Giovanni Mauri, Carlo Ancelotti's long-time fitness coach, has spoken of their demise at Real Madrid.

Mauri only ended his association with Ancelotti this season at Napoli, though his son is now part of the staff.

On Real Madrid, Mauri told TuttoNapoli: "Not only did we win the Decima, but also a Copa del Rey, a Super Cup, a World Cup ... The memory is beautiful, despite the end.

"I went from being defined as a 'hidden genius' to being regarded as 'the designated one', and all for reasons of the Merengues leadership.

"Yes, those seasons were the best of my career, a pity that it would end like that, we could have continued to win as my friend (Zinedine) Zidane did later.

"They said that the defeat with Juve was the fault of our athletic preparation, which they defined as soft, but it was a lie: we know very well what was behind that year. We achieved the club's record of consecutive victories, 22, and that says it all."