Real Madrid only team to have won more Champions League titles than Carlo Ancelotti

The brow-raising cold Italian Stallion has two titles in his kitty as a player and five as a manager.

Carlo Ancelotti got hands on his seventh Champions League title overall, five as a manager and two as a player, leading Real Madrid to the 2023-24 crown. Real Madrid are currently the only football club with more titles than the Italian which speaks volumes of the impact a single man can have on European Football.

Ever since their sworn rivals Barcelona had  managed to secure some silverware back in 2015, Real Madrid have been on a roll having won the competition five times in total. AC Milan did have the ambitions of matching Real Madrid’s record even in the 2000s and they could have possible come close to their goals. The Madrid-based juggernaut continue to remind the whole world why they are no ordinary club. But THE CLUB to be, managing to write fairy tale like scripts to cup triumphs and establishing a mythical almost unattainable gold standard that no one can match in the Champions League.

The building blocks  were placed and the last brushstroke was applied by Dani Carvajal. The legend etched into the marble slab read, “Respects its past, learns from its present and believes in its future.” In May 2004, a 12-year-old kid with floppy blond hair and a life ahead of him laid within the Real Madrid’s white crest ready to carve out his legacy immersing himself into the training ground’s foundations and put in the hard yards.

1 June 2024 would see him script history as his header against Dortmund in Wembley paved the way for another historic night putting what seemed like a tie heading towards extra time. Vini Jr. managed to wrap up the good work done by his captain about 10 minutes later and showed everyone that when it comes to finals, Real Madrid do be Madrid-ing. 

With 15 titles overall—eight more than the next best team—it maintained the Spanish club’s incredible record in the competition by quite some distance. With this victory, they have already won six Champions League crowns in the previous 10 years, but Ancelotti  like the True mentality monster he is insists that they still aim for more.

Real Madrid may be the club to have more trophies than Ancelotti, but at the end of the day both he and Madrid have a shared legacy even though Ancelotti has lifted the Cup with other clubs before. It is with Los Blancos that he has had the best of moments and so has Real Madrid in their recent continental cup history.

Cover Credits - REUTERS