Sergio Porrini

Sergio Porrini (; born 8 November 1968) is an Italian football coach and former player. A tenacious, reliable, and determined defender, he was known for his tactical versatility and work-rate, as he was capable of playing both as a full-back and as a centre-back, although he was usually deployed as a right-back, despite his lack of notable technical ability.

Porrini played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, although he is mostly famous for his periods at Juventus, and Scottish club Rangers, where he won several titles. He is currently an assistant coach for the Albania national football team.

Club career

After growing up in the A.C. Milan youth system (failing to appear for the first team, however), Porrini made his senior debut in 1989 for Atalanta, remaining with the club for four seasons, where he made his emergence. After attracting attention from larger clubs, he joined Juventus in 1993 for 11 billion Lit., featuring as a starter during the 1993–94 season under manager Giovanni Trapattoni. During the 1994–95 season, however, he had difficulty finding a place in the team's starting line-up under the club's new manager Marcello Lippi; due to Lippi's new three-man back-line, Porrini faced heavy competition from other defenders, such as Moreno Torricelli, and Jürgen Kohler, as well as back-up Massimo Carrera. In particular, Porrini was kept out of the starting eleven by the newly acquired Ciro Ferrara, whom Lippi had even moved onto the right flank in order to accommodate him into the team's new back-line. Despite his limited appearances for Juventus during the season, Porrini still proved to be decisive for the team: he notably scored two goals over both legs of the club's 1995 Coppa Italia Final victory over Parma, as well as a crucial goal in a 2–1 home win against Borussia Dortmund, in the second leg of the semi-final of the UEFA Cup, helping his team to reach the final of the tournament, where Juventus lost out to Parma; he captured his first Serie A title with the club that season. Porrini made 20 appearances for the club during the 1995–96 season, which saw Juventus capture the 1995 Supercoppa Italiana, but remained on the sidelines as Juventus celebrated their victory on penalties over defending champions Ajax in the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final. During the 1996–97 season, he made 40 appearances, due to Torricelli's injury, scoring two goals, one of which was the opening goal in Juventus's 6–1 away win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the 1996 UEFA Super Cup, helping the Turin club to win the title; Porrini picked up his second league title with the club that season. He also started in Juventus's 1–0 victory over River Plate in the 1996 Intercontinental Cup Final in Tokyo, and in the club's 3–1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the 1997 Champions League Final in Munich. Porrini eventually parted ways with the Turin side at the end of the season. Overall, Porrini made 87 league appearances for Juventus, scoring three goals, and 138 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring five goals in total. With Juventus, Porrini won two Serie A medals, one Coppa Italia medal, and a Champions League medal during his four seasons with the team, as well as the Supercoppa Italiana, the UEFA Super Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup.

Porrini subsequently joined Scottish club Rangers in 1997, for £4 million and won two Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup