Former coach of Napoli, the Italian tactician travels to the Diego Armando Maradona stadium on Tuesday in C1 with Real Madrid (9 p.m.).
Real Madrid’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti assured Monday that he had no spirit of revenge when facing Naples on Tuesday in the Champions League, whom he led for 18 months, before being sacked.
«Being here in Naples is a bit like stepping back into the past. It brings to mind good times in a wonderful city, and not so good times too. My memory of this experience remains positive.“, he explained, about his time between 2018 and 2019 at the helm of Napoli.
Licensed in 2019
«If the relationship between a coach and his club is not positive, at some point, it is understandable that it stops», continued Ancelotti who was fired in December 2019 by Napoli president-owner Aurelio de Laurentiis when his team was 7th in the Italian Championship and qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League.
«In the end, it was a good decision for Napoli, as for me, since two years later, I returned to the best club in the world», Recalled Ancelotti, at the helm of Real since 2021 after a first stint between 2013 and 2015.
The coach who won the Champions League four times (2002-03 and 2006-07 with AC Milan, 2013-14 and 2021-21 with Real) expects “a difficult match» against Naples.
«This will clearly be the most difficult match for us in this group stage, but we are used to these kinds of matches. Everyone wants to beat Real Madrid who are an institution in this competition“, he admitted.
«They are one of the best teams in Italy, we will have to repeat the match we had against Girona», dominated 3 to 0 on Saturday, hoped Ancelloti.
Asked about the absence of Luka Modric during Real’s last two matches, Real’s Italian technician justified it by presenting it as “a technical decision»: «This can change, from one match to another (…) I have seven very high level midfielders, I can only field four per match. Even if I put five, I would have a choice to make“, he concluded.
Before their duel on Tuesday (9:00 p.m.) at the Diego-Armando-Maradona Stadium, Naples, winner in Braga 2-1 during the first day of the C1, and Real Madrid, who defeated Union Berlin 1-0 , are back to back with three points each.
