By
Arinze Izik
Paris – Yaya Touré has described it as the start of a “new era” for African coaches, after becoming the first manager from the continent to take charge of a team in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night.
The 43-year-old former Manchester City and Ivory Coast midfielder led Slovan Bratislava into their league-phase opener against Paris Saint-Germain.
Touré left his position as assistant coach with the Saudi Arabia national team to take over at Slovan in July 2025. The Slovakian club have won the domestic title for eight straight seasons. Under Touré, they navigated three qualifying rounds to reach the league phase.
A Historic First
No African coach has previously managed in the Champions League. While some European coaches born in Africa have featured — including Portugal’s Carlos Queiroz and Paulo Fonseca, who was born in Mozambique, and France’s Jean Tigana born in Bamako — Touré is the first to hold an African nationality in the role.
Speaking before the PSG match, Touré said the moment felt “a little strange” but was “really wonderful” on a personal level.
“It is an important new era. We can say that things are changing now and moving forward,” he told reporters, via Yahoo Sport.
“There are people who have enough courage to hire young coaches, enthusiastic to work, who want to push things forward in a positive way.”
Touré thanked Slovan’s management, including sporting director and former Slovakia striker Robert Vittek, adding that opportunities like this are “extremely difficult” to get for African coaches.
“We have to work two or three times harder” to earn such chances, he said.
Facing the Champions
Touré, who earned 97 caps for Ivory Coast and won the Champions League with Barcelona under Pep Guardiola in 2009, said it was “a pleasure” to face PSG and Luis Enrique — a two-time reigning champion and “one of the best coaches at the moment.”
Slovan won their first four league games this season before losing their last two. They also lost all eight of their league-phase matches during their last Champions League appearance two years ago. Touré said there is no pressure on his side ahead of the trip to Paris.
