Real Madrid News
Gattuso hails Ancelotti as the ‘best coach in the world’ ahead of Super Cup showdown
After the disappointing defeat against Villarreal in La Liga, Carlo Ancelotti and Real Madrid will look to bounce back strongly when they take on Valencia in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
The match will see Ancelotti go up against his former protege Gennaro Gattuso, who was a critical part of the 63-year-old’s all-conquering AC Milan outfit around two decades ago.
The two share great mutual respect and admiration, but their relationship has taken a hit after Gattuso succeeded Ancelotti as the manager of Napoli back in 2019, the former admitted.
“Now the relationship is a little bit…,” Gattuso told AS. “When I went to Napoli, he was the coach who left for me to come in. For a few months there was a lot of talk in the papers that the team wasn’t good when Carlo was there… it wasn’t good physically.
“In those two years, some things were not done right. But I have great respect for him. I spoke to him a year ago. He knows that for me he is phenomenal as a person and as a coach,” he said.
Heaping praise on the Real Madrid boss, Gattuso then went on to call Ancelotti the best coach in the world, while revealing what makes the 63-year-old tactician special, as he said:
“Ancelotti is the best coach in the world,” he said.
“Carlo comes from three or four generations ago. And he always has the key to get inside the players’ heads. Apart from tactics or his way of coaching, he is the best because of this. It seems easy but it’s not,” Gattuso explained.
Real Madrid will face off against Gattuso’s Valencia on Wednesday in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup. A win would set up a final against either Barcelona or Real Betis, who will lock horns in the second semi-finals on Thursday.
There is no way back for Eden Hazard at Real Madrid. The Belgian international has not given the management any reason to have faith in his abilities over his past four seasons at the club and is unsurprisingly the most important departure for the Merengues in the summer.
Hazard has one more year on his contract in Madrid. However, it is clear that Carlo Ancelotti does not trust him and that any potential replacement manager in the summer will echo his stance.
According to reports from Mundo Deportivo, Fenerbahce are willing to go all out to sign Hazard this summer. The Turkish side have made the former Chelsea their prime target, yet face a steep task ahead of them.
The 32-year-old is hellbent on seeing out his contract with Los Blancos despite seeing his career sink right before his eyes. It thus becomes complicated for the party to lure away the forward, especially in a competition outside Europe’s top five leagues.
Fenerbahce attempted to sign the winger in the recently concluded winter transfer market. They reached an agreement with Real Madrid but failed to get over the line as they could not convince the player of the move.
The biggest obstacle for the Turkish side will be convincing Hazard to make the move by letting go of his lucrative contract in Madrid. The chances are slim, but not impossible.
Hazard has made just three league appearances and one start for Ancelotti’s side this season in La Liga, a steep fall from last season’s 18 and seven respectively.
His last appearance for the team came back in January when Real Madrid faced Cacereno in the Copa del Rey. In La Liga however, he last played in September 2022 in a 4-1 win over Mallorca.
