Răzvan Lucescu


Răzvan Lucescu is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal.

Playing career

Born in Bucharest, Lucescu made 240 appearances in the Divizia A for Sportul Studențesc, Național București, Brașov, Rapid București and FCM Bacău.

Coaching career

Brașov

He began his coaching career with FC Braşov in the 2003–04 season spanning 15 matches in the first league.

Rapid București

In June 2004, he was named coach of Rapid București. In his first season, he qualified for the UEFA Cup, finishing third in the domestic league.
In the 2005–06 season, he had a dramatic start of the season, being dismissed for one night, before the owner of the club, George Copos, decided to take him back. Lucescu and his side managed to defeat teams such as Feyenoord Rotterdam, Shakhtar Donetsk, Hertha Berlin and Hamburger SV, reaching to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup. Rapid was taken out by city rivals Steaua Bucharest after two draws. In the league, he finished as runners-up, after being sixth at the half of the season.
The 2006–07 season was not as good. Rapid got eliminated from the UEFA Cup group stages after 4 draws, finishing fourth.
However, in 2007 Lucescu decided not to continue with Rapid, after a fallout with some of the supporters and several disagreements with the club owner. He opted to return to Braşov.
Răzvan won the Romanian Cup with Rapid in 2006 and 2007, both leading Rapid into the UEFA Cup.

Return to Brașov

Lucescu decided to start all over and, instead of accepting to manage bigger clubs from abroad, he decided to coach FC Braşov, who relegated two years before and finished 10th in the last season of the second division. He didn't disappoint and won promotion from the first place. Bringing Braşov back in the first league.

Romania national team

On 29 April 2009, he was appointed head coach and general manager of Romania, leaving Braşov after a ninth-place finish in the first division and replacing Victor Piţurcă in this position. After two years in control he gave up the national team, following the 3–0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, leaving it with chances of qualifying to the UEFA Euro 2012.

Return to Rapid București

In June 2011, Lucescu returned to Rapid București for a second spell as coach. Lucescu's Rapid side defeated Polish champions Śląsk Wrocław 4–2 on aggregate in the play-off round to qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stage. The club finished fourth in Liga I and reached the finals of the 2011–12 Romanian Cup.

El Jaish

On 31 May 2012, he was appointed at the helm of Qatari side El Jaish on a two-year deal. In his first season in charge Lucescu won the 2012–13 Qatari Stars Cup and led his side into the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League. His contract with El Jaish was terminated in January 2014 and he was replaced by coach Nabil Maâloul who led the club to the runner-up spot in the Qatar Stars League.

Petrolul Ploiești

In March 2014, he was named the head coach of Liga I side Petrolul Ploiești replacing Cosmin Contra. He was sacked six months later, Petrolul finished third in the domestic league and were knocked out in the semi-finals by Astra Giurgiu in the Romanian Cup and also eliminated in the play-offs of the Europa League.

Xanthi

On 24 September 2014, Lucescu signed a one-year contract with Greek Super League club Skoda Xanthi. He guided them to their first Greek Cup final in their history. Lucescu went on to extend his contract with the Akrites for a further two seasons.

PAOK

On 11 August 2017, Lucescu would return to the benches of Superleague Greece as he signed a three year contract with PAOK. His tenure at the club started against Ostersund for the play-off round of 2017–18 UEFA Europa League. PAOK went to win the first leg in Thessaloniki, 3–1, but a 0–2 defeat in Sweden in the second leg eliminated them from the competition, as they failed to reach the Europa League group stages for the first time in 5 years. At the home front, PAOK had a turbulent season, as they found themselves fighting for the league title with real chances. However, the derbies came to disastrous outcomes, with PAOK losing to Olympiacos due to an awarded 3–0 win, as the match was suspended for fan behavior. Against rivals AEK Athens, the president of the team, Ivan Savvidis, stormed onto the pitch with a pistol in his holster after a late PAOK goal was overturned after protests from AEK, causing the league to be suspended. PAOK was later punished with a reduction of 3 points and the awarding of the game to AEK by 0–3. The awarded derbies, as well as the court deduction, played a big role in PAOK losing the league title to AEK, as they finished the championship 2nd, 6 points behind their double-headed eagle rivals. Afterwards, PAOK won the Greek Cup after defeating AEK 2–0 in the Cup final in OAKA, Athens, which was viewed as a consolation prize for the lost championship.
In the 2018–19 season, PAOK begin their European adventure in the Second Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League, eliminating Basel and Spartak Moscow, before losing in the play-offs against Benfica and dropping to the UEFA Europa League group stages. PAOK finished fourth in a group with Chelsea, BATE Borisov and Videoton, only winning 4–1 against BATE in Barysaw and losing all the other matches.
Despite the early European exit, the team enjoyed a great domestic season. On April 21, 2019, PAOK won their third league title and their first in 34 years after beating Levadiakos at home with 5-0. Lucescu led his side to league triumph without a single defeat, a milestone last reached by Panathinaikos 55 years before, and finished the season with a record-breaking 80 points.

Al-Hilal

On 28 June 2019, Lucescu parted ways with PAOK after receiving an offer to manage Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal. The club reportedly paid PAOK the manager's €2M release clause, while both Lucescu and PAOK chairman Ivan Savvidis agreed that the contract offer was too good to refuse. He brought the club to its third AFC Champions League-era title and first continental title in 17 years on 24 November 2019.

Personal life

He is the son of former football player and manager Mircea Lucescu.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Național București
Rapid București
Rapid București
Brașov
El Jaish
Skoda Xanthi
PAOK
Al-Hilal