 "Carlo Ancelotti has won three Champions League titles with Real Madrid. Image: Reuters")
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti knows that his job is in danger after the Spanish giants failed to reach the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday. The 15-time winners were knocked out of the UEFA competition after losing to Arsenal 2-1 at home and suffering a 5-1 aggregate loss to the London club.
Interestingly, Real Madrid have never beaten Arsenal in European competitions, but given their history of inspired comebacks at Santiago Bernabeu , fans were hoping for another miracle. However, it ended with two losses in two legs after Arsenal had won the first leg 3-0.
Ancelotti speaks on Real Madrid future
Ancelotti, who is the only manager to win the Champions League five times, including three times with Madrid, has a contract till June 2026 at Real. But he feels his latest failure could bring a quick end to the contract.
“It could be this year, next year when my contract runs out…There’s no problem about it. But when I am done here, I will be grateful to this club. It could be tomorrow, in one year, or in 10 years, but I will be grateful to this club. And that’s it. Full stop,” he said after the match.
While Real have been linked with Bayer Leverkusen manager and former Madrid player Xabi Alonso, Ancelotti has been linked with the Brazil national team. In March this year, Brazil sacked Dorival Junior as their head coach and the position has been lying vacant since then.
Only time will tell what happens to Ancelotti’s future at Real, but the Italian tactician had no qualms in admitting that Arsenal were the better side in the quarter-final tie.
“We have to be honest, in the two games Arsenal have deserved it and have reached the semi-finals,” he said.
“There are two sides to football, the happy part that has happened to us many times and the sad part we have to handle in the same way. It has happened to us fewer times than to other teams but we have to manage it because it allows us to be better in the next games.”
Real can still win the La Liga; however, they are currently four points behind leaders Barcelona.
“Now we are in the fight for La Liga. We have a disadvantage but we have the Barcelona game, we have the Copa del Rey final, the Club World Cup and we have to manage this part, which is another part of football that we are not used to,” Ancelotti said.
“It’s time to hold our heads high and learn from our mistakes. It’s sad today but I have absolutely no worries about how my players will respond. We’ll fight on, we’ll learn from the experience and we’ll try to be better for the next match.”