Mestalla was heads and tails for Ancelotti as a white coach

Carlo Ancelotti returns to Valencia, heads and tails of his first spell at Real Madrid (2013-2015). At Mestalla, the Italian coach He lived his first great moment as a white coach. There he lifted his first title in the Spanish championship: the Copa del Rey in 2014. In 2013, the whites decided that the Italian coach would replace José Mourinho at the head of the white bench. The Portuguese coach was leaving three titles in three seasons, but with the bitterness that his last match was a defeat against Atlético de Madrid in a cup final played at the Bernabéu.

Ancelotti, faithful to his left hand with the players, relaxed the atmosphere, softened relations and united a team that in the 2013-14 campaign would achieve a formidable double by lifting the Cup in April and the Champions League a month later. Madrid's cup career in that edition was spectacular: it began by eliminating a modest, the Olímpic de Xátiva (they tied at zero in their land and succumbed on their visit to Madrid), to continue with Osasuna (2-0 in both games) and Espanyol (1-0 in both games) . In the semifinals, the draw saw a duel against Atlético de Madrid, then current champions. The whites crushed their capital rivals with a resounding 3-0, goals from Pepe (his shot touched Insúa), Jesé and Di María (Miranda deflected his shot). In the second leg, two goals by Cristiano from the penalty spot before the 16th minute had expired left the tie sentenced.

Thus, Madrid appeared in Mestalla, host of the Cup final with a brutal balance: eight games played, seven wins, one draw, 13 goals in favor and none against. Against, Barcelona, ​​who arrived with similar data to Madrid: seven wins and a draw, but with an abysmal difference in terms of goals. Those of Martino had scored 25 goals in favor and had conceded just four.

On April 16, 2014, Real Madrid and Barça players saw each other in a new edition of the Cup final. The whites had the loss of Cristiano, their best offensive trick, but they defeated the Barcelona fans thanks to a goal from Di María and an extraordinary action from Gareth Bale who, with a prodigious career, left Marc Bartra behind, author of the Blaugrana goal in this final, to beat Pinto with a touch of the toe. The coach thus won his first trophy at the helm of Real Madrid … A month later he would achieve the Tenth in Lisbon.

But in Mestalla he has also lived complicated moments. In this case, the cross. In January 2015, Valencia defeated the Whites 2-1, after coming back in just over 15 minutes in a second half in which the Whites were overwhelmed. After Cristiano scored in the first half, a goal from Barragán, whose shot hit Pepe and dislodged Casillas, and another from Otamendi, in a set piece, ended a streak of 22 consecutive games (among all competitions) without knowing the defeat. It was the beginning of the end for the Italian coach, who at the end of that campaign would not see his contract renewed, being replaced by Rafa Benítez. If in 2014, Bale managed to make Madrid champion in Valencian territory, a year later, his performance against the Valencian players motivated his replacement in the 70th minute of the game, something that did not please the white president, as the coach himself explained years later in his 'Quiet Leadership' book: “He is a strategic player for us,” the president told him. On Sunday, Ancelotti and his Madrid will return to Mestalla. On this occasion to play the leadership of the League …