Real Madrid Facing 1st Test of Improved Form in Champions League vs. Liverpool
Carlo Ancelotti has been eager to stress that this isn't just another game. Both he—during stints elsewhere—and his club, Real Madrid, have a patchy history against Liverpool in the Champions League.
It's why the Italian has expressed a reverence for Wednesday's opponents this week. The Reds are a unique footballing quantity, and Ancelotti is acutely aware of the significance of these engrossing European nights at Anfield.
"I followed Liverpool from 1984 when I faced them with Roma in the European Cup final and we lost on penalties," the Real Madrid boss said this week, per ESPN. "It's always been a club that makes me emotional."
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Much of that, Ancelotti says, is down to the distinctive connection between Liverpool and the club's fans, a dynamic that has made the historic Anfield something of a cherished place in the European game.
"'You'll Never Walk Alone' is incredible. No one sings it the way Liverpool fans do," the former AC Milan manager remarked, before reflecting on the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul where Reds fans sang the iconic anthem at the end of the first half—something Ancelotti describes as "one of the memories which had the biggest impact in my career."
So as his European champions prepare to tackle Liverpool on Wednesday, what is the 55-year-old looking forward to?
"When we play I will go out early at Anfield because I want to hear fans sing 'You'll Never Walk Alone,'" he declared candidly. "It gives me so much emotion. I go on the internet and I listen to it and I make friends watch it. It's really unique. Really."
Some might wonder why Ancelotti is prepared to speak so fondly of Real Madrid's next opponents. So often now we're treated to wars of words, to battles of the minds, in the lead-up to significant matches. But the man at the helm of Los Blancos is doing it a little different.
"They [Liverpool] are a team with special connotations for me—some bad memories, some good," he said during his extended comments on the Reds ahead of Wednesday's clash, per Graham Hunter of the Daily Mail.
The bad memories Ancelotti speaks of are the defeats in the European final in 1984 and 2005—the first as a sidelined player, the second as a manager. Of the good, none are more notable than his redemption with AC Milan two years later in 2007.
What's clear is that there's a deep respect for Liverpool inside Ancelotti. But one also senses the Italian's praise—it's almost bordered on adoration—for the Merseyside outfit is recognition of the challenge Real Madrid face on Wednesday. The manager's words, perhaps, are designed to serve as a concealed warning to his suddenly rampant squad as to what awaits them at Anfield.
Although not involved at the time, the Italian could well have reflected on Real's last visit to Liverpool in 2009 when the heavily favoured visitors were toppled 4-0 by Rafa Benitez's men. In the days before that stunning thrashing, Madrid-based newspaper Marca scoffed at the "mythology" of Anfield when it wrote "Esto es Anfield. Y que?" translated to English as "This Is Anfield. So what?," as recalled this week by ESPN FC's Steven Kelly.
The Reds, like few others, have grown to enjoy the underdog tag since the fall of their empire in the early 1990s. Aggravating that and fuelling it further, as Ancelotti appears to have acknowledged, isn't recommended.
For Real Madrid, the timing of Wednesday's marquee Champions League fixture couldn't be better.
Since that pair of stinging defeats to Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid in the season's early weeks, the continental champions have stormed to seven consecutive victories, amassing a preposterous tally of 32 goals in that time.
Concerns regarding the suitability of new signings James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos have been quelled. The imbalance of the formation has been steadily addressed. Long-standing defensive issues are being gradually rectified, while Cristiano Ronaldo is enjoying a truly staggering run in front of goal, leaving Ancelotti to insist "it is impossible" for the Ballon d'Or winner to do more, per ESPN.
But Ancelotti's comments regarding Real's next opponents also suggest the Italian perceives his side's recent results as somewhat irrelevant to the clash with Liverpool.
The Reds may be in the midst of suffering through the early months of Luis Suarez's absence, but the men from Anfield have a history of rising to the biggest occasions, of which a visit from Real Madrid is one.
Thus, Wednesday's outing in north-west England will be very different to what Los Blancos have grown comfortable with in recent weeks. Although it's entertaining, smashing eight past Deportivo La Coruna doesn't guarantee success on a marquee evening in Europe. Blasting five each past Basel, Elche, Athletic Bilbao and Levante doesn't either.
As imperious as Real Madrid have been, the capital club, during their ongoing barrage, have faced a paucity of resistance—the sort one can hardly associate with Liverpool.
In his corner, Ancelotti is pleased with his team's preparations, in the belief his players "are coming into it [Wednesday's game] well" and that their attitude is "very serious, very focused."
They'll need to be.
For this is Real Madrid's first genuine test of their improved form since a disastrous opening to the campaign, the first time since their defeat to Atletico in early September that Los Blancos have encountered a club possessing a blend of steel and quality that's capable of pushing them.
Ancelotti, through his words, has made clear he's aware of it. Provided his players are too, they'll come away unscathed.
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