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Rubén Baraja is a football Pro coach.

Rubén Baraja is one of the Spanish managers with greater projection. After a successful career as a player, he began his professional career on the bench. His first experiences as an elite manager has been in Elche, Rayo Vallecano, Sporting, Tenerife and Zaragoza. 

As a footballer, Rubén Baraja had a high-level career plagued by success. He took his first steps at Real Valladolid, a club that saw him grow and with which he made his debut in the Primera División. After being the best for “blanquivioleta” club, he penned a deal with Atlético de Madrid. On the banks of the Manzanares showed all his potential: placement, power in the air game and a great vision of the game. In July 1999 he landed in Valencia, club with which he obtained his greater sport successes. Baraja soon became a pillar of the team: he was captain during his last seasons, won two leagues (2001-02 and 2003-04), a UEFA Cup, a European Super Cup and a Copa del Rey. In addition, his great work at Valencia earned him a cap for Spain, with which he was capped in 43 occasions and played in the 2002 World Cup and 2004 Euro Cup.

Baraja began his career as coach as Gregorio Manzano´s assistant at Atlético Madrid. A few years later he returned to Valencia, this time to coach one of the youth teams. He took charge of Juvenile A, with which he had good results (2nd place in the League and classification for the Youth Cup). After a few years of training, he decided to take the plunge into elite football and Elche gave him the opportunity in 2015. With the Valencian team he made a good campaign in the Second Division in an complicated situation as the club had lost the category due to lack of payment. The team finished the league in eleventh position after having scored in 31 (13 victories) of the 42 matches.

His good work in Elche gave him the chance to move to Rayo Vallecano´s bench on November 8, 2016. The Madrid team saw in Baraja the ideal candidate to overcome the situation of the team after a bad start to the season.

After his stages at Elche and Vallecas, Baraja is now in charge of a classic club like Real Sporting de Gijón. He does it when the team is in the middle of the table and with the ambition of being promoted to where it deserves: Spanish First Division (La Liga).

Career as a manager

  • 2011-12. Atlético de Madrid. Gregorio Manzano’s assistant
  • 2013-15. Valencia’s youth categories
  • 2015-16. CD Elche. Second Division: 11th on the table
  • 2016-17. Rayo Vallecano
  • 2017-18. Real Sporting
  • 2019-20. Tenerife
  • 2020. Zaragoza 

Career as a player

  • 1993-96. Real Valladolid
    •  Debut in the First Division
  • 1996-97 / 1998-99. Atlético de Madrid (after playing for the reserve team)
  • 1999-00 / 2009-10. Valencia
    • Debut with the Spanish National Team (2000)
    • Liga champion (2001-02)
    • Liga champion (2003-04)
    • UEFA Cup champion (2003-04)
    • European Super Cup winner (2004-05)
    • Copa del Rey champion (2007-08)

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