Carlo Ancelotti incredibly reveals he once tried to get the Juventus team bus to drive off when Zinedine Zidane was late, only for the plan to spectacularly backfire

Carlo Ancelotti revealed an incredible story about the time he tried to encourage the Juventus team bus to drive off without Zinedine Zidane when he was late.

The Italian is known as one of the most successful managers in the history of football, and is preparing to guide Real Madrid to yet more history in the Champions League this weekend.  

However, one incident with Zidane during their time together at Juventus taught him the importance of patience and compromise – and just how important the Frenchman was to his club colleagues in Italy.  

In an interview with The Times, Ancelotti, 64, revealed: ‘There was a time at Juventus when Zidane was late, and we were on the bus waiting to go.

‘I said to the driver, “No more, let’s leave”, but he was scared and wouldn’t move, and then [defender] Paolo Montero came down the bus to speak to me. 

The manager revealed that his Juventus teammates all refused to leave Zidane behind

‘I said to him, “Let’s get going, and then we’ll talk.” But he said, “You don’t understand. Without Zizou, we’re going nowhere.” 

‘So that’s when you think, “OK, I need to listen to this.” So we waited.’

Ancelotti was at Juventus from 1999 until 2001, where he managed Zidane, who went on to become his assistant at Real Madrid.  

The French icon scored 24 goals in 151 league games for Juventus, including back-to-back league titles before Ancelotti’s arrival in the hot seat.

Zidane moved to the Bernabeu club in 2001, shortly after Ancelotti had been removed from his post as manager of Juventus. 

Ancelotti is preparing for Real Madrid’s outing against Borussia Dortmund in Saturday’s Champions League final.

No coach has won the European Cup more than Ancelotti, and success at Wembley would be his fifth European Cup, two more than Pep Guardiola, Bob Paisley and Zidane.

Ancelotti gave insight into his preparations for Saturday’s Champions League final at Wembley

Of his match day routine, the 64-year-old said: ‘I will have a pre-match meal of broccoli, salmon and pasta. Then I’ll have an hour’s siesta. Then the heart rate goes up before I give the final team-talk but once the game starts it soon goes back to normal.

‘I’ll get the cold sweat sometime Saturday afternoon as always, but that happens every game and I’m used to it. I’m going to enjoy it. My players are in Champions League-mode and that gives me confidence.’