Željko Buvač

Željko Buvač (Serbian Cyrillic: Жељко Бувач; born 13 September 1961) is a Bosnian football manager and former professional player who works as a sporting director for Russian Premier League club FC Dynamo Moscow. He is the former assistant manager of Premier League club Liverpool, a role he took in 2015 but left in April 2018.[1]

Željko Buvač
Buvač sitting between Stephan Kuhnert (left) and Jürgen Klopp (right) as part of the Mainz 05 coaching staff in May 2006
Personal information
Full name Željko Buvač
Date of birth (1961-09-13) 13 September 1961
Place of birth Prijedor, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina,
FPR Yugoslavia
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 FC Dynamo Moscow (sporting director)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1986 Rudar Ljubija 2 (0)
1986–1991 Borac Banja Luka 100 (14)
1991–1992 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 21 (8)
1992–1995 Mainz 05 91 (13)
1995–1998 Neukirchen 133 (15)
Total 347 (50)
Managerial career
1998–2001 Neukirchen
2001–2008 Mainz 05 (assistant)
2008–2015 Borussia Dortmund (assistant)
2015–2018 Liverpool (assistant)
2020– FC Dynamo Moscow (sporting director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Current Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp labelled Buvač as "the brain" in his coaching team, while describing himself as "the heart" and the second assistant coach, Peter Krawietz, as "the eye".

He has been credited with developing the high-speed attacking style that brought success at Borussia Dortmund.[2]

Playing career

Club

Buvač was born in Omarska,[3] SR Bosnia and Herzegovina within Yugoslavia to ethnic Serb parents. He played for FK Borac Banja Luka[3] in the Yugoslav First League. While playing for Borac, in 1988, he won the Yugoslav Cup.

In 1991, he moved to Germany and played with FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt and 1. FSV Mainz 05 in the 2. Bundesliga.[4] From 1995 to 1998, Buvač played for SC Neukirchen, where he ended his playing career in 1998 at the age of 37.

Managerial career

After retiring, Buvač became a manager. He finished his playing career with SC Neukirchen in 1998, and he took charge of the club soon after hanging up his boots. In 2001, after three seasons at Neukirchen, he became assistant manager of another of his former clubs, 1. FSV Mainz 05, where he joined friend, former teammate, and Mainz manager Jürgen Klopp. During his seven years at the club they achieved promotion to the Bundesliga, and later earned European qualification.

In 2008, he moved with Klopp to become assistant manager at Borussia Dortmund.[5] Described by Klopp as his "right hand", Buvač helped lead Dortmund to back-to-back Bundesliga wins in 2011 and 2012, as well as the DFB-Pokal in 2012, the DFL-Supercup in 2008, 2013 and 2014, and their second appearance in a Champions League final in 2013.[6] In 2013, while still at Dortmund, Buvač also became the head coach of the Republika Srpska official football team.[3]

In October 2015, he joined newly appointed manager Klopp and took up the role of assistant manager at Premier League club Liverpool.[7][2]

On 30 April 2018, Liverpool announced that Buvač was to take a leave of absence for the rest of the 2017–18 season due to personal reasons.[8] It was later announced that he had left the club permanently.

On 1 February 2020, he was appointed sporting director by the Russian club FC Dynamo Moscow.[9] On 14 December 2021, he extended his contract with Dynamo until the summer of 2024.[10]

Managerial Statistics
As of 26 May 2001[11]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Neukirchen July 1998 June 2001 66 37 12 17 056.06
Total 66 37 12 17 056.06

Honours

Player

Borac Banja Luka

As assistant manager

Mainz 05

Borussia Dortmund

Liverpool

References
  1. "Jurgen Klopp loses Liverpool assistant Zeljko Buvac for rest of season". The Guardian. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  2. "Jurgen Klopp assistant Zeljko Buvac joins coaching staff at Liverpool". 14 October 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  3. "A" national team at Football Association of Republika Srpska official website, Retrieved 26 May 2015 (in Serbian)
  4. Željko Buvač at fussballdaten.de (in German)
  5. "Željko Buvač". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
  6. "Borussia Dortmund" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  7. "Klopp dines out with staff after signing three-year deal". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  8. "Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp's assistant manager Zeljko Buvac 'spending time away' from club". BBC Sport. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  9. "Желько Бувач - новый спортивный директор "Динамо"!" (Press release) (in Russian). FC Dynamo Moscow. 1 February 2020.
  10. "Желько Бувач продлил контракт с "Динамо"!" (Press release) (in Russian). FC Dynamo Moscow. 14 December 2021.
  11. "Željko Buvač". Sofascore.com (in Croatian). Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  12. "Mainz 05 schafft Bundesliga-Aufstieg". welt.de. Retrieved 23 May 2004.
  13. "Dortmund crowned Bundesliga champions". Independent Online (South Africa). South African Press Association, Agence France-Presse. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  14. "Ronaldo's hat-trick Restores Real's Lead; Dortmund Beats Bayern". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. 11 April 2012. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  15. "Borussia Dortmund win domestic double beating Bayern Munich". zeenews.com. 13 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  16. Kimball, Spencer (27 July 2013). "Dortmund beat Bayern in German Supercup". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  17. Hallam, Mark (13 August 2014). "Dortmund dominate Bayern to claim Supercup". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  18. "Robben setzt Bayern Europas Krone auf". kicker (in German). 25 May 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  19. McNulty, Phil (28 February 2016). "Liverpool 1–1 Manchester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  20. "Real Madrid 3-1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  21. McNulty, Phil (18 May 2016). "Liverpool 1–3 Sevilla". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
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