Nestor Sensini was born in Arroyo Seco, Argentina, on October 12, 1966.
He is the son of Italian immigrants from Le Marche and started his football career with Newell's Old Boys. He made his debut for "La Lepra" in 1986. The Rojinegro also produced players such as Gabriel Omar Batistuta, Jorge Valdano and Lionel Messi amongst others. Sensini played 89 games and scored 2 goals for Newell's and won a league in 1989 and reached a Copa Libertadores final but lost to Nacional. It is here was given his nickname "La Boquita" (Little Mouth), I presume sarcastically...
In 1989 he went to Europe and joined Udinese in Serie A. His first season was unfortunate and the Friulani were relegated under Bruno Mazzia and then Rino Marchesi. Sensini played 33 games with 2 goals (Sampdoria, Cesena) and 1 game in Coppa Italia.
The following year Udinese finished 8th in Serie B under Marchesi, then Pietro Fontana and finally Adriano Buffoni. Sensini played 36 league games and scored 4 goals (Salernitana, Barletta, Padova, Triestina). In the squad were also Francesco Dell'Anno, Claudio Garella and Lorenzo Marronaro.
In 1991-92 Udinese were promoted under Franco Scoglio until February and then Adriano Fedele. The Bianconeri finished 4th and Sensini played 36 league games with 2 goals (Piacenza x2) and 4 games in Coppa Italia.
In Serie A Fedele stayed on but was then replaced by Alberto Bigon. Udinese finished 14th after a relegation playoff (Brescia 3-1). Sensini played 33 league games plus the playoff with 1 goal (Torino) and 2 in Coppa Italia.
In 1993-94 he started at Udinese under Azeglio Vicini and played 11 league games and 3 in Coppa italia but then in November joined Parma. Udinese eventually went down under Adriano Fedele who took over while Sensini was still in Friuli.
At Parma the manager was Nevio Scala and the Gialloblù finished 5th. They won the European Super Cup (Milan 2-1 on aggregate after extra-time) and reached the final of the Cup Winners Cup (Arsenal 0-1). Sensini played 20 league games, 6 in Coppa Italia and 5 in Europe with 1 goal (Benfica in semifinal).
In 1994-95 Parma finished 3rd, won the UEFA Cup (Juventus 2-1 on aggregate ) and were runners-up in the Coppa Italia (Juventus 1-2 on aggregate). Sensini played 24 league games with 2 goals (Inter x2), 8 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Cagliari) and 10 games in Europe. He played with Fernando Couto, Dino Baggio, Stefano Fiore and Gabriele Pin.
In 1995-96 Parma finished 6th. Sensini played 31 league games with 2 goals (Torino, Roma), 1 game in Coppa Italia, 6 in the Cup Winners Cup plus the Italian Supercoppa (lost 0-1 to Juventus).
In 1996-97 Carlo Ancelotti arrived as manager. The Ducali finished 2nd in Serie A. Sensini played 31 league games with 1 goal (Sampdoria) and 2 in the UEFA Cup. He played with Hernan Crespo and Enrico Chiesa as teammates.
In 1997-98 Parma finished 6th. Sensini played 24 league games with 5 goals (Piacenza, Udinese, Empoli, Lazio), 3 games in Coppa Italia and 6 in the Champions League with 3 goals (Widzew Łódź x2, Galatasaray).
In 1998-99 Alberto Malesani became Parma manager. The Crociati finished 4th (CL qualification) but above all won the Coppa Italia (Fiorentina 313, on away goals) and the UEFA Cup (Olympique Marseille 3-0). Sensini played 26 league games with 1 goal (Sampdoria), 8 games in Coppa Italia and 10 in Europe with 1 goal (Bordeaux). Two of his teammates were Diego Fuser and Juan Sebastian Veron.
In 1999-2000 he joined Lazio. The manager was Sven-Göran Eriksson and he joined former teammates Couto and Veron. Lazio had a great season winning the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia. Sensini gave a good contribution playing 23 league games with 1 goal (Torino), 2 games in Coppa Italia and 7 in the Champions League.
The following season he started off at Lazio but after 1 league game, 3 in the Champions League and the Italian Supercoppa final he returned to Parma. He left after winning another trophy, the Super Cup beating Inter 4-3.
Back at Parma he found Alberto Malesani as manager but he was replaced by Arrigo Sacchi (14-16) and then Renzo Ulivieri (17-34). Parma finished 4th (CL qualification) and were runners-up in the Coppa Italia (Fiorentina 1-2 on aggregate). Sensini played 19 league games and 4 in Coppa Italia. His teammates included Matías Almeyda, Sergio Conceição and Marco Di Vaio.
In 2001-02 Parma had three different managers; Renzo Ulivieri (1-9), Daniel Passarella (11-14) and Pietro Carmignani (15-34). Parma finished 10th but won the Coppa Italia beating Juventus, on away goals after 2-2 on aggregate. Sensini played 16 league games, 3 in Coppa Italia and 6 in Europe 4 (CL + 2 EL) with 1 goal (Lille in CL).
In 2002 he returned to Udine. He stayed another four seasons, under Luciano Spalletti for three and the last under Serse Cosmi (1-24) and Loris Dominissini (25-30) but by then he had retired and helped Dominissini as coach. Udinese finished 6th, 7th, 4th (CL) and 11th. Sensini played another 101 games (91 A, 4 CI, 1 UC, 6 UCL) with another 7 league goals. In his second spell in Udine he played with Roberto Muzzi, Giampiero Pinzi, Stefano Fiore, Lucas Castromán, Manuel Belleri, Stefano Mauri and Roberto Baronio.
He then retired at 39 in January 2006.
At International level he won 59 caps for Argentina. He played in 3 World Cups including the Italia 90 final (lost 0-1 to Germany). He won a silver medal at Atlanta Olympics '96 and a bronze at the ' 89 Copa América.
Since retiring he has become a manager. He shared the job with Dominissini for 6 matches at Udinese after retiring. He then spent a year at Estudiantes, two seasons with Newell's Old Boys, one with Colón and one with Atletico Rafaela. Since 2015 he has been manager of Everton, from Vina del Mar, in Chile.
Sensini was versatile and could play both as a defender and as a midfielder. He is 1.78 and 77 kilos. He was mainly a defensive player and was used at full-back, centre-back and as a central midfielder. He was a strong tackler but would also be dangerous at the other end with his well-timed runs, enabling him to often get on the score sheet. He was a hard but fair player, both rugged and refined, most managers dream. His best years were at Parma where he won the Coppa Italia twice (1999, 2002), 2 UEFA Cups (1995, 1998) and a UEFA Super Cup (1993).
At Lazio he unfortunately only played one full season but it was enough for Laziali to appreciate his strong character, experience and class. It was a successful one too; a Scudetto, a Coppa Italia and an Italian Supercoppa (2000). It was brief but intense and he will forever be one of the second Scudetto heroes.
Lazio career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Super Coppa |
1999-00 | 32 (1) | 23 (1) | 2 | 7 | - |
Sep-Nov 2000 | 7 (1) | 1 | 2 (1) | 3 | 1 |
Total | 39 (2) | 24 (1) | 4 (1) | 10 | 1 |
Sources