Claudio Ranieri was born in Rome in 1951. After an unspectacular playing career with Roma, he took up the coaching reins at Cagliari before moving on to Fiorentina, Valencia and Atletico Madrid. He quit Atletico in March 2000 and took over as manager at Chelsea later that summer. He was sacked in June 2004, and is now coach at Valencia.
Massimo Marianella has been a broadcaster for Sky Sports Italy for the past eleven years. Voted Italian Television Sports Journalist of the Year in 1998 and Italian Broadcaster of the Year in 2001, he has been a close associate of Claudio Ranieri for many years.