Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has opened up on his “personal problems” with Valencia coach Gennaro Gattuso – whom he coached at AC Milan.
Ancelotti is aiming to retain Madrid’s Spanish Supercopa crown and they will take on Gattuso’s side in the semi-final. Los Blancos are aiming to recover after losing to Villarreal in LaLiga at the weekend – the club’s first ever match without a Spanish player in their starting line-up.
It comes as the Italian boss convincingly won the IFFHS coach of the year award with a whopping 245 points as Pep Guardiola ranked second on just 45 points and Walid Regragui ranked third with 40 points, having guided Morocco to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Speaking about the award during his press conference in Riyadh – where the Supercopa will be played – Ancelotti insisted it was a team achievement after his side won La Liga and the Champions League last year: "Titles are important. Last year gave us confidence for the whole year. We have to do well, better than we've played in recent games."
However, the experienced Italian spoke of his relationship with Gattuso – who was a combative midfielder in his Milan side 15 years ago, forming part of the Rossoneri team that won the Champions League under Ancelotti in 2007.
Gattuso is now boss of Valencia, and Ancelotti admitted: "We had very beautiful moments together. And we had personal problems that I don't want to talk about. Many coaches have come out of the Milan I managed, each with that style and knowledge. Gattuso, (Pippo) Inzaghi, (Alessandro) Nesta..."
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Ancelotti did not select a Spaniard in Saturday’s league loss at Villarreal – breaking a historic club record run. In each of the club’s previous 4,435 matches, they had included at least one Spanish player in their starting XI.
A sextet of Spaniards were on the bench for Ancelotti’s side – Lucas Vazquez, Marco Asensio, Dani Ceballos, Nacho Fernandez, Jesus Vallejo and Luis Lopez – but none were included in the side that started the game against Villarreal.
However, the Italian boss looked to downplay this issue by insisting: "It was by chance that Spaniards did not play. The sign of this club is Spanish and, furthermore, it is a universal club. It is the club that produces the most Spaniards for Spanish football."
Real Madrid play last season’s beaten Copa del Rey finalists Valencia in the opening match of the Spanish Supercopa with the winners due to meet either Barcelona – last year’s LaLiga runners-up – or Copa del Rey holders Real Betis in the showpiece in Saudi Arabia.
