Leonardo Jardim Biography

Leonardo Jardim, born 1 August 1974 in Barcelona, Venezuela, is a Portuguese football coach. He is currently the head coach of the Al Hilal football club, playing in the Saudi Arabian professional league. Following coaching stints at AD Camacha and GD Chaves, both of which were lower-tier Portuguese clubs, Jardim then moved to Portuguese second division side SC Beira-Mar.

He promoted SC Beira-Mar to the Primeira Liga, Portugal's top division, in 2009/10. Beira-Mar played in the lower mid-table of the 2010/11 Primeira Liga right up until the end of Jardim's spell, which came just before the end of the season.

At the start of the 2011/12 season, Jardim switched to Sporting Braga, within the league. Braga ended the Primeira Division in 3rd place, and thus reached the qualifiers for the UEFA Champions League 2012/13.

Jardim signed with Greek champions Olympiacos for the 2012/13 season. The club finished third in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League group stage, behind FC Schalke 04 and FC Arsenal, and advanced to the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League. However, in the middle of the season, he terminated his contract with Olympiacos.

Sporting Lisbon, one of the best clubs in the Portuguese league, signed Jardim in the 2013/14 season. He ended the season as runner-up, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League in 2014/15. He left the club after the season got to a finish.

Leonardo Jardim was unveiled as the new coach of AS Monaco on 10 June 2014. By signing a two-year contract, he replaced the Italian Claudio Ranieri. Following AS Monaco's promotion to Ligue 1 in 2012/13 and runners-up finish in 2013/14, Jardim managed a third-place finish in his first season.

He progressed through the group stages of the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League, defeating Arsenal FC in the round of 16 to book a place in the quarter-finals, ultimately losing out to Italian champions Juventus Torino. His contract with Monaco was extended until 2019 May 2015.

All You Need to Know About Leonardo Jardim Biography

Jardim retained the club's 3rd place in Ligue 1 2015/16 but was knocked out in the group stage of the 2015/16 Europa League. Jardim's tenure was crowned by winning the league title in the 2016/17 season, and also by reaching the semi-finals of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League, where they were again knocked out by Juventus Torino, after victories against Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, among others.

In the 2017/18 season, the team came second, 13 points behind champions

, and was eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage.  Nine matchdays into the 2018/19 season, the team was in third-last place in the table with six points, prompting Jardim's sacking on 11 October 2018.

Jardim returned to AS Monaco as head coach at the end of January 2019 after his replacement, Thierry Henry, recorded just two wins in 12 league games. While Jardim was able to stay in the league, he was fired again before the year's end after finishing seventh in the table. At the moment, he is the head coach of

.

Leonardo Jardim Information

Now that we know the Portuguese coach much better, in this section of

Leonardo Jardim biography

we will share more general information about him such as

Leonardo Jardim nationality

to let you know him even better.

Leonardo Jardim Bio

• Full Name: José Leonardo Nunes Alves Sousa Jardim

• Nickname: N/A

• Profession: Professional Football Coach

Leonardo Jardim Physical Stats

• Weight: 70 Kg

• Height: 1.80 m

• Eye Color: Dark Brown

• Hair Color: Black

Leonardo Jardim Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 1 August 1974

• Birth Place: Barcelona, Venezuela

• Zodiac Sign: Leo

• Nationality: Portuguese

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Leonardo Jardim biography

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Leonardo Jardim childhood

.

Leonardo Jardim Early Life

Leonardo Jardim was born in Venezuela to Portuguese immigrants who operated a business in the country. As the Jardim family was native to the island of Madeira, Leonardo later lived there for some time during his youth.

When he was 15 years old, his vocation as a coach emerged from watching the Sporting Clube de Portugal team matches. Although every kid would love to be a footballer, Jardim had always dreamed of being a coach.

He played handball for a few years before coming to the world of football. Very quickly after graduating from the University of Madeira with a degree in physical education, he decided that he would be better off on the bench than on the pitch. Therefore, when he was 24 years old, he started to study to become a football coach; where he became a professional three years later.

Leonardo Jardim Profile

Jardim is in fact the youngest Portuguese manager to get a UEFA licence at the age of 26, however, after obtaining it he continued to work as a physical education teacher because of his lack of experience and young age, but he was given his first chance to manage a real club and he didn't miss it!

When he was only 27 years old he took on the project of AD

, a third division club in Portugal, where Jardim was the assistant coach for 3 seasons before the club decided to fire the coach and appoint Leonardo as his replacement, however, despite having achieved good results the club then decided to sack Jardim and hire a more experienced coach.

That was when GD

appointed him as their new head coach, it was another third division club and while Jardim was able to promote them to the second division, which was completely unexpected even for the directors themselves, Leonardo Jardim, unfortunately, was sacked and it was never clear for what reason, although this opened the door for him to prove himself at a different level.

SC Beira-Mar

His good results in spite of his young age and relative lack of experience was noticed by

, who appointed him to take charge of the main team in the summer transfer window of 2009. His first match as the head coach of SC Beira-Mar was played on 2 August 2009, when they played in the first round of Allianz Cup against SC Freamunde, and Jardim managed to clinch a huge 5-1 home win.

In the second leg which was played a week later, they were defeated by a score of 3-0, but on aggregate they won 5-4 and went on to the group stage of the Allianz Cup. Four days later, Jardim suffered another defeat, this time losing 0-1 at home against SC Covilhã in the first matchday of Liga Portugal 2.

Beira-Mar lost its second league match with Jardim in charge against Portimonense Futebol SAD on 23 August 2009 and things were not good. However, a week later, with a 1-0 home win against CD Feirense, Leonardo Jardim was able to improve things in the team.

In the Allianz Cup group stage, Beira-Mar was drawn in Group 1 with Portimonense and Académica Coimbra. In both of their group matches which were played in October 2009, Beira-Mar achieved goalless draws and by finishing third in the group, they failed to reach the next stage of the Allianz Cup.

Leonardo Jardim’s team won their first match in the second round of that season’s Taca de Portugal against FC Vizela with a score of 2-0, to make it to the third round. At this stage, they had to face GD Torre de Moncorvo, a match that ended with a score of 4-0 for Jardim’s team with two goals from Ishmael Yartey and one goal from Hugo and Djamal.

In a thrilling match, Beira-Mar was able to eliminate Académica Coimbra from the competition in the fourth round of Taca de Portugal. The Round of 16 of the competition was the end for Jardim and his team, as with a 1-0 defeat against GD Chaves, they were out of the competition.

During that season Liga Portugal 2, Beira-Mar had a strong rivalry with the likes of CD Santa Clara, Portimonense and CD Feirense for the title and also promotion to the highest tier. With 54 points in 30 matches, Jardim managed to achieve yet another achievement by winning the first division with the black and yellows in his first season at the club and thus the promotion to the highest division in Portugal.

As a result, he was gradually making a name for himself in the country. Jardim debuted in the top tier of football in Portugal on the first matchday of the 2010-11 season against União de Leiria, a match that ended in a goalless draw. Next week against the giants Porto, which was coached by the young manager

, they suffered a 3-0 defeat. Their first win in the new season came on the next week, against the newly promoted Académica Coimbra with a score of 2-1.

In Taca de Portugal, Jardim was able to eliminate SC Mirandela in the third round, only to be knocked out by Académica Coimbra and exit from the competition very early, despite their last season’s campaign which saw them make it to the round of 16.

In the Allianz Cup, Jardim qualified Beira-Mar for the group stage with an aggregate 5-2 win over CD Fátima SAD, where they were drawn in Group 1 with CD Nacional, FC Porto and Gil Vicente FC. Beira-Mar finished fourth in their group with three defeats in three matches, scoring only two and conceding seven goals, to be knocked out of the competition.

The team’s performance in the league on his second season was more troubled, however, and he was forced to step down from his job following poor results after the 21st matchday against Portimonense Futebol SAD, which they lost 1-0 at home. Nevertheless, the club was able to stay in the top flight.

Now stay tuned to this section of

Leonardo Jardim biography

as we want to share some info about

career.

SC Braga

It was in May 2011 that Jardim's career was propelled into high gear when he took up a position as coach of SC Braga, a club with a similar history to that of his new coach, namely one of rapid progression. He succeeded Domingos Paciência, who had left to join

. His first match in charge of the team was the opening game of the new league season, in which they got a goalless draw against Rio Ave FC.

Braga’s first win of the season came in the second league match, where they managed to defeat CS Marítimo with a score of 2-0. Their good run in the league continued with two more victories, against Vitória Setúbal FC and Gil Vicente FC, with a score of 0-1 and 3-1, respectively.

Between 9 December 2011 (the 12th matchday) and 26 March 2012 (24th matchday), Leonardo Jardim and Braga were able to record 12 straight league wins, collecting some great victories such as the 4-0 wins against Vitória Guimarães SC and the 5-2 win against FC Paços de Ferreira. However, their performance declined and in their last 6 matches in the league, Braga lost four matches.

In general, he enjoyed an excellent season, guiding Braga to a historic third-place finish in the league, which was the second-best league performance in the club's history. Jardim and his team were knocked out in the fourth round of Taca de Portugal, following a 2-0 away defeat against Sporting CP. In the previous round, they had eliminated 1º Dezembro with a score of 1-3.

In Allianz Cup, Braga managed to top their group with Jardim in charge, winning all of their three matches against Portimonense, FC Penafiel and CD Nacional, thus making it to the semifinals, where they were defeated by Gil Vicente FC on penalties.

In their European campaign, Braga was able to make it to the group stage of that season’s Europa League after eliminating the Swiss club BSC Young Boys in the qualifying round. They were drawn in Group H with Club Brugge KV, NK Maribor and Birmingham City.

In their first group stage match, Braga managed to win 1-3 against Birmingham City at the St Andrew's Trillion Trophy Stadium, with two goals from Hélder Barbosa and a goal from Lima. The only goal of the English club was scored by Marlon King. However, Braga suffered a 1-2 defeat at their home against the Belgian side Club Brugge.

Their third group stage match was a 1-1 draw against the Slovakian side NK Maribor, before clinching a huge 5-1 win against the same team at their home stadium. With another 1-0 win over Birmingham City and a final 1-1 draw against Club Brugge, Leonardo Jardim’s team finished first in their group with 11 points in six matches and made it to the second round of the Europea League.

There, Braga faced the Turkish side Besiktas, where in the first match at Estádio Municipal de Braga, they suffered a 0-2 defeat against Carlos Carvalhal’s team. Hélder Barbosa was sent off in the 29th minute, in that match after getting two yellow cards in just 6 minutes. In the second leg, despite winning 0-1 in Turkey, Braga was knocked out of the Europa League.

Despite a very good season in charge of the Braga team, Leonardo Jardim amicably terminated his contract because of differences of opinion with President Salvador to pursue his career in another European country.

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Olympiacos

In June 2012, Leonardo Jardim agreed to join

Piraeus, Greece's most successful club, thereby giving his career a new perspective at just 37 years of age. His first match in charge of the Greek club was played on 26 August 2012, in the first matchday of the Super League, which ended in a 1-2 away win against PAE Veria.

His second league match was against APO Levadiakos, which they managed to clinch a comfortable 4-0 home victory with two goals from Rafik Djebbour, one from Dimitrios Siovas and another scored by Giannis Maniatis. In the Greek Super League, their performances were excellent, where they managed to win their first seven matches, before getting a 2-2 draw Aris Thessaloniki.

In the European Champions League, they were drawn in Group B against the likes of FC Schalke 04, Montpellier HSC and

. In their first match which was played on 18 September 2012, they suffered a 1-2 home defeat against the German FC Schalke 04. Their second match was also a defeat, this time against the English giants Arsenal with a score of 3-1.

On 24 October 2012, Leonardo Jardim was able to secure his first

win against Montpellier HSC, with a score of 1-2. Jardim finished the group in third place, thus making it to the Europa League.

However, on 19 January 2013, he was fired by Olympiacos despite excellent results (10 points ahead of the runner-up), with some media reporting an apparent affair with the wife of the club's president as the reason.

Sporting CP

He was named coach of Sporting Clube de

on 20 May 2013, when he signed a two-year contract until June 2015, and joined the club of his heart, which he stressed in his first press conference. During his first season, and following a nightmare season for the club, both financially and in terms of sport, he was able to restore the Lisbon team's reputation by leading them to the upcoming Champions League.

Sporting Clube de Portugal had not achieved this for five years. However, this impressive season brought him a lot of interest, and he was officially parted from Sporting on 20 May 2014 with a release clause of three million euros.

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AS Monaco

He was appointed AS Monaco's new head coach two weeks later when he took over from Claudio Ranieri. In spite of a good pre-season campaign and games involving a big win against Arsenal,

failed to win their first official game of the season against Lorient on the first matchday of Ligue 1 (1-2).

His tactical choices with Radamel Falcao and Jérémy Toulalan on the bench at the start of the match, João Moutinho as number 8 instead of number 10, the substitution of young Tiémoué Bakayoko as early as the 36th minute, and others, were criticised by some fans and the press.

Jardim's work was not made any easier by the addition of few new players and the fact that James Rodríguez had left the club. In the second matchday, against

, Jardim used the same tactics as the previous season and the team performed better and led 1-0 at the break.

Nevertheless, Bordeaux had a very good second half and Monaco lost 4-1 after having conceded two penalties. Monaco was touted as the rival of Paris Saint-Germain for the title, and the team (which had lost only four games the previous year) was dropped to the bottom of the table on the second day.

For many people (fans and journalists alike), Leonardo Jardim was responsible for this situation. However, Monaco went from strength to strength, finishing third in the league, to finish first in their Champions League group and qualify for the last 16. Unexpectedly, Monaco knocked out Arsenal in the Round of 16 but fell just short in the quarter-finals to eventual finalists Juventus.

Following an average 2015-2016 season which saw Monaco fail to qualify for the Europa League finals, Jardim and his charges were able to finish third in the league and reach the Champions League play-offs.

Leonardo Jardim's third season on the Stade de France began in 2016-2017. Having struggled to qualify for the Champions League, Monaco took the lead on matchday 20. The team played some outstanding games in

, notably with incredible offensive power as the best attack in Europe with an average of three goals per game at the end of the 22nd round of the league, and even topped their group in the Champions League.

Throughout the winter, the club rose to prominence with a series of performances and saw the stunning rise of their young player, Kylian Mbappé, who was introduced by Jardim despite his young age. Monaco officially became the French champions on 17 May 2017, when they beat

2-0 on their home turf.

In doing so, Jardim and the Monegasques won the club's first title since 2000 by scoring 107 goals, ahead of four-time winners and favourites Paris Saint-Germain. They also made it to the League Cup final and the semi-finals of the Champions League.

After winning the French title, many key players left AS Monaco, which made the next season a little more challenging, especially after an excellent month of August following the league title. Jardim's squad was knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage, although it was a very competitive group.

Monaco finished second in the league at the end of the season, thereby qualifying for the Champions League again, while at the same time reaching the League Cup final for the second year in a row with another defeat to PSG.

Following a devastating start to the season with just one win in twelve matches, Leonardo Jardim was relieved of his duties as coach of AS Monaco on 11 October 2018.

Return to AS Monaco

Leonardo Jardim was back in charge of Monaco on 25 January 2019, replacing

, who had recently arrived to take over from the Portuguese coach. With his appointment, the sporting director Michael Emelano stepped down, although he had been recruited by the vice-president Vadim Vasilyev.

Monaco lost to En avant Guingamp in the League Cup semi-final on 29 January on penalties. Notwithstanding notable signings such as Gelson Martins, his team was struggling to stay in Ligue 1 in May 2019.

His next season was not much better, and despite an ambitious transfer window with the arrival of Wissam Ben Yedder, Islam Slimani and Tiémoué Bakayoko, he was once again fired by Monaco's board of directors on 28 December and was succeeded by the Spaniard Robert Moreno.

Al-Hilal

He was appointed coach of Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal on 1 June 2021.

Style of Play

Leonardo Jardim has been known for using the typical 4 - 4 - 2 formation throughout his career, a system that allows balance in the 3 lines of the pitch and also adapts easily to offensive and defensive styles of play, it's quite practical!

The Youn Portuguese coach has adopted a very offensive style and is well known for playing a lot with the spaces, Jardim tries to cover all the spaces to defend and when it comes to attacking he always tries to counter-attack fiercely, 5 or 6 passes and shoot at goal, but obviously it varies because he won't go for a counter-attack in every play.

His teams also play with possession and unmarked passes and in that case, they try to get the full-backs up to open up the pitch and always try to filter diagonal passes, this type of pass favours the strikers and is tricky for the opposition, making it the ideal play to score a goal.

Reception

He is a young coach who has made a name for himself in 2017 because of his innovative tactical methods and his tactical mix. He was able to completely transform Monaco, winning the Ligue 1 title by a wide margin and making it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, becoming the revelation coach of the season. Many consider him to be one of the most talented Portuguese coaches of his time.

Leonardo Jardim Personal Life

In this section of Leonardo Jardim biography, we will take a deeper look into his personal life and share some information about

Leonardo Jardim life story

and

Leonardo Jardim religion

, stay tuned.

Family, Children and Relationships

There isn't much information about Jardim's private life, although he is married, however, you can’t find any information about his wife on internet. On the other hand, there are two very interesting details to highlight, despite being Portuguese by descent and having dual nationality he was born in Venezuela and started as a physical education teacher after he wasn't able to pursue a career as a football player, but he never lost his connection with football, that's something to admire.

Philanthropy

The Portuguese coach has always been a part of many charitable projects. For example, he coached the AS Monaco legends team in a charity match against the Greek 2004 European Champions in June 2019.

Legal Issues

There are no reports of any legal issues or disputes regarding Leonardo Jardim in the media.

Leonardo Jardim Career Statistics

In this section of Leonardo Jardim biography, we will take a deeper look into his career stats, both as an international and club player.

Managerial

His overall win ratio is 51.14 percent with 337 wins, 159 draws and 163 defeats in a total of 659 matches he has managed his teams.

Leonardo Jardim Honors

His most notable titles and awards include Portuguese Segunda Liga and the Ligue 1 with AS Monaco. During that season, he also was named Ligue 1 Manager of the Year.

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