After nearly 15 months in charge, Carlo Ancelotti was sacked as Bayern Munich head coach on Thursday. James Walker-Roberts looks at why it didn't work out for Ancelotti in Bavaria...
"There will be consequences. What we saw was not Bayern."
After a sluggish start to the season, it was a 3-0 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday that broke the camel's back for Ancelotti at Bayern Munich. After warning of "consequences" in Paris, Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was, less than 24 hours later, explaining why the club had "parted ways" with Ancelotti. "Our team's performances since the start of the season have not met our expectations...we had to take immediate action."
It is the first time Ancelotti has been sacked during a season, yet the warning signs had been there. Arjen Robben, who started on the bench in Paris, refused to say whether the players were behind Ancelotti, but gave away much more by simply saying: "I won't answer this question." German newspaper Bild called it "Ancelotti's darkest night" while former Bayern captain Lothar Matthaus said "the team has no rhythm and no harmony".
Ancelotti leaves Bayern after nearly 15 months in charge, with one Bundesliga title - won by a 15-point margin - and two German Super Cups. But why has his time come to an end so quickly after the start of the 2017/18 season?
There were hints in pre-season that all was not well. While it can be misleading to read too much into friendly results, it was the performances that caused most concern. As they were beaten by AC Milan and Inter Milan in Asia and then Napoli and Liverpool in their own stadium in the Audi Cup, Bayern looked ponderous, and at times as if they were without a game plan.
"Everything is under control," assured Ancelotti after Bayern steadied the ship slightly with a penalty shoot-out victory over Borussia Dortmund in the German Super Cup. But issues remained.
And they came to the fore again in a 2-0 loss to Hoffenheim earlier this month, when Bayern had 72 per cent of possession, but looked short of ideas, failed to create many clear chances and ended up playing hopeful long balls into the box late in the game.
Ancelotti's team selection for the clash was puzzling too. Hoffenheim had taken four points from Bayern in 2016/17, yet, with one eye on a home Champions League clash against Anderlecht - arguably their easiest group game - Ancelotti decided to start with Robben and Franck Ribery on the bench and drop defender Niklas Sule.
"Little details" was Ancelotti's assessment of where the game went wrong, but more revealing were his comments a few weeks later after Bayern squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home with Wolfsburg. "We did not play as we wanted," said the Italian. "We were slow, without intensity and not compact enough." Those same problems were present again in Paris, when Bayern were put to the sword by Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and co.
The clash between PSG and Bayern was one of the most-profile fixtures in the Champions League this week, but it also highlighted the glaring differences between the two sides, particularly concerning their summer spending.
While PSG spent heavily on Neymar and Mbappe, Bayern's biggest outlay was the club-record fee of €41.5m for Corentin Tolisso, who, ironically, has probably impressed the least of the club's four summer additions.
Sule has started well since joining from Hoffenheim while Sebastian Rudy has also hit the ground running and James Rodriguez has shown flashes of his talent - particularly on his first start against Schalke when he scored one and set up the other two goals in a 3-0 win.
But should Bayern have done more in the summer? Striker Robert Lewandowski made his feelings clear in a critical interview with Die Spiegel that was not authorised by the club.
"Bayern will have to come up with something and be creative if the club wants to keep bringing world-class players to Munich. If you want to play on the front foot, you need the quality players."
Lewandowski's words did not go down well. Club legend Stefan Effenberg suggested the striker should be sold after an "attack" on Bayern's transfer policy, while Rummenigge warned Lewandowski that the comments would land him in "trouble".
It was not the first time that Lewandowski had stirred the pot with Ancelotti in charge. In June, his agent accused the Bayern boss of not offering the striker enough support in trying to win the Golden Boot last season. Lewandowski missed out on the top-scorer award by one goal after failing to score in two out of the last three league games. He said in an interview that he was "angry and disappointed" with his team-mates immediately after the last game of the season.
Thomas Muller has also expressed discontent after being dropped earlier this season. "I don't know exactly which qualities the coach wants to see. But mine seem not to be 100 per cent in demand," he said.
Alessandro Alciato, who collaborated with Ancelotti on his autobiography, told Sky in Italy: "Clearly the locker room was divided. The big names of the club were not happy that they were not always playing and in Munich this was not accepted also by the fans.
"If an important player doesn't train or play well he is out, but some players like Muller, Robben, Ribery and others did not accept this. They had got to a dead end."
After Pep Guardiola - described by Robben as "possessed when it comes to football" - it might be expected that Bayern's players would welcome a more relaxed approach from Ancelotti. Yet the Italian has not been able to make his mark on Bayern as Guardiola did. Robben also says players went through "great development" under Guardiola; that does not seem to have happened as much under Ancelotti.
For Robben and Ribery, who are 33 and 34 respectively, further development might not be expected, but there are others who have not progressed as expected under Ancelotti. Kinglsey Coman had a brilliant season under Guardiola in 2015/16 and was runner-up in the Golden Boy award, which is given to Europe's best player under the age of 21. Yet he has failed to kick on under Ancelotti, as did Renato Sanches in a forgettable debut campaign before he left for Swansea.
There have also been uncontrollables for Ancelotti. Xabi Alonso and Philipp Lahm retiring at the end of last season left Bayern with two big holes to fill; Manuel Neuer's recent injury left another.
But Ancelotti does not look blameless, particularly in the wake of the defeat in Paris on Wednesday, when Mats Hummels, Rudy, Robben and Ribery started as subs and David Alaba was thrown straight back into the starting XI after being out with injury for almost a month, and duly looked short of top form.
Bayern appear to have acted before things got worse. They are, after all, still only three points off the top of the Bundesliga and should still qualify from their Champions League along with PSG. They also have a squad brimming with talent and experience.
It is up to the next manager to harness that better than Ancelotti did.