November 2018 15 5 7 3 22 14 +8 033.33
AEK Athens 6 February 2019 27 May 2019 16 10 2 4 27 12 +15 062.50
Al Wahda 19 October 2019 18 July 2020 23 12 4 7 35 35 +0 052.17
AEK Athens 27 December 2020 Present 10 6 1 3 12 10 +2 060.00
Total 748 369 176 203 1,117 711 +406 049.33

Honours

Manager

Sevilla B

AEK Athens

Al Rayyan

Individual

References
  1. Bravo, Francisco Javier (21 January 1998). "Jiménez, ante un partido especial" [Jiménez, facing special match] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  2. Guasch, Tomás (14 June 1990). "¡Muchas gracias, "Príncipe"!" [Thanks a lot, "Prince"!]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  3. "El Mundial en Sevillista: Italia 1990, el Mundial con más presencia de jugadores sevillistas" [The World Cup in Sevillista: Italy 1990, the World Cup with more Sevilla players] (in Spanish). Sevilla FC. 22 June 2014. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  4. Turner, Lucy (29 October 2007). "Sevilla start Jiménez era in style". UEFA. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  5. Canterla, Quico (13 January 2010). "El Sevilla desempolva a San Palop y elimina al Barcelona de la Copa del Rey" [Sevilla dust Saint Palop off and oust Barcelona from King's Cup]. El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  6. "Fifth-placed Sevilla sack Jimenez after draw". ESPN Soccernet. 24 March 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  7. "Jimenez to fill AEK Athens hotseat". FIFA. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  8. "AEK beats host Aris 4–0 in Greek league". Yahoo Sports. 17 October 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  9. "AEK Athens claim Greek Cup honours". UEFA. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  10. "Jimenez leaves AEK by mutual agreement". Yahoo Sports. 5 October 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  11. "Καληνυχτα, «ΠΑΠΑΤΖΗ»!" [Good night, "Papatzi"!] (in Greek). Daily Tripes. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  12. "Manuel Jiménez, nuevo entrenador del Real Zaragoza" [Manuel Jiménez, new coach of Real Zaragoza] (in Spanish). Real Zaragoza. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  13. "El Zaragoza destituye a Manolo Jiménez" [Zaragoza dismiss Manolo Jiménez]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 10 June 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  14. "Manolo Jiménez ficha por el Al-Rayyan" [Manolo Jiménez signs for Al-Rayyan]. Estadio Deportivo (in Spanish). 4 November 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  15. "Επιστρέφει στην ΑΕΚ ο Χιμένεθ!" [Jiménez returns to AEK!] (in Greek). Sport FM. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  16. "AEK go through to Europa League group stage". Proto Thema. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  17. Nicolaides, Shaun (22 April 2018). "AEK ecstatic after maiden Greek title in 24 years". Agona Sport. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  18. "Τον "καθάρισε" ο Μελισσανίδης, τον ανακοινώνει η Λας Πάλμας!" [Melissanidis "iced" him, he announces Las Palmas] (in Greek). Contra. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  19. Lede, Adrián (25 May 2018). "Manolo Jiménez entrenará a Las Palmas" [Manolo Jiménez will coach Las Palmas]. Estadio Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  20. "Manolo Jiménez to say farewell to the squad, following his dismissal". UD Las Palmas. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  21. "Οριστικό: ο Χιμένεθ επιστρέφει στην ΑΕΚ!" [Confirmed: Jimenez returns to AEK!] (in Greek). Sport FM. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  22. Jose, James (17 October 2019). "Al Jazira, Al Wahda appoint new managers". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  23. "Oficial: Manolo Jiménez, por cuarta vez entrenador del AEK" [Official: Manolo Jiménez, AEK manager for the fourth time]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 27 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  24. Manolo Jiménez coach profile at Soccerway
  25. "Córdoba, Ferrol, Eibar y Sevilla Atlético regresan a Segunda División" [Córdoba, Ferrol, Eibar and Sevilla Atlético return to Segunda División]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 24 June 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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