Carlo Ancelotti is fully aware of how warm the proverbial managerial hot seat at Real Madrid can become, with the Italian coach having been burned once before.
It was he who oversaw the fabled ‘La Decima’ Champions League triumph for Los Blancos in 2014, before going on to claim Club World Cup honors later in the year. A matter of months following securing continental and global crowns, Ancelotti found himself unceremoniously sacked.
Glittering
A retracing of steps to Santiago Bernabeu was made in 2021, with there seemingly no hard feelings in the Spanish capital, and a La Liga and Champions League double was duly delivered in 2022 as a proven coach made the most glittering of points to those that had previously written him off.
Real remain in contention to defend both of those titles in 2023, with betting in the UK and Ireland pricing them at +1100 for more European glory. Real Madrid fans can take advantage of a free bet calculator that shows what their wager is, what the potential returns might be, and how adding further selections to the same slip will impact collective odds and winnings.
Madrid are a much shorter +250 to enjoy domestic dominance in the current campaign, with La Liga threatening to become a two-horse race once more, but there is a very serious threat of much sought-following silverware being prized out of the Blancos’ clutches by arch-rivals Barcelona.
With there considerable challenges to overcome in Europe, starting with a repeat of the 2022 final when facing Liverpool in the last-16, and ground to make up on Clasico foes in Spanish top-flight competition, might history be regarding to repeat itself in Madrid?
Ancelotti has said when being quizzed on the length of his second tenure at the Bernabeu: “I don’t know what the future holds for me, I live day by day. For the moment, I’m happy in Madrid, we have a lot of objectives for this season. There will be time to think regarding my future. I have a contract until June 30, 2024, and, if Real Madrid don’t sack me before then, I’m not going to move.”
While the former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain boss still has a little under 18 months left to run on his deal, he knows better than most that said agreements are worth little in the cut-throat world of elite soccer management.
Business
Ancelotti is in the results business and has plenty of experience to fall back on when it comes to being given the boot. He has occupied some of the most pressurized dugouts in world sport, from London to Milan via Paris and Munich, and needs no reminding that he is only ever one game away from the chop.
Time remains on his side for now, but that is a commodity that can ebb away quickly and – having shown before that sentiment counts for little at the Bernabeu – Madrid are unlikely to take kindly to surrendering major honors to their fiercest enemies. If that does happen, then Ancelotti may be on his way once more.
