Ancelotti: Total Refresh

Carlo Ancelotti’s pedigree is unmatched in the history of the European Cup. Since winning a record fifth title as coach at Wembley in June, the 65-year-old has recharged the batteries horse-riding in the wilds of Montana. “Totally refreshed” and back in the saddle with an exciting young squad raring to go, the Real Madrid boss has already turned the page and is ready for the next chapter

WORDS Michael Harrold and Graham Hunter | PORTRAITS Jacobo Medrano

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So what are the keys to Carlo Ancelotti’s success? What does it take to win the Champions League five times as a coach? Is it calm under pressure? The refusal to accept defeat whatever odds are stacked against you; that inner belief and confidence – transmitted to your side – that things will go your way in the end? A sprinkle of genius, vision and inspiration and that open, likeable man-management style? Trust in your players as individuals to make the right choices and empower them to express themselves on the pitch? Or is it the years of experience at the very top of the game? There is no situation Ancelotti hasn’t been through before.

But something even more simple than that could also play a significant part – like making sure you get a proper holiday, a proper break to clear your head of the endless 24/7 cycle of the modern game. As Ancelotti prepares to go again, Real Madrid’s 15th European Cup triumph still fresh in the memory, he is certainly feeling the benefits of some serious time off.

“I switched off completely,” the 65-year-old says, referring to his holiday in Valcourt, Canada then Montana in the United States, where nature, fresh air and exercise washed away the stresses of the demanding football calendar. Well maybe the time in the wild wasn’t entirely football-free, not with EURO 2024 and the Copa América under way. “I watched all the games,” Ancelotti admits. “Football is a passion of mine; it’s fun. I was perfectly able to switch off. I had 40 days of holiday. It was great. I was in beautiful places and I watched football. It’s what I enjoy most.”

Ancelotti’s wife Mariann Barrena McClay is Canadian and they have made Vancouver a second home. After some time north of the border, they drove south. “Canada is wonderful. Then I spent a week in Montana. There is an amazing highway from Canada to Montana that takes you through the woods. Everything was beautiful, Montana is a spectacular state. Not many people visit it and there aren’t a lot of people there, but the nature is gorgeous.” And what did he get up to? “Cooking, obviously, as well as football, horse riding, nature, bike riding. I have to say, I feel totally refreshed.”

Totally refreshed and ready to make another assault on the Champions League – a competition Ancelotti has grown accustomed to winning. His record is extraordinary. In 22 seasons as a coach in the competition he has reached six finals, winning five, with AC Milan in 2003 and 2007 and Real Madrid in 2014, 2022 and most recently at Wembley on 1 June, when goals from Dani Carvajal and Vinícius Júnior defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-0 and clinched that record 15th European Cup for Los Blancos. Add to that two wins as a player with Milan and no one has lifted the trophy as often.

“My relationship with the Champions League is amazing,” Ancelotti says. “It’s brought me a lot of success and, of course, some disappointment. But you can’t win them all. We prepared well for the final, with total dedication and calm. Even though public opinion considered us to be favourites, we prepared as we would for any match: an awareness of what we needed to do and an even greater awareness of the team we were to face, and the intensity Borussia Dortmund could play with.”

Ancelotti is talking to Champions Journal ahead of a return to the States for Real Madrid’s pre-season tour, and with one eye on the UEFA Super Cup match with Atalanta, the 2024/25 curtain-raiser which is already looming on the horizon. The war cry which drove the Spanish national team to two decades of shimmering trophy success, including this summer’s EURO 2024, has been “Un, dos, tres – ganar y ganar y ganar!” (One-two-three – win, win and win again!) and it is still ringing in the ears. It’s precisely the challenge facing Ancelotti right now. But the difference is the Italian won’t need his players to huddle together in the dressing room to yell it as a declaration of intent or a reminder of their purpose – somehow it’s in their blood.

Like any great institution, Real Madrid changes personnel, whether that be playing staff, technical experts, the coach. Somehow, an ideology, a hunger, an intangible but powerful DNA continues to be passed down from era to era: win, win, however it comes, keep winning. Then win again.

Ancelotti’s side begin this season as both Spanish and European champions – something they have found unusually testing to achieve over the generations, notwithstanding their extraordinary philosophy of trying to dominate, to lift trophies, plural, every single season. Last term marked only the third glorious moment they have ruled Spain and Europe at the same time since 1958 – in 66 years. However, it’s a feat they most certainly can aim to repeat.

Carlo Ancelotti and his wife Mariann Barrena McClay enjoy their time away

“I was perfectly able to switch off. Montana is spectacular. Not many people visit it and there aren’t a lot of people there, but the nature is gorgeous”

This is precisely the blessing of possessing a stubborn will to win, upon which they will rely so heavily this term as the tests come thick and fast. Why doesn’t it diminish?

Los Blancos go into this new campaign with two senior members departed: most nostalgically, lifelong Madridista Nacho, but, perhaps more significantly in a playing sense, Toni Kroos too. “He’s very important for many reasons: for his experience, for his ability to manage the team’s possession and the tempo of the game,” Ancelotti says. “It’s a pity that he’s stopped playing, but this is what he wanted, and we obviously respect his decision. It shows the courage of the man because I believe it’s very hard to decide to stop when you are at the top. We have to replace him in a different way, because you won’t find another player of the same quality as Kroos. So it goes without saying that we’ll need to play in a different way.”

This, when the challenge of playing more than 70 matches should Madrid reach the final of every competition in which they’re entered, is made increasingly tough. In fact, there is a potential record one-season trophy haul of seven on offer, given the introduction of the new 32-team FIFA Club World Cup next summer. It’s tantalising, it’s catnip to the Real Madrid fans and their demanding president Florentino Pérez, but it’s an ultra-demanding calendar for the players.

Madrid stand to be able to win both La Liga and the Champions League again simply because they are stocked with such extraordinary talent and managed by a man whose attitudes, experience, talent and simpático nature mean he’s the best in the business to steer them through this extraordinarily gruelling year. But this is where the ethos of finding a way to win whether it be stylishly, via true grit, indeed however it can be achieved, will be the single most important factor. Yet again last season, Madrid turned things round at the death just when it looked like they were going out, Joselu striking on 88 and 91 minutes to turn the tables on Bayern München in the semi-final second leg.

“It happens all the time with us, and I believe it is a mixture of magic, quality, team awareness, a great connection with the stadium and the fans,” Ancelotti says. “It’s a bit of everything, it’s not just one thing. But it happens quite often, and I think it will happen again because this magic, this connection exists and it’s even stronger.”

Now throw into that magic mix a certain Kylian Mbappé to supplement the brilliance of Vinícius Júnior, the second season of Jude Bellingham, and Brazilian newcomer Endrick to go with Rodrygo. There’s also an opportunity for Eduardo Camavinga who should play more often given Kroos has departed. It’s an exciting prospect for Ancelotti, who is relishing getting back to work with this young side.

“I really enjoy it because they learn very quickly, they pay attention to suggestions and instructions. They want to grow and improve. It’s funny that Vinícius, Rodrygo, Bellingham and Camavinga are no longer considered young players. We have a young team with a great future. I watched all my players at the EURO and the Copa América. I was in touch with them. Arda Güler certainly demonstrated his abilities. It will be up to them and their ability to bind together as a team and unite and build a great group, because ultimately the winner is always the group, the team.”

It’s an embarrassment of riches. “Bellingham is a modern player, a huge talent,” Ancelotti says of the 21-year-old who made such an impact in his first season at Madrid. “He has this quality of being a really dynamic player. This allows him to really help the squad when he doesn’t have the ball and also to have a lot of time to go into the box at the right moment. Having a central midfielder who can enter the box brings added value. It’s really important for a team.

“He has adapted very well because he naturally prefers to play in the centre or on the left. We changed his defensive position a bit after the first part [of the season], making him move more towards the left-hand side to relieve Vinícius of his defensive duties a bit. But, as I said, he has managed to adapt very easily because he is so dynamic.”

And Mbappé? “He is going to bring his quality as well as his composure, attitude and dedication. He is going to have to adapt for this team as everyone has. We are very happy he is here because he has great qualities, and I’m sure, given his personality, he will adjust quickly. Everybody at Real Madrid is delighted to have him here: the fans, the club, the players, the team-mates, the coach. We are sure he’ll do very well.”

Everywhere you look there are positives to be set against the challenges – but even talent, even brilliant management cannot supplant the importance of sheer determination to win and the unyielding aggression against the prospect of losing. What Real Madrid’s pursuers must take into account is that they are currently on a 26-game unbeaten run in competitive fixture,s which takes them through almost half of La Liga’s most recent season plus all their knockout matches in the 2023/24 Champions League which they eventually won at Wembley.

This is precisely the blessing of possessing a stubborn will to win, upon which they will rely so heavily this term as the tests come thick and fast. Why doesn’t it diminish? Why don’t departures of truly great footballers – Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, for example – rust the cutting edge? It’s clear that signing Mbappé and Endrick are important factors, as are the reappearances of the extraordinary Thibaut Courtois, Éder Militão and, in due course, David Alaba.

So how do senior footballers at the Valdebebas training ground continue to pass down – enforce even – a legacy, a demand, an attitude that Los Blancos will fight for every match, every competition until long after other teams have wilted or reached their outer limits?

It’s arguable that because Los Blancos embody the glamour, the excitement and the style of elite European football, too little credit is accorded to their dominant ability to compete relentlessly. Too little credit also, perhaps, to their extraordinary fitness guru, Antonio Pintus?

Several times last season – including both games against Leipzig, the away leg against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, and during the first half of the Wembley final – Madrid’s opponents just could not find a way to damage or properly subdue them, even if they were in the ascendancy. This tendency does not happen by accident or from having a lucky night. Impossible. It’s a culture. A belief system. A discipline.

It’s certain that, having got a taste for ruling their own country and the continent at the same time, the objective will be to repeat this feat – ganar y ganar y ganar – while striving to play a brand of football that coruscates their rivals rather than, occasionally, having to tough it out against teams who mistakenly believe they have Madrid on the back foot only to find, to their cost, that they were utterly wrong.

And Ancelotti – fully rested – is ready for this task. There will be pressure points along the way, there always are. But no doubt he will find a means to overcome them. And who knows, perhaps one summer soon his players will also enjoy the sort of break he finds so rejuvenating. “There are always challenges, but I’m in a good place with a great club and players,” Ancelotti says. “To come back to the holidays, I was able to take 40 days [off] and I believe football scheduling should take that into account in the future. We must factor in some holiday time – not just for the coaches but for the players as well.” They’ll love him even more if he can deliver that as well as all those trophies.

Carlo Ancelotti and his wife Mariann Barrena McClay enjoy their time away

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“I was perfectly able to switch off. Montana is spectacular. Not many people visit it and there aren’t a lot of people there, but the nature is gorgeous”

This is precisely the blessing of possessing a stubborn will to win, upon which they will rely so heavily this term as the tests come thick and fast. Why doesn’t it diminish?

Carlo Ancelotti and his wife Mariann Barrena McClay enjoy their time away

“I was perfectly able to switch off. Montana is spectacular. Not many people visit it and there aren’t a lot of people there, but the nature is gorgeous”

This is precisely the blessing of possessing a stubborn will to win, upon which they will rely so heavily this term as the tests come thick and fast. Why doesn’t it diminish?

Insight

'One of the best ever'

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois on Ancelotti’s winning touch

“Above all he’s a great man, a great character and a great manager,” says Courtois, celebrating above with Carlo Ancelotti after winning the Champions League final. “He strikes the right balance between giving us freedom and telling us the tactics he wants. He doesn’t just talk tactics, he gives players like Vinícius, Rodrygo and Modrić a lot of freedom. You need their natural genius. You can’t box them in with too many tactics. You need their genius to come out and that helps us to get where we are. He manages the dressing room really well, the training sessions too. We work really hard, but laugh hard too. We have a great time. We work hard but we get the rewards for it, and I love it, so I really think he’s one of the best managers of all time. He’s proved it at all the clubs he’s been at, so when he retires, he’ll definitely go down as one of the best football coaches of all time.”

Insight

'One of the best ever'

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois on Ancelotti’s winning touch

Insight

'One of the best ever'

Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois on Ancelotti’s winning touch