Milan’s 2005 loss hangs heavy on Ancelotti’s mind as Madrid face Liverpool

The Champions League face-off between Real Madrid and Liverpool will see old foes in Paris, battling for the highest European club honour. 

Speaking in a news conference on Friday, Carlo Ancelotti, the Los Blancos coach, said “I think we are in a great moment and will do our best to win on Saturday but sometimes your best isn’t enough to succeed”, Reuters reported. 

He added, “Soccer is about intangibles that sometimes you can’t control. We deserved to get to the final but to win it it’s not about what you did before, it’s about what happens on the pitch during the big game.” 

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The manager continued, “We have to plan a game where we can show our qualities. The collective commitment, the individual quality and the impact that the substitutes make in important moments. The game will be won by the team who manage to fit the game to their strengths.” 

The 62-year-old has gone to four previous Champions League finals and is the first to win the European Cup thrice, with two different teams. However, he’s not been able to put the 2005 AC Milan loss to Liverpool out of his mind. 

The Reds came back from three goals down at halftime and ultimately won the game in a shootout. 

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Speaking of then, Ancelotti said “That team was probably the best I’ve coached in a final”, as he looks to make history by managing his fifth Champions League final. 

He added, “Unfortunately, in football there is that unpredictability that you cannot control. It’s difficult to explain”.

Referring to Madrid’s semi-final fixture against Manchester City, that saw two sides duke it out across both legs, the Italian noted “Just like it’s hard to explain how we scored twice in one minute from the 90th minute against (Manchester) City (to win 3-1 in the second leg of this year’s semi-final).”

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He concluded “These things happen and you have to accept it. You don’t have to think about it too much either. Football always offers a chance for redemption and that happened two years later (when Ancelotti’s Milan side won the 2007 final against Liverpool).”

Taking Jurgen Klopp’s tactics of gegenpressing, and playing a highly intense game into account, Ancelotti said “Liverpool will try to impose an intense game, with a lot of verticality (quick transitions) … We have to be ready to respond at the highest level”.