Shadow of Pep Guardiola makes Carlo Ancelotti a man out of time at Bayern | Andy Brassell

The sacked manager has many fine attributes but could never live up to his predecessor and Wednesday’s defeat to Paris Saint-German was the final straw

When Bayern Munich came to London last March to face Arsenal, following one 5-1 victory and just about to register another, everything seemed rosy in the kingdom of FC Hollywood. Sure, their football in the Bundesliga had hardly been edge-of-the-seat stuff, but Carlo Ancelotti spoke confidently, almost bullishly, of his team before the game in the press room at the Emirates Stadium.

He talked of his side approaching their physical best, and of their “real energy”. It felt like his plan to take them back to Champions League glory – the reason that he was appointed to replace Pep Guardiola in the first place – was coming together at the right time. It felt like Bayern could be becoming Ancelotti’s team at last.

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