Michele Serena (; born 10 March 1970) is an Italian football manager, and former

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 ...

defender, most recently in charge as manager 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

Legnago Legnago (; Venetian: ''Lenjago'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy, with population (2012) of 25,439. It is located on the Adige river, about from Verona. Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other c ...

. He usually played as a

right-back 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 ...

, although he was capable of playing on either flank.

Playing career

Serena started his playing career with

Mestre Mestre () is a borough of the comune of Venice on the mainland opposite the historical island city in the region of Veneto, Italy. Administratively, Mestre forms (together with the nearby Carpenedo) the Municipalità di Mestre-Carpenedo, one ...

Serie C2 Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging t ...

, then become

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

following a merger. He was signed by

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 ...

in 1989, and made four league appearances with the ''bianconeri''. He then played for

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

and

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

on single season loans, before signing for

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

in 1992, where he played for three years. In 1995, he was signed by

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, and in 1998 by

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 ...

club

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, where he made 35 appearances with 3 goals during his only season with the club. During his time with the Spanish club, he gained a spot in the Italy national team, making his one and only appearance with the ''azzurri'' on 5 September 1998, in a 2–0 away win to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, under

Dino Zoff Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is the oldest ever ...

. He then returned to Italy the following season to play for

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, making 15 league appearances, but moved on to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

soon after, during the winter transfer market (in an exchange with

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of UAE Pro League club Shabab Al Ahli. Starting his career ...

). With the ''nerazzurri'' jersey, he made only 25 appearances in three seasons, mainly because of the several injuries he experienced during his years at Inter, which forced him to retire in 2003.

Coaching career

Venezia

In 2007, he became the

youth team coach, also getting involved in obtaining a coaching licence. On 11 March 2008, he was unveiled as new Venezia head coach, replacing Salvo D'Adderio. He was sacked a few months later, on 11 November, due to poor results. He was recalled in February 2009, with Venezia placed in the league bottom, and managed to bring his club out of the relegation zone.

Mantova

This attracted interest from

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 ...

club Mantova, who appointed him as new boss for the 2009–10 season. Mantova finished third bottom of Serie B and were relegated. However, due to financial difficulties, their entry to

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into ...

was rejected and the club folded.

Grosseto

On 13 January 2011, Serena was appointed the manager's job at

side,

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

, until the end of the 2010–11 season.

Spezia

On 5 October 2011, he became the new coach of

Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguri ...

in Lega Pro Prima Divisione group A, in place of the sacked Elio Gustinetti, but on 4 January 2013 he was sacked.

Padova

On 2 February 2014, Serena became the new coach of

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

, in place of the sacked Bortolo Mutti.

Vicenza

On 27 December 2018, he was appointed head coach of

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

. He resigned on 24 February 2019.

Legnago

On 27 December 2021, Serena returned into management after almost three years without a club, as the new head coach of Serie C club

. He was dismissed on 28 March 2022 following a string of negative results.

Honours

Player

;Juventus *

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 ...

: 1989–90 *

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 ...

: 1989–90 ;Sampdoria *

: 1993–94 ;Fiorentina *

: 1995–96 *

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 ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

;Parma *

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Personal life

His sons Riccardo Serena and Filippo Serena are professional footballers as well.

References

External links

Playing career
* *
Michele Serena
at FIGC.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Serena, Michele 1970 births Living people Footballers from Venice Italian men's footballers Italian football managers Juventus FC players AC Monza players Venezia FC players ACF Fiorentina players UC Sampdoria players Hellas Verona FC players Parma Calcio 1913 players Inter Milan players Atlético Madrid footballers UEFA Europa League–winning players Men's association football midfielders Italy men's international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Serie A players Serie C players La Liga players Venezia FC managers Mantova 1911 managers US Grosseto 1912 managers Spezia Calcio managers Calcio Padova managers Serie B managers Serie C managers Feralpisalò managers