Massimo Carrera (; born 22 April 1964) is an Italian 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 and former player. Nicknamed ''La Bandera'', he played as a defender for various European clubs, including

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, which he later managed, and the Italy national team.

Club career

Carrera began his career at Pro Sesto, but rose to fame with

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, enjoying five seasons with the club before moving to

in 1991. Under manager

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), popularly nicknamed "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian former Association football, football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Football in Italy, Italian football ...

, he was deployed at

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, a role he had also held at Bari. He disputed an excellent first season, culminating with being called up for the Italy national team. In his second season, he won the

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 ...

with the club. Carrera unwittingly played a huge role in helping

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

go unbeaten in the

1991–92 Serie A During the 1991–92 Serie A, under the guidance of Fabio Capello, Milan completed a remarkable unbeaten season, a run that eventually totalled 58 games. They finished eight points ahead of Serie A runners-up Juventus. However, it was a disappoi ...

season. During injury time of Juventus' home match against Milan on 15 September 1991, an innocent-looking cross from the right touchline hit Carrera's head, and the ball looped past a stranded

Stefano Tacconi Stefano Tacconi (; born 13 May 1957) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the only goalkeeper to have won all international club competitions, a feat he managed during his time with Juventus. At interna ...

for the crucial equaliser. Milan would then go on to finish the season unbeaten, and embark on a record-breaking 58-match unbeaten streak. In 1994, with the arrival of

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional association football, football player and manager, who led the Italy national football team, Italy national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appoin ...

, he was deployed as a

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) ray-finned fish of the family (biology), family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 80 species in two genus, genera. One ...

, in place of Luca Fusi, and subsequently as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, becoming a pillar of the team, and winning both

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

and the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

in 1995. Carrera also reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

at the end of the season. Due to the arrival of skilled defenders

Pietro Vierchowod Pietro Vierchowod (, born 6 April 1959) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and a manager. He represented the Italy national side during his career and was in the Italian squad that won the 1982 FIFA World ...

and

Paolo Montero Rónald Paolo Montero Iglesias (born 3 September 1971) is a Uruguayan football manager and former player, who played as a central defender or left-back. Montero began his career in Uruguay with Peñarol in 1990 before moving to Italian side Ata ...

the following season, Carrera started more often from the bench, but still offered valued contribution when called upon. After 166 caps with Juventus, and having won Serie A, the Coppa Italia, the Supercoppa Italiana, 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 ...

and the UEFA Cup, he transferred to

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

in the summer of 1996. Carrera quickly became

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and leader of the ''Orobici'', playing there for eight seasons and totaling 207 caps and three goals. He left Bergamo in 2003 to join

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

, and the following season, he settled in

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

. He stayed in

Veneto Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

for just a season, and on 28 October 2005, at the age of 41, Carrera signed for

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Ital ...

. At the end of the 2007–08 season, at the age of 44, Carrera decided to retire from playing football to focus on coaching.

International career

Carrera's excellent performances with Juventus in his first year with the club earned him his first international call-up under manager

Arrigo Sacchi Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach, best known for having twice managed AC Milan. Sacchi is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, and his Milan side (1987–1991) is widely regarded ...

in 1991; Carrera later made his debut and only appearance with the Italy national team on 19 February 1992, in a 4–0 friendly win against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

at the

Stadio Dino Manuzzi The Stadio Dino Manuzzi is a football stadium in Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada ...

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

Managerial career

Juventus

Carrera was reunited with former Juventus teammates

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional Association football, football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Serie A club Napoli. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the wo ...

and

Angelo Alessio Angelo Alessio (born 29 April 1965 in Capaccio) is an Italian football manager and former player. Playing career A central midfielder, Alessio started his professional career with then-Serie A club Avellino in 1984. He was then signed by Ita ...

in the summer of 2011 when he joined the club's coaching staff as a technical director. Due to a ten-month ban against head coach Conte for alleged implications of his failure to report match fixing and a similar ban against his assistant Alessio, Carrera became Juventus' caretaker manager in July 2012. In his first official match, he claimed the 2012 Supercoppa Italiana defeating Napoli in Beijing, winning 4–2 after extra time. After Alessio's ban was removed, Carrera returned to the position of technical director, leaving the bench to Alessio.

Spartak Moscow

Before the 2016–17 season, Carrera was hired as an assistant manager for the Russian side

FC Spartak Moscow FC Spartak Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet Top League, Soviet championships (second only to FC Dynamo Kyiv, Dynamo Kyiv) and 10 Russian Premier League, Russian champ ...

. When the previous manager

Dmitri Alenichev Dmitri Anatolyevich Alenichev (; born 20 October 1972) is a Russian association football, football coach, former player and politician. Club career Despite being a FC Spartak Moscow, Spartak Moscow fan, Alenichev debuted 1991 for Moscow rival ...

left the club on 5 August 2016 after Spartak's elimination from the UEFA Europa League by

AEK Larnaca AEK Larnaca FC (, "Athletic Union Kition (ancient state), Kition of Larnaca") is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional association football, football club based in Larnaca. The club was formed in 1994 after a merger of two historical Larnaca clubs, EP ...

, Carrera was appointed the caretaker manager. On 17 August 2016, he was hired as Spartak's manager permanently, making his debut on 21 August against

Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

, where red-white captured their first victory 2–0. No other Spartak head coach managed to start their work as successfully as Carrera did: Spartak collected 28 of 36 points in the first twelve matches under him. On 7 May 2017, Spartak secured their first

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

title since 2001 under Carrera's leadership. On 6 June 2017, he extended his Spartak contract to 31 May 2019. He was relieved of his duties in late 2018 following a number of poor performances despite remaining seemingly popular among the fans, a move that caused controversy. In particular, many accused captain Denis Glushakov of actively supporting the decision and called for his removal from the team.

AEK Athens

On 8 December 2019, Carrera was unveiled as the new manager of

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

. Massimo Carrera succeed to bring

to qualify for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

in the season

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

after beating

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

at the Play-off round for 2–1 at the

Athens Olympic Stadium The Olympic Stadium of Athens "Spyridon Louis, Spyros Louis" (, ''Olympiakó Stádio Athinón "Spýros Loúis"'') is a sports stadium in Marousi, in the north section of Athens, Greece. With a total capacity of 75,000, it is the largest sports v ...

getting in the Group stage.

Bari

On 9 February 2021, Carrera was hired as new head coach of

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

club

. He was dismissed just two months later, on 19 April 2021, following a last-minute home draw against

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, leaving Bari in third place with two games to go.

Ascoli

On 12 March 2024, Carrera was appointed new head coach of Ascoli, replacing

Fabrizio Castori Fabrizio Castori (born 11 July 1954) is an Italian football coach, currently in charge of club Südtirol. Career Castori was born in San Severino Marche but grew up in Tolentino. He started his coaching career in 1980 at the age of 26 as he ...

. Despite suffering relegation to Serie C, Carrera was confirmed in charge of Ascoli but was ultimately removed from his coaching duties on 27 September 2024 following a negative start to the new season.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Bari *

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

: 1988–89 *

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European association football, football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the suc ...

: 1990 Juventus *

: 1994–95 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

: 1995–96 *

: 1992–93

Manager

Juventus *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Spartak Moscow *

: 2016–17 *

Russian Super Cup The Russian Super Cup () is a one-match football (soccer), football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Rambler Russian ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

AEK Athens *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

runner-up: 2019–20 Individual *Russian Premier League Coach of the Year: 2016–17

References

External links

* *
Massimo Carrera
at Myjuve.it
Massimo Carrera
at the

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages a ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrera, Massimo 1964 births Living people Footballers from Sesto San Giovanni Men's association football defenders Delfino Pescara 1936 players SSC Bari players Juventus FC players Atalanta BC players SSC Napoli players Treviso FBC 1993 players FC Pro Vercelli 1892 players Italian men's footballers US Alessandria Calcio 1912 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Italy men's international footballers Pro Sesto 1913 players US Russi players Juventus FC non-playing staff Italian football managers Juventus FC managers FC Spartak Moscow managers AEK Athens F.C. managers Russian Premier League managers Super League Greece managers SSC Bari managers Italian expatriate football managers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Italian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate football managers in Russia Expatriate football managers in Greece UEFA Europa League–winning players UEFA Champions League–winning players Serie C managers Serie B managers Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC managers 20th-century Italian sportsmen