Ancelotti: Countryside in Regiana before all of it was occupied

Once you see the eyebrow raised in the highlighted way, the match is over. What if he showed his glory behind him when he scored back-to-back mediocre moves from Bayern Munich, Napoli and Everton between 2016 and 2021?

the Carlo Ancelotti He returned impressively, taking charge again real madrid And led him to win the European Champions League, the League Championship, Super Cups inside and outside the borders, as well as the Club World Cup.

Heading into his 64th year, the Italian coach has become the mids of European football, being the only one to have won four UEFA Champions League titles in his phenomenal career – as well as the only coach to have won nine titles in UEFA club competition.

We may have associated Ancelotti with the cropped game, big pitches and heavy shirts like those of Real Madrid and his beloved AC Milan, but his start in 1995 was very different. the… rural Carlito you see, it happened in Serie B and on the silver bench reggiana. He only lasted a year, but this was probably the hardest in his career…

Sake and reggiana

As a footballer, Ancelotti had a football career an impressive career in Parma, Rome and Milan between 1976 and 1992;. Between “Galorossi” and “Rossoneri” he won three championships, four cups, the Italian Super Cup, the Champions Cup, the European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup once, while wearing the Italian national shirt 26 times.

Farewell to active work came at the age of 33 in the year 92, when the then young Italian took training courses in Coverciano, the seat of the Italian Football Federation.

Somehow, he got in The staff of his former Milan coach, Arrigo Sacchi, is in the Italian national team. Alongside him, he would have faced the agonizing loss at the 1994 World Cup in California, with a penalty miss by Roberto Bagzzo.

But a year later, in 1995, Ancelotti would be challenged to take over a team… on his own. the reggianawhich had just been relegated to Siri B After two years in the saloons, she hired him to get her back in the major leagues.

“The Bombshell” was in a strange period. The owner was eccentric Franco Dalchinwho was previously the iconic general manager of Udinese, who brought him in Zico In Friuli in 1983.

However, the company was headed by a wine producer Luciano Fantinelwho will leave her that summer to his brother, Laurie. The management decided to risk hiring an inexperienced trainer who did not even have the required certification yet.

Ancelotti approached him Giorgio Chiacini To become his assistant, but on paper as the first coach. The two would become inseparable and work together until 2014…

Start from the left

The summer transfer window of 1995 was a busy one for Reggiana. Big name ya Paolo Futreon the left, as did the late Ajax, Juventus and Dortmund midfielder, Saturday ol’ – In addition to the also noticeable Francesco Antonioli And David Dionigi.

the Marco Pallotta He was acquired to defend the home side of the relegated team, who was already 31 years old at the time – and later played until the age of 44 in the First Division and Champions League.

The rest of the roster was made up mostly of players familiar with the second division who saw this season as an opportunity to play in the big league.

In all, 20 players remain and 12 players have been bought, with Carlo Ancelotti making his first appearance on August 27, when he welcomes his team to the newly built “Stadio Giglio” (the current “Mapei Stadium” also used by Sassuolo). Palermo.

The 0-0 final game left the Reggiana crowd with mixed feelings, but what followed was a nightmare. A 2-0 defeat at the hands of Pistoiese was followed by four unsuccessful results, with a 4-1 defeat of Pescara on 8 October leaving the “bomb” in last places in the ranking.

An angry Dal Qin told reporters after the match that within the next few hours He will make up his mind about the future of the young coach. Ancelotti’s coaching career appeared to be in jeopardy, just months after it began…

In the end, management ended up giving him time credit. He played a big role in this before Player support to Carlito. “His start in Regiana was not easy, he was in danger of being expelled. But we were players against this possibility and the team decided to continue with him.” Pallotta will be remembered many years later.

Ancelotti moved to El Retiro, locked his players in the training center and finally in the eighth round, he came on The first – in thousands – victories in his career. Three goals in the first 45 minutes made it 3-0 to Venice and somewhere in there… a turn.

Overthrow and … promotion

From that point on, Regina is in the championship race. Thirteen of their 15 points followed, with impressive victories over the likes of Salernitana, Avellino and Bologna. Their unbeaten run was interrupted by an unexpected 3-0 defeat by Foggia, but it turned out to be a bad day in the office, as the “Granata” managed to climb to the top of the standings at the end of the first round.

newly acquired Pietro Stranda To a decisive factor, along with Igor Chemotenkov but also the team’s top scorer, Alfredo Aletti.

The second round saw Regina lose only three times in 19 matches and in the end, Longing has come to rise. Ancelotti led the team he had the opportunity to coach to fourth place with 61 points, four points behind champions Bologna but three more than fifth-placed Salernitana. The playoffs did not exist after that, with the top four advancing directly.

But Carlito didn’t see what it was like to fight for survival in the top flight. You see in the summer of 1996, after only a year on the bench in Regiana, Offer came.

the Nevio Scala He had just left after seven terrible years on Parma, which at that time was operating in Italy and Europe, and with the financial support of Parmalat, worked wonders. Ancelotti was called in to replace the experienced technician, and from his second job to date, he has been coaching elite teams exclusively.

In “Enio Tardini” he would have stayed for one Two yearsduring which he will count second place, his presence in the Champions League but also controversial transfer options, before taking over Juventus. But that’s a story for another time…

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