Luis Enrique vs Carlo Ancelotti: Full Statistical Comparison of Their Seasons
Luis Enrique and Carlo Ancelotti have had relatively similar campaigns thus far, albeit Barcelona have run into form at this point of the season, whereas Real Madrid enjoyed their best spell before the Christmas break.
Enrique, it's fair to say, joined a club in crisis. Not only had Barca endured a stinker of a season under Tata Martino and won only the Spanish Supercup, but prior business dealings with regards to their La Masia academy had come back to haunt them.
FIFA's subsequent transfer ban was lifted on appeal just long enough for the Catalans to manoeuvre in a few signings before the door was firmly shut by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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By contrast, Ancelotti began the campaign as a European champion and Copa del Rey winner. With James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos added to the mix, success was again expected.
So, let's take a look at how the two managers have fared statistically over the course of the season, starting with La Liga.
All statistics are supplied courtesy of WhoScored.com
La Liga
It's almost neck and neck after 31 games of the domestic campaign.
Both Ancelotti and Enrique have presided over 24 wins each in La Liga, but Madrid's six losses, the worst record of the top four clubs, is what sees them two points behind the Catalans.
Four losses for Barca but an extra couple of points from two more draws than Los Blancos is proving crucial at this juncture.
Goal-wise, Real have hit Granada for nine and Deportivo for eight this term, with Ancelotti taking the plaudits for some attacking football that has been compared to Madrid's best ever.
Earlier in the season, Joaquin Caparros told Marca (via Rupert Fryer of Goal.com):
"This may be the strongest Real Madrid side we've ever seen, technically, tactically and physically speaking.
They are going from strength to strength and I think the sky's the limit for them, however well they are playing at the moment.
"
A solid unbeaten run during the first part of the campaign saw them surge ahead at the summit of La Liga, but Barca's resurgence and some big scores of their own have seen them overtake Real in top spot.
Just five goals behind at this point, Barca have scored five or more on nine separate occasions in the league in 2014/15.
A goal difference of plus-68 for Barcelona is down to the excellence of their defence this season. Just 19 conceded in the league is by far the best and the reason why they're slightly better off than Real's plus-65 with 27 goals conceded.
| Record | Goals scored | Goals conceded | Points | |
| Barcelona | 24-3-4 | 87 | 19 | 75 |
| Real Madrid | 24-1-6 | 92 | 27 | 73 |
WhoScored.com
As anyone will tell you, getting to the top is generally the easy part—staying there is what brings the pressure.
With just seven games to go, Enrique cannot afford for his Barca side to drop any more points because Ancelotti's side have the bit between their teeth again after their midseason blip, and Los Blancos are right on the coat-tails of the Blaugrana.
Both have some difficult games left, and there are sure to be more twists and turns before one or the other can be crowned La Liga champions.
Copa del Rey
We are six weeks away from knowing who will win this season's Copa del Rey, but Barcelona are at least in with a chance of furthering their record in the tournament.
Real Madrid succumbed at the hands of cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid, a team they appear unable to beat in 90 minutes.
Despite overcoming Cornella by 9-1 on aggregate, Los Blancos were swiftly put in their place in the next round.
A 2-0 victory for Atleti at the Vicente Calderon wasn't necessarily a surprise, but the way in which they started both halves at the Santiago Bernabeu left Real shell-shocked.
It's unlikely that Fernando Torres will ever score within 45 seconds of the start of each half in the same game again.
| Record | Goals scored | Goals conceded | Points dropped in league | |
| Barcelona | 8-0-0 | 31 | 5 | 8 |
| Real Madrid | 2-1-1 | 11 | 5 | 3 |
WhoScored.com
Barcelona cruised through their first two-legged affair against Huesca by a huge 12-1 scoreline, but the goals didn't end there, Elche dispatched in the next round by a 9-0 aggregate.
After being unable to emerge victorious against Diego Simeone's side throughout the last campaign, Barca won both legs of their quarter-final against Atleti by a combined aggregate score of 4-2.
Villarreal were in their first-ever Copa semi-final, but it didn't show. The history books will show a 6-2 aggregate scoreline, but in truth both games were closer than the scorelines suggest.
A fifth Spanish cup final for Barca in seven years means that at least Enrique has kept the recent status quo, and a win against Athletic Club de Bilbao, whom they defeated in the 2009 and 2012 finals, will be demanded by club and fans alike.
Looking at the comparison table above, there is a very lopsided look to it, predominantly because of Real's early exit.
Their games against Cornella formed part of a club-record-breaking 22-game winning streak, which left them just two away from equalling Cruzeiro's all-time record of 24.
By the time of the Atleti matches, Real had been involved with the Club World Cup and a meaningless sponsor-led friendly.
The two matches were part of a five-game period at the start of 2015 where Los Blancos won just once.
Whether this can be attributed to all of the focus being placed on becoming world champions, and associate fatigue because of no winter break, is a moot point.
Barcelona dropped more than double the league points of Real, but their Copa del Rey campaign has been much more successful.
Scoring 31 goals in eight matches is just about as good as it gets, and once again from a defensive perspective, the Catalans have shown their class.
Both managers were able to use their squads to its fullest in the first matches of the cup run, giving fringe players a necessary run-out.
It also meant that Marc-Andre ter Stegen could get some much-needed match practice under his belt rather than being thrown in for the Champions League only.
Let's also not forget that Enrique has hardly had it easy in the latter stages when getting his team to the final. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone to argue that Barca don't deserve their place.
Champions League
Ancelotti will go down in history if he is able to guide Real to back-to-back Champions Leagues, something not yet accomplished in the modern era.
With away goals counting double, Atletico Madrid perhaps have a slight advantage going into next week's quarter-final second leg, but Real certainly cannot be discounted after the way they took the game to their opponents.
| Record | Goals scored | Goals conceded | Still playing | |
| Barcelona | 8-0-1 | 21 | 7 | Yes |
| Real Madrid | 7-1-1 | 21 | 6 | Yes |
ESPN.com
Any team that scores an average of three goals per game in European football's premier competition has a chance to go on and win it.
Real might not be in the best form, but they are still enviable competitors and perfectly capable of getting the results required.
Where the Italian holds the trump card over Enrique is that he's been here before, and not just once either.
That experience will hold him in very good stead for the next game at the Santiago Bernabeu and potentially beyond.
Looking at their results in the competition this year, it's worth noting that four of the goals conceded were in the same game vs. Schalke, a match that could so easily have seen Real's removal from the competition.
Barca's goals-scored average is identical after their 3-1 slaying of Paris Saint-Germain, and by virtue of the goal conceded in that game, they are just one worse off than Real.
Four of their seven conceded in the competition have come at the hands of the French champions, and they have had four clean sheets.
During the latter stages in particular, Barca have really come into their own. It wasn't too long ago, for instance, that the Catalans were being written off before a ball had been kicked against Manchester City.
The first-leg performance at the Etihad Stadium was also one of their best this season.
Final Analysis
So, in the final breakdown, aside from Real's Copa del Rey disaster, there are very definite parallels to be drawn between Enrique and Ancelotti.
Both like to dominate possession and play an expansive brand of attacking football.
Enrique has even introduced Real's counter-attacking philosophy to Barca when required.
| Record | Goals scored | Goals conceded | Trophies to date | |
| Barcelona | 41-3-5 | 145 | 39 | 0 |
| Real Madrid | 35-4-9 | 131 | 40 | 0 |
WhoScored.com
At this precise moment, Barcelona hold the advantage statistically speaking. They have won more, drawn and lost less, scored more and conceded less than Real.
But whether this translates into silverware is to be seen. Statistics mean nothing unless you've a trophy or two to back up your 100-plus goals in a season.
Time will tell whether it will be Enrique or Ancelotti who is crowned come the end of the campaign.
