Fiorentina and Lazio Although Mancini had written a research pamphlet entitled
"Il Trequartista", which examined the role of an
attacking midfielder, he had not as yet attained the necessary coaching badges to become a manager. He therefore needed special dispensation from the Italian football authorities to take the post at
Fiorentina, which was given on 4 March 2001. He was out on loan to Leicester City and returned after four matches to take the Fiorentina job Fiorentina was plagued by financial problems and Mancini made occasional playing appearances himself. According to various sources, Mancini sometimes worked unpaid and even received death threats after key players such as
Rui Costa and
Francesco Toldo had to be sold. Despite this, Mancini managed to win the
Coppa Italia before quitting on 11 January 2002, On 9 May 2002, Mancini was appointed manager of Lazio. Lazio finished fourth in 2003 and sixth in 2004. Before the start of the
2004–05 season, rumours circulated in the Italian press that
Inter Milan had approached Mancini to fill the recently vacated managerial position at the club. Then, in July 2004, Lazio released Mancini from his contract Mancini was not involved in the incident, but camera footage showed him attempting to block a camera's view before he was seen shrugging his shoulders and walking away. His reputation continued to grow as he added a third consecutive
Serie A title to his honours. Mancini guided Inter Milan to another
Coppa Italia final but lost for a second consecutive season to Roma, 2–1, at the
Stadio Olimpico. Despite his successes, the inability to make any real progress in the Champions League displeased Inter Milan owner
Massimo Moratti. Inter Milan was knocked out in the
first knockout round of the
Champions League by
Liverpool. The return leg was at the
San Siro, but again Mancini was not helped by the ill discipline of his players, with
Nicolás Burdisso being sent off in the 50th minute before
Fernando Torres scored for Liverpool in the 64th minute to seal the tie 3–0 on aggregate. After being eliminated by Liverpool, Mancini wanted to leave after the season, but changed his mind the following day. On 29 May 2008, Inter Milan officially announced the sacking of Mancini. Moratti justified the dismissal by pointing to Mancini's comments after the Liverpool defeat. He was replaced by Mourinho.
Out of football Mancini was linked to the vacant Chelsea manager's position in May 2008 and then the same role at
Notts County. On 30 October 2009, Mancini won compensation for his dismissal by Inter. The contract settlement meant Mancini was actually unemployable by any other club from May 2008 to October 2009. It was rumoured that Mancini was entitled to a €16 million pay-off, but in the end, he reportedly settled for €5 million. Having been appointed halfway through the season, Mancini's arrival had an immediate impact on City's form, with four consecutive wins. Mancini won his first
Manchester Derby over
Manchester United 2–1 in a
League Cup semi-final first leg. United won the
second-leg 3–1, however, and eliminated City from the competition. In April, City moved into fourth place in the
Premier League. On 5 May, however, a single goal defeat at home to
Tottenham Hotspur meant that City missed out on a
Champions League spot. City finished
the season in fifth place, their highest
Premier League finish. There had been speculation that Mancini might lose his job if City failed to secure Champions League football, but chairman
Khaldoon Al Mubarak gave his support to Mancini.
2010–11: FA Cup win Mancini spent heavily during summer transfer window. He signed German international defender
Jérôme Boateng from
Hamburger SV for approximately £10.64 million,
Spanish World Cup winner David Silva from
Valencia for approximately £24 million,
Yaya Touré from
Barcelona for around £24 million and
Aleksandar Kolarov from Lazio for approximately £16 million. The
2010–11 Premier League season was marked by runs of mixed form. With a 2–0 win away at
Wigan Athletic on 19 September 2010, City moved into fourth position in the league and did not drop out of the top four positions during the rest of the season. In October and November, the team struggled for form, which put some pressure on Mancini, with his tactics widely criticised following two consecutive 0–0 home draws with Manchester United and
Birmingham City. A fine run of form in the weeks running up to Christmas, however, meant City occupied first place in the Premier League twice over the Christmas period. In the ten games before 15 January 2011, City won seven times, drew twice and lost only once as they moved into title contention, while also securing passage into the
Round of 32 of the Europa League by finishing as the top team in
Group A. As a result of his team's strong league form, Mancini was awarded the
Premier League Manager of the Month award for December. City's Premier League form tailed off again in the new year, with City jointly contesting the
FA Cup and Europa League, and Mancini cited burnout for losing ground in the league title race. City was eventually eliminated from the Europa League by Ukrainian side
Dynamo Kyiv in March, but his team replied strongly by winning eight out of the next ten matches, including an
FA Cup semi-final victory at
Wembley over local rivals Manchester United in April. A win over Tottenham in May guaranteed City the opportunity to play
Champions League football the following season. This win was followed by City winning the
FA Cup with a 1–0 victory over
Stoke City in the following weekend's
final at Wembley. This
FA Cup triumph meant that Mancini joined five other
City managers who had won major honours, and it ended the club's longest trophy drought in
its history. Due to their late run of form, City finished third in the league ahead of
Arsenal after a 2–0 win over
Bolton Wanderers on the last day of the season, thereby avoiding the need to participate in
play-off round fixtures in order to progress to the group stages of the following season's
Champions League competition. Only goal difference separated City from achieving a second-place finish over
Chelsea.
2011–12: Premier League Champion The club was quieter in the closed season transfer window than in previous years, with the club's spending of approximately £75 million more in line with the corresponding amounts spent by rivals Manchester United and
Liverpool. £60 million of this sum was used to purchase two players:
Sergio Agüero, for a club record fee, and
Samir Nasri from
Atlético Madrid and Arsenal respectively. Other players purchased during the summer included
Gaël Clichy and
Stefan Savić, while
Owen Hargreaves joined on a free transfer after having been released by Manchester United. City began the
Premier League season very strongly, winning 12 of their first 14 matches and scoring an impressive 48 goals while only conceding 13. These results left City undefeated and five points clear at the top of the league over second-placed Manchester United by the beginning of December. A revitalised
Edin Džeko won the
Premier League Player of the Month award for August 2011, and David Silva won the same award for September 2011. Many were impressed with the impact of Agüero and Nasri, which had given City an exciting, attacking verve. Mancini was also responsible for inflicting United's worst loss since 1955 when his City side won 6–1 away at
Old Trafford. He was named Premier League Manager of the Month as a result of City's strong form in the month of October. City maintained the lead in the Premier League over the next five months but struggled in the Champions League in a
group that involved
Bayern Munich,
Napoli and
Villarreal. City failed to progress, but finished third in the group with ten points, normally enough to guarantee qualification into the knock-out stages. and
Sergio Agüero with the
Premier League trophy during Manchester City's victory parade, May 2012 A 3–2 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup
third round on 8 January 2012 was bittersweet. City had
Vincent Kompany controversially sent-off in the sixth minute and United managed to create a 3–0 lead before half-time against a lacklustre and beleaguered City team. However, after numerous tactical changes from Mancini at half-time, City came out fighting with ten men, a renewed version of the team that had played in the first half. Two goals from Aleksandar Kolarov and Sergio Agüero narrowed the deficit to just one goal. City was in the ascendency and continued to push for an equalising goal despite having only ten men, but failed to do so with the final whistle. Mancini later believed the match was a seminal moment in the development of his team, demonstrating that City was a better team than United. He believed that the match helped to carve out a fighting spirit that his team had previously lacked. City also progressed to the
League Cup semi-final, maintaining Mancini's record of reaching a major competition semi-final in every season he has managed. City played Liverpool and conceded an away goal in the first leg with a
penalty from
Steven Gerrard. City went to Anfield and led twice with goals from
Nigel de Jong and Edin Džeko, but another penalty from
Steven Gerrard and a goal from
Craig Bellamy meant Liverpool won 3–2 on aggregate. On 13 May 2012, City clinched the Premier League title in
a 3-2 comeback win over
Queens Park Rangers after originally being 2–1 down going into injury time. He became the second Italian manager to win a Premier League title after
Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea team in
2009–10.
2012–13: Final season in Manchester Mancini stated during pre-season that Manchester City's long-term aim was to win the Champions League. Mancini declared that he envisaged less transfer activity in the summer, and was content with his attacking strikers. On 9 July 2012, City announced that Roberto Mancini had signed a new five-year deal, meaning that he was contracted with the club until summer 2017. City began the new season by participating in, and winning, the
2012 FA Community Shield against
2012 FA Cup winners Chelsea on 12 August 2012 at
Villa Park. Manchester City won 3–2 on this occasion. On 21 November 2012, a 1–1 draw at home to
Real Madrid saw Manchester City and Mancini exit the Champions League at the
group stage for the second successive season. At the end of the calendar year of 2012, Manchester City was second in the Premier League, seven points behind rivals Manchester United. In contrast to the 2011–12 league season, Mancini's team struggled to score sufficient goals and suffered some poor results in the second half of the season, such as a 3–1 loss to
Southampton on 9 February 2013 (which Mancini described as the worst performance during his time in charge at City) and a 2–0 loss to
Everton on 16 March. City's poor form led to United capturing the Premier League title on 22 April with a 3–0 win over
Aston Villa with four games to spare. On 11 May, Manchester City lost to Wigan Athletic 1–0 in the
2013 FA Cup Final, with a late goal from Wigan's
Ben Watson. On 14 May, Mancini was dismissed as manager of Manchester City two days after City's loss to Wigan in the FA Cup Final. Speculation over Mancini's future had mounted for months beforehand; a question regarding then-
Málaga manager
Manuel Pellegrini possibly taking Mancini's job in February 2013 provoked an expletive response from Mancini during a press conference. Mancini's public criticism of backroom and playing staff, as well as his distant relationships, alienated the players and the club hierarchy during the last eight months of his tenure. On sacking Mancini, the club cited the need for a more "holistic" approach for the long-term future of the club, namely a manager passionate for developing players at youth level to create a "one house football club," as City looked to open their new £100 million youth academy at the
Etihad Campus in 2014. With Manchester City, Mancini achieved the fourth-best win percentage in Premier League history, behind only
José Mourinho,
Alex Ferguson and
Carlo Ancelotti. A week after his dismissal, Mancini took out a full page advert in the
Manchester Evening News to say farewell and thank the club's fans – an act that was reciprocated in the
Gazzetta dello Sport by Manchester City supporters.
Galatasaray in 2013 On 30 September 2013, Mancini signed a three-year contract with Turkish side
Galatasaray, taking over from the previous coach
Fatih Terim, who had left to take over as coach of the
Turkey national team. In his first game in charge, on 2 October against
Juventus in the
2013–14 Champions League, Galatasaray drew 2–2 with a late equaliser. After a convincing 3–1 victory at home against
Copenhagen in the same competition, his Galatasaray side this time defeated reigning Italian champions Juventus 1–0 on the crucial matchday six to advance to the last 16 of the tournament, a feat he was unable to achieve with Manchester City over two seasons. Galatasaray met Chelsea and was eliminated despite drawing the home leg 1–1. Under Mancini, Galatasaray won their first 12
2013–14 Süper Lig home matches, including a 6–0 victory over
Bursaspor, the highest winning margin in the league as of game week 20. On 7 May, Galatasaray won 1–0 against
Eskişehirspor in the
2014 Turkish Cup Final with a late goal from
Wesley Sneijder. On 11 June, Mancini left the club by mutual consent. It was reported by the club's chairman and the spokesperson that the club's transfer policy and the overall budget of the upcoming season was the reason behind the dispute. This was also verified by Mancini, who stated: "When I accepted the coaching post, Gala's aims were different."
Return to Inter Milan On 14 November 2014, Mancini agreed to a surprise return at his previous club Inter Milan, replacing
Walter Mazzarri at the helm of the
Nerazzurri. His first game in charge was against rivals AC Milan in the
Derby della Madonnina, which finished in a 1–1 draw, with the club's goal scored by
Joel Obi. On 27 November 2014, Mancini's 50th birthday, Inter played the first European match of his second spell, a 2–1 home win over
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk to confirm that Inter would top the group with a game remaining. There was much controversy surrounding
Italy's
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match on 28 March 2015 against
Bulgaria, as Italy head coach
Antonio Conte called up Brazilian-born
Éder and Argentine-born
Franco Vázquez. Both players hold an Italian citizenship, as their lineage is Italian, allowing them to be eligible to play for Italy. Speaking at a Serie A meeting on 23 March 2015, Mancini said: "The Italian national team should be Italian. An Italian player deserves to play for the national team while someone who wasn't born in Italy, even if they have relatives, I don't think they deserve to". To the use of foreign-born players, Conte responded: "If
Mauro Camoranesi [who was born in Argentina] was allowed to help Italy win the
2006 World Cup, then why can't Éder and Franco Vázquez lead the Azzurri to glory in
next year's European Championship?" Following a heated exchange between Mancini and
Napoli coach
Maurizio Sarri in the final minutes of a
Coppa Italia match on 20 January 2016, Mancini accused Sarri of being a
homophobe. Sarri responded to the accusations by affirming that he wasn't a homophobe, and that "what happens on the field, stays on the field." Sarri was consequently fined €20,000 and banned for two Coppa Italia matches by
Lega Serie A for "directing extremely insulting epithets at the coach of the opposing team". After Inter Milan lost 3–0 in a
Serie A derby against AC Milan on 31 January 2016, a fuming Mancini insulted the referees and showed his middle finger to some
Rossoneri fans who were swearing at him. He was consequently banned for the following match. Mancini was also awarded a ''Tapiro d'Oro
by the TV broadcast Striscia la notizia'' for his bad behaviour. During the post-match interviews of the same game, he replied harshly and quite rudely to the journalist Mikaela Calcagno, blaming her for asking silly questions ("Questa è una stronzata, dai, su", Italian for "This is crap, come on") and creating controversy ("Se mi deve fare domande per far polemica, la facciamo", Italian for "If you need to ask me questions to create controversy, let’s do it"). Later, he apologised for those expressions, sending a bunch of flowers to Calcagno. On 8 August 2016, Mancini left Inter on a mutual agreement.
Zenit Saint Petersburg On 1 June 2017, Mancini was appointed as a manager of
Zenit Saint Petersburg. On 13 May 2018, Mancini terminated his contract by mutual consent.
Italy national team Mancini succeeded
caretaker Luigi Di Biagio on 14 May 2018 as manager of the
Italy national team. He signed an incentive-based contract, which would run until 2020, extended automatically to 2022 if Italy was to
qualify for
Euro 2020. Italy had failed to qualify for the
2018 FIFA World Cup under
Gian Piero Ventura after a
play-off defeat six months earlier, the first time they missed the World Cup since the
1958 FIFA World Cup and a major tournament since
UEFA Euro 1992. Mancini shaped the national team differently. Three of his assistants,
Alberico Evani,
Attilio Lombardo and
Fausto Salsano, played successfully with him at Sampdoria in the 1990s, as well as
Gianluca Vialli. Vialli joined as head of delegation in October 2019 after fighting pancreatic cancer. Mancini's team did not include only players from the big teams based in Milan, Rome or Turin. Out of the 26 players, nobody grew up the big metropolises. Half of them came from villages with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants: 10 from the north of Italy, 7 from the middle, and 9 from the south. On 28 May 2018, Mancini coached his first match for Italy, a 2–1 victory in a friendly over
Saudi Arabia. On 12 October 2019, Italy qualified for Euro 2020 with three matches to spare after a 2–0 home win over
Greece. On 15 October, with a 5–0 away win over
Liechtenstein, Italy won its ninth consecutive match under Mancini, equalling the record set by
Vittorio Pozzo between 1938 and 1939. Italy won all of their Euro 2020 qualifying matches in Group J, and set an unprecedented record of 10 victories in a single calendar year in 2019. In May 2021, Mancini's contract with the Italy national team was extended until June 2026. In June 2021, Italy was the only team in
UEFA Euro 2020 to win all three group stage matches without conceding a goal; Italy had the best goal difference, the most shots, and the most attempted through-balls at the tournament. On 26 June 2021, with a 2–1 win over
Austria, Mancini led Italy to a record 31-match unbeaten streak, surpassing the 30-match streak set by Pozzo. On 11 July, Mancini led Italy to a 3–2 victory on
penalties over
England in the
final of the tournament at
Wembley, following a 1–1 draw after extra-time; this was Italy's second European Championship title after
1968. On 5 September 2021, Mancini led Italy to their 36th unbeaten match, surpassing the world record of 35 set by Brazil and Spain. The unbeaten run was extended to 37 matches three days later with a 5–0 home win over
Lithuania, but the streak was ended the following month with a 2–1 home loss to Spain in the
2020–21 UEFA Nations League A semi-finals. On 10 October, Italy went on to win the
2020–21 UEFA Nations League bronze medal following a 2–1 home victory over
Belgium. Mancini placed second in the
2021 Best FIFA Men's Coach award, behind winner
Thomas Tuchel. On 24 March 2022, Italy lost 1–0 at home to
North Macedonia during the semi-finals of the
2022 World Cup qualification play-offs, failing to qualify for the
2022 FIFA World Cup, missing out on the tournament for the second consecutive time in their history. On 1 June, Italy were defeated 3–0 at Wembley Stadium by reigning
Copa América champions
Argentina in the
2022 Finalissima. On 13 August 2023, Mancini's resignation from the national team was confirmed.
Saudi Arabia national team Mancini was appointed as head coach of the
Saudi Arabia national team on 27 August 2023 on a contract running to 2027, and managed the Green Falcons through the
2023 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage, where they lost to
South Korea 4–2 on penalties in the round of 16. Mancini was highly criticized for his behavior during the Saudi Arabia match against
South Korea in the
2023 AFC Asian Cup Round of 16. As the match went to a penalty shootout, Mancini was seen walking down the tunnel after
Abdulrahman Ghareeb missed the second penalty for Saudi Arabia. Mancini turned and headed to the changing room without watching
Hwang Hee-Chan convert the decisive kick that saw Saudi Arabia lose 2–4 on penalties. He would later apologize in the post-match conference :"I apologise [for leaving early], I thought it was finished. I didn't want to disrespect anyone,". "I want to say thank you to all my players for what they did. They are improving a lot." On 24 October 2024, Mancini reached a joint agreement with the
Saudi Arabian Football Federation to end his contract as national team manager, following disappointing results during the
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification after draws against low-ranked sides
Bahrain and
Indonesia.
Al-Sadd On 13 November 2025, Mancini signed a two-year contract with
Qatar Stars League side
Al-Sadd. ==Management style==