Carlo Ancelotti has been sacked as manager of Real Madrid after two seasons in charge of the Spanish club.

The Italian, 55, led Real to victory in the Spanish Cup before claiming the club's 10th European Cup last season.But this year they were knocked out by Juventus in the Champions League semi-finals, while Barcelona won La Liga.

Ancelotti's side finished second in Spain's top flight, two points behind Barca, who have reached the Spanish Cup and Champions League finals.

Club president Florentino Perez told a news conference it had "not been an easy decision" before thanking Ancelotti and adding that a new manager would be appointed "next week".

"What did Ancelotti do wrong? I don't know," Perez added.

"The demands here at Real Madrid are very high. The affection that the players and the fans have for Carlo is the same as the affection I myself have for him."Napoli boss Rafael Benitez is the favourite to take over the vacant role once the Italian season

Real beat city rivals Atletico Madrid 4-1 after extra time in the Champions League final in June 2014 to claim 'La Decima' - their 10th victory in Europe's most prestigious club competition.

It was Ancelotti's third Champions League title as a manager - he also won it twice with AC Milan, in 2003 and 2007 - but he leaves Madrid having failed to claim the Spanish title since joining from Paris St-Germain in July 2013.

The former Chelsea boss, whose contract was due to run until the end of next season, also won the Club World Cup in December before Real were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Atletico in January.

In an interview with Italian newspaper published on Monday morning, before his departure was announced, Ancelotti said he would take a year off and have back surgery if he left Real."I must have a back operation because of spinal stenosis that for some time creates a tingle in my hands," he said.

"I don't know how long the period of recovery will be," he added. "I can assure you that I've had plenty of offers from Italy, England, Germany. I'm sure they will not be lacking from here until next year."

The question is, will this inspire Ronaldo and others to leave? Klopp is the only good replacement and it doesnt look like he will go to Spain.

Can anyone imagine Carlo at BVB?

The problem is actually he didnt have a bad season, he got his winning team drastically changed, with Alonso departure and Di Maria, he needed to change style to make place to Kroos and James ( it suited Isco but not Bale ) and it took him less than 2 month to find a balance and be competitive the first year, then he got a winning streak...
In the summer, all he wanted and told the direction is a backing CDM and '' another Morata '' like he said, he needed and wanted a classic 9 all the summer, he got players he didnt need ang got Di Maria leaving the club, and at the end he had Chicharito who isnt a classic 9 and doesnt hold the ball ( excellent in an another style, Atletico would have suited him more ), Ancelotti kept calm, not a word, he never used Chicha until Benz got injured (he could have rotated them) and told that he would still achieve with the squad he had saying that its the best in the world ( Arguably true or top 3 )...

What happened in the second leg, injury and ego wars isnt his fault, i think BBC doesnt like to rotate like MSN, for me its unfair because he is competing with 2 teams in the top 5 of Europe, ending the season over 90 points and not winning the league, it happens only in Spain...
Good luck to him.

Terrible decision. What on earth were they thinking? Good luck to the fat waiter in getting the support from the RM dressing room. Just don't think he has the right personality for such a club. Ancelotti is one of the best managers there is. Terrible decision to let him go.

Some facts :

• No RM coach in the history has more..

• Goals per game
• Points per game
• Wins after 100 games
• Titles in a year

..than Carlo Ancelotti.

• Carlo Ancelotti won more trophies (4) in two seasons at Real Madrid than José Mourinho won (3) in his three seasons at the club.

• With Ancelotti, Real Madrid went on a 22-match winning streak in all competitions. That streak was the longest in the history of Europe.

When i see Rodgers still in charge i call this madness, i really dont get it really, there is no reason for him to be sacked.

@AlexBatak How was him getting sacked from Chelsea worse? He won the double with Chelsea, and won 4 titles including La Decima with RM...

It doesn't matter if getting sacked at Madrid or Chelsea was worse. The point is that a true gentleman has been unfairly treated at two of the most reputable clubs in the world. It's unfair from both Abramovich and Perez. Ancelotti deserves much better treatment than this. As expected, his press conference after being sacked was him being as classy as ever by stating he wasn't upset and didn't hold grudges towards Madrid. I'm sure the players are all furious at this decision...

IMO Ancelotti and Guardiola are the top two best managers in world football at the moment. Ridiculous how they are being treated. The clubs need to just take a look at their CV and realize that they WILL deliver at some point. You can't expect domination year in year out. The competition, especially in Europe, is too fierce for that.

Confirmed: Rafael Benítez leaves Napoli. On his way to Real Madrid.

Ancelotti is like 200 times better than Benitez...

^Very TRUE.

Ancelotti shouldn't have left. Perez should have give him some time to get back some key players back to operation (Modric injuried, Bale useless). And selling Di Maria was a joke, as much as this sack is a joke.

Ancelotti said he will take a sabbatical year and will acquire a season ticket and attend games at the Bernabeu. What a fucking boss.

@RealMadrid17 If Benitez going to manage Real Madrid then probably Ancelotti will just want to watch the games and laugh at Perez till the end of the season. Sir Alex labelled Benitez as lucky to manage Chelsea since there were a possible 6 trophies to win. But he ended winning only 2 which are the Europa League and the FA cup and miss out on the most important other trophies. He was very poor tactically and made a laughable changes during the games.

Good luck having Benitez...