Roberto Mancini’s memorable managerial moments for Inter Milan, Manchester City and Italy

As a player, Roberto Mancini was crafty and creative with a keen eye for goal and his suave, silky style has carried over to management, where he has proven to be a relentless winner.

With over 550 appearances for his beloved Sampdoria side, a soccer pitch has become a second home to Mancini, and the Italian wasted no time in transitioning into coaching after his playing days.

Aged just 36, Mancini, on loan at Leicester City at the time, moved back to his native Italy to take charge of Fiorentina, before stints at Lazio, Inter Milan and Manchester City.

After a return to Inter and a spell at Russian side Zenit St Petersburg, Mancini has undertaken the Italian job, where he has transfomed a side which failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

With a European Championship now under his belt, Planet Sport recalls the other iconic memories littered throughout the remarkable career of Roberto Mancini.

No badges, no problem

Rumoured to have given half-time team talks as a player at Sampdoria, Mancini clearly had a passion for coaching even during his playing days.

As a hugely successful attacking midfielder himself, Mancini even went to the lengths of writing a research paper titled 'Il Trequartista', extensively outlining the position's role on the soccer pitch.

So with Mancini's playing days coming to an end, it was no surprise he was offered the manager's job at Fiorentina. The only problem - Mancini didn't actually have any coaching badges.

Mancini was out on loan at Leicester City when he received the offer and, after just four appearances for the English side, he informed the club he had no intentions of returning to play for them.

With no traditional coaching badges to his name, Mancini required special dispensation from the Italian FA to take the opportunity, which he was granted after just a few weeks.

Cash-strapped start

Throughout Fiorentina's financial struggles, Mancini occasionally worked unpaid, and fielded himself in some matches to avoid raising the wage bill.

Despite all the issues surrounding the club, Mancini won the Coppa Italia with Fiorentina before quitting in January 2002, just 10 months after joining the club.

Five months later he was hired by Lazio - who were also experiencing financial difficulties.

Domestic dominance in Milan

After winning two trophies under restricted circumstances, Mancini took charge of Inter Milan in 2004 and without the shackles of financial uncertainty, began to show his managerial potential.

Mancini wasted no time in ending Inter's silverware drought - a 3-0 win over Roma in the 2005 Coppa Italia final handed them their first honour since 1989.

The following season, Mancini replicated his success, winning both the Coppa Italia and the Italian Super Cup. Juventus' match-fixing scandal also saw them stripped of the Serie A title, which was instead handed to Mancini's Inter to complete a rather strange treble.

Mancini added a further two Serie A titles to his haul, and didn't rely on other clubs' mishaps this time. But, despite his three consecutive league titles, Mancini was sacked in 2008, with Inter pointing towards his lack of Champions League success as the reason. He was replaced by then-Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho.

The Aguero goal

After his sacking at Milan, Mancini spent a year away from the game before taking over at Manchester City following the dismissal of Mark Hughes.

City had just been subject of a takeover by wealthy owner Sheikh Mansour, who intended to heavily invest in the team - a slight change of pace from Mancini's previous ventures.

After joining midway through the season, Mancini had an immediate effect on the City side, and took them up to fourth. However, a dramatic 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the penultimate game of the season left them without Champions League soccer.

Mancini improved the side further in his first full season in charge and managed a third-place finish - City's highest ever in the Premier League at the time.

As well as impressing in the league, Mancini also managed a 1-0 win over Stoke City in the FA Cup final, earning City their first major trophy in 35 years.

But it was in the following 2011/12 season that Mancini truly cemented a legendary status in Manchester. After decades of being overshadowed by cross-city giants Manchester United, Mancini truly established City as the 'noisy neighbours'.

In what was meant to be Sir Alex Ferguson's final season in charge of United, Mancini's City side snatched success from under his red nose, winning the Premier League in dramatic fashion.

Coincidentally, QPR had the worst away record in the league, and everything pointed towards an easy victory for Mancini's charges.

Joey Barton, in typical Barton fashion, received a red card after slyly elbowing Carlos Tevez before less slyly digging his knee into Sergio Aguero.

But despite being down to 10 men, it was the visitors who took a surprise lead through Jamie Mackie to stun the Etihad crowd into silence.

With the dreams of a Premier League title seemingly slipping away, Edin Dzeko restored faith with a header in additional time, before Aguero's last-gasp winner etched itself into the history books and handed Mancini another league title.

Wigan woes

After Mancini's remarkable conquest of the Premier League title, he was unable to replicate his success the following season, with rivals Manchester United reclaiming the crown.

With relegation-bound Wigan Athletic as their opponents, Mancini's City side were expected to stroll to the trophy.

However, Wigan remained resolute up against City's talent-filled attack, and a red card for Fabian Delph on the brink of half-time made Mancini's team talk a little more difficult.

Just three days after the loss, Manchester City announced the sacking of Mancini, and cited the need for a more "holistic" approach in their new manager. Mancini left with the fourth best win percentage in Premier League history behind Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlo Ancelotti.

The Italian job

After his return to Inter Milan and a season-long stint at Zenit, Mancini was announced as the manager of Italy, taking the place of caretaker boss Luigi Di Biagio.

But Mancini retained a strong core of experienced players such as Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, and managed to qualify for Euro 2020 with a perfect record.

In the group stages of the finals, Mancini's side continued their hot streak, becoming the only side to win all three of their group matches without conceding a goal.

Back-to-back victories over Austria and Belgium and a semi-final shootout success over Spain extended Mancini's run and set them up for a dramatic finale with England for the prize.

Despite trailing early to Luke Shaw's strike, Mancini's side regrouped in the second half, and levelled the scores via Bonucci's close-range finish.

With the sides locked at 1-1, a penalty shootout was required to decide the champions. Italy got off to a rocky start when Jordan Pickford saved Andrea Belotti's effort, but a miss from Marcus Rashford followed by two superb saves by Gianluigi Donnarumma handed Italy the title at Wembley.