Massimo Rastelli


Massimo Rastelli is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a striker. He most recently served as the head coach of Cremonese.

Career

Playing

A second striker/winger, Rastelli started his career with Serie D club Solofra, and played professionally for the first time in 1988 with Catanzaro. After a long stint with Lucchese, he made his Serie A debut in 1997 with Piacenza, playing four years for the Emilians. In 2001, he joined then-Serie B club Napoli, failing to win promotion to the top flight with the fallen giants. He then signed for Reggina in 2002, in what it was his final Serie A season as a player. He retired in 2009 after a season with Juve Stabia.

Coaching

He was coach of Juve Stabia in the 2009–10 season, winning promotion to the Lega Pro Prima Divisione on his first attempt. He then signed for Brindisi the following season.
In the 2011–12 season he was the head coach of Portogruaro in Lega Pro Prima Divisione.
In the 2012–13 season he was the head coach of Avellino in Lega Pro Prima Divisione. The club won promotion to Serie B.
On 12 June 2015 Rastelli was hired by newly relegated club Cagliari for their 2015–16 Serie B season. He led Cagliari to win the Serie B title, and was consequently confirmed also for the 2016–17 Serie A campaign. He was sacked on 17 October 2017.
On 5 November 2018, Rastelli returned into management as the new head coach of Serie B club Cremonese. On 8 October 2019, he was fired by Cremonese with the team in 12th position in the table. On 8 January 2020, he was reinstated as head coach of Cremonese. He was dismissed as Cremonese boss for a second time on 4 March 2020, with the club languishing in the relegation zone.