Real Madrid take on Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday and Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti will be hoping the clash between the fierce rivals is settled in Madrid’s favour in normal time.
That’s because statistics show the Italian’s teams do not fair too well when a final has to be decided on spot kicks.
Ancelotti has lost four finals as a coach, and on three of those occasions, the games were settled by the dreaded lottery of a penalty shoot-out. His AC Milan team lost to Juventus in the 2003 Italian Supercup by this method, and also to Boca Juniors in the Intercontinental Cup in the same year. Perhaps most excruciatingly of all the finals he’s lost on a shoot-out, the Champions League final of 2005 was it.
That final is considered one of the greatest of all time (perhaps not by anyone associated with AC Milan). The Rossonero were leading 3-0 at the break and cruising the final. But Liverpool hit back in a remarkable 15 minute spell after the break to draw level at 3-3. The Reds went on to win on penalties.
The only time Ancelotti has lost a final without it being decided on penalties was in 2010. Then in charge of Chelsea, his team slipped to a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United at Wembley in the Community Shield – the annual curtain raiser played between the previous season’s league winners and FA Cup winners.
Having said all that, Ancelotti actually has a decent record in finals, winning 10 of the 14 he has reached. That’s a win percentage of 71% in finals – not too bad!
