This Wednesday (9 p.m.), Manchester City and Real Madrid will compete for a place in the Champions League semi-final. One of the two big favorites of the competition will be eliminated prematurely. Who, Guardiola or Ancelotti, will emerge victorious from this star-studded clash?
When Manchester City and Real meet, the press goes ecstatic. During the first leg at Santiago Bernabeu, the two teams delivered a football recital (3-3). If the Spanish daily Brand saw, last Tuesday, “the best modern football match in the world”for their part, German journalists from Bild found it regrettable “that one of the two gets fired in quarters”.
Poster that has become essential for its last two Champions League campaigns, with epilogues each as rich in emotion as the next, and after last week’s 3 everywhere, Europe is preparing to vibrate again in a few hours of the return match. At the head of the collective score of the Skyblues and the unsinkable Real Madrid are coaches, artists, creators.
Guardiola, the conductor
“Manchester City can confirm that they have commenced and finalized negotiations with Pep Guardiola to become first team manager for the 2016/2017 season”announced the management of the English club in a letter to journalists on February 1, 2016. 8 years later, the club has become a real orchestra which recites its scores to perfection in each match under the leadership of Pep Guardiola and his baton. magic of which he alone has the secret.
Long in the shadow of its great rival, Manchester United, the Skyblues have changed face and dimensions since the arrival of the Spanish technician. Nine national trophies, including five Premier Leagues, before winning the Champions League in 2023. The ultimate dream of an entire people, long made up of workers, has finally become a reality.
Manchester City crowned for the first time in the Champions League (2023). www.imagephotoagency.it / Image Sport / Panoramic
This shower of trophies can be explained by the enthusiasm of the players to have fun “with their second family” and the desire to move forward and win together but also by Pep Guardiola’s love for football. “He lives and breathes football. Whether you make a mistake and he yells at you, or you make a good pass and he applauds you, he’s a man who lives through it all.”, explained the Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson. In addition to this obsession, the 54-year-old technician insists on rigor and pushes his players to their limits to obtain the best version of themselves. “He raised me to a level I never imagined.” confided Rodri, the essential Catalan speaker.
Pep is the best coach I have ever had.
Lionel Messi
But the key to his success lies above all in the respect he owes to this sport. Football gave him a name, a career as a player and then a coach, which began in 1988 with the FC Barcelona C team. Since then, he has never left the field and has continued to revolutionize the game over time. From ball retention to repositioning to a false number 9, he left an indelible mark in all the places he went and continues to do so. The tactician, the obsessive, the genius, three nicknames for the same person… Pep Guardiola.
Ancelotti, la force tranquille
As prestigious as it is popular, Real Madrid attracts the eye of all observers and the slightest misstep is scrutinized. It is not Rafael Benitez, who visited the Spanish capital between 2015 and 2016, who will say the opposite. His lack of results earned him his place. For Carlo Ancelotti, the story is different.
Carlo Ancelotti in training. Zoom / Panoramic
After a successful first stint between 2013 and 2015, where he won the Champions League, the Italian technician decided to leave the club to take a sabbatical and recover from his neck surgery. But the story couldn’t end there. In 2021, the Spanish capital club calls on him to succeed Zinedine Zidane. A proposal accepted by the 64-year-old coach. Since his return to Real, Ancelotti’s work has continued to convince management. “I don’t want to hear about this anymore. (A departure). He is under contract and we are happy with him,” said Florentino Perez on May 6, 2023.
Carlo likes this image that he sends back to the world.
Cristiano Ronaldo.
To help his group progress, he uses his own methods. He focuses on gentleness and his natural calm: “I try not to force anything, but to suggest, to influence. That’s the gentle method. Managing a group of great talents on a daily basis (with all the whims and egos that this entails) is no easy task. To achieve this, you have to convince, seduce and succeed in obtaining their support for the project. But above all through relationships.” Carlo Ancelotti also focuses on the importance of young players and prepares for the future by giving them responsibilities as quickly as possible. “I have become responsible, I am no longer the same as I was 1 year ago,” confided Eduardo Camavinga after Real’s coronation in Saint-Denis (2022).
Between praise and clashes
Before being very good coaches, if not the best in the world, Guardiola and Ancelotti are above all great men, who maintain a relationship full of praise. And the latter is not new. “He is an exceptional person. I met him years ago (when Ancelotti was coaching at Milan, Editor’s note) and every time I am with him, he is calm, he controls his emotions perfectly. said Guardiola ahead of the 2022 semi-final second leg. The admiration doesn’t just go one way, it’s mutual. “Pep is a fantastic coach. I have a good relationship with him and a lot of respect for the work he does. In a way he’s a genius.” said Ancelotti.
On the bench, the two technicians faced each other eleven times, the 12th this Wednesday evening. And the advantage is in favor of Guardiola. The Spaniard won 6 matches and conceded 3 defeats. Since the 2021-2022 season, 23 goals have been scored in 5 confrontations between the two counterpart teams. The latest being the 3-3 in the quarter-final first leg, which once again captivated Europe with its spectacle and crazy scenario. Often compared, Guardiola and Ancelotti are linked by the desire that drives them. That of winning the Champions League on June 1 at Wembley.
