Coaching legend Fabio Capello has hailed Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti as the best manager in the world.

During an interview with MARCA, Capello called his compatriot Ancelotti the “number one in the world” for winning “everywhere he’s worked”.

“It’s very difficult to win as much as Carlo has won. He goes to Germany and wins, he goes to England and wins, in Italy he goes and it’s not that he wins, it’s that it’s a miracle what he does. I never thought he could win a title with the team he had.”

“He’s smart. He doesn’t have a system, it depends on the players he has. Knowing how to adapt is a sign of intelligence. You can’t always play with the same style, it depends on the players you have. You have to put your players in the right place and with the game plan that allows them to perform better, to give you 100%,” Capello added.

Capello then moved on to making a veiled comment about Xavi, noting that “a lot of coaches say, ‘You have to play this way’.”

“And no, you can’t always play the same way. Watch the last Madrid-Barca [match]. You know they have quality players and very fast strikers, and you put the defensive line in the middle of the pitch… ‘Well, thank you very much!’ Carlo must have thought,” said Capello, in reference to a 4-1 Spanish Super Cup final win for Los Blancos a fortnight ago.

“There are coaches who insist: ‘This is my system, this is my way of playing’. Every game you have to study and prepare for, you have to always have a winning spirit and mentality, but one of the most important things is to know the opponent and how to play them, their characteristics. Where they are good and where they are not”.