UCL: It's Ancelotti’s Champions visit To Former Apprentice Pirlo

*REAL Madrid’s visit to Juventus pits Andrea Pirlo against his mentor Carlo Ancelotti... 
“There is always praise for his technique but his character and personality are undervalued. He is one of the few players that you need to say little or nothing to, he understands everything by himself.” - Carlo Ancelotti on Andrea Pirlo
Ancelotti’s assessment of Pirlo’s intelligence is not without substance. In their first pre-season together at AC Milan, Ancelotti was widely credited with transforming the midfielder’s career by switching him to a deep-lying role that Pirlo had hitherto only dabbled in during a brief loan spell at Brescia under Carlo Mazzone. But in typically self-effacing style, Ancelotti admitted in his autobiography that it was Pirlo’s own initiative that sparked the change of position.
“Pirlo really helped me out. He approached me one day and suggested that he could play in a deep position, just in front of the back four. I was extremely sceptical. He was an attacking midfielder, his tendency was to run with the ball. And yet, it worked. He became one of the best in the world in that role. I stuck Clarence Seedorf out wide, with Rui Costa and Rivaldo behind the lone striker and - presto! - there was my 4-3-2-1 or Christmas Tree.”
After being given the opportunity to start in the role against Juventus in the annual pre-season Trofeo Berlusconi, the positional change soon reaped dividends. With Demetrio Albertini having left the club that summer in 2002 and the continued injury struggles of Fernando Redondo leaving a vacancy, Pirlo was Milan’s playmaker as they won the Champions League at the end of Ancelotti’s first full season in charge.