On Saturday in the Camp Nou, FC Barcelona will come up against a Malaga side coached by yet another ex-defender, Juan Ramón López Muñiz.

Muñiz (42) has yet to really make his mark on the coaching world. He took control of the Malaga squad initially for 2 seasons beginning in 2006-07 while the team was still in the spanish second division. The following year, he guided the team back to the first division, but left in 2008 for a job with Racing Santander. The job at Racing lasted just one season, and he accepted an offer to return to Malaga this year.

Like many ex-defenders, Muñiz tends towards tactical conservatism in the way he lines up his team. During the first part of this season, he often switched between an orthodox 4-4-2, a more defensive 5-4-1, and even a 4-4-1-1. In the last nine games, Muñiz seems to have settled on a 4-2-3-1 as his preferred formation.

Like many top tier football managers, Lopez Muñiz transitioned into coaching after a successful playing career. Muniz played for 11 years as a defender in Spanish first and second division teams between 1991 and 2001, spending five years at his hometown Sporting de Gijón, before going on to Rayo Vallecano and finally Numancia.