Carlo Ancelotti has revealed how Real Madrid President Florentino Perez persuaded him to join Los Blancos.
The Italian tactician signed for the Santiago Bernabeu club from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, and has told in his new book ‘Il Mio Albero di Natale’ [My Christmas Tree] how the chief got him to take the job.
“The President, Florentino Pérez, a very hospitable man, made me feel at home and took me to the trophy room,” he wrote.
“He obviously knew how to win me over: 'there's one missing', but there are nine together, all alongside each other. I had never seen them. He looked at me and repeated: 'beautiful, very beautiful, but there's one missing'.”
In extract in this morning’s Marca, Ancelotti goes on to talk about his relationship with his players, and last season’s Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona.
“I've said that the search for dialogue is fundamental, but I think it is essential to take great care about what is communicated.
“The option to not talk to a player may be down to not wanting them to think that we are taking the mickey out of them.
"What a game it was against Barcelona in the Champions League! Every time I think about it again I'm more convinced that we deserved to go through and get into the semi-finals against Bayern Munich. [In the first leg] our error was being too psychologically dependant".