Carlo Ancelotti: Losing the Madrid Derby Worse Than 2005 Champions League Final

In breaking news, the Real Madrid manager's job is a tough one.

In an interview with the Daily Mail's Matt Lawton, Carlo Ancelotti has opened up about the pressure he felt in his two seasons at the Bernabeu between 2013 and 2015.

The Italian was sacked as Real Madrid manager one year after lifting the Champions League trophy.

"You are judged on the results," he told Lawton, "but you cannot win every single year. Certainly not in Spain where you have one of the best teams in the world in Barcelona. You have a third team, in Atletico, that is also very competitive."

The decorated manager has won trophies in Italy, England, France and Spain and was in charge of AC Milan when they lost the 2005 Champions League final to Liverpool on penalties, despite leading 3-0 at half-time.

"Madrid was the hardest job. More pressure even than Milan," he admits. "Was losing to Liverpool in 2005 my worst experience? Try losing 4-0 in the Madrid derby."

That result in February was Madrid's heaviest defeat since 2010, as the side finished two points behind Barcelona on La Liga table.

"If the manager doesn’t win at Madrid he is sacked," Ancelotti says. "Had I not won the Decima I would have been sacked a year earlier but I knew this when I took the job. I could have decided not to sign but Real Madrid is the most important club in the world."

[Daily Mail]