King of Europe and La Liga, but no Real Madrid coach has ever won the treble.
When Carlo Ancelotti finally decides to leave Real Madrid for good, his name has a place in the pantheon of great glories of the Real Madrid dugout.
Having made the Los Blancos champions of everything available to win, there is however one thing he has to do, which ultimately hadn’t been done by any Real Madrid manager before.
In his first season, Ancelotti had delivered the Champions League against Atletico Madrid, after 12 years of absence, and the Copa del Rey thanks to Gareth Bale’s iconic bicycle kick goal. However, the league was won by Atletico that same year.
Disappointingly, the title – which was within his grasp almost until the end, dropped with just about four games to go, going on three consecutive winless games. Earning draws against Valencia and Valladolid and suffering defeat at the hands of Celta Vigo saw them finish third, three points off the title to their intercity rivals.
In 2022 came the Champions League, and once again, against Liverpool thanks to Vinicius Jr.’s goal, the league was won with great dominance but they lost out on the Copa del Rey in the round of 16, losing to an Athletic Bilbao’s dying-minute upset.
A chance to emulate Pep Guardiola
Barcelona’s 2008/2009 is widely considered to be one of the best, teams of all-time, becoming the only team ever to win all of the trophies available across the course of a season.
Spearheaded by Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o, combined with the control of Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets and the fresh ideas of Pep Guardiola, they won all six possible trophies in the 2008/09 campaign including the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup alongside LaLiga, the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de Espana and Champions League.
It was a historic crowning achievement that nobody in Spain has accomplished before.
In fact, outside of Iberia, only Bayern Munich have accomplished the feat, doing so in 2020, some 11 years later. That is why Ancelotti continues to aspire to what Madrid has been denied so much.
It’s a shot to emulate Barcelona and Guardiola and to rob them of that bragging right that they’ve held for 15 years, with the Madridstas well-placed to win La Liga and on a par with Manchester City as top contenders in the Champions League.
But with three more seasons ahead of him after his renewal, can he finally go where nobody has gone before?
