It's unpleasant to say about anyone -- above all a guy of sustained
talent, decency and achievement -- but Carlo Ancelotti's position as
Real Madrid manager will be untenable if his team leaves Atletico
Madrid's Vicente Calderon without performing in the first leg of the
Champions League quarterfinal.
Real Madrid must perform aggressively, intensely, competitively or at least score a goal.
Ancelotti's
supporters, his agent, his wife ... they'd all remind me that he's the
reigning World and European club champion. They would remind me that he
led Madrid to La Decima.
True enough, but look at it like this:
Another derbi defeat would mean Los Blancos
have lost an unprecedented five times to their city enemies in a single
season. Their current record in Madrid derbies at the Calderon this
term is an aggregate 0-7 across three defeats.
As humiliating as
that is in itself, and Madrid president Florentino Perez is not known as
a "never mind, old boy, better luck next time" kind of guy, there would
be significant further repercussions.
Firstly, it took an
extraordinary effort last May in Lisbon for Real Madrid to prevent
Atletico from lifting their first Champions League. Almost as much of
what spurred Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo & Co. on to stage their
extraordinary added-time comeback in the final was preventing Atletico
from winning it as it was about lifting La Decima themselves.
So
if they were to be knocked out in the quarterfinal this year, Madrid
would have to sit, and wait, and pray that Diego Simeone's men didn't
power on to win the Champions League for the first time.
There
would be a bill to pay for the anguish and tension of watching Simeone's
band of brothers march onward, and a still bigger one if Atleti were to
actually win in Berlin on June 6. Both bills Ancelotti would have to
foot.
Secondly, Los Rojiblancos are, and have been for some time, a rival of substance.
OK,
they are more than €500 million in debt. OK, their new stadium is a
project moving slower than a tortoise in lead-weighted boots.
But
Atleti's team building has been excellent for some time. Atletico
Madrid's squad knows precisely what mentality it takes, day in, day out,
to win trophies. Atletico have won seven of them since 2010. That
winning mentality, the cornerstone of an extended era of success -- you
can't bottle and sell it.
Atletico have a guru figure in Simeone.
The Argentinian is precise, intense, clever; apparently blessed with
limitless stamina, he inspires and he intimidates. Above all, he wins.
Real Madrid fans used to haul up a massive banner at the derby match, like something from the small ads.
"Wanted: A Dignified Rival for the Madrid derby."
It
was cheeky, damning and witty, all at once. Nobody holds up that banner
anymore. Since Simeone's team battled and clawed its way to the Copa
del Rey victory of 2013, Atleti have won far, far more derbies than
they've lost.
Better still, Simeone is sufficiently interested in
staying on for more glory at Atleti that he's allowed himself to be
persuaded that a longer contract is in order. That's no mean achievement in itself.
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