Wednesday’s Spanish Supercopa semi-final between Valencia and Real Madrid will see Gennaro Gattuso face off against his former head coach Carlo Ancelotti, whom managed him at AC Milan.
It will be the first time that the pair have faced off in Spain, following Gattuso’s appointment at Los Che last year. The 45-year-old will be keen to get one over on his former boss, and add a second managerial honour to his collection, having won the Coppa Italia with Napoli in 2020.
In his pre-match press conference, Ancelotti stated that he and Gattuso have had “personal problems” in their relationship, but refused to comment further as to why. Speaking to the media himself, Gattuso clarifies the Real Madrid head coach’s words, stating that their issues stemmed from the pair’s respective spells in charge in Naples, as per Marca.
“When I went to coach Napoli at that time, the press and television talked about the team being good and there was a problem. But he knows I respect him a lot. It was a work problem.
“We are talking about one of the best coaches in the world. For my part personally, humanly and footballistically, I have a lot of respect for him.”
For all the respect that Gattuso has for his former boss, he will be desperate to defeat him on Wednesday night.