June 26th marks the first anniversary of Carlo Ancelotti’s arrival at Real Madrid. During his first 365 days as Los Blancos manager, the Italian has earned a spot in the Madridistas history books after a successful season in which he has conquered the long-awaited Decima and the Copa del Rey.
“A few years ago I told you, Carlo, that one day you would be my manager. That day has come. Millions of fans from all around the world are expecting the best from you. Welcome to your stadium,” Florentino Perez told him during his unveiling as Real’s boss. It was worth the wait, because Ancelotti brought calm back to the Santiago Bernabeu after three tense years with Jose Mourinho.
The cliques that existed within the first team squad during the Portuguese’ time in charge no longer existed from the off, and there was a visible improvement on the field of play too. The first title of the season arrived in April, when an impressive sprint from Gareth Bale gave Real the Copa del Rey with a 2-1 victory over Barcelona.
However, one more time, the main objective for Los Blancos in the season was conquering their tenth Champions League. Ancelotti was aware of it from the first day: “It is a big goal, for the club and for everyone. I’ve got the ambition and the sense of responsibility for doing this, so it is not a problem. Winning La Decima can be such a big motivation that it can help the team.”
Ancelotti didn’t fool anyone. Real Madrid managed to qualify for a Champions League final after a 12-year wait, defeating powerful teams such as Borussia Dortmund, their conquerers in the previous season, and Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich. Ancelotti showed his ambition again in Lisbon, where Madrid lifted the trophy after beating Atletico Madrid 4-1 in the final.
The only objection one can make about Ancelotti’s first year at the Santiago Bernabeu was the fact that the team threw away their great work in La Liga with a terrible final run, thus losing all hopes to win the title. Although to be fair, nobody can demand Ancelotti a treble when Real Madrid has never won one in their history. A Copa del Rey and a Champions League is a pretty good start.
This season, i’m sure, Ancelotti’s will win the treble.