“I’m a record man,” said Carlo Ancelotti to BT Sport, still standing on the Stade de France pitch, that Carlo Ancelotti glint in his eye. Not a boast, just an observation.
He was about to lift the European Cup for the fourth time as a manager. The sixth in total. More than anyone else on both counts. A record man in the most impressive fashion, but still cooler than a polar bear’s toenails.
Wind back nine months from that statement – when he took over a squad in transition, supposedly Madrid’s weakest in a decade – and few would have predicted him being able to make it. Wind back two hours from it and most neutral observers – not to mention every bookmaker – would still have told you Liverpool were strong Champions League favourites.
But odds, probabilities and predictions are little more than a nuisance to Carlo Ancelotti and Real Madrid. They have proved that time and again this season, repeatedly emerging unscathed from impossible situations and making it look like the most natural thing in the world.
Just to get to the Stade de France, they had disposed of Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City. That Madrid could be considered underdog victors in each of those ties is testament to football’s new world order. That they came through and then went on to beat Liverpool in the final is proof that the old European aristocracy will not be dethroned without a fight.
Real Madrid clearly do not have a divine right to dominate this competition. But eight finals in the modern era and eight won is proof that their belief in a divine right is a hugely powerful tool.
There was more than that here, though. More than the Madrid-European Cup love affair. Through this success, Ancelotti has reaffirmed himself. A year ago he was at Everton. On Saturday, there he was smiling through Des Kelly’s interview as Spanish and European champion, having not so much stamped his authority as gently reminded us of it with a wink and a curled smile.
“I am…
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