The Maestro. The father. The boss. He leaves. The most successful coach in the 123-year history of Real Madrid is farewell. The man with the iconic eyebrow and the always present box with chewing gum. Carlo Ancelotti leaves – the Lord with the elegant answers. Carletto leaves – the one who danced with Camavinga at Cibeles. The boss with the glasses and the cigar. An Italian in love with Madrid. With Real Madrid. With his Real Madrid.
Six seasons: two in his first spell, four in his second. And now it's official – Ancelotti will no longer coach Real Madrid. Today is the day. That day. It has arrived. Assocecerci.
It was an open secret – Brazil had already announced it on May 12. But now it's a grim reality. A reminder of what this club has always been: a place where the air itself requires excellence and does not hesitate to burn everything when needed. Regardless of the name. Regardless of the inheritance. Today another chapter closes. Even Ancelotti did not survive a single bad season with his 15 titles. A. That is all that is needed. Nobody is spared. A warning for everyone.
London was a switch. That is Real Madrid. That's the rule. It all came down in London – that brutal 3-0 defeat against Arsenal. The signs have been there for months. Football was more about survival than about dominance. The project had begun to fray on the edges. And that loss relieved the bonfire. The end of a cycle came into the picture. The need for change became impossible to ignore. Carlo could not find the key this season – and that is the hard truth. There was one more bullet left: winning La Liga and the Copa del Rey. But it was all or nothing. And in the end it was nothing.
And in Seville, the last nail in the coffin. On April 26, in La Cartuja, Madrid made a 3-2 victory. But it was more than a result – it was the last action. The club had made a decision. The glory years of this cycle were over. There were conversations in progress. With Ancelotti. With Xabi Alonso. Even with Klopp.
Xabi Alonso will sign for Real Madrid tomorrow
But the successor is set: Xabi. The official announcement is expected tomorrow. He will take on time on June 1, on time for the club World Cup. The club has already promised three reinforcements: Alexander-Arnold, Huijsen (already confirmed) and Carreras. The Xabi Alonso era will start in a week.
“Thank you. I've never had a fight with the club … and I won't be on my last day,” said Ancelotti. “If I leave, all that I will do, thank Real Madrid. It will be a fantastic farewell, because I have so much affection for this club … and the feeling is mutual. It will be a wonderful farewell.” A man of his word. True to his mantra: there will never be problems. And that will not be. But yes – there is pain. He left his contract for another year. He wanted to stay. Of course he did that. But it wasn't like that.
The manager of egos, the master of calmness, leaves. The man who has made one of the most iconic phone calls in football history. It was at the end of May 2021. Zidane was taken, exhausted by internal tensions. Madrid scrambled to find a replacement. The plan was allegri-to that Juventus entered with a last-minute mega offer. Panic mode.
And then the call came.
Ancelotti, then in Everton, called José Ángel Sánchez-the right hand of Florentino die about transfer goals. The answer: “Until we name a coach, nothing moves.” And Carletto made his pitch. “I told him that Madrid needed one of the best. He asked who. I said:” Did you forget 2014? “” Sánchez replied: “Do you want to come back? Can you?”
“Give me five minutes.” It took less than four. Barely 220 seconds later, Ancelotti's phone rang again. This time it was Florentino Pérez. At that time it was done. Carlo came home. Sometimes life rewards, liveliness. That risk? It still earned him 11 trophies.
And so the second chapter of Ancelotti started in Real Madrid – what he called a 'honeymoon', a Schrödinger paradox. Because although it ends now, in a sense, it will never do. “It will continue and will continue forever,” he said for his last Clásico. “Madrid stays, just like Milan, in the heart. Like in every relationship there is passion in the beginning … And other things later. But this honeymoon will last until the last day of my life.” He already knew. His eyes gave it away. These are the last days on the couch of his life.
And what a government it was. The most successful coach in the history of Real Madrid. No small achievement. With his last title – the Intercontinental Cup – he reached 15 and even surpassed the legendary Miguel Muñoz.
The 14-title Legacy by Miguel Muñoz is now the second best. Ancelotti leaves the throne. But the crown? It's his. Forever.
Carlo Ancelotti's Champions League record
The manager with the most Champions League performances in history: 224. He surpassed the 214 of Sir Alex Ferguson in Anfield – another milestone in a career they defined.
It all started on August 13, 1997, when Ancelotti took the lead on his very first Champions League match with Parma -a 3-1 win over Widzew łódź, with a hat trick from Enrico Chiesa (yes, Federico's father). Since that night, 27 years, 9 months and 9 days have passed. At that time he did not endure alone- he has dominated.
Ancelotti also has the record for most victories in the Champions League as a manager: 127, which exceeds Ferguson's 115.
Brazil is his next challenge
The negotiations were intense – because Carletto in Real Madrid was always the first priority. He wanted to exhaust every chance to stay. There were conversations with Brazil going, even meetings took place – such as those in London – but no contract was signed. And the Brazilian football confederation (CBF) became impatient.
They wanted him in place for the international break of June (the 6th and 11th). That urgency is what caused the official announcement. For Ancelotti to select the team for those matches, he had to start his work immediately. But that was not the only reason.
CBF President Ednaldo Rodrigues also wanted to make the deal public before he was confronted with the decision of the court that would eventually lead to his resignation – he was found guilty of fraud. Over time, the pieces started logically.
Ancelotti is officially the new manager of Brazil. His contract runs through the World Cup 2026.
He only becomes the third foreign coach in the history of the Seleção – after Joreca in 1944 and Filpo Núñez in 1965, who did not last more than two games. That makes Carletto the first real foreign coach of Brazil in modern times.
His new chapter starts on 26 May, a day after his last game with Real Madrid. On that day he will announce his first team. A new life starts – for him and for Brazil.
It is a historic deal: Ancelotti earns around € 10 million a year, with a big bonus if he wins the World Cup. The CBF offers a house in Rio de Janeiro and a private jet for frequent trips to Europe.
Ancelotti: Historymaker
The coach that La Décima delivered, who came back after years and added two more: La Decimoquarta and La Decimoquinta. Proof that the sequel can sometimes surpass the original, in football and in life.
He was the silent genius that, when she left without Benzema, conjured up a new system and gave our Bellingham reborn – repositioned, re -conceived and absolutely devastating. He became the coach of comebacks, of those impossible nights where Real Madrid bowed the reality – against PSG, against Manchester City, Chelsea, Bayern and so many others. He was not only a team to manage; He led a madhouse and he did it with the balance of a maestro, the calmness of a father and the authority of a boss.
Ancelotti had another year on his contract and he wanted to see through it. But the club, in the conviction that the time had come to close a chapter and start again, made the decision to continue. And as always, Carletto – who his word, against his character – accepted it without complaints. He had long promised that there would never be problems, not even on his last day. And that wasn't.
Yet even within the dignity of his departure, there is a feeling of something that could have been done better. The day that the Brazilian football confederation (CBF) has announced its signature, the club did not offer an explanation, no words of thanks – nothing at all. Ancelotti was only a few hours later at a press conference, answered questions, asked the story and wore the weight of the moment itself. But even then – no bitterness, no anger, not even a flicker of resentment. Simply Ancelotti, as always: composed, respectful and gracious.
It is unmistakably a painful farewell – not because it was hostile or dramatic, but because it was undesirable. He wanted to stay. And although both parties reached an agreement, it is still a dismissal, how mitigated by mutual respect. From the beginning to the end, Carlo lived on the grace of the needs of the club, always first Madrid. And now, on this day, the final decision has been made.
How many games did Ancelotti win with Real Madrid?
From Madrid he now slows down to Brazil. Ancelotti leaves behind an inheritance that has been built more than 352 official matches, with 249 victories, 50 draws and 53 defeats. He leaves 15 titles won than any other coach in the 123-year history of the club. And because of all this, he not only lived a career, but also a dream.
The Maestro, the father, the boss leaves. Today is the day – the moment we all knew, but hoped that perhaps a little longer would be postponed. All all, leave a legend. After six unforgettable seasons in two spells, he says goodbye. Held head, such as the characteristic eyebrow – always lifted, always look. Ciao, Carletto. And thanks.