Carlo Ancelotti has said winning the Champions League with Real Madrid would make this the best season of his 27-year managerial career.
Madrid will face Liverpool in the final in Paris on May 28 after eliminating Manchester City in a dramatic 3-1 semifinal second leg this week, having wrapped up the LaLiga title four days earlier.
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“I’ve never got to this stage of the season in a situation like this,” Ancelotti said in a news conference on Saturday ahead of Real’s league derby with Atletico Madrid. “What a week we’ve had, winning the league, and getting to the final.
“To finish it off, it would be good to win [the Champions League] on May 28, and we’ll try. Winning it would make this the best season of my career for sure.”
Ancelotti has won three Champions Leagues as manager — with AC Milan in 2003 and 2007, and in his first spell at Madrid in 2014 — and last weekend became the first coach to win Europe’s “big five” leagues, but has never done both in the same season.
Last Saturday’s 4-0 win over Espanyol at the Bernabeu saw Madrid clinch the LaLiga title with four games to spare.
In Spain, trophy winners have traditionally been applauded onto the pitch in a guard of honour in their next match — but Atletico Madrid said this week that they would not do so before Sunday’s derby, calling it “an attempt at ridicule.”
“The Italians aren’t used to [the guard of honour],” Ancelotti said. “Atletico Madrid are a club we respect a lot, they’re our neighbour and our friend. I have a lot of respect for the players, the fans and the coach. If they do it, great. If not, it doesn’t matter.”
Atletico coach Diego Simeone was also pressed on the issue in his pre-derby news conference.
“These questions always look to generate controversy,” he said. “The club put out a concrete statement, perfectly explained. We congratulate Real Madrid, we congratulate their players and their coaching staff because they’ve done an impressive job.
“We have huge respect for Real Madrid as champions, but we have a lot more respect for our fans who are with us every day… I don’t know if other leagues do it. Every society is different. Where I’m from [Argentina] it isn’t done.”
Ancelotti — who has managed Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton and Real Madrid in a glittering coaching career — said this week that he would consider retiring when he leaves the Bernabeu.
“It’s an idea I have,” he said on Saturday. “The day I finish at Real Madrid I could look at stopping coaching… There isn’t a bigger club than Real Madrid. I’ve had a long career and ending your career at Madrid would be finishing in the best way. I want to stay here for many years, win a lot of trophies, enjoy this club and this city, and then do other things.”
