As a coach, he led Calabrian third division club Reggina to Serie B in 1988, and then moved to Serie B club Parma. He held that position for six years, leading the Emilian club to its first promotion to the Italian top flight in 1990, and subsequently turned the team into one of the major clubs in the Italian Serie A, thanks also to the relevant financial backing from chairman and Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi, winning several domestic and European titles. During his time at Parma, Scala won the Coppa Italia in 1992, the Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup in 1993, and the UEFA Cup in 1995. He also managed runners-up medals in the Coppa Italia in 1995, in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1994, and twice in the Supercoppa Italiana in 1992 and 1995, while his best result in the league was a third-place finish during the 1994–95 Serie A season. He left Parma in June 1996. During the 1996–97 season, Scala accepted an offer from Luciano Gaucci to become head coach of struggling Perugia, but did not manage to escape relegation to Serie B for his side. He successively pursued a number of experiences abroad, becoming head coach of German club Borussia Dortmund in 1997, with whom he won the Intercontinental Cup. He left the club in 1998. In 2000, he became another Italian coach after Giuseppe Meazza, Sandro Puppo to manage a Turkish team by accepting an offer from Beşiktaş, and then went on to serve as head coach for Ukraine'sFC Shakhtar Donetsk where he won Ukraine Champion and Cup 2002 and Russians Spartak Moscow winning the Russian Cup 2003, the latter being his last head coaching experiences to date. He currently lives in his hometown city of Lozzo Atestino, where he is member of the local city councilsince 2007, after running unsuccessfully as mayor in 2007. He is currently active as a footballpundit for Rai Radio 1, where he regularly comments Serie A games and gives his answers to live phone comments and questions on Sunday late night show Domenica sport. Scala has expressed a desire to return to coaching, being linked with Motherwell F.C. and later with A.S. Roma in 2010. In July 2015, he was confirmed as new chairman of a refounded Parma, after the original club folded due to financial issues, while former player Luigi Apolloni was chosen as head coach. Parma managed to return to the professional Italian leagues that season, and clinched promotion from Serie D into Lega Pro on 17 April 2016.
