Carlo Ancelotti is one of the greatest and most decorated managers in football history and throughout his 30-year-long managerial career so far, the Italian has had the pleasure of managing many greats of the game. Ancelotti has managed many European giants during his career so far such as Real Madrid, AC Milan, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, and remains the only manager in football history to have won league titles in each of Europe's top five leagues.
During his time managing several European giants, Ancelotti has had the pleasure of coaching many footballing legends. Paolo Maldini, Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are just a few of the names who have shone under the Italian during his managerial career. One of Ancelotti's greatest traits as a coach is his ability to be able to make so many world-class players gel together. While this may seem simple given the talent of the squads he has managed over the years, many other managers have found great difficulty in managing so many big names.
In 2022, Ancelotti was asked to name the five best players he has ever coached and only one of the superstars mentioned above made the cut, snubbing those players along with other greats he coached, such as Kaka, Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry. He said:
"Then, as a coach, Ronaldo Nazario, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior. There's many of them."
Ronaldo Nazario is widely regarded as one of the most entertaining and naturally talented players in football history. However, Carlo Ancelotti coached the Brazilian superstar at a time when he was coming to the end of his career and injuries were taking their toll. With that said, Ronaldo still makes Ancelotti's selection of the best players he has coached and that shows just how good he was.
Injuries were unfortunately the story of Ronaldo's run at AC Milan and even though he didn't play much in the 18 months he had at the club, his goalscoring talent was still clear and he managed to bag nine goals in his 20 appearances under Ancelotti.
One of the greatest recent achievements in football history is when Real Madrid achieved La Decima, winning their record 10th UEFA Champions League title in a dramatic final against their rivals Atletico Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti coached Los Blancos to the title but was helped massively by one of the best versions of Cristiano Ronaldo we have ever seen.
Ronaldo was the key man in Madrid's set-up for Ancelotti's first stint at the club and he once again rose to the pressure of being the main man. During the 2013/2014 Champions League campaign, Ronaldo scored a record-breaking 17 goals, which is something which may never be topped.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has firmly cemented himself as one of the best strikers in football history and during his time playing for PSG under Carlo Ancelotti, the big Swede was producing ridiculous goalscoring numbers. Ibrahimovic's numbers throughout his career have been ridiculous, but in the 2012/2013 season, which was the only season Ibrahimovic had under Ancelotti, he managed to get 50 goal contributions in just 46 matches in all competitions.
For a man of Ibrahimovic's stature, he was incredibly athletic and was capable of scoring a huge variety of goals, which is what made him such a terrifying forward. For Ancelotti to leave out other world-class forwards such as Didier Drogba and Robert Lewandowski in favour of the Swede shows just how good he was.
Ancelotti has had the pleasure of working with many elite strikers during his time in management and just like he does with Ibrahimovic, he holds Karim Benzema in extremely high regard. The French striker worked with Ancelotti in both of his stints as Real Madrid manager, but it was during his second stint where he was at his best and the main man for Los Blancos.
Benzema was of course a part of the iconic 'BBC' frontline with Gareth Bale and Ronaldo during Ancelotti's first run at Madrid, but following the departures of both Bale and Ronaldo from the club, the Frenchman was turned into the main man and this brought the best out of him. The 2021/2022 season saw Benzema score a whopping 44 goals in all competitions under Ancelotti and led the Frenchman to his very first Ballon d'Or.
Vinicius Junior may be a young, active player and may not yet have the legacy of some of the names who have been included in Carlo Ancelotti's selection of the best players he has ever coached, but his talent is clear and that is why he accompanies greats such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldo Nazario.
Ancelotti has turned Vinicius into an output machine whilst also managing to maintain his Brazilian flair and trickery, which is somewhat rare. With how well he has been playing for Real Madrid in the last few years, there is every chance that Vinicius could carve a legacy for himself just as good, if not better than some of the other names which Ancelotti has mentioned.
World Cup champions, tactical visionaries and a former shoe salesman make up some of the greatest managers in football history.