La Liga
Carlo Ancelotti delighted to become Real Madrid’s most successful manager
Real Madrid’s Intercontinental Cup triumph on Dec 18 marked a remarkable milestone for Carlo Ancelotti, as the Italian became the manager with the most titles in the club’s history with a total of 15 trophies.
After his side breezed past Mexican club Pachuca 3-0 in a one-sided contest at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar, he surpassed the late Miguel Munoz, whom he equalled in August by winning the European Super Cup against Atalanta.
“There are so many of them (titles) and I’m delighted, really happy… it’s a success story,” a smiley Ancelotti told Spanish television channel Telecinco.
“Today I really liked the attitude from the players. Up front, they made the difference, Vinicius Jr had a great game. Offensively we did well.
“We have a lot of quality. Kylian (Mbappe) had a good game, Rodrygo scored the second… We are very happy because we won a title far from home and in the middle of a busy season.”
The 65-year-old has one of the most-decorated CVs in world football.
When he was lured back to Real for a second spell three years ago, following the departure of club great Zinedine Zidane, he knew that his only mission was to increase Real’s trophy haul and he has not disappointed.
Ancelotti became the first manager to capture titles in each of Europe’s top five leagues – England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France – and has guided Real to two Champions League and La Liga doubles in three seasons.
His Real silverware includes three Champions League titles, two Club World Cups, three European Super Cups, two Spanish League titles, two Spanish Cups, two Spanish Super Cups and, now, one Intercontinental Cup title.
The latest victory was a fairly easy contest, as Mbappe opened the scoring in the 37th minute before Rodrygo doubled Real’s lead early in the second half. Vinicius sealed a comfortable win with a late penalty.
Mbappe returned to the line-up in after missing the weekend’s 3-3 draw with Rayo Vallecano due to a hamstring injury suffered in the Champions League win at Atalanta last week.
He swept in from close range to break the deadlock after brilliant play from Vinicius, who won the Fifa Best men’s Player of the Year award a day earlier after missing out on the Ballon d’Or.
Former West Brom and Newcastle forward Salomon Rondon led the attack for Concacaf Champions Cup winners Pachuca, but they never truly looked capable of an upset and Rodrygo’s fine curling strike put Real in total control.
It was allowed to stand after the referee consulted the pitchside monitor even though Jude Bellingham was in an offside position and appeared to be interfering with the goalkeeper’s line of vision.
Vinicius added a third from the penalty spot six minutes from time following another VAR (video assistant referee) review after Lucas Vazquez was chopped down in the Pachuca box.
“In this part of the season I was a bit anxious but this will change in 2025 I’m sure,” added Ancelotti. “It’s important for us to get to Christmas alive. I think we’ve grown a lot and that gives us confidence for 2025.”
This was the first edition of the Fifa-backed Intercontinental Cup, which broadly maintains the previous format of the Club World Cup and features the six continental champions.
The latter is being expanded to include 32 teams in 2025 and will now be played every four years. A past version of the Intercontinental Cup ran from 1960 to 2004 involving the champions of Europe and South America.
Real won that competition three times and then lifted the Club World Cup on a record five occasions.
They are to due to play Pachuca again at the 2025 Club World Cup in the United States, as well as an Al Hilal team including Neymar, and Red Bull Salzburg.
Real host Sevilla in La Liga on Dec 22 in their final game of the year. They will return to the Middle East in early January for the four-team Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
-Reuters/ AFP
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It was mission accomplished, said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after his side fought back from two-goals behind to snatch a rip-roaring 4-4 draw on Tuesday for a 5-4 aggregate win that put them through to the Copa del Rey final.
Ancelotti brushed off questions about a sub-par performance by his side and praised his players’ effort in what he considered a highly entertaining encounter.
“We have achieved our goal today which was to reach the final and there is not much time to think about it,” Ancelotti told a press conference.
“It was an entertaining game with some mistakes and a lot of good things. It was fun and we are in the final.
“I never saw ourselves out of it because anything can happen at the Bernabeu. When we have to come from behind, we never give up. We never give up, especially at home, with the fans by our side.”
Ancelotti said David Alaba was not to blame after he deflected two balls into his own goal, calling it “bad luck” by the Austrian defender, but urged his defence to play with better focus moving forward.
“It’s not good to concede four goals in a game,” Ancelotti said.
“Right now we are a team that has a lot of effectiveness up-front, but little balance.
“However, we can’t ignore what we did in attack, scoring four goals against Real is not that easy. I think we are doing quite well.”
Real Madrid, who have won the Spanish Cup only once in over a decade, will play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid in a mouth-watering final in Seville next month.
Atletico fought back to hold Barca to a thrilling 4-4 draw ahead of Wednesday’s second-leg in Madrid.
-Reuters
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Real Madrid’s legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti will go on trial next week for allegedly failing to declare income to Spain’s tax office, the Madrid court which will hear the case has said.
Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of four years and nine months for the 65-year-old Italian, accusing him of having cost Spain’s treasury more than one million euros ($1.1 million) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.
The trial will begin on Wednesday and it is expected to last two days, a spokesman for the court said.
Ancelotti, who as a coach has won a record five Champions League trophies including three with Real, must be present for the hearings, he added.
Prosecutors accuse him of only declaring in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid during those two years even though he himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated his home was in Madrid.
They accuse Ancelotti of allegedly setting up a “confusing” and “complex” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings from his image rights as well as from other sources such as real estate.
A Spanish court in 2023 ordered Ancelotti to stand trial over the affair, but did not set a date.
Ancelotti dismissed the affair last year as “an old story that I hope will be resolved soon” when he was asked about the case.
He took over at Real Madrid in 2013, leaving in May 2015, before being appointed at Bayern Munich the following year.
The former Italy international midfielder, who as a player won the European Cup twice with AC Milan, later managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021.
Aside from his success in the Champions League he has won domestic league titles with Madrid and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.
-AFP
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Spain’s former soccer chief Luis Rubiales told Reuters on Thursday he would appeal a court ruling which found him guilty of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent.-
-Reuters
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