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REAL MADRID

Who is Davide Ancelotti, son and assistant of Carlo Ancelotti?

Carlo Ancelotti has returned to Real Madrid six years after his last tenure and his son Davide, a regular member of his staff, will be joining him.

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Davide Ancelotti, así es el hijo y ayudante técnico de Carlo
CORBISGETTY IMAGES

Real Madrid confirmed the return of Carlo Ancelotti as a replacement for Zinedine Zidane on Tuesday, the Italian tactician taking over at the Bernabéu for a second stint at the helm after the Frenchman brought his second tenure to a close last week. Ancelotti is expected to bring Antonio Pintus - the fitness coach who shot to fame for his gruelling training sessions under Zidane and who was a key element of the double success in 2016-17 - back to Madrid with him, as well as his regular coaching staff among which one of the names that has Madrid fans curious is that of Davide, Ancelotti’s son.

Davide Ancelotti top of his class

Davide Ancelotti was born on 22 July in Parma and grew up surrounded by football stars, although he was always by his own admission a shy child. At the age of 22 he gained a degree in sports science. “Everybody wants to be a footballer but I quickly realized I didn’t have any talent for it so I decided to study,” he said in an interview in the Daily Mail.

As reported by The Athletic in a thorough piece on the younger Ancelotti, his university thesis on motor science in football players won plaudits and he gained high marks in his coaching courses – 137/140 in his UEFA B examination and 13/15 for his UEFA A licence.

Davide Ancelotti started his career as a fitness coach, spending a year at PSG in 2012 and then working in the same capacity under his father at Real Madrid. Ancelotti Sr’s move to Bayern Munich opened up another door for Davide, who became an assistant coach at the Bavarian giants and continued in the same role when Ancelotti took over at Napoli in 2018.

It was at the Serie A side that Davide made his debut as a first team coach. Ancelotti had been sent off during a game against Atalanta and was banned for a match against Roma. Davide stepped in and coached the side as well as attending to media duties after the game. Speaking about the generational substitute, then-sporting director Cristiano Guintoli, said of Ancelotti Jr before the match: “We will miss Ancelotti, but his son Davide will be on the bench. He is a very well-prepared professional and he is a failsafe for us.”

Those who have worked with Davide Ancelotti describe an honest, intelligent person with a human touch, much like his father. However, some players at Bayern accused him of being too close and he would often go out for dinner with members of the team, leading some to complain that was more interested in friendships than maintaining a professional relationship with the squad.

Everton training methods and the Ancelotti coaching team

Davide y Carlo Ancelotti en su etapa en el Nápoles
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Davide y Carlo Ancelotti en su etapa en el NápolesFRANCESO PECORAROGETTY IMAGES

In an interview with the Liverpool Echo last November, Ancelotti Jr said of his working relationship with his father: “My goal is to give him a lot of doubts, to give my opinion. At the end he is the one that makes the decision. I am not here to say, 'yes, yes, yes,' I am here as every assistant coach, I have the confidence - me more than others - to say, 'no, I disagree with you’.”

Training sessions at Everton would typically last 75 minutes and players described them as intense, according to The Athletic. Davide would oversee many of the drills and exercises with Ancelotti offering his opinions, with the sessions designed by father and son.

At Real Madrid, it seems likely that Ancelotti will continue with his habitual appointment of a former player as an assistant coach after working with Claude Makelélé at PSG, Zidane at Real Madrid, Hasan Salihamidzic at Bayern and Duncan Ferguson at Everton (Álvaro Arbeloa has been mentioned for the role on this occasion). But his son will continue to have a key role on Ancelotti’s staff during the Italian’s second spell at the Bernabéu.