Carlo Ancelotti, a former Italian footballer and now coach, began his football career with Parma, in 1974. He remained with the club till 1979, when he moved to Roma and took up the position of captain and midfielder, leading the team to victory in the 1983 Italian Championship, as well as four COppa Italia titles. After this, Ancelotti moved to Milan, and remained with the club from 1987 till 1992, during which time he participated in two consecutive European Cups, in 1989 and 1990.
Milan was at the peak of their team strength during this period, with some highly skilled players in its ranks, including Paolo Maldini, Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Roberto Donadoni and many others.
Ancelotti made his international debut against Netherlands, and scored his first and also his only goal, in the match, which ended in a draw. After this, he made 26 appaearances in international matches, including the 1986 and 1990 World Cup, where he played alongside Roberto Mancini, Paolo Maldini and Roberto Donadoni. In 1001, Ancelotti officially retired from professional football and decided to opt for coaching instead.
Ancelotti began his tryst with coachin in 1995, with Reggina. He helped the team attain a promotion to Serie A, but left the club for Parma, the very next year. His team at Parma included players such as Villiam Vecchi and Gianluigi Buffon. With Ancelotti’s help, Parma managed a 2nd place finish in the 1996-97 season, guaranteeing a spot in the Champions League. With a fifth place finish in the next season, Parma also guaranteed a spot in the UEFA Cup.
In 1998, Ancelotti moved to Juventus, taking up the position of manager from Marcello Lippi. His move started out on a good note, with Juventus nabbing the Intertoto Cup, but soon tapered off, with the next season proving entirely trophyless. Unable to achieve anything remarkable during the rest of the time with Juventus, Ancelotti moved to Milan in 2001. This was following the sacking of the former manager, Fatih Terim, due to poor results.
With AC Milan, Ancelotti began a new era in his coaching career, as well as a new era in the history of one of the most popular teams in the world. Ancelotti came in and took charge, leading Milan to third place in Serie A as well as to the semi finals of the 2001-02 UEFA Cup.
Ancelotti, under heavy criticism, brought in Dida as his first choice and pushed Andrea Pirlo back into a defensive midfielder’s role. Within two seasons, the change had come and after Andriy Shevchenko and Filippo Inzaghi hit form, Milan grabbed Ancelotti’s first UEFA Champions League title, in 2002-03, as a coach. Ancelotti also took Milan to the Coppa Italia title while the following year, despite being ousted in the semi-finals of the Champions League, Milan did win the Scudetto.
During Ancelotti’s reign, Milan had a golden period where they qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League for almost 5 of his 7 years in-charge, winning it twice. Milan reached its second UEFA Champions League final, under Ancelotti, in 2004-05. Playing Liverpool, Milan were 3-0 up at halftime, looking strong. 6-minutes of Liverpool pressure wiped out the lead and even though Milan dominated the other 114 minutes of a game that went beyond extra time, they would go on to lose in the penalty shoot-outs.
Two years later, Ancelotti returned and faced Liverpool and Rafa Benitez in the finals again. This time, Milan were in no mood to relent and slammed two past Liverpool before holding them convincingly for a 2-1 win. Ancelotti won his second UEFA Champions League title in 4 seasons.
This was Ancelotti’s fourth triumph in the UEFA Champions League, two of which came as a player.
In 2009, Ancelotti announced that he would no longer be with Milan at the end of the season, bringing to end a long 8-year relationship with AC Milan.
He moved to England and joined Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea in a move that would see him clash against Rafa Benitez and Alex Fergusson, two rivals from his Milan days.
At Chelsea, Ancelotti began his season with a victory over Manchester United in the Community Shield, over penalties. Despite being eliminated from the League Cup in the quarter finals and losing out to eventual champions Inter Milan, in the UEFA Champions League, Ancelotti managed to beat Sir Alex Fergusson in the race to the title.
Ancelotti’s win in the premiership was noted for many other reasons, including the first time a team finished with 103 points and became the first premiership team to score more than 100 goals in top-flight football, since the Spurs in 1962-63. Ancelotti was also the first Italian manager to win the English Premiership. He then led Chelsea to a win over Portsmouth at the 2009-10 FA Cup final, getting both trophies to get Chelsea’s first ever domestic double.
