After Osasuna lost the 2005 Copa del Rey final, Uruguayan hardman Pablo Garcia launched his runners-up medal into the crowd in frustration. “I said goodbye to my family, because I’m going to war,” Garcia had revealed to the media with no hint of a smile. In the lead up to the 2023 Copa del Rey final, Garcia was given a hero’s welcome back at El Sadar, revealing that he now had the medal back due to the work of a friend. Years later, he is still revered in Pamplona.
After Carlo Ancelotti lifted the Copa del Rey with Real Madrid, his second, his tenth trophy with the club overall, and Real Madrid’s sixth in the space of a year, he said that they would realise what they had achieved in these last two seasons.
President Florentino Perez made a rare public appearance to confirm that Ancelotti would be continuing next season, his job was safe. That very fact he felt the need to do so itself speaks to the fact that Ancelotti, beloved as he may be by some, will probably have to wait several years before he gets his wish.
Fortunately it looks as if Ancelotti will remain, but it is not that long ago that Ernesto Valverde was sacked at Barcelona while top of the league, having won all of the domestic honours available after losing Neymar Junior and replacing him with Paulinho. Their exit was apocalyptic, a nightmare tableau that depicted the most gruesome spiritual journey into the underworld, but Valverde nonetheless had gotten that Barcelona side to the Champions League semi-final.
There were many mitigating factors, but Barcelona would then go on a run of being eliminated in the quarter-finals, and then the group stage twice. It looks as if their wait for a league title will finally come to an end three seasons later in a matter of weeks. Still, Valverde has his detractors.
And if Real Madrid are crushed in the Champions League semi-final by Manchester City, Ancelotti’s future might be safe for next year, but the murmurs and scruples of the Madrid media will be present going into the summer.
Only at Barcelona and Real Madrid could a manager win two Champions Leagues in four campaigns, and come into question. Only at the Santiago Bernabeu could you secure a Champions League and La Liga double, and not earn at least a year of credit. But there’s no doubt that at the start of April, it felt as if Ancelotti was more out than in.
The Italian has been outperformed by Barcelona in La Liga this season, but his primary issue is that it is hardened, scrounging Barcelona, that in the same way that Real Madrid play finals, do not concern themselves with playing but rather winning. The Blaugrana are amongst the best in history in terms of numbers, but their viscous football has led to talk of a ‘cheap’ league in Madrid, and sanded down some of the gloss from both themselves and Los Blancos.
Nevertheless, Carletto has, over the course of his two years, done a remarkable job. When Zinedine Zidane left, he penned a letter to the public which seemed to make it clear that he did not feel he could take the side forward without more backing in the market. Ancelotti took over in an emergency, with a squad many expected to struggle and stumble in La Liga, let alone in Europe – like Ancelotti himself, it was supposed to be aging, no longer cut out for the top level. Not only turned has he turned Real Madrid into a side with as bright a future as any other in Europe, but he has done so winning. Like many great artists though history though, he might have to wait until his career is over until his work is properly valued.
