Carlo Ancelotti led Real Madrid to their 10th Champions League title in the 2013-14 campaign, but a trophiless season this time around ultimately cost the Italian his job at the Bernabeu.
The Copa del Rey also arrived during the 2013-14 season, but failure to win the La Liga title has led to widespread criticism, which is at times difficult to understand.
For supporters outside of Madrid and indeed Spain, Ancelotti's sacking was seen as surprising. However, when reviewing the facts, was it the correct decision?
Here, Sports Mole discusses whether Real Madrid were right to send the Italian on his way after two seasons at the helm.
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A manager with a quite stunning CV, Ancelotti took charge of Real Madrid at the start of the 2013-14 season after winning the league title with Paris Saint-Germain. The remit was clear – win the Champions League and deliver the league title back to the Bernabeu. The first target was achieved, but Los Blancos had to watch Atletico Madrid claim their first Spanish title since 1996.
Success in the Copa del Rey did arrive, however, with Real Madrid overcoming Barcelona in the final. Delivering two major trophies would have been enough to earn many a manager time, but time is not exactly something that is offered too freely at the biggest club in the world.
In the last 32 years, not one Real Madrid manager has earned another season having won nothing the previous campaign. What's more, no Real Madrid manager has held their post for longer than three-and-a-half years since Miguel Munoz, who delivered nine La Liga titles, two European Cups and two Copa del Rey crowns between 1960 and 1974.
Now Spain boss Vicente del Bosque won the Champions League twice between November 1999 and June 2003, but that was still not enough to keep his position. In fact, since Munoz left the Bernabeu, 31 managers have taken control of Real Madrid and on average, have lasted one year and four months. On that basis, Ancelotti was given longer than many to make his mark in Madrid.
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One look at this season's La Liga table paints an interesting picture. Barcelona have been lauded – and rightly so – for their incredible season, but Real Madrid only finished two points shy of the Catalan outfit. Los Blancos won 30 of their 38 league matches and were the highest scorers in the league with 118 goals. A total of six league defeats is disappointing, but finishing two points behind this Barca outfit is hardly disastrous, while Real were 14 points clear of third-placed Atletico Madrid.
Ancelotti pitted his wits against Atletico boss Diego Simeone on eight occasions during the 2014-15 season, but won just once and as expected, that record was not ignored. That said, the one victory over Atletico was a big one – a 1-0 win in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final, which pitted Real Madrid against Juventus.
Another Champions League final might have been enough to keep Ancelotti his job, but Juventus went through with a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu and it was Alvaro Morata, who Ancelotti sold to Juve last summer, that made the difference – scoring twice over the two legs. Juventus must be respected, with the Italians now making their mark in Europe once again, but Real Madrid's failure to overcome the Serie A champions was a surprise.
Real Madrid were also beaten in the last-16 stage of the Copa del Rey by Atletico, but it is worth remembering that they won the Club World Cup towards the tail end of last year. Ancelotti's side racked up 22 straight wins in all competitions during the first half of the season – comfortably surpassing the Spanish record of 18 successive victories, which was set by Frank Rijkaard's Barcelona team in the 2005-06 season.
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One of the biggest criticisms of Ancelotti is how he dealt with the injury crisis that occurred in the second half of the campaign. Luka Modric was rushed back too soon according to many, while the decision to ignore Asier Illarramendi and Lucas Silva, and instead play Sergio Ramos in midfield is a decision that did not go down too well in the Spanish capital.
Toni Kroos's holding midfield role has also been questioned and in La Liga, Real Madrid conceded 38 times, which is more than Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Villarreal. Incredibly, it is just three fewer than Athletic Bilbao conceded all season. Defensively, Real Madrid have not improved this season. There have been too many defensive mistakes, too many gaps in midfield.
Dani Carvajal and Marcelo are both excellent going forward, but there have been too many occasions when the back four has been stretched. Real Madrid will always score goals, but they have thrown away leads this season and actually lost two of their first three league games. An incredible run after that dampened those memories, but a number of players have been poor in the second half of the campaign.
Gareth Bale's struggles have also partly been attributed to Ancelotti, but that seems difficult to understand when taking into account just how impressive the Welshman was in the 2013-14 season. Bale is clearly a wonderful player, but he did not seem in tune with his teammates on a number of occasions. Bale was dancing one dance, his teammates another. One player that did not struggle under Ancelotti was Cristiano Ronaldo, who registered his highest ever total of 61 goals for a season during the 2014-15 campaign.
The Portuguese, who has been the club's most powerful player for some time, called for Ancelotti to stay after the last game of the season, but even the world's best player could not stop the Italian losing his role at the Bernabeu. Ancelotti was quite clearly a popular figure with the players, but not managing to secure a major trophy makes his sacking less surprising than many have suggested.
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Ancelotti's record of a 75% win-rate at Real Madrid was better than Jose Mourinho managed between May 2010 and June 2013. The Italian seems to have been in the managerial game for a long time, but he is just 55 years of age. Ancelotti has packed a lot into his coaching career – winning three Champions Leagues, Ligue 1, the Premier League and Serie A to name a few.
Real Madrid should have won La Liga last season, however, and Ancelotti knows it. President Florentino Perez also knows it, and that is why the decision was made. A 4-0 thumping at Atletico in the league on February 7 did not go down well with the powers-that-be and there were too many disappointing results along the way. The league title is perhaps the one that matters most to the supporters, but they have had to watch Atletico and now Barcelona lift the trophy in each of the last two seasons.
Ancelotti will move on from this and there will be no shortage of suitors. Amid criticism, the Italian always acted in a dignified manner and made sure to pay his respects to Barcelona after the league title was gone. Life goes on for Ancelotti, but it is the same old story for Real Madrid, who continue to get it so wrong.
Now, attention must switch to the future and it appears that Rafael Benitez will be given the chance to take control. Safe to say, should the Spaniard fail to deliver either the league or the Champions League next season, he will be on his way. That pattern will continue as long as it is allowed to, and there is no way that it can be beneficial to the club. There is still a bridge between the players and supporters of this great club, and they need a strong manager to bring that together. That might prove to be Zinedine Zidane one day, but this might be just a little too early.
It is difficult to understand why Ancelotti has been sacked when taking the facts as they are, but beneath the surface, there are reasons for his dismissal. Was it the correct decision? No. Was it surprising? No.
Matt Law
