After witnessing Real Madrid beat his former club Juventus, Los Angeles FC defender Giorgio Chiellini could see the power of two of Europe’s biggest clubs and two of Italy’s greatest coaches.
Speaking after the pre-season match, he reflected on Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and his performance at the club since returning last summer.
“The results talk for him, he’s a really good guy,” Chiellini told MARCA.
“I am sad because I would have liked to have been trained by him because he is one of the best in history and one of the best of the last 30 years for sure.
“At a club like Real Madrid, the coach doesn’t have to teach many things, you have fantastic players and you have to keep the group in the best way possible.
“You saw in the last games, Marcelo and Toni Kroos are on the bench talking to Carlo like old friends. You see what Carlo is able to do and I’m fascinated by it.”
The Italian is someone who knows what it takes to build a strong defence and also revealed his admiration for the Real Madrid back line.
“I cannot say the best in the world, but they have a very good defence and a different one,” he said.
“I think also Nacho, he has improved a lot in recent years, he’s fantastic.
“At the beginning many people didn’t think about him as a good player but instead I can link his name to [David] Alaba, [Eder] Militao or [Antonio] Rudiger because when he plays he’s fantastic and makes a big difference.”
“Real Madrid have these players all over the pitch, defence, midfield, attack too, they are all fantastic. It’s a very big club who deserved to win all the Champions Leagues in the last years.”
Chiellini reflects on his clashes with Spain
Chiellini also looked back to last summer and the 2020 European Championship, where he highlighted the semi-final clash with Spain as a game which proved that the Spanish side are contenders for the 2022 World Cup.
“I think it was the only game where we didn’t deserve to win, we were maybe a little bit lucky,” he remembered.
“Spain surprised us with the high pressure, a lot of pressure, all the possession, defensively they were so good and the choice of Luis Enrique to take out all the strikers which surprised us.”
That included one special moment in which Chiellini embraced and laughed with Spain captain Jordi Alba ahead of the shootout.
“It was a misunderstanding, the referee said ‘red is there and blue is there’.
“Last year we played in pre-season and I gave him a hug, he’s a good guy.”
Chiellini now lines up alongside Gareth Bale for LAFC, having made his debut for the club earlier this month.
