Rino Marchesi, an Italian footballer who later became a Serie A coach, died March 1, 2026. He was 88. Born in San Giuliano Milanese, he became “Florentine by adoption,” spending part of his playing career at Fiorentina before moving through a playing and coaching career that kept him in prominent roles across Italian football.
Marchesi’s name is most closely linked to Fiorentina’s celebrated 1960–61 season, when the club won both the Coppa Italia and the European Cup Winners’ Cup. In Florence, that team is remembered as the “Leoni di Ibrox,” and Marchesi is counted among the players from that European-winning era. He was also described during his career as a versatile option, used in midfield or in defense.
He later played for Lazio from 1966 to 1971 and finished his playing career at Prato in Serie C.
As a coach, Marchesi is closely associated with Napoli and the club’s upward push in the early 1980s, leading the team in two spells. He is particularly remembered as Diego Armando Maradona’s first Italian coach, in the early phase of the superstar’s Napoli years.
Marchesi also worked at Como, Inter and Juventus, where his stint coincided with Michel Platini’s final season at the club. His legacy bridged two defining touchstones in the Italian game: Fiorentina’s “Leoni di Ibrox” season and the Napoli bench at the start of the Maradona era.