In a career of 35 years, he managed for 14 consecutive seasons in La Liga with seven clubs, including three spells at Mallorca and two at Atlético Madrid, winning the Copa del Rey with the former in 2003.

His good work there prompted the interest – and signing – from Segunda División club Toledo,[2] which he helped retain their league status with a seventh place.

[4] For the following campaign, he stayed in the top flight with Racing de Santander;[5] in spite of a 4–0 home victory over Barcelona, the Cantabrians were relegated and the coach was fired.

[23] On 8 June 2011, after leading Sevilla to fifth place, with the subsequent Europa League qualification,[24] Manzano returned to Atlético Madrid to replace Quique Sánchez Flores.

He arrived at Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng a year later, replacing Li Bing and leading the team to eighth, before being dismissed for a poor start in June 2018.