Rui Vitória

Rui Carlos Pinho da Vitória (; born 16 April 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and a former player who played as a midfielder. He is the currently head coach of UAE Pro League club Al Wasl.

As a manager, he most notably spent three and a half years with Benfica in Portugal, winning seven major trophies, which included two consecutive Primeira Liga titles, before subsequently having periods in charge at Al Nassr, Spartak Moscow and the Egyptian national team. He was appointed Panathinaikos manager in October 2024 before being sacked in September 2025.

Playing career Vitória was born in Alverca do Ribatejo, Vila Franca de Xira. During his career, in which he played for five clubs, he never competed in higher than the third division (four seasons), also spending eleven years in the fourth. He mainly represented U.D. Vilafranquense, in the Lisbon area. In his first season in the top division, he guided the team to the seventh position in the league, also achieving runner-up honours in the domestic League Cup, which was won by Benfica (2–1). In his second year, he led the club to the conquest of the Portuguese Cup against Benfica (2–1), in a first-ever for the Minho Province side. Later, on 10 August 2013, he was runner-up in the Supertaça, losing 3–0 to Porto.

Benfica

On 15 June 2015, Portuguese champions Benfica announced that Vitória had signed a three-year contract with the club. He started the season by losing the Supertaça 1–0 to Lisbon rivals Sporting. Despite a troubled start, Benfica secured a third Primeira Liga title in a row and 35th overall with a 4–1 win over Nacional at the Estádio da Luz on the final matchday, establishing a Portuguese league record of 88 points in 34 matches. Also, with a 1–0 league win at Boavista, Vitória set a Benfica record of 11 consecutive away triumphs in all competitions. Moreover, he also managed the team to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and to their seventh Taça da Liga trophy, beating Marítimo 6–2. Later that season, he received Primeira Liga's award for Best Coach.

Vitória started the 2016–17 season by winning his first Portuguese Super Cup on his third attempt, with a 3–0 win over Braga; therefore, he succeeded in winning all four major trophies in Portugal. On 23 October 2016, he surpassed Jimmy Hagan's 43-year-old record of 15 consecutive away wins in the league, achieving the 16th as Benfica defeated Belenenses 2–0 away. Later, on 7 April 2017, he renewed his contract for a further two seasons before ending the season with victories in Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and Supertaça, therefore, clinching Benfica's second treble in history after Lajos Baróti's in 1980–81. In addition to that, by winning two of four league titles in a row, Vitória became the first Benfica manager to reach the tetra.

The next season, Vitória won the domestic Super Cup and guided Benfica to a second place in Primeira Liga and to the worst Portuguese campaign in the Champions League, which included the club's record loss in the competition, 5–0 to Basel.

On 4 January 2019, following a string of bad results during the 2018–19 season, resulting in Benfica's first-ever loss to Portimonense, Vitória's contract was terminated by the club.

Al-Nassr Within a week of his departure from Benfica, Vitória was hired on an 18-month contract at Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr, ranked second in the Saudi Professional League. His first match was a 5–0 win over second-tier Al-Ansar in the last 32 of the King Cup on 14 January 2019. The club from Riyadh finished the season as champions. He later led Al-Nassr to reach the 2020 AFC Champions League semi-finals, where they only lost to Persepolis on penalties.

On 27 December 2020, Vitória left the club by mutual consent. At the time of his departure, Al-Nassr were 15th in the table, with eight points from ten matches.

Spartak Moscow On 24 May 2021, Vitória joined Russian Premier League club Spartak Moscow on a two-year contract. Zarema Salikhova, wife of then-co-owner Leonid Fedun, resigned from the board due to her disagreement with the decision.

Vitória's record at the club was mixed. He had won their Europa League group ahead of Leicester City and Napoli, for which he gained popularity amongst the fans. In fact, Spartak beat Napoli both home and away around time when Napoli was first in Serie A. However, the Russian giants were ninth in the league, with a low note being a 7–1 loss to Zenit Saint Petersburg. Vitória's contract with Spartak was terminated by mutual agreement on 15 December 2021.

Egypt On 12 July 2022, Vitória became the manager of the Egyptian national team, signing on a four-year contract. On 4 February 2024, he was sacked from his position following the elimination from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations round of 16, without recording any victory during the tournament.

Panathinaikos On 31 October 2024, Vitória signed a deal to become the head coach of Greek club Panathinaikos. He was sacked on 15 September 2025.

Managerial statistics

+ Managerial record by team and tenure Team Nat From To Record Vilafranquense 22 October 200217 May 2004 Fátima 10 May 20061 June 2010 Paços Ferreira 2 June 2010 30 August 2011 Vitória Guimarães 30 August 2011 11 June 2015 Benfica 11 June 2015 4 January 2019 Al Nassr 10 January 2019 27 December 2020 Spartak Moscow 24 May 202115 December 2021 Egypt 12 July 20224 February 2024 Panathinaikos 31 October 202415 September 2025 Al Wasl 8 February 2026present Career totals

Honours Managerial Fátima Taça de Portugal: 2012–13 Benfica Saudi Professional League Manager of the Month: March 2019, October 2019, August 2020