Manchester City face Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening.
It’s a mouth-watering clash between two of the finest sides in Europe. The kind of game the Champions League is all about.
It’s also another clash between Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti.
Both men coached Bayern Munich and have won everything there is to win in the game. They’re two of the finest minds to have graced European football and they’re going head-to-head again.
Right now, Ancelotti has the superior numbers according Marca.
The Italian has won 74.2% of his games at Madrid. Guardiola has won 72.6% of his games at City. Ancelotti also has the lowest percentage of defeats of coaches with 50 games or more in charge of their club with just 13.7% during his time in the Spanish capital. Guardiola’s equivalent record stands at 14.5%.
Ancelotti is also the coach with the superior scoring record; his Madrid teams have averaged 2.53 goals per game compared to Guardiola’s equivalent record of 2.43. They’re first and second.
Ancelotti isn’t, however, the coach with the best winning percentage in the history of Madrid. That record belongs to Manuel Pellegrini, now of Real Betis. His record at the Santiago Bernabeu is 75%, beating Ancelotti’s of 74%. Guardiola, with a record of 72%, is the most successful coach in City’s history.