Carlo Ancelotti is a unique manager on the threshold of even more glory

In 2016 Bayern Munich faced a very difficult task. The club had to find a successor for Pep Guardiola. Only one came into consideration: Carlo Ancelotti. For us players this meant a change on the one hand. What Ancelotti said in one week, Guardiola said in three hours. On the other hand, as was the case for his predecessor, it was also true for Ancelotti: as a player you feel comfortable because you sense that the coach is ready to make his methods available to the team. That is why he is successful everywhere.

In a poll on who is the best coach in the world very few would say Carlo Ancelotti, even in Italy. Yet he has a unique record. He is the only one who will soon be title winner in Europe’s five big leagues: with Milan in Serie A, Chelsea in the Premier League, Paris Saint‑Germain in Ligue 1 and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, while with Real Madrid he is on the verge of winning La Liga.

There is also no coach who has won the Champions League more often, three times, or with more clubs, two. Ancelotti is also one of seven men to have held this trophy aloft as a player and as a coach. As a player he prevailed because he possessed extraordinary strategic skills. Ancelotti was part of the legendary Milan team under Arrigo Sacchi, who taught concept football to great individual players. So Ancelotti was on the pitch when a revolution was taking place, when the operating system of the modern game against the ball was being programmed: the ball-oriented zonal marking, the blueprint of which is still current.

This experience is the prerequisite for a top coach. Any coach who has not played at the highest level is missing something that Ancelotti has experienced. And so his deep understanding of the game, the players, the