COLOSSAL CARLO

CARLO ANCELOTTI WILL GO DOWN AS ONE OF THE GREATEST COACHES IN WORLD FOOTBALL. BUT WHAT MAKES HIM SO SUCCESSFUL?

- Nick Said

The UEFA Champions League round of 16 is played this month as we get down to the business portion of the competition after a long and complicated group phase and play-off round. The knockout rounds are not for the faint-hearted and require coaches to come up with tactical masterplans to out-think their opponents and get the best out of the players they have at their disposal. Over the years Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has proven to be one of the best at outwitting opponents. Ancelotti is the most successful coach in Champions League history with five titles.

Two titles came with AC Milan, though he will know it should have been three. His side led Liverpool 3–0 at halftime in the final in Istanbul in 2005, and lost on penalties. But that capitulation is on his players, not him. He has added three more wins with Real, and has an impressive success rate of five out of six finals won.

Twenty coaches have lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy more than once, but only four have done it more than twice.

Pep Guardiola, Bob Paisley and Zinedine Zidane are the Italian’s nearest challengers, all three-time winners. Ancelotti is also among only six coaches to win the trophy with multiple teams, and one of just seven who have won as both players and coaches. He was also a two-time winner as a player with Milan in consecutive seasons between 1988 and 1990.

So what is the secret to his success in arguably the toughest cup competition in the world?