IF Carlo Ancelotti was a noisy devil, prancing around the technical area like a jack-in-the-box, or berating fourth officials to spoil for a fight, then perhaps he would earn the plaudits of those that believe the “visible” approach is the best way to run a team. Ancelotti looks more like an investment banker on a field trip or a politician looking for election votes. His general body language suggests a man who is confident in his ability, somebody who trusts the players he sends out onto the pitch. He has managed the Real Madrid side since 2022 and has just led them to their 36th La Liga title. Real are also in the last four of the Champions League and favourites to reach yet another final after drawing 2-2 in the semi-final first leg against FC Bayern. Ancelotti is doing some very right.
Real Madrid have won the league twice in three years since he returned. He won the Champions League in 2022, maintaining his excellent record in the competition. Ancelotti has a fantastic CV: AC Milan, Juventus, Napoli, Chelsea, Real, PSG and Bayern Munich, as well as Parma and Everton. He’s won league titles in five leagues: England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, four Champions League titles as a coach and four domestic cups. His overall managerial win rate over almost 30 years is almost 60%. He is one of the greatest club managers of all time and certainly one of the most understated. The one common factor in his career is that he is normally most appreciated when he has left a post. Most clubs do not realise how fortunate they are to have had him in charge. No wonder some Chelsea fans are now calling for Ancelotti to return to Stamford Bridge.
The current Real Madrid side is possibly a little underrated and yet is every bit as good as the team that won three Champions Leagues in a row between 2016 and 2018. They are more of a unit but they now have two players, Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham, who can provide the youthful vigour to balance the more experienced performers like Toni Kroos who once looked on his way out but has been one of La Liga’s best midfielders this season. Ancelotti deserves credit for making Bellingham a very different player than he was at Dortmund, a hybrid who scores goals and adds a certain youthful dynamism to the Real team. Both Real Madrid and England should thank Ancelotti because he has made € 100 million look like very good business.
Real have around half a dozen players who have almost doubled in value since they joined the club, including the aforementioned crown jewels as well as Rodrygo. These three, according to Ancelotti, may be the three best players in the world at the moment.
Most people outside of Spain do not take too much notice of Real until they start to make a dent on the Champions League; pundits might want City to win, others might feel PSG should emerge as the top club and the narrative of Harry Kane winning a medal may be uppermost in the minds of the media, but Real have the track record and the knowledge of how to navigate the competition. They are the equivalent of Gary Lineker’s Germany, who – inevitably – built a reputation for winning through to the latter stages of the World Cup on penalties. Some teams create excitement and raise expectations that they can win the Champions League, but at the end of the day, Real Madrid take home the big prize. They may well do that again this season.
There never seemed much doubt that Real would be Spanish champions. Girona, the early pacesetters and a junior party in the City Football Group, lost just once in 22 games, but Real put them in their place with a combined scoreline of 7-0. Girona did beat Barcelona twice, both by 4-2. The second of those victories meant Barca could not catch Real in the title race. Barca, the 2023 champions, were never totally convincing away from their Camp Nou home, which is currently being rebuilt, and to make life a little more difficult, their free-scoring centre forward, Robert Lewandowski, appears to be in decline. Atlético Madrid, the only side to beat Real in La Liga, have been far too inconsistent to make a challenge.
Real’s opponents should be quaking in the summer. Kylian Mbappé is joining the club and that will add ferocious power to their all-star attack. They may have a problem in trying to find the best formation to accommodate the various qualities of Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior and the French new boy. It’s not quite Galacticos stuff, but this trio really do represent the new breed. While Real’s chief rivals may need to regroup, they will go into 2024-25 stronger and undoubtedly more formidable.
GAME OF THE PEOPLE 