Carlo Ancelotti understands why Napoli fans are unhappy at Maurizio Sarri potentially joining Juventus, but “this is a profession.”
It’s widely expected Sarri will announce his departure from Chelsea after just one year and return to Serie A for Napoli’s bitter rivals.
Carlo Ancelotti understands why Napoli fans are unhappy at Maurizio Sarri potentially joining Juventus, but “this is a profession.”
It’s widely expected Sarri will announce his departure from Chelsea after just one year and return to Serie A for Napoli’s bitter rivals.
“The bond between Sarri and Neapolitans was very strong, just as his adhesion to the project and to the Neapolitan character was strong,” Ancelotti told the Corriere dello Sport.
“It’s understandable that some will find this painful, but Sarri is a professional and at times this profession brings you to make choices that can be disorienting.”
Today is Ancelotti’s 60th birthday and he took the opportunity to look back over some career highs and lows.
“The most important games were both in the Champions League with Milan: beating Manchester United and the Final we lost to Liverpool in Istanbul.
“We were fantastic in the first half in that Final, then lost our unity after the break, but even when it was 3-3 we still wasted loads of chances to win it.
“Liverpool were out on their feet, many of them had cramp, they clung on for dear life to reach the penalty shoot-out. I watched it again three weeks ago on TV, the only time in 14 years.
“The worst performances of my career were Bologna-Milan, in my first season, as we played so badly that we risked compromising Champions League qualification. I destroyed the dressing room.
“The other was away to Evian in the Coupe de France for PSG. I was absolutely furious with Marco Verratti, who got himself sent off. I kicked a piece of cardboard and it ended up hitting Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the head. ‘Mister, are you angry with me?’ I replied: ‘No, with someone else…’
“I’d add to that the first 20 minutes of our performance against Arsenal in London in the Europa League this season. Inexplicable.”