When Didier Deschamps played under Carlo Ancelotti at Juventus | OneFootball

In 1999 at Juventus, Carlo Ancelotti briefly coached Didier Deschamps in the midfielder’s final months. L'Équipe reports that period bridged the end of Marcello Lippi’s reign and Deschamps’s decision to leave.

Ancelotti, then 39, took charge at Juventus, facing hostility from fans given his Milan past. In a faltering side, Zinédine Zidane, hindered by a sore knee, had an ordinary season between 1998 and 2000, and Thierry Henry lost his France place.

Deschamps was dropped before the 2-4 defeat against Parma on 7 February, felt scapegoated and was suddenly weighed against Alessio Tacchinardi. After seven league losses in 20 matches, Lippi resigned earlier than planned and Ancelotti arrived ahead of schedule.

From February to May 1999, Ancelotti, now Brazil manager, restored Deschamps in midfield, ditching the back three and dropping Igor Tudor. After France won 2-0 in England on 10 February, he told Deschamps to keep doing what worked and that things would be fine, lifting his morale.

Ancelotti later urged Juventus to keep him, saying Deschamps mattered more than Tacchinardi and that the team still needed him. Deschamps chose to leave and later joined Chelsea, making clear Ancelotti was not behind his exit and that their four months together went very well.

In 2012, Deschamps recalled a young coach fresh from Parma, humane and with strong player rapport while the team struggled, and said he already knew he would leave at season’s end. On Thursday night in Boston, he will address him informally and call him Carlo.

Source: L'Équipe