Carlo Ancelotti showed his true feelings for Mohamed Salah in 2018 when he asked the Liverpool ace for his shirt after a match. Ancelotti had just guided his Napoli side to a 1-0 Champions League win over the Reds when he made his unusual request. The Italian is set to come face-to-face with Salah once again later this month when his Real Madrid team play the Reds in the Champions League final.
Ancelotti has enjoyed a remarkable managerial career and has carved out a reputation as one of the best in the world. After being sacked by Bayern Munich in 2017, the 62-year-old returned to the dugout at Napoli less than a year later.
The Serie A club had qualified for the Champions League and were drawn in the same group as Jurgen Klopp’s side. The two teams went head-to-head at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in the second round of group matches, with Napoli coming out on top courtesy of a Lorenzo Insigne strike in the last minute.
After the final whistle, Ancelotti shook Salah’s hand as the duo embraced, before asking for the star’s shirt. And Salah duly obliged as he took his jersey off and handed it over.
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And later this month, Liverpool will be looking to get their hands on their second Champions League trophy in four years when they take on Real in a repeat of the 2018 final, which famously saw Salah forced off following a tussle with Sergio Ramos. And Ancelotti, who took charge of Everton after leaving Napoli, has admitted the showdown will feel like a derby.
“I’m happy to play yet another final,” Ancelotti explained after watching his team stun Manchester City with an epic comeback in their semi-final on Wednesday night. “We’ll have to face another great team, Liverpool. In my personal history I’ve squared off against Liverpool a bunch of times. Now again we’ll be playing against Liverpool. I lived in Liverpool for two years as well. To me this feels like a derby because I’m still an Evertonian.”
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