The GOAT of coaching? Ancelotti makes history at Real Madrid

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 29 May 2022 12:49 CDT
• 5 min read

Carlo Ancelotti's remarkable season was completed on Saturday as he led Real Madrid to Champions League glory after defeating Liverpool 1-0 in Paris.

Vinicius Junior's second-half goal proved enough as Ancelotti made history by becoming the first manager ever to win four Champions League titles.

He thus overtook Bob Paisley and Zinedine Zidane, who both won the formerly-named European Cup three times.

Ancelotti is also the first manager to oversee five finals.

It completed a remarkable Champions League season for Ancelotti and Madrid, who were something of comeback kings in the three previous knockout rounds.

In the semi-final second leg, Los Blancos seemed to be heading for the exit. They trailed City 5-3 on aggregate as the tie entered its final minute yet Rodrygo scored twice to force extra-time, in which Karim Benzema won the match from the penalty spot.

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They also survived massive knockout scares against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, fighting back from seemingly impossible situations to win both ties in dramatic circumstances. Each of these successes has been underpinned by Ancelotti's tactical accuracy.

Ancelotti's second milestone this season

This season, Ancelotti also became the first football manager in history to win the league title in all five of Europe’s major leagues.

Having already won the Italian Serie A, English Premier League, French Ligue 1 and German Bundesliga, Ancelotti also claimed Spain's La Liga title.

Real Madrid were crowned champions after defeating Espanyol 4-0 at Santiago Bernabeu.

Ancelotti won his first league title back in the 2003-04 Serie A season with a glorious AC Milan side that featured legends such as Paolo Maldini, Andrea Pirlo, Andriy Shevchenko, Clarence Seedorf and Pippo Inzaghi. He also won two Champions League titles with the Rossoneri during his eight years there as manager.

Ancelotti then moved to Chelsea in 2009 where he immediately won the Premier League in his first season with a team that included John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.

After leaving Chelsea in 2011, Ancelotti tried his hand at Ligue 1 with the newly-rich PSG. He kick-started the Qatari PSG dynasty by leading a Zlatan Ibrahimovic-inspired team to the title in his only full season at the club in 2012-13.

Ancelotti’s fourth title in a fourth country arrived during his only full season at Bayern Munich in 2016-17, carrying on the dominance from his predecessor Pep Guardiola.

Returning to Real Madrid for a second spell last summer, Ancelotti has now made more history.

No coach has ever won league titles in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

Of the coaches currently active, Pep Guardiola has won multiple titles in Spain, Germany and England but has never coached in France or Italy. Jose Mourinho has won titles in England, Italy and Spain but has never managed in France or Germany. Mourinho also won the title in Portugal.

Only six managers have won top-flight domestic championships in at least four countries; Ancelotti, Mourinho, Giovanni Trapattoni, Tomislav Ivic, Eric Gerets and Ernst Happel.

But Ancelotti is the only manager to do so in the big five leagues.

And now he has become the top dog in the Champions League, too. At the age of 62.