Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that he was sacked by Roman Abramovich after he substituted the Chelsea owner's favourite player.
It's now been over three years since Abramovich was forced to sell Chelsea to a consortium led by American businessman Todd Boehly for a colossal £4.25billion.
Since then, the Russian business oligarch has remained out of the football spotlight reportedly living a life of luxury in Turkey and Israel.
But stories from his time at Chelsea continue to come out, with Abramovich and his ruthless expectation of success and brutal approach towards his managers a frequent topic of discussion.
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Even legendary manager Ancelotti was shown the door following nearly two years at the club, and now he's revealed the bizarre reason why.
After a series of disappointing appointments, Ancelotti came in as the new Chelsea boss in July 2009, understanding that he had to lead the club to the Premier League or lose his job.
Thankfully for the Brazilian, things got off to the perfect start as he led the club to their to the club’s first, and only, Premier League and FA Cup double.
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But things quickly went sour in Ancelotti's second season, with the Brazilian claiming that the decisions he made in the Champions League, and the success or failures that this caused, is all that mattered to the Chelsea owner.
Ultimately, this proved to be the case, as Ancelotti revealed that he was later sacked because of his decision to take new signing Fernando Torres off early during the second leg of the 2011 Champions League loss to Manchester United.
Writing in his latest autobiography, “The Dream - Winning the Champions League”, Ancelotti stated: "Success or failure in Europe is how I would be measured by Abramovich - and the Champions League cost me my job.
"The night before the second leg, Abramovich warned the squad that if they didn’t win there would be changes.
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“He then told me that if we lost, I should not bother coming back in the next day.
“Torres was clearly suffering from a lack of confidence and felt the weight of his transfer fee hanging round his neck."
He continued: “What happened next was inevitable. Torres was his personal decision and substituting him was a direct rebuke to the owner.
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"Momentarily, I had forgotten that, ultimately, you can’t beat the owner.”
Eventually, Ancelotti was sacked following the defeat at Everton on the final day of the 2010/11 season, as chief executive Ron Gourlay broke the news to Ancelotti after the Italian had already told the press that he expected his time was up.
A season later, Abramovich got his wish as Chelsea won the Champions League final under Roberto Di Matteo, who was then sacked six months later.
Topics: Carlo Ancelotti, Roman Abramovich, Chelsea, Premier League, Football, Fernando Torres
Ben McCrum