“Few thought I could even do this press conference.” Ancelotti is always in the mood for jokes. Yesterday he wanted to remember the last European success (even if on penalties) against City in the quarterfinals. He returns to Munich, where he was fired. And he puts out the flames: “I have fantastic memories here. It’s a beautiful city. Only the language didn’t enter my brain. I was lucky to coach this team. It could have lasted a little longer. But it was a beautiful moment I still feel a lot of affection for Rummenigge.”
WINNING
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Ancelotti has never lost against Bayern. In the 8 previous games he has 6 wins and 2 draws. In the preliminaries he passed 3 times out of 3. He returns to the Allianz Arena where he coached for 15 months between 2016 and 2017, winning 2 Super Cups and a Bundesliga. And leaving badly, at the end of September 2017, after a knockout in the Champions League against Mbappé’s PSG, with the senators of the German dressing room against. Yes, Bayern are good rivals for Carlo. With Milan 2 successes in the 2002 groups, and then he lifted the Cup. Another 2 qualifiers won in 2006 and 2007 with another Cup and a semi-final. And a precedent again with Real in spring 2014 against Guardiola’s Bayern, annihilated 4-0 in Munich in the semi-final, with braces from Ramos and Ronaldo. And then the triumph in the derby in Lisbon. In short, 4 challenges and 3 Champions League wins for Carlo.
REPENT
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However, the last time he led the Germans was a farewell. Submerged 3-0 by PSG. On the same night of the debacle, managers Uli Hoeness and Rummenigge decided to kill him. Hoeness said: “Carlo had at least 5 stars against him, so we had to take a remedy.” Yes, in that match against PSG he left out the mammasantissima: Robben, Ribery, Hummels and Boateng. Years later, Kalle showed some regret: “After PSG, Carlo immediately understood the situation and told me: ‘You’re no longer my boss, but you will remain my friend’. Of course, we should have waited longer before firing him.”
OLD PEOPLE
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Lewa, his striker in his Bavarian days, agrees and told Bild: “If with Carlo we had overcome that difficult phase, it would have been possible to create a winning era”. Carlo was followed by Heynckes, a Bundesliga win, and then other changes on the bench, at least one every 2 seasons. And to think that Carlo had arrived in Monaco with a mission: to rejuvenate the squad. Called after Guardiola, from the height of his 3 Champions League victories on the bench Ancelotti had the palmares to impose himself. Xabi Alonso, 35, and Lahm, 33, played their last season with him in 2016-17. Robben had 33, Ribery 34, they were at the end of their careers but they didn’t want to give up. The first year Carlo wins the championship at +15 on Leipzig. In the second season, Bayern started with 4 wins and a draw in the Bundesliga and a defeat against Hoffenheim, a 3-0 win against Anderlecht in Europe and the second Super Cup. Javi Martinez, another former player, explained to Marca yesterday: “Questioning Ancelotti’s methodologies is stupidity, he won everywhere. It’s not true that we trained less.” Müller and Coman remained from that season in Munich.
PRECEDENTS
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With Tuchel Carlo has a worse score. In 9 matches they lost 4 (won 3), of which 2 between Dortmund and Bayern (but won the 2017 Super Cup) and 2 between Chelsea with Everton and Real, including the second leg of the 2022 Champions League quarter-finals (then won), but after a triumphant first leg at Stamford. On Bayern he explains: “With Arsenal he played two spectacular matches at a high level. The attack is exceptional. Like us, they have a lot of tradition in the Champions League. This plays a role. However, we reached the semi-finals with work, sweat and commitment We can play in a final again, that’s the goal.”
