Real Madrid is in for a paradigm shift as they resorted to their erstwhile preceptor, Carlo Ancelotti after the sudden departure of Zinedine Zidane, to take over the reins at Santiago Bernabéu with the situation being in terribly hot waters.
The recently concluded 2020-21 season was one of the most woeful stints for Los Merengues, given the fact that they failed to notch up a solitary trophy in the entire year. Despite coming close in La Liga, they were left with a sour taste in their mouth as Atlético surged past them in the final round of the tournament.
Particularly, the fans of Madrid weren’t really happy with the decision of bringing back Ancelotti after the latter failed to impress at Everton despite the availability of a decent squad that was bolstered by the arrival of James Rodriguez.
Despite the contrasting opinions that the fans have for this Italian manager, his statistics are overwhelmingly in favour of him being a perfect contender for this prestigious calling, especially given his former time on the sidelines. However, things are different now, and he will need to put in a much stauncher shift than what he did last time as he will have to steer Los Blancos from one of their darkest phases in recent history.
However, in this story, we will like to take a look at five unknown facts about the man who will be leading Real Madrid from the sidelines.
1. The Rock-esque Eye-brow raise
We are all accustomed to the wrestling star, Dwayne Johnson also known by his ring name, the Rock, for his eye-brow-raising entrance. However, in football, it is Carlo Ancelotti who has a similar gesture, only this is permanent and cannot be reversed. It transpired, due to a terrible Vespa crash when he was a teenager.
The accident left his eye-brow arched permanently. This accident changed his life as he started taking it a lot more seriously after being alive and went on to establish himself as one of the most successful managers of all time. However, what one may not know is the fact at times, Carlo deliberately arches his right eye-brow only for it to look asymmetrical. This bit of confession was published in his autobiography called “The beautiful games of an ordinary genius”.
2. The foremost choice at Old Trafford
Despite the fact that it is believed that David Moyes was Sir Alex Ferguson’s first choice to take over the reins at Old Trafford after the gaffer retired, it was actually the man hailing from Italy, Carlo. Fergie has clearly stated in his autobiography that how he wanted to coax the big man in coming to the Theatre of Dreams, only for the move to fall apart.
3. The European conquest
Carlo Ancelotti is one of those handful of six gaffers to have won the Champions League both as a coach and a player, and this feat of his makes him a formidable moniker to have tread the path in European football.
He won the European glory as a player back in the 1980s, when he was a part of the AC Milan squad that lifted the crown on two repeated occasions. However, his managerial conquest of Europe happened with Real Madrid as he ushered them to the Champions Trophy in a scintillating fashion. He only became the second manager after Liverpool’s Bob Paisley to win the European crown on three occasions.
4. The ever-loved human being
Despite having shuffled between so many outfits, Ancelotti has never had any players who have actually spoken against him in public. Spanning from icons of the game like Cristiano Ronaldo, Paolo Maldini, Sir Alex Ferguson, David Beckham and the list goes on and on, everyone had something amazing to talk about this towering human being. He is known not to lose temper in the dressing room, but on very rare occasions when he has done it, things have seemed exceptionally bleak for the ones at the receiving end.
5. The Godfather who always kept his family close
In the movie Godfather, Marlon Brando talks about how a real man must always be close to his family. Similarly, Carlo Ancelotti always knew how to keep his family and profession separate. While he was a manager at Chelsea, he continued to travel to Italy on a daily basis in order to see his 87-year-old father, who was suffering from poor health due to diabetes and other health issues. When asked about the same, he cited, “I don’t have a problem managing the team for this reason. It’s difficult, emotionally, when it’s your father. I have to do my best to stay close to him, but this is the life.” His father died on 29 September 2010, aged 87.
