Fate has a sense of humor.
Paris Saint-Germain are not on the menu for the Champions League quarter-finals this season, unlike 3 of their last 4 coaches.
Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid will travel to Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea this Wednesday evening, while Unai Emery's Villarreal will host Bayern Munich.
These three coaches have all experienced a not really amicable divorce with PSG, and have generally been able to bounce back well.
Enough to be where the Parisian club is not today.
To discover
Champions League fixtures and results
How Ancelotti left PSG
We remember two things from the Italian's time at PSG, between 2012 and 2013: first the first title of French champion of the QSI era, after the reinforcements of Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and the successful return of the club in the Champions League.
PSG gave up in the quarter-finals after shaking FC Barcelona (2-2, 1-1).
But a defeat in Reims (0-1) in March 2013 and the reaction of the Parisian leaders, when the club was still leader of Ligue 1, sealed its future.
“
I didn't feel the confidence.
The next day, I told Leonardo that I would no longer coach PSG at the end of the season
,” Ancelotti told
L'Équipe
a few months later.
How Ancelotti bounced back away from PSG
Upon leaving Paris, Ancelotti took over the reins of Real Madrid where he won... the Champions League in his first season (2013-14).
There followed more or less failed experiences at Bayern Munich and Naples before being appointed to the more modest club Everton, 16th in the Premier League, in December 2019. The Toffees ended the season in 12th place, then at 10th place the following season.
This is where Real convinces him to come back, at 62 years old.
Today, Ancelotti can smile.
He won the Spanish Super Cup last January and is heading straight for a La Liga title, in addition to overthrowing PSG in the round of 16 of C1 (1-0, 3-1).
In the continuity of Zinédine Zidane, he draws the best from Karim Benzema and builds the future through the young Brazilians, Eder Militão and Vinicius,
SEE ALSO –
Benzema's penalty goal in the Spanish Super Cup final against Athletic Bilbao last January (2-0)
How Emery left PSG
Unai Emery's first season in Paris is above all the "rise" suffered at the hands of Barça, and the loss of the title of champion of France in favor of AS Monaco.
To mop up these failures, PSG offered Neymar and Kylian Mbappé in the summer of 2017. The Basque coach managed the national quadruple (championship, Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue, Champions Trophy) but came up against Real Madrid , still in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
With the stars of the team, it does not match.
Neither with the French media.
Emery abruptly left PSG in May 2018 to take up the perilous challenge of succeeding Arsene Wenger on the Arsenal bench.
Without bitterness.
“
In Paris, I could become the best coach in the world.
I missed this opportunity
,”
France Football
, in February 2020.
How Emery bounced back away from PSG
If he was frustrated in Paris, Emery was not at the end of his troubles at Arsenal.
He reached the 2019 Europa League final before failing at the worst of times against Chelsea (1-4).
In the Premier League, despite a nice total of 70 points, the Gunners are 5th and miss qualification for the Champions League.
Emery was sacked in November 2019 after a streak of 7 matches without a win.
He is waiting until the summer of 2020 to get hired at Villarreal.
In his native country, Emery rediscovered a taste for football.
And success.
He won the Europa League for the 4th time in his career (after a hat-trick with Sevilla).
It is the first major trophy in the history of Villarreal, which carries him to the skies.
The Yellow Submarine, currently 7th in La Liga as its final ranking last year,
SEE ALSO –
Unai Emery's historic achievement at Villarreal with the Europa League
How Tuchel left PSG
If there is one to remember, it is surely him.
Thomas Tuchel achieved what his predecessors did not even touch on: hoisting PSG to the Champions League final in August 2020. The Parisian dream was shattered by Bayern Munich in Lisbon (0-1).
The beginning of the end for the German coach, who publicly criticizes the management of the transfer window by its leaders in October.
“
We are losing too many free players
”, plague Tuchel, in reference to Adrien Rabiot, Thiago Silva or Edinson Cavani.
"
To stay at PSG, you have to be happy
," replies the sporting director, Leonardo.
The results go year after year and Tuchel seems to make it easier to get fired.
"
At a club like this, it's not always just about football.
During the first semester, honestly, I asked myself: '' Am I still a coach or sports politician? ''
, he quips at the microphone of
Sport1
, in December 2020. A few days later, he thanked by the club of the capital.
There too, his divorce is more violent than that of all his predecessors.
How Tuchel bounced away from PSG
A month almost to the day after packing his bags from Paris, Tuchel unpacks them at Chelsea, who have just said goodbye to Frank Lampard.
In a few weeks, the German works miracles.
The club is 9th in the Premier League?
He will finish 4th.
Is he still in the FA Cup?
He will only lose in the final against Leicester (0-1).
Is he still in the Champions League?
He will win it at the expense of Manchester City (1-0).
In no time, Tuchel built a coherent team, intractable defensively and symbolized by his former player in Paris, Thiago Silva.
PSG sees it on TV.
A time in the title race in England this season, the Blues, 3rd, are today shaken by the departure of the emblematic owner, Roman Abramovich.
Whatever happens, the