Champion in all respects

Franck Ribery has labelled Carlo Ancelotti as a “champion in all respects” and hailed the positive atmosphere the Italian has created at Bayern Munich.

Ancelotti replaced Pep Guardiola as head coach at the Allianz Arena in the close-season and led Bayern to DFL-Superup glory against Borussia Dortmund, before starting their DFB-Pokal and Bundesliga campaigns with 5-0 and 6-0 thrashings of Carl Zeiss Jena and Werder Bremen respectively.

France winger Ribery criticised Guardiola’s approach when speaking about the Manchester United boss in July, telling Bild: “He lacks experience. Sometimes he talks too much. Football is very simple.”

However, Ribery believes Ancelotti, who as a coach has won league titles in England, Spain, France and Italy as well as claiming three Champions League crowns, has created a strong bond between the coaching team and playing staff already.