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In a great election of the times, the program ‘Universo Valdano’, of the channel #Vamos, had this Monday as protagonist Carlo Ancelotti. The Italian coach, who is in his second spell on the Real Madrid bench, has guided the Whites to the semifinals of the Champions League, where they will face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City with the aim of returning to the grand final.
In an interview with the former Real Madrid player and Argentine coach, Ancelotti was honest about his career, his way of understanding football or his current moment at the Santiago Bernabéu, leaving some pearls in his speech.
One of the things that first caught the attention of Ancelotti’s talk, who could soon become the first coach to win the five major European leagues, is his love for the city of Madrid and for the white club: “I am aware that I train the biggest club in the world, the demand is high and I have to accept it.
In Napoli I felt good, but coming back to Madrid was special, I never thought it could happen.”
The Italian is living his second Real Madrid stage after in the first he managed to lead the team to the long-awaited ‘Décima’ victory: “We just won the Champions League… Everyone tells me that Ramos’ goal is the most important of the last years. I am full of pride for coaching Real Madrid, it is special. As it was in Milan. Feel loved? I don’t know, I feel loved by the president, by the people in Valdebebas…».
Florentino, an amateur president
During the conversation with Valdano, Ancelotti distinguishes between amateur presidents and ‘business’ presidents. “It changes the way the club is managed. I prefer amateur presidents, because the structure of the club is similar to a family. Business clubs are more difficult to manage. And he places Florentino Pérez in «the amateur category. His success has never been achieved by another president, he is like Berlusconi, I will carry Madrid and Milan in my heart until it stops. The relationship between president and coach in this second stage is calmer and more balanced. For what he achieved and for his idea for the future of this club. It’s a team that never stops, or you celebrate quickly because… you have to hurry because you have to look straight ahead. That is why he has won so much, he does not feel good with defeat, if that happens you will lose.
Among the many things that make him fall in love with Madrid, Ancelotti recognizes the Bernabéu factor: “In two different facets, in one that we had to overcome and in another that we had an advantage, it will help us. The last time against Guardiola we started here and it went well for us.”
The coach specifically refers to the match against Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-finals: “We had a two-goal lead and you can prepare for the match as best you want, but these are things that happen. The first part was good, but what was missing? Well, the hunger to hurt. We had that in the first leg because we didn’t have that advantage. We had two individual failures that we hadn’t had all season, we broke the line of four with the two center backs when we came out under pressure, that’s incredible. What to do at rest? I’ve never had such a radical change from a game to half-time like that, it’s the magic of this club and the stadium.”
The other most striking aspect of the interview, beyond the review of his career and his relationships with Berlusconi, Sacchi or the other teams where he trained, is in his way of seeing football and how it was forged. “My father was a farmer, we had rented land and cows. The milk was to produce the Parmeggiano Reggiano. You had to wait for the cheese to mature for a year. He was a very calm, balanced guy, that has shaped my character ».
a quiet guy
“My mother didn’t want me to go to Parma when I was 16, she didn’t care about football at all. I spent four years in a school for priests, in the Salesians, I learned discipline, schedules… I learned to be responsible, before my mother or grandmother always helped me. I didn’t like studying, but I ended up as an electrical expert », she recalls.
For Ancelotti, dedicating himself to football “is not a sacrifice, it is a pleasure. You suffer a lot but you enjoy a lot. The other day they worried me about the national team, but I take energy from day to day, that’s what I like. The day the day I prepare the body for the suffering of Sunday, the day of the game. If you lose you can not sleep and if you have won, how do you think about the good, then neither ».
“I don’t have the obsession, I really like football, it’s my passion, but I try to keep things as simple as possible. Football for me is not complex, it is simple, also in strategy. Attacking is creativity, defending is organization. I can teach you more about the second, the first is creativity and I don’t want to obfuscate that talent. That Modric pass, I don’t have to say anything to him, or teach Karim how to get into the area. I don’t consider myself strict », says Ancelotti, who acknowledges that he likes to be close with his soccer players. “He is my character. I want to distinguish the person from the work. I have grown up respecting people. You cannot say that you are a footballer or a coach, you are a person who plays football or a person who trains. The work affects who you are, but I want to distinguish it well ».
Ancelotti has words of praise for his son and assistant on the Real Madrid bench Davide. «He is very calm, like me. Very serious professional. He has understood very well what it means to be the coach’s son. Someone is always going to tell him, that he is there for that. We are a team in the coaching staff. He has taken more responsibility to prove himself, that has helped him. He is getting the UEFA Pro title in Wales because in Italy the requirements are not validated, things of the bureaucracy ».
Finally, questioned about his future, the Italian jokes: «I want to be a university football teacher, to be given a title by UEFA or something, to give exams to those who think about football, to see if they know…» «When I leave I would like something else to train, I have five grandchildren, I have married for the second time and we have not done many things, we have to do more, I want to enjoy with her. When I finish I will be a fan of the stands of Madrid and Milan », he sentences.
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