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Playing career
Born in Villaviciosa, Asturias, Marcelino was irregularly used in his first four professional seasons, at Sporting de Gijón. He did appear in a career-best 33 matches in the 1986–87 campaign, as the club finished fourth in La Liga; his top flight debut was on 22 December 1985, in a 1–1 away draw against Celta de Vigo.[1]
Marcelino retired in 1994 at only 28, due to injury: after two Segunda División spells, with Racing de Santander and Levante UD, both ended in relegation, he moved to the lower leagues with Elche CF.
Manager career
García Toral started coaching at 33 with CD Lealtad, also in Asturias. For four of the next five years he worked in Segunda División B, with Sporting's reserves.
From 2003 to 2005 Toral was in charge of the first team, finishing fifth and tenth in the second level, then signed with fellow league team Recreativo de Huelva, which he led to promotion in his first season[2] and a comfortable mid-table position in the top flight in the following, which made him the recipient of his first Miguel Muñoz Trophy.
García Toral resigned at the end of the season and took over at former club Santander, leading the Cantabrians to a best-ever sixth-place finish, with the subsequent qualification to the UEFA Cup.[3] However, on 29 May 2008, he again moved teams, returning to division two and joining Real Zaragoza with the objective of a promotion,[4] which was finally achieved;[5] in the process of signing, he had rejected Valencia CF, and became the country's best paid manager at €2.4 million per year following the departure of Real Madrid's Bernd Schuster.[6]
On 13 December 2009, following a string of poor results (the last a 1–2 home defeat to Athletic Bilbao), Toral was fired by Zaragoza, with the Aragonese nonetheless still above the relegation zone.[7] In early February 2011 he returned to Racing Santander, replacing fired Miguel Ángel Portugal.[8]
García Toral was appointed at Sevilla FC for 2011–12.[9] On 6 February 2012, following seven games without a win – the last being a 1–2 home loss against Villarreal CF – and with the Andalusia club ranking 11th, he was relieved of his duties.
Marcelino signed for Villarreal on 14 January 2013,[11] returning the team to the top flight at the end of the campaign[12] and going on to subsequently achieve three top-six finishes,[13] which included a fourth place and a semi-final run in the UEFA Europa League in 2015–16.[14]
On 10 August 2016, a few days before the first official match of the season, Marcelino was surprisingly sacked for differences with the board of directors.
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Marcelino spooted in hotel after the interview for a candidate as Inter next coach
