"Winning is always difficult,” regardless of the league or prestige. That's something that Corini learned during his years as a player, when his technical skills and leadership qualities spearheaded teams that made history in Italian football, like the Palermo side managed by Maurizio Zamparini that climbed from Serie B to the UEFA Cup.
He understood it even more as a coach, working in ambitious clubs and facing situations that were not easy and often complicated, and challenges that others might have turned down.
One such challenge is the one he faces today with the club from his hometown of Brescia. Taking it on was a choice from the heart, almost a duty for him, a man born in the province, in Bagnolo Mella.
After the collapse of Brescia Calcio, a still open wound for a city that for over a century saw football as part of its identity, Corini returned home during the season to take on a very heavy legacy. Not only to build a competitive team, but also to restore trust, continuity, and a sense of belonging.
“I have to say the environment has a lot of trust," begins Corini.
"It was a season where we finished second, behind a Vicenza that had been trying (to get promoted) for four years. It is always difficult to win, as evidenced by a team like Vicenza...
"We finished second, and considering how the season went, with so many injured players in the squad - we had to manage a constant emergency - it's a great result, and now we're preparing as best as we can for the play-offs.”
The play-offs are the gateway to paradise for Union Brescia, who dream of promotion to Serie B against top rivals like Ascoli, Salernitana, and Catania. Corini’s team will first face Casarano, with a place in the Final Four at stake.
It’s a league within the league, and Corini seems to have a clear idea of how to complete the project started in December 2025.
“You win the play-offs by facing them with great clarity, with great determination, reacting to those nuances that can change quickly within a match or from one game to the next,” says the Union Brescia coach.
For Corini, the two matches against Casarano must be approached “as macro-periods, and you have to stay in the game in any situation, whether things are going well or not, because everything can change quickly, and so you need a lot of clarity and a strong will to achieve something important.”
The second place achieved at the end of the regular season is, for the coach, a result of great value, especially considering the context in which it was achieved, with the many injuries that affected the squad and his work. The Brescia coach managed to restore balance and confidence to a group that now approaches the play-offs with renewed awareness.
“We reacted to a very difficult situation, we stayed on our feet finishing second and with this energy, with this mental strength, we want to approach the play-offs in the best way,” he explains.
Promotion would be a repeat for Corini, who already brought Brescia back to Serie A in 2019. But this year’s journey is not comparable to that one:
“There are no similarities. Back then, we finished first in Serie B, but this is a season where I arrived mid-championship, managing a constant emergency, but this has helped shape many things for me in terms of character."
Corini believes in the dream, and Brescia support him in the attempt to escape limbo after the city's old club went under.
A city hoping to reclaim its history, living on unforgettable memories of champions like Roberto Baggio, Andrea Pirlo and Pep Guardiola.
'If Guardiola came, it would be hard for anyone to object'
The latter, a former teammate of Corini at Brescia, is now being linked to the Italian national team after yet another World Cup disappointment.
It's a name the Brescia coach endorses, though with a small reservation.
“I think Guardiola, for his skills and ability to relate, could coach any team in the world. He has strong credentials to coach the Italian national team, which is coming from a very complicated period.
"I won’t hide that I really like the idea of a national identity, an Italian coach.
"Of course, if Guardiola came, it would be hard for anyone to object, considering the value of the coach and the man.”
It will be up to the future federation president to choose the next national team coach. Meanwhile, the football system will have to find new ways to get out of the quicksand of the last fifteen years and restore confidence to the environment and the players.
“I find it hard to believe there aren’t top players," admits Corini, trying to analyse the crisis in Italian football.
"It was hard to imagine not qualifying for the World Cup again, but unfortunately, it happened. Maybe the pressure to qualify at all costs weighed too much. It wasn’t seen as a responsibility we need to take on.”
“I think today we need to reclaim our role and turn pressure into a privilege, and work from the ground up with quality in preparing our youngsters, because I still believe we have excellent players.
"We need to prepare them both tactically and technically, but also mentally, which in modern football often makes the difference.”
But the problem is also at the management level, Corini feels.
“We need strong leadership to give direction. There are so many good and very capable coaches.
"They need to have specific skills because those who coach kids from six to ten years old need certain skills. From ten to fourteen is another step. From fourteen to seventeen-eighteen is yet another step.
"In my opinion, they also need to be paid properly, because you can’t underpay a job that is so valuable if you believe this development is key to what you want to build.”
Meanwhile, Italians will once again watch the World Cup as spectators, hoping that in four years the Azzurri can qualify again, maybe thanks to the talents now coming through.
And Corini already points to a name for the future:
“I have some very young players with very important qualities. Since he’s the youngest and has been working with us for three weeks, I’ll say Dennis Beldenti.
"A really young boy who has an important attitude both athletically and technically, and as a result, he has all the time to become a player who maybe one day can reach the national team.”