Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti took charge of Bayern Munich in 2016, only to be sacked midway through his contract before it expired. Now, Camel Live has excerpted content from the biography of the current Brazil national team coach, in which he talks about his time at Bayern Munich and the circumstances of his sacking back then.
In the book, Ancelotti stated, "That season, we were far ahead in the Bundesliga, leading the opponents by 15 points—5 points more than the gap between Pep Guardiola’s team and the second-placed side in either of his previous two seasons.
However, Bayern Munich did not consider this a success. That was the last thing they expected."
Ancelotti added, “Every time the media hype escalated, I could feel the huge changes in this job. What was a completely new experience for me was working at a club not controlled by a single charismatic owner. Instead, the club’s shareholders formed a diverse group, and legendary former players have traditionally dominated the club’s management. Midway through the season, there was a change in the club’s presidency, with Uli Hoeneß taking over. The chairman of the board was Karl-Heinz Rummenigge—back when I played for Roma, he was with Inter Milan. Would I have tackled him back then when I faced my future boss on the pitch? Of course I would. After all, that was my job. So I had to report to several important figures at the same time. It was hard for me to judge who held more power; a few weeks later, I even pulled Philipp Lahm aside to ask for his opinion. But as always, I did my best to remain independent.”
Ancelotti also gave an example to illustrate this: “Once, the club’s bosses told me to tighten discipline among the players and gave me a five-point list to read out to them. However, I thought we were dealing with a top professional team, not a youth squad, so the players deserved to be treated accordingly. So I stood in the dressing room, in front of the entire team, took that piece of paper out of my pocket and said, ‘The board has ordered me to read this list to all of you.’ That was my way of getting out of that task.”
Shortly after, Ancelotti was sacked by Bayern Munich following their defeat to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the Champions League. He recalled, “At the end of September, we traveled to another club where I had previously worked. For the game against PSG, I decided to bench the veteran wingers, push the full-backs further forward, and focus our attack mainly through the middle. That was a mistake. The team lost its balance, and the opponents’ counterattacks disrupted our rhythm. They scored their first goal in the second minute. The final 0-3 scoreline was Bayern Munich’s most humiliating defeat in the Champions League in 21 years. The day after the game, the club’s board held a meeting and concluded that the problem was with me.”
Ancelotti admitted that this sacking was a huge blow to him, as he was confident he had done a good job. He said, "‘The performance of our team since the start of the season has not met our expectations,’ Rummenigge said. The game in Paris made it clear that we had to take action. I have been sacked by four major clubs: Juventus, Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich. This shows that even if you get sacked, it doesn’t have to be because of a fickle president or an elusive owner. Corporate shareholders can be the same. This was the most ruthless sacking of my career. After I left, they reached the Champions League semi-finals and were then eliminated by—guess who—Real Madrid."
