Real Madrid deserved to be eliminated from the Champions League against Arsenal. The blue Sport experts Mladen Petric and Marco Streller believe that coach Carlo Ancelotti's days are numbered.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Defending champions Real Madrid are eliminated in the Champions League quarter-finals against Arsenal.
- Rumor has it that Carlo Ancelotti will have to step down as coach at the end of the season. However, the Italian does not want to resign of his own free will.
- In the blue Sport Studio, Mladen Petric and Marco Streller comment on the coaching discussion.
An uninspired Real Madrid fail to beat Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals. After losing the first leg 3:0 in London, the miraculous turnaround in the second leg failed to materialize - the second leg was lost 2:1.
And so Carlo Ancelotti, the man who has won so many titles with the Whites and was named the best coach in the world for the fourth time in his career last season, is now under fire.
In the Champions League studio, blue Sport expert Mladen Petric said: "We have already heard that Ancelotti must either become Spanish champion or reach at least the semi-finals of the Champions League in order to remain coach. So it's very likely that they will change something in this position."
Marco Streller joins in the canon. "I also believe that it will now be time to change that (the coach; editor's note)." He simply hopes that they will do so with the greatest possible style, "because he is an incredible coach". Listing Ancelotti's successes would go beyond the scope of this article. If you want to get an overview, you will find it here.
Ancelotti is not thinking of retiring
Ancelotti, whose contract is still valid until the summer of 2026, does not appear to want to leave the post of his own free will. At the press conference after the Arsenal game, a journalist wanted to know whether that was his last Champions League game as Real Madrid coach. "For this season, yes," replies Ancelotti and laughs. "We've had a good run. But my future: I don't know and I don't want to know. It could be if the club wants to make changes. It could happen this year or next year when my contract expires."
However, he has "absolutely no problem" with it if those in charge decide to take a new path. "As I said before, the day it ends here, only one thing will happen. I will thank the club. That could be tomorrow, it could be in ten days, a month or a year. I just want to thank the club, that's all I'm going to do." Asked specifically about a possible retirement, he says: "I'm not thinking about that."
Real still has three title chances this season
It is also more than understandable that Ancelotti is not yet thinking of throwing in the towel. After all, there is still a lot to be won this season. In the league, the gap to leaders Barcelona is four points with seven rounds to go - but there is still a direct duel on May 11. The two heavyweights will also face each other in the Copa del Rey final on April 24 and then there is the Club World Cup in the summer. In other words: Despite the quarter-final exit against Arsenal, the season could still end really well for Real ...
