How Carlo Ancelotti Transformed a Trophyless Real Madrid

How does a man take over a failing Real Madrid and within just one season turn them into the best football team in all of Europe? But how does this man achieve that, get sacked just one year later, and then how does this man return to that club after 6 years to do the exact same thing again? This is the insane story of how Carlo Angelotti transformed a trophyless real Madrid into the deadliest football team in the world, twice.

The First Arrival: The Hunt for La Décima

Jose Mourinho had just been sacked from Real Madrid after running the team to the ground, leaving them trophyless in the 2012-13 season. The club hadn't been dominating football for a while, having gone over 10 years without a Champions League. When Carlo received the call, it was a no-brainer. Zinedine Zidan would become his assistant coach and right away Carlo started to make some changes. He offloaded some big names like Kaka, Higuain, and Ozil and he used the funds to bring in Carvajal, casemiro, Isco, and most notably of all Gareth Bale for a world record transfer fee. Angelotti quickly discovered his preferred formation with the deadly attacking Trio of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Glory and Heartbreak

Come March of this year, La Liga was a three horse race. Real Madrid dropped points against Atletico and then in the second La Liga El Classico, they were beaten 4-3, meaning these crucial defeats cost them the league title. But in the Cup competitions, Ancelotti's men were able to get revenge, playing the Copa Del Ray final against Barcelona. Real Madrid finished this game 2-1 thanks to goals from Di Maria and Bale. This competition had been one Real Madrid had been chasing for almost a decade as they were in search of La Décima, their 10th Champions League title. They faced their City Rivals Atletico Madrid in the final. Diego Godin scored in the first half and they were able to hold on to this lead all the way till the 90th minute, where Real Madrid won a corner and Sergio Ramos hammered the ball home to send the game to extra time. This last minute Lifeline gave Ancelotti's men the mental boost as they scored three goals from Bale, Marcelo and Ronaldo to seal the game four goals to one and hand Real Madrid their historic 10th Champions League title.

Ronaldo had his best season ever scoring 61 goals, but unfortunately things had turned South in the capital and come the 25th of May, president Florentino Perez made an announcement saying, ‘we've taken the difficult decision to relieve Angelotti of his duties’.

The Second Coming: An Unlikely Return

After being sacked, Ancelotti went on to manage Bayern Munich, Napoli, until finally he reached an all-time low of his career, Everton Football Club. It was the summer of 2021 and Carlo called up the Real Madrid CEO, Jose Angel Sanchez, to see if he could get any players to Everton. Jose replied they were struggling to find a manager and that's when Angelotti simply offered his Services yet again. Within 3 days, Angelotti was out of Everton and back in the Bernabéu where he was going to save Real Madrid for the second time.

An Even Greater Dynasty

The biggest difference from his first stint was the lack of Cristiano Ronaldo, but luckily this year Karim Benzema would grow into that role. They started the Champions League campaign with a rather Rocky defeat to Sheriff but then the team switched back on. They faced PSG in the round of 16 where by the 60th minute Real Madrid were trailing two goals to nothing, but this is when Karen Benzema turned on the gas scoring a hattrick within 20 minutes. Then they faced off against Man City. In the 73rd minute, Riyad mahrez scored to give City a two-goal lead. In the 90th minute, Benzema played the ball across to Rodrigo to make it a one-goal deficit and then 1 minute later, Rodrigo cropped up once again to send the game to extra time. A penalty was given and of course Benzema converted it. They were crowned European Champions in just his first season back.

As the season began, Karim Benzema bid the club farewell and the replacement was a shock as Real Madrid signed Joselu. The new galactico strategy continued as they signed arguably the best young player in the world, Jude Bellingham. The season was put into doubt early on as Thibaut Courtois tore his ACL. In the Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid were trailing with 2 minutes left on the clock but this is when the unlikeliest of hero stepped up. In the 88th minute, Joosu scored and then in the 91st minute, Joosu scored again to send Real Madrid through to the Champions League final. Real Madrid faced off against Baria Dortmund. In the 74th minute Carval punished them and then just 10 minutes later Venicius Jr sealed the game. Real Madrid lifted their second Champions League trophy in 3 years. The scary thing about this team is that it is so extremely young and entering the next season it got a whole lot scarier as Killian mbappe became the latest Superstar to join the Real Madrid ranks.