Carlo Ancelotti finally has a date to bid farewell to his job as head coach of Real Madrid. The Italian, who will officially take the reins of the Brazilian national team on the 26th, still has three matches left before concluding his stay at one of the biggest clubs in the world. And the first act of this epilogue begins this Wednesday, at Santiago Bernabéu, against Mallorca, in the 36th round of La Liga.
The game, that in other circumstances would be only another match, is a farewell in symbols, a farewell in waves, and the challenge to maintain a mathematical and near-utopian opportunity at the top.
Real Madrid enters the field in second place, with 75 points, still hoping to win the trophy, but taking a look at Barcelona far ahead in the rearview mirror, quite out of reach. Mallorca, meanwhile, is in 9th place and is still in the fight for inclusion in the European competitions next season.
The atmosphere in Madrid is like the final evening of a party, but no room to unwind: "We want to play the last three matches well and conclude the season as best as possible, which has been a complicated one," Ancelotti summarized in his press conference.
The silent farewell of a titan
Carlo Ancelotti is basking in his "final days" at Real Madrid with some kind of dignity that's rare these days in soccer. No drama, no disagreement with the board, no ego displayed. "If, on the day I arrived, they told me I would win 11 titles in four years, I would've signed it in blood," the coach stated. And rightly so. It's one of the highlights of the recent past of the club, although, as it happens this season in Chamartín, it doesn't meet expectations.
With his leaving already announced by the CBF, Ancelotti seems to be on a mission not to let the job switch influence the final stretch. "I'm wearing the Real Madrid shirt, I respect this shirt a lot and I want to honor it until the last day," he stated.
The way he's handling this sendoff says a lot about the coach, but far more about the man with the clipboard. But he'll be forced to make do with an injury and suspension-hounded team. Without Carvajal, Militão, Rudiger, Mendy, Camavinga, Tchouaméni, and Lucas Vázquez, Real Madrid has on the pitch a de facto dismantled defense.
And to rub salt in the wound, the absence of Vinicius Junior, who suffered an ankle injury in the last match against Barcelona, takes one of the team's primary attacking threats away. Rodrygo is still uncertain.
In spite of that, it's a rookie mistake to underestimate Real Madrid, especially at the Bernabéu. They've won 12 of their last 13 home games against Mallorca in La Liga. And more still: the team hasn't lost any of their last 13 home games on a Wednesday in the league, winning 11 and tying 2. It's that so-called mystique that, numerically, just keeps repeating itself.
Mallorca and the "final push"
Mallorca, with Jagoba Arrasate, is not showing up just to show. The squad exists in the battle for a spot in a European competition and is injecting the spirit of an "all or nothing" mentality. The coach himself defined the challenge: "We have to make one last effort because the prize is very big." But he knows how daunting the challenge is: "They have world-class players and they score goals with ease."
In fact, even while disintegrating, Real Madrid thrashed Barcelona three to zero and Celta three to zero recently. That means their firepower is still intact. And Arrasate, who has never beaten Real in Madrid, admits that with maturity. But he does not hide his admiration for Ancelotti: "He is, certainly, the best coach in Real Madrid's history."