‘Most ruthless sacking’: Ancelotti hits out at Bayern Munich

At FC Bayern , world-class coach Carlo Ancelotti was dismissed after just 15 months. In his new book, the Italian looks back on the difficult collaboration with the FCB bosses.

Carlo Ancelotti is considered one of the most successful coaches in football history. In his new biography “The Dream: How to Win the Champions League” (C. Bertelsmann Verlag, available from October 1), BILD published excerpts in which the current Brazil national team coach looks back on his time at clubs like AC Milan and Real Madrid—and also dedicates an unsparing chapter to his brief stint at FC Bayern .

The Italian was in charge in Munich for only 15 months before being dismissed after a 3-0 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain in September 2017. In the book, he recalls great successes in the Bundesliga, but also tensions with the club’s bosses. “That season, we left the competition far behind in the Bundesliga, finishing fifteen points ahead,” writes Ancelotti. “However, at Bayern , this was not considered a success. It was the bare minimum that was expected.”

He saw a particular problem in the club’s leadership structure. Unlike at Real Madrid or Chelsea, in Munich he did not have to deal with a dominant owner, but rather with a “heterogeneous group of shareholders” as well as “legendary former players” in key positions. “It was hard for me to figure out who had more power,” the coach recalls.

He also still remembers an episode involving a “list of five points” on discipline topics that he was supposed to read out to the players. “In my view, we were dealing here with a top-class professional squad and not a youth team,” Carlo Ancelotti describes. In front of the team, he therefore made it clear: “I have orders from the board to read you this list.” In doing so, he made it clear that he was distancing himself from this directive.

Photo: IMAGO

His sporting exit came after the clear defeat in Paris. There, Ancelotti had opted not to play the aging wing duo Robben and Ribery and had pushed the defense higher up the pitch. “It was a mistake. The balance wasn’t right, and so they were able to tear us apart with their counter-attacks,” he admits. The very next day, the board decided on his dismissal. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge explained at the time that the performances since the start of the season had not met expectations.

Ancelotti assesses his dismissal in retrospect with composure, but the frustration is palpable. “It was the most ruthless sacking of my entire career,” he writes. He adds: “After I left, they reached the Champions League semi-finals and were knocked out by—guess who!—Real Madrid.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.