Carlo Ancelotti has blasted the hierarchy of Paris Saint-Germain as he revealed a threat made to him and his reason for leaving the French club.
The Italian is on the brink of leading Real Madrid to the league title, meaning that he will become the first coach to win the top-flight titles in Spain, England, Italy, Germany and France. Despite his achievements – including lifting the Champions League title three times – he has often had harsh and unfair critics within the game.
Ancelotti spent 18 months in charge of PSG and won the Ligue 1 title in his one full season in charge at the Parc des Princes, before he left in the summer of 2013 to make the switch to his first stint in Madrid. He clinched the Ligue 1 title with two matches to spare and took the club to the Champions League quarter-finals, when they were eliminated by Barcelona on away goals.
However, a week after securing the league title – Ancelotti asked to leave the club ahead of his move to the Spanish capital, where he replaced Jose Mourinho at the helm. The Italian went on to win the Champions League title in his first season at Real Madrid. He has now spoken about his motivation for exiting Les Parisiens.
Ancelotti said of his time at PSG on Universo Valdano and as carried by GFFN: "I went there thanks to [sporting director] Leonardo, who I managed as a player. It was a club that Qatar had recently bought. I really liked the project and there wasn't a manager yet.
"We started to change the structure of training sessions, to put in a kitchen, etc. Because French players arrive half an hour before training and leave half an hour afterwards. I liked the project, but in the second year, they weren't so happy with me.
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"For a Champions League match in which we were already through to the knockouts, we had lost a League game [to Nice, 1-2] before winning [against Evian, 4-0], and they told me that if I didn't beat Porto, they would sack me. I told them, how can you say that to me, it breaks our trust. I decided to leave in February, even if they wanted to renew me."
A number of top-class coaches have passed through PSG in recent years but none have been able to secure the club's elusive Champions League title. Laurent Blanc, Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino have all been in charge of the club since.
