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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti’s return to Chelsea evokes warm memories of one of the finest ever Premier League sides, which he led to the club’s first ever league and FA Cup double in 2010 — they were halcyon days in stark contrast to the Blues’ recent slump.
The Italian’s Chelsea side featured big characters including Didier Drogba, John Terry, Michael Ballack and Lampard himself, and they racked up 7-0, 7-1 and 8-0 triumphs at the Bridge as they strolled to domestic glory.
Chelsea’s current expensively-assembled hodgepodge of players lacks both the leadership and quality of that group, as was laid painfully bare in their defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu last week.
Despite not being first choice — or second, or third — for the job, Ancelotti was chosen as a safe pair of hands at Madrid and helped win the Spanish title last season.
Like Zidane before him, is showing excellent man management is a vital skill for Los Blancos coaches — although not the only one, as he was at pains to point out.
“I am ‘fantastic’ at managing but there are other things, because this team is well-trained,” said Ancelotti before the first leg. “If we win the Copa del Rey, we will have won every title possible in two years and there are teams who won’t win that in their whole lives.”
Ancelotti has kept squad players like Dani Ceballos, Nacho Fernandez and Asensio both hungry and helpful, with the latter netting again at Cadiz at the weekend.
The 63-year-old has lifted the trophy six times, twice as a player, and four times in the dug-out and recently observed he is approaching his 1,300th game as a coach.
His experience and stability are in stark contrast to Chelsea’s haphazard project, and on Tuesday they may help him highlight chasms where he once left silverware and memories.
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