Real Madrid boss names top 5 players he has managed

Carlo Ancelotti often does not get the full credit that he deserves as a manager. For someone who has been around for so long and managed some of the greatest clubs in the world like Real Madrid, AC Milan, Chelsea, PSG, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Juventus and others, his legacy has flown under the radar and you do not always see the Italian’s name being mentioned in the greatest of all time conversations. He firmly belongs there.

Right now, Ancelotti is in his second stint at Real Madrid and is doing a much better job than anybody could have expected. The general feeling was that he was being brought in as a transitional coach before a long-term appointment was made later down the line.

Ancelotti delivered a Champions League and La Liga double though. As a result, it is hard to see him being shown the exit door anytime soon unless the Italian decides to walk out on his own or retire.

As a result of his long career in coaching, he has gotten the opportunity to manage some of the best in the history of the game. He named his top five favourites recently.

Real Madrid boss names top 5 players he has managed

Talking on Italian TV show Che Tempo Che Fa and as reported by Managing Madrid, Ancelotti said about the favourite players he’s ever coached:

"“From my time as a player I have to mention Van Basten, Baresi and Maldini. Then, as a coach, Ronaldo Nazario, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, Benzema and Vinicius. There’s many of them…”"

The fact that Vinicius’ name came up there is a bit surprising to be honest. The Brazilian superstar has played under the management of Ancelotti only a season-and-a-half but then again, it has helped him produce the best football of his career by quite some distance.

Judging from that list, it also looks like Ancelotti enjoys coaching attacking players more even though he himself was a midfielder. Surely, he has left some glittering names off there but then, it is a list of his favourites.