Posted in: 27/05/2022 – 10:00Last updated: 27/05/2022 – 09:58
London (AFP) – Between a coach famous for his calm and sobriety, and another for his explosive enthusiasm and great passion, the Champions League final Saturday in Paris brings together two men with completely different personalities, but the same desire and their relationship with their players, when Real Madrid meets Liverpool at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
Four years following the final in which Real was crowned by French coach Zinedine Zidane at the expense of Liverpool 3-1 in Kyiv, the date is renewed between the two clubs, as the first seeks to enhance its record (13) and the second to crown a seventh that puts it in second place with participation with AC Milan.
Ancelotti returned to the White Castle last summer following the resignation of Zidane, in an attempt to compensate for his previous passage when he ended up being sacked.
The Italian coach did not satisfy the support of the royal club’s players and fans, so he was sacked on May 25, 2015 following a disappointing second season, following he was a maker in the first to crown him with the tenth continental title.
A year and one day following he led Real to the tenth title in the Champions League, Ancelotti was sacked, while many of the Royal Club’s stars at the time, led by Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, announced their support for the Italian coach.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said, “At Real Madrid, the aspirations are very high and it is time to give a new impetus to win new titles and reach our best levels.”
Certainly, leaving the Santiago Bernabeu in this way and assigning the task to Rafael Benitez, who only lasted for a few months before opening the door to Zidane’s arrival, did not leave Ancelotti’s mind despite the success he achieved later in leading Bayern Munich to the league title in 2017.
The first coach to win the top five leagues
When the 62-year-old was offered to return to Madrid following Zidane’s decision to step down for the second time as coach of the Royal Club, Ancelotti did not hesitate to resign from his position with Everton in order to obtain an opportunity to compensate for what he had missed in his previous Spanish passage.
And now, by winning the Spanish League title four stages before the end of the season, Ancelotti became the first coach in history to win the five major league titles, having previously scored both the Italian with Milan (2004), the English with Chelsea (2010), the French with Paris Saint-Germain. (2013) and the German with Bayern (2017).
Like all the league titles he won in his coaching career, with the exception of 2010 when he led Chelsea to beat Manchester United and his legendary coach Alex Ferguson by only a point, Ancelotti’s coronation was a champion in Spain without real competition following the royal club took the lead since the fourteenth stage. Then give it up.
Contrary to his career in the local league, Ancelotti had to extract his best in order to reach his fifth personal final in the Champions League following Real was on the verge of bidding farewell to the competition three times in the eight, quarter and semi-final roles at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City, respectively. .
Now, the Italian stands at the threshold of entering history as the first coach to win the competition title four times in its previous and current formats (the European Champion Clubs Cup) and the current one, relying on his philosophy of making “the players my friends”, according to what he said following Real won the thirty-fifth league title in its history.
Despite his 62 years, Ancelotti does not see him as “of the old generation”, stressing, “I am closely following the changes in football.”
‘Individual awards are not an obsession’
At the club’s training center in Valdebias, Ancelotti relies on a framework that blends experienced personalities such as coach Antonio Bentos, and young talents such as his son Davide Ancelotti, who is waiting to pass the UEFA professional training examination.
“We managed to create a good working atmosphere in Valdebebas… and when you have a good work dynamics, you can win everything,” the Italian said on Tuesday.
On the possibility of becoming the first coach in history to win the continental title four times, he said, “I would be happy with that, but individual awards are not an obsession for me. When I retire, I can say that I was the first to do so…but today, I don’t care.”
In his confrontation, Ancelotti finds a coach passionate regarding the person of Klopp who is known for his tumultuous action on the side of the field and his fiery celebrations in front of the “reds” fans following every victory.
The German arrived at Anfield six and a half years ago and recently extended his contract until 2026, to confirm the harmony he has reached with this historic club and its enthusiastic fans to the extreme, and a reward for the move he made with him by leading him to the local league title for the first time since 30 years old and winning the Champions League in 2019.
On Saturday, Liverpool will play its third final in the Champions League in five seasons, re-establishing itself as one of the most prominent clubs of the old continent, and its victory in Paris over the most titles of clubs, will devote its historical position.
“One in a Million”
With the help of Dutchman Pepe Linders in charge of training sessions, and German Peter Kravets, who is considered his tactical “eye”, Klopp knows his group like the back of his hand but is always looking for ways to improve the smallest details.
After a lot of work in the past years with a specialist coach, Liverpool have made tremendous progress in set-kicks this season, with neuroscientists assisting in the matter of decision-making and execution.
And it was not by chance that Liverpool managed to translate 11 out of 11 penalties during the League Cup final once morest Chelsea, and 6 out of 7 during the Cup final once morest the same team, not even the 63 matches it played (with Saturday’s match) out of 63 possible in all competitions.
Benefiting from four weeks of training last summer, Klopp prepared his squad like never before, with extensive medical monitoring to prevent the risk of injury.
All the club’s fans fear at the moment is what the situation will be like following the German’s departure.
Captain Jordan Henderson recently admitted that “it would not have been possible to win (the 2019 Champions League) without the coach,” while former captain Steven Gerrard, who was still a player in the team when Klopp arrived and the candidate to succeed him following his departure, said that “Liverpool fans should take advantage of Jurgen Klopp. I think there is one in a million (like Klopp), he’s that good.”
© 2022 AFP
