The Desire For A Champions League Title Is What Unites Carlo Ancelotti And Pep Guardiola

champions league

Between Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of Real Madrid, and Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, the Champions League title has been distributed 9 times.

When the supposed greatest competition in the history of club football reaches its 70th birthday, one can expect that the annals of history will talk about these two special coaches in the world. It is quite interesting to note that both Ancelotti and Guardiola hail from remote regions whose populations won’t even fill up the entirety of Santiago Bernabeu.

It isn’t just personal rivalry that is at stake- in fact, Ancelotti’s current record of winning 4 UCL titles could be overtaken by both Zidane and Guardiola- but he is still at the top. Guardiola will find mentioned because his Barcelona side of 2011 had the most magnificently complete performance at any UCL Final- although the 1960 Final between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt deserves a worthy shout. 

Champions League Clash of the Titans- Pep Vs Carlo

Regardless of the achievements, both Carlo and Pep have bittersweet memories of the Champions League title. For them, this trophy signifies a love-hate relationship- they can’t live without it, but they can’t live with it as well. Guardiola has already coached six losing semifinal teams in his managerial career of 15 years.

This record is nothing to scoff at as it shows the teams he coaches have the strength and spirit to fight at the top but they come maddeningly close to the prize and end up plummeting. The way his teams have been eliminated at the UCL has also been nothing short of bizarre. Nine years ago, his team suffered a 4-0 home defeat to Real Madrid, who were the eventual winners. In 2010, situations beyond his control let Inter Milan eke out an aggregate victory of 3-2. In 2012, Lionel Messi’s penalty miss against Chelsea in the semifinals also added salt to the injury. 

Carlo’s most devastating moment at the Champions League came in 2005 against Liverpool, where his team led by 3-0 at half time, and yet ended up losing.