Spain and Greece in 2012 Immediately after retiring, Valverde began his career as a manager in the
youth departments of former club Athletic Bilbao, and four years later he became a co-trainer in the main squad. Heavily involved in the establishment of the
women's team, in 2002 he again acted as head coach when he took over the
B side, being promoted to first-team duties the following year; in
2003–04, they finished fifth and
qualified for the UEFA Cup. After one year out of football, Valverde joined another former employers, now renamed Espanyol. During his
first season, the
Catalans managed to reach
another UEFA Cup final – 19 years after their last – again losing on penalties, to fellow Spaniards
Sevilla. On 28 May 2008, Valverde was appointed coach at
Olympiacos, winning the
Super League Greece in his
debut campaign and
adding the cup for
the double. On 8 May 2009, the club decided not to renew his contract in spite of his success, because of a financial disagreement; however, most of the players and fans were openly in favour of him staying. On 2 June 2009,
Villarreal announced that Valverde would succeed
Manuel Pellegrini on a one-year deal, after the Chilean had left for
Real Madrid. As the team stood tenth in
the league on 31 January 2010, he was dismissed following a 2–0 home loss against
Osasuna. Valverde returned to Olympiacos on 7 August 2010, as a replacement for
Ewald Lienen who had only been in charge for a few weeks. In the
first season in his second spell he again led the
Piraeus side to the league championship, also
reaching the last eight in the domestic cup. On 19 April 2012, after helping Olympiacos
renew its league supremacy, Valverde announced his decision to leave due to family reasons. On 3 December he returned to
Spanish football by being appointed at Valencia until the end of
the campaign, replacing the fired
Mauricio Pellegrino; his first game occurred five days later, a 1–0 win at Osasuna, and the second match, against the same opponent for
the Spanish cup, brought another triumph at the
Reyno de Navarra (2–0).
Return to Athletic Bilbao in 2014 On 1 June 2013, immediately after the 4–3 away loss to Sevilla which meant Valencia could only
finish fifth, thus out of
qualification positions for the
UEFA Champions League, Valverde announced he would leave the club. He returned to Athletic Bilbao on the 20th,
qualifying for the Champions League in his
first year and also
reaching the
final of the 2015 Spanish Cup. On 17 August 2015, Valverde led the
Lions to their first trophy in 31 years after a
5–1 aggregate defeat of Barcelona for the
Supercopa de España. He declared on 23 May 2017 he would be stepping down on 30 June, to be replaced by former Athletic teammate
José Ángel Ziganda. Valverde's 306 matches in charge of the team over two spells set a club record, beating the previous total of 289 set by
Javier Clemente. He also surpassed Clemente's 211 league matches managed, finishing on 228, but was unable to match his record of victories: The latter won 141 games – 102 in the league – while the former came up one short, with 140 and 101; additionally, he was on the bench for 42
European matches, another record.
Barcelona On 29 May 2017, Valverde replaced
Luis Enrique as the new Barcelona manager. His spell began with defeat as
rivals Real Madrid won both legs of the
Spanish Supercup at
the season's outset. However, the team then went on a 29-match unbeaten run in all competitions from 20 August 2017 until 17 January 2018, when they lost to Espanyol in the
first leg of the quarter-finals of the Spanish Cup (also the club's first defeat at the
RCDE Stadium, home of their
neighbours, since its 2009 opening). They recovered to progress in that tie as part of another sequence of 15 matches without defeat, before a loss to
Roma in the
quarter-finals of the
UEFA Champions League on 10 April, with the 3–0 defeat meaning the Italians progressed on the
away goals rule. Barcelona remained undefeated for 43 matches in the Spanish League only to lose in their penultimate game of
the campaign on 13 May 2018, having rested
Lionel Messi for the trip to
Levante – they were beaten 5–4 by the hosts. They finished with a league and cup
double, defeating Sevilla 5–0 in the
Copa del Rey final. The
2018–19 season began with a 2–1 victory over Sevilla to win the
domestic supercup. In February 2019 Valverde signed a new one-year contract extension, as they went on a 23-match unbeaten streak and secured a
second consecutive league title under him in April following a victory over Levante. He led his team to their first
Champions League semi-final after a gap of three years, winning 3–0 at home against
Liverpool but being eliminated after a 4–0 defeat at
Anfield in the second leg, leading many to call for his dismissal. He also guided the side to another
Spanish Cup final, this time losing 2–1 to Valencia. Valverde remained in charge for the start of
2019–20. Despite the team winning their
Champions League group and being top of the
league table by the new year on
goal difference, poor performances and a period in December and January that saw them win only one in five matches meant his position once again came under pressure. On 13 January 2020, he was dismissed by the club, with his last game being a 3–2 defeat to
Atlético Madrid in the
Supercopa de España; he was replaced by former
Real Betis coach
Quique Setién, with Barcelona ending the campaign without a trophy after finishing five points behind Real Madrid.
Third spell at Athletic On 30 June 2022, Valverde returned to Athletic for a third spell, under new president Jon Uriarte. On 29 August, following a victory against
Cádiz, he became the manager with the most wins in the club's history. In his
second season, Valverde won Athletic's first major trophy in 40 years after beating Mallorca on penalties to
claim the Spanish Cup and
qualify for the Europa League, for which a fifth-place finish in the league would also have been sufficient. On 23 May 2025, having
finished fourth and
returned to the Champions League, he extended his contract until June 2026. On 2 May 2026, he took charge of his 500th match for the club, marking the milestone with a 4–2 away win against Alavés. ==Personal life==