The biggest stars of Real Madrid who have won Champions League titles before the arrival of Kylian Mbappe have been a part of an ugly smear campaign by certain segments of the media - and potentially a mole, which many fans wonder could be the Frenchman himself or another disgruntled player in a relegated backup role. There is a narrative that Fede Valverde, Vinicius Junior, and Jude Bellingham (among others) are insubordinate egoists who got Xabi Alonso fired because they hate doing tactical work and don't want to work hard.
It's a narrative that Xabi Alonso himself helped fuel by not bothering to address, and it's a narrative that never existed under any other manager, nor was it spoken about until the arrival of Mbappe, who had reporters in France saying the exact same thing about legends like Neymar during his time losing Champions League after Champions League in Paris - who have now taken Real's place as the best team in the competition since his departure.
Finally, a real legend with the guts to tell it like it is has emerged to address this ugly narrative that many fans have run with. Former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, arguably the greatest person in the history of the Champions League as a player and coach, is here to literally call "BS".
Carlo Ancelotti is not having the slander
In an exclusive interview with The Athletic's Adam Crafton, the current Brazil national team manager spoke about a variety of topics ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America, but the most interesting bit for Madridistas will be his discussion of "player power".
Ancelotti said, “Player power an issue? NO. It sounds like players can do what they want. It’s not true. Absolutely BS. It is absolutely BS.”
By the way, Carlo Ancelotti used the exact curse word "bulls**t" twice to really drive home both how animated he is by the ridiculousness of the statement and the sheer falsehood of this narrative that has been bouncing around the media like a misshapen ping pong ball.
It is amazing how quickly some Real Madrid fans turned on their own players, forgetting that the work rate of Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and Fede Valverde was central to the 2023/24 Champions League triumph the year after Karim Benzema left, as well as, in Valverde's and Vini's case, the 2021/22 triumph to return to the summit after Cristiano Ronaldo's saddening 2018 departure to Italian giants Juventus. And if fans can't listen to Carlo Ancelotti, then the club is lost and the real disgraceful in fighters are the Madridistas themselves.
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