Carlo Ancelotti hugging Antonio Conte
Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti has praised Antonio Conte on doing an “extraordinary” job at his former club Chelsea after the Blues equalled a Premier League record of 13 straight wins in a season.
Ancelotti was the last Italian coach to lead Chelsea to a Premier League title in 2010 and he believes Conte has what it takes to emulate him this season after a 4-2 win over Stoke City took them six points clear at the top of the table.
“What Conte is doing at Chelsea is extraordinary,” Ancelotti said in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport. “Antonio has determination, ideas, personality and experience. He’s mature as a coach now and I’m truly happy for him.
“[Zinedine] Zidane has won the World Club Cup after winning the Champions League [with Real Madrid], and there were people who thought he was not a coach. The truth is Conte and Zidane had quality on the field and they’ve taken that into their new jobs with them.”
Ancelotti who has deemed his first six months as Bayern coach as “exceptional” had equally warm words for other coaches, starting with Napoli’s Maurizio Sarri.
“I admire Sarri’s work a lot,” he said. “They seem to be able to play with their eyes closed — they are really beautiful to watch at times. Now they face Real Madrid [in the Champions League] and that’s going to be an intriguing tie.
“I’ve never won anything on paper as a player or a coach — you have got to win on the field and I can tell you now that if Real want to go through, they are going to have to sweat a lot.”