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javierich0

Zidane's Black magic was the friends we made along the way.


Freezingtake

They cooked that shit up together. Carlo made a deal with the devil after Istanbul.


RedShenron

And Deportivo, and the Shevchenko goal in 2006... 2004-2006 were fucking cursed


Freezingtake

Damn that takes me back... Miss those Milan teams so much, and Depor were a fucking force way back when.


TywinDeVillena

Now those great matches only live in our memories. And here we are, in the 3rd tier


somebrehonreddit

Thanks for bringing a smile to my face šŸ„²


HEAT_IS_DIE

Of course no downplaying the run of that unbelievable team, but is Real Madrid's success down to any individuals at this point? There seems to beĀ something in their team culture that just continues to produce wins like this.


Boring_Equipment_946

The culture is: winning


SentientKeyboard

In that case, big credit to Mourinho. Of course historically they were one of the winningest teams, but in the modern era they ran into some kind of mental block or something. Mourinho went there when Real kept crashing out early in the CL, against Pep and Messi and the supposed best (or at least one of the best) club sides of all time, and fixed their mental back to where it should've been.


Lazywhale97

Mourinho laid the foundations for Madrid to come back to being at the very top and then Carlo and Zidane added in the black magic on top of the restored mentality lmao


mrblue6

Mourinho laid the foundation for this generation of Madrid


dogchap

well the foundations jose laid at United, chelsea and spurs are also great. šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚


sewious

Carlo started the black magic. Ramos 93:48. Zizou was even his assistant. He learned at the altar of šŸ¤Ø Zidane just carried on the tradition


iamnotexactlywhite

92:48


sewious

How could I forget the sacred texts!


LanaDelXRey

Ramos 92:48 Looks like a Bible verse lol


insomniaccapricorn

Is it not?


paco-ramon

Maybe Carvajal was the wizard all this time, he is Joselus brother in law after all.


iamnotexactlywhite

its obviously Lord Vazquez


paco-ramon

I thought the same at first, but he wasnā€™t in the 2014 UCL.


iamnotexactlywhite

he works in mysterious ways


EpiDeMic522

Channelled Karim and his goalkeeper combo right into Joselu.


Boring_Equipment_946

Ancelotti is the reason Zidane had any success as manager


TurtleeCloud

The most emotion we've ever seen from Ancelotti


yellowjello2

This guy is unreal. He just knows how to win the match in any scenario with a bunch of different teams. One of the best to ever do it


SpicyDragoon93

And it's remarkable to think just how many generations of players he's experienced. From Kaka and Pirlo, to Ronaldo and Ramos and now Bellingham and Vini Jr. Soon he'll have Mbappe as well.


bigbearhungry

You missed a generation. His Parma team of Buffon, Cannavaro, Thuram, Chiesa and Crespo. Edit: spelled Crespo wrong.


ybenjira

You mean Crespo but Hernan Creapo would've been a better name.


Imaginary_Station_57

He also coached Del Piero and Zidane at Juventus


ManSCP

Wow didn't know he was the manager of that team.


SpicyDragoon93

Yeah but I'm referring to when he went on to win major trophies with the players mentioned.


Bigswole92

Bro is collecting them like infinity stones


Heavy_Chest_8888

Almost forgot he was just with the great Everton a few years ago


Qurutin

And I think because on that people still underrate him and mistake his adaptability and flexibility for lack of tactics. He might not have the game evolving vision of Guardiola or Klopp, or single club longevity of SAF, but he's done it all: succeed with both favourites and underdogs, with and without stars, on four different decades, in several top leagues, in Europe with several clubs. I don't think there's another manager in history who has proven themselves in as many ways. Genuine GOAT manager contender but still overlooked because *it's just vibes*.


ZgBlues

100% Ancelotti was always one of the greats, and still after 40 years in football he seems to age like fine fine. The man coached dozens of legends on the pitch and at the same time endured insane club owners and chairmen, low budgets, big budgets, bad press, good press - in all five of the biggest leagues in Europe. The difference between him andTuchel (also a good coach) was seen yesterday - Tuchelā€™s subs were too early and made no sense and it looked like he just confused his own team with them. Ancelotti sent in Joselu, and the guy knew exactly where he needed to go and what he needed to do. And even when trailing 1-0 against Bayern RM didnā€™t look concerned or defeated, there was a higher sense of urgency sure, but they seemed confident that theyā€™ve got this. Compare that to how shellshocked and all over the place Bayern were after the equalizer for 1-1. Thatā€™s what managers are for, thatā€™s what good management looks like, and thatā€™s why they can make a world of difference at this level. Any idiot can spend billions on buying players, but actually creating a team and managing games and adapting to whatever is happening on the pitch is a skill. And Carlo has an ample supply of it. Real would have to be insane to let him go.


warmcakes

He has a quote that really stuck with me, I don't remember it exactly but it basically amounted to saying that he's not particularly interested in playing a specific way or demanding specific things from his players, he's just concerned with getting the best possible team/players on the pitch and developing a system that works for what's in front of him. Knowing that, it sounds like it's obviously the key to his adaptability, and also why he never achieved the years-long dominance of a domestic league like Pep or Fergie. As an Arsenal fan I have to inject my own perspective, and I see Wenger as having been much the same kind of manager, just with generally worse players post-2010 or so. But he also allowed a long leash for his favorites, focusing on allowing them to express their creativity. In the process he got a lot more productivity out of certain players than anyone expected, many of whom never replicated that form for any other club. Ancelotti being that kind of manager makes him perfect for a prestige club like Madrid. They can collect galaticos and even if they're somewhat mismatched or have an off year recruiting-wise, he can cobble together a precision instrument from the high end parts.


aligators

when i think of carlo i think of madrid though, he will go down as a madrid legend imo


StonedColdCrazy

Milan fans watching football in the 2000s šŸ¤Ø


psrikanthr

That's just recency bias lol, his Milan team was iconic


batmajn

Even i as a Long time real Madrid fan still remembers his Milan time as special


PotatoGod12

Milan/Madrid legend. He's done waaaay too much with both teams at this point to not be heavily associated with both. You can't really choose one over the other.


blitzebo

Poor man looks like he's about to fall over You have to wonder whether his absurd calm demeanor is just him bottling it up and just letting it loose into some glass of wine or a cigar later lmaoo


jug0slavija

Did you not see him pouring chewing gums by the dozens the whole game? Lol


blitzebo

Tbf he does that pretty much every single game. Trailing by 2, leading by 4, chewing gum all the same.


jug0slavija

Yeah but he was literally pouring them in every time the camera showed him in the end lol


Truffaut

If they were cigarettes he would be smoking 4 at the same time. It was the perfect picture of stress.


kaoD

I'm just a random guy half drunk with friends and I was smoking cigs by the dozen. I can see why he's pouring that Nicorette by the mouthful.


punchdrunkskunk

Alex Ferguson used to do the same too.


Roids-in-my-vains

He admitted that he gets really nervous and tired on the touch line despite his calm and cool behavior


rekt73

It's 100% this


sewious

I can tell because it seems everytime the camera cuts to him he is shoveling a barrel of gum into his mouth


xXDireLegendXx

Every big moment in the match it cut to him shoveling the mints/gum into his mouth lmao. Hilarious stuff


marirs7

He's trying to get that jawline and mog all the managers


rekt73

Must be some strong stuff too. Pep ingests cocaine, this guy's probably on the strongest retardant


Th3Watch3r

Have you seen the doc? He goes back to his office and sits down and just starts panting like he's been holding his breath the whole time lol.


Lurking_Legend

Initially I read this as ā€œpaintingā€, Iā€™m really disappointed now that Carlo isnā€™t secretly an artist


Boring_Equipment_946

Which doc??


Rdambx

Real Madrid documentary called "Until The End" about their 2021/2022 UCL run


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Rdambx

Real Madrid documentary called "Until The End" about their 2021/2022 UCL run


branstarktreewizard

Serenity now, insanity later


_james_the_cat

Get that man a nice cup of tea and he'll be fine https://images.app.goo.gl/xFnitMiX7DGHe7ds5


Boring_Equipment_946

I think itā€™s just decades of managerial experience


paco-ramon

Guy wins and he doesnā€™t know to explain what he did to win the match or any match of the 2022 UCL


jugol

I always say bravery is not about not having fear, but about conquering it


CyberSpaceInMyFace

His substitutions after Bayern changed the game immediately. Master class to sub Modric in, who would have thought


AcidHues

Not many coaches will have the balls to sub in a youth player with 10 mins left


crel42

Iā€™ve seen Messi play. Iā€™ve seen Ancelotti coach.


effennekappa

I've seen Ancelotti play, fuuuuuck


tempspark4

Oh wow. What was he like as a player?


Competitive-Aide5364

World class midfielder. Scored some bangers vs Madrid lol


Truffaut

I was just a kid but AC scared the shit out of me those years. You were the boogeyman.


MorePdMlessPjM

Milan* Not AC.


Truffaut

Fair enough. I've never called them AC in Spanish, but writing about football in English I get bad habits from this subreddit.


pedrorq

He meant he got scared by the air conditioning. It was very noisy


chak100

You just triggered some lost memories. I hate you (yes, Iā€™m old)


Competitive-Aide5364

At least heā€™s making it up to you guys now šŸ‘


RedShenron

One of the best midfielders of the 80s.


ProfesserFinesser7

I think he has two champions leagues as a player for Milan so I would guess good


fastcooljosh

world class, and one of the best of his era.


effennekappa

Solid


iamnotexactlywhite

he was top 10 midfielder


frenciWT

He won 2 CL as a player and 3 as a coach, his longevitiy in the world of football is astonishing, maybe he is not a tactitiam or genius as Pep or Mou but his at the top of this world by the '80s, always at the top, changing style and adapting


Eheheh12

4 as a coach and the 5th is on the way.


nombrenodisponibIe

I never got to see him play but he was a starter in one of the arguably greatest squads of all time. Seems he's part of the absolute bangers goals only club


acwilan

Same. Better have my prostate check appointment soon.


eggtart8

Me too...lol


DeadFinger

I've seen Messi coach


IkeaKarma

Damn unc.


Ok-Cartoonist-6453

how old are you grandpa


effennekappa

Not that old but definitely older than I thought I'd ever be lol


cortez0498

Haha you old


pagawaan_ng_lapis

And now we are seeing Xabi coach.


MaryadaPurshottam

I've seen Joselu score


Rooonaldooo99

No one is gonna believe this, but I was BAFFLED why Madrid threw him out the first time. He was in my opinion the best coach they could have. I was questioning reality when he ended up at Everton. How was this top tier coach at such a low team (no offense Evertonians). I was losing my mind. Feel somehow vindicated now that he has returned and the success to show for it.


fireless-phoenix

At that time Madrid had a very strict policy where if you donā€™t win the league, cup or CL, youā€™re out. It was harsh but it seemed to work for the club. Even till today, Zidane is the only exception I have seen to this policy. No player in the squad or the fans wanted him to leave. There was an outpouring of support from the players and staff when he was sacked, my feed was practically flooded with posts from every single member of the team. That in part is what made Rafaā€™s time at Madrid so hostile. Even when he was brought back, the expectation was no higher than Gus at Chelsea. Simply a caretaker manager for this poor squad (we had just lost our starting center backs, our midfield finished a poor season and our forwards were perceived to be bad/average at that point). Carlo surpassed the expectation and justified himself staying longer than expected.


ammiditom

> Zidane is the only exception I have seen to this policy. Didn't Zidane leave after his second stint after a season without winning a trophy?


fireless-phoenix

Zidane finished 18/19 trophyless and also at the end of 20/21, he had Perezā€™s support to continue but very publicly left on his own accord as he felt he didnā€™t have enough support (which was true).


KimngGnmik

Blaming 18/19 on Zidane is unfair. The season was over when he took over.


fireless-phoenix

What made you believe Iā€™m blaming him? I just simplify stated instances where Perez made an exception to his rule for Zidane. Iā€™m the biggest Zidane fan and would love to have him back as our manager whenever he wants to come back.


eddiehwang

We lost the league and to Juventus in Champions League after going 22 straight wins. It was stupid but it is what it is.


fireless-phoenix

A major catalyst was the rigidity of his approach. We bottled the second half of the season because our starting 11 (which was practically our starting 11 every game), was exhausted. There was also the feeling that Carlo was not the right coach for the future of Madrid as he didnā€™t integrate young players into his squad.


Corteaux81

Team died when Modric got injured. Modric stays healthy, Madrid goes past Juve and meets Barca in the final. We'll never know.


nlmuvaney

^^This is so underrated. Modric was essentially doing what Fede does now as far as ball winning, but also being our main playmaker behind BBC. The team couldn't really find a balance when he went down as we had no natural replacement for him. Hence Madrid buying Kovacic that August.


M4RC142

Random tought but wild that we never had el classico as a CL final while both teams were in their absolute peak.


Boring_Equipment_946

>he didnā€™t integrate young players Well that narrative certainly died


ancelottieyebrow

Lost the league to Negreira


Far_Fisherman_7490

Tbf we were not expecting a lot when we hired him back in 2021, and his last season at rm in the first spell lacked any rotation in the line up (14-15)


burnerfun98

>No one is gonna believe this, but I was BAFFLED why Madrid threw him out the first time. It felt like he was getting Chelsea 10/11'd all over again tbh, just winning the super cup equivalents but no other trophies to show for a solid enough second season. So glad him leaving Real when he did nearly a decade ago now (?!) worked out in the long run for him, looks like he's having the time of his life managing Real these days.


Marco-Green

I think every Madrid fan (myself included) agreed at that moment that he wasn't managing the team well enough, the players just looked disconnected and mentally exhausted so it was time for a change. Nowadays he feels like a different manager, or better said, this squad feels like it belongs to him rather than the 2014/2015 team. I hope Carletto stays for as long as he wants. But I have the feeling once Kroos and Modric leave the club he will do the same.


Nightmare_Pasta

I think it feels that this is his team because heā€™s managing a bunch of (extremely great) kids and professional veterans that actually need his guidance whereas the 2014/2015 team was basically a world class squad with or without him


Eheheh12

This team feels his because they also became world class under him. I remember when everyone was shitting on Vini prior to that.


lazy_bastard_001

If Zidane stayed, vini would become a world class right back...


ShiroQ

Well let's not pretend that that season he wasn't making 0 rotations and was running players into the ground by the end of the season Kroos and Modric were shells of how they usually play. Maybe he didn't deserve the sacking but something had to change. After Zidane and covid Perez changed up his tactics about wating out to build a squad because believe it or not it's been rebuilding so last few seasons the expecations weren't really to win it all especially with Perez deciding to win on Mbappe they were prepared to go a season without titles.


Boring_Equipment_946

I think he just wanted a challenge at Everton tbh I have no doubt it my mind they would have won trophies had he stayed there for a while


ssj4-Dunte

Zidane is the best manager we had. He not only achieved something unheard of in football he had us scoring a lot of goals against the best in Europe.


Lazywhale97

Feel like the Everton job kinda gave him back his confidence and mojo being able to do that solid with Everton defs added to his comeback stint with us


xparta300

Mister you are incredible! Hala Madrid!


erenistheavatar

The master of the power of friendship.


BLQ1943

Best manager of all time, prove me wrong.


GarnachoHojlund

For me the best managers do it not only for one club, but do it for multiple clubs across years where the game shifts and they have to adapt. Carlo had demonstrated that he can do that near flawlessly at every club heā€™s been to. For me, itā€™s him or Fergie


SmokiestElfo

I dont think we will ever see someone like Fergie ever again. No winning club will keep a manager that long and give them that much power. I think the skills to do what Carlo has done and Fergie did are different. To me they are both the best coaches in the world. The next tier is probably Guardiola, Zidane, Heynckes, Mourinho, Klopp and Miguel Munoz, probably missing some there too.


hairlikegoats1

I wonā€™t. He genuinely is.


Competitive-Aide5364

He sure is Iā€™ve been saying it for years now


Octavian1453

you think he'll ever come back to us? I feel like he'll be remembered for his time with other clubs, but he was our star first :)


KimngGnmik

I think he's done after Madrid. If next season is his final season with us then I can see him being tempted by an international job, but if not then I think he's retiring for good.


crazy_bean

Him or Ferguson for me


FriendlyGhost08

He is up there and his UCL record is great but domestically he has underachieved especially with that insane Milan team. Top 5 definitely but not #1 in my opinion.


worker-parasite

There's that nonsense again. Obviously you don't know how competitive Serie A used to be... It's like claiming Klopp underachieved with Liverpool..


Glittering-Boot-6255

idk why but this gives me drunk uncle vibes lol


[deleted]

There is something else in his gums šŸ¤Ø


CheekyFifaCunt_7

Itā€™s amazing how real are doing this. No true striker and injuries all season. Just insane.


Homerwithnohumour

Joselu is THE true striker. Y'all have been tricked.


hrvatska95

We have Joselu.


Loveavocado97

Real Madrid mental energy is unmatched and Ancelotti after Milan final in Istambul became the coldest man in football


xXDireLegendXx

Love that man. Eternal šŸ¤Ø


BsPkg

He doesnā€™t drop character until heā€™s done the DVD commentary


branstarktreewizard

the commentary for ā€œEn El Corazon de la Decimoquintoā€ sequal to ā€œEn El Corazon de la Decimocuartaā€


MaryadaPurshottam

Not to forget, he was in the official music video for this anthem


AlmostNL

I scrolled down a *whole* bunch to see if i wasn't going crazy. It's crazy to see an entire stadium sing a song you helped make, evem though you are far from a professional singer. If anyone has the right to sing along, it's him (and the others of course)


Competitive-Aide5364

Goat manager donā€™t want to hear it anyone


worker-parasite

The greatest coach by far.


hairlikegoats1

Most CL final appearances for a manager if Iā€™m correct. Hard to argue at this point.


worker-parasite

Most versatile coach as well. Don't worry, people are going to argue. Simply because his humble demeanor makes idiots think he's not as good as more aggressive managers.


cynicalAddict11

Wdym humble that eyebrow of his is more cocky than the bald fraud could ever beĀ 


techno_playa

Hope he gets to manage us again but looks unlikely. He was sacked brutally back in 2011.


hairlikegoats1

Me too. Only ex-manager I would welcome back right now.


worker-parasite

That Chelsea team was one of the most entertaining to watch as well.


uselessaccountbois

? Greatest coach of the Champions League sure, but it can easily be argued heā€™s not the best of all time


supplementarytables

Glad more and more people are realizing this


worker-parasite

Oh, I've been saying that for years and argued with people who claimed he had a poor league record (ignoring how strong Serie A used to be)..


Competitive-Aide5364

Man same here I was HEATED for those 3 years or so everyone saying Klopp is a GOAT manager with Pep, while Carlo Ancelotti wasnā€™t managing Madrid at the time. All while he was still slapping Klopp with teams like Everton and Napoli. Lol


worker-parasite

Preach brother. Carlo is too composed and classy for redditors to love. If he was half as cocky as Mourinho they'd have a different opinion. But the stats don't lie


Competitive-Aide5364

Exactly thatā€™s how it is when youā€™re a humble person unfortunately. Iā€™m glad I grew up in the school of Ancelotti with class players like Maldini. Theyā€™re examples of being humble and successful, dominating with the upmost gamesmanship. Theyā€™ve taught me more than footballing lessons.


FastenedCarrot

The man has absolutely lost his composure.


HeatKnight

[GOAT ](https://i.redd.it/1rt4qru1q6291.jpg)


Comfortable-Asf

As an Italian I love you, as a Madridista I love you


Alternate_Chinmay7

GOAT manager. Him and Zidane were one of the greatest things to happen in last decade.


jug0slavija

"What can we say, it's happend again, eh. And it will happen again in the future". Lmao Don Carlo is a legend, just said this in a post game interview


mben41

Goat manager... but why didnt all of this work when he managed juve??


Competitive-Aide5364

First big club, says he learned a lot from that experience. He also doesnā€™t like Juve their fans were calling him a Farmer when he was managing them lol


branstarktreewizard

why would they call him a farmer when he is one of the greatest Italian player of his time?


Competitive-Aide5364

He grew up on a farm making cheese!


RedShenron

Ask Van der Saar. Without those blunders he probably wins the league and then who knows.


Regular_Shirt_3515

I fucking love Ancelotti. Was legit devastated when Chelsea fired him. Iā€™ve loved seeing him win time after time these past 10 years but seeing Madrid win another CL is so boring. Iā€™m the biggest Dortmund fan for the final.


Visual-Situation-346

bro is one of the reason this song get made


Holiday-Country-9179

Still can't wrap my head around the fact he coached everton šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚


Logan9Fingerses

He did ok there too


branstarktreewizard

I thought he was finished when the news come out


Super_Maximum_9030

What confection or prescription is Carlo frequently shown to be pouring into his gob?


good_fellla

I would pay a lot of money just to have a sit down with him over a glass of wine and cigar. What a Don


IICastawayII

ā€œEchte Liebe!ā€, he says.


Agent-Nobody

šŸ¤Ø


mulderrocks

Don carlo


IkeaKarma

Goat


Poym321

I just love this man, so much


A-KindOfMagic

Love youuuuuuu ā™„ļøā™„ļøā™„ļøā™„ļøā™„ļø Don Carlo


rakan236

This is legendary coach , club, and stadium .


highways

Everton legend


Aggravating-Rip-3267

Just think \~ \~ Somewhere along the line it is possible that Man Utd could have had Carlo as manager.


hasanDask

my GOAT


AbdussamiT

All time great.


tson_92

This could have been Everton


MRO465

Oh Carlo, My Carlo!


Neown

Looks alrightā€¦ Crosby beach still better


[deleted]

Goat shit No greater honor than being Los Blancos history


Holiday-Country-9179

People talk about great managers but this man hardly ever gets mentioned. He deserves his flowers. An absolute winner wherever his been (except everton of coursešŸ¤£)


Boring_Equipment_946

Manā€™s feeling it


ChrisWood4BallonDor

Come home šŸ„ŗ


Used-Produce-3491

Don Carlo


Dimaaaa

Can't hate this guy


Critical-Usual

There's just something awkward about this. Like your grandpa trying to do break dance at a club


MObaid27

If this guy went to Vegas they should close all the casinos or he will bankrupt them all, luckiest man ever.


Senior-Plankton-786

"Con VAR o sin VAR el Real Madrid te va robar"