Ancelotti, Guardiola and Klopp compete for the prize for best coach
Real Madrid’s win in the Champions League has placed the Chamartín team at the forefront of the UEFA Best Player and Best Coach of the Year nominations. Karim Benzema and Thibaut Courtois, the two heads of the Decimocuarta, are among the three finalists for the first of these awards, while Carlo Ancelotti is the main favorite of the trio of contenders for the second of these awards, whose final verdict will be revealed during the group stage draw of the next edition of the Champions League on August 25 in Istanbul (Turkey).
The 15 goals he scored in last Champions League place Benzema as the key player to succeed Brazilian Jorginho as UEFA Player of the Year, who was enthroned in 2021 thanks to Chelsea’s win over Manchester City in the final played in Porto and Italy’s victory at the European Multi-Site Championship. The Real Madrid ‘9’ registered five goals in the group stage, but it was in the knockout round where he opened the throttle by registering ten goals to match Cristiano Ronaldo’s record in the 2016-17 campaign.
The Lyon native scored three goals in the second leg of the round of 16, which allowed Real Madrid to come back from their draw against PSG, three more goals in the first leg of the quarter-finals against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and one more time in the second leg against the ‘blues’ to complete his team’s pass to the semi-finals where he would score three more goals against Manchester City, two of them at the Etihad and the last, from the penalty spot, at the Santiago Bernabéu to Call up Real Madrid against Liverpool in the final in Paris.
It was in that game against Jürgen Klopp’s team that the figure of Courtois emerged with unique strength, who kept Real Madrid alive with a series of extraordinary saves until Vinicius unraveled Liverpool in the second half and then prevented Egyptian Salah from taking the lead. tables with another handful of big wins in the final stretch of the clash at the Stade de France.
Far fewer options have De Bruyne, author of 19 goals and 14 assists last season, but who couldn’t bring the ‘orejona’ to Manchester City. Despite this, the Belgians outnumbered players of the stature of Robert Lewandowski, Luka Modric, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius.
In terms of coaching, Ancelotti aims to succeed Germany’s Thomas Tuchel as the best coach of the year, having added his fourth Champions League on the bench, the second with Real Madrid. In addition, the Italian guided de Witten to the conquest of the League and the Spanish Super Cup, titles to which he added the European Super Cup on Wednesday. His rivals are Guardiola, whose main support is winning the Premier League with Manchester City, and Klopp, winner of the FA Cup and League Cup with Liverpool, and second in both the Champions League and Premier League.
Source: La Verdad
I’m an experienced news author and editor based in New York City. I specialize in covering healthcare news stories for Today Times Live, helping to keep readers informed on the latest developments related to the industry. I have a deep understanding of medical topics, including emerging treatments and drugs, the changing laws that regulate healthcare providers, and other matters that affect public health.
