Carlo Ancelotti factfile: the road to Chelsea

How the new man at Stamford Bridge worked his way to the top of the managerial tree

The new Chelsea coach, Carlo Ancelotti, at Milan last week and, right, playing for Italy in 1988. Photographs: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images, Colorsport

1959 Born in Reggiolo, Italy on June 10

1976 Begins professional playing career with Parma, as a midfielder

1979 Joins Roma

1980 Wins Coppa Italia with the Giallorossi, who go on to win the trophy again in 1981, 1984 and 1986

1983 Part of the Roma side who win the Serie A title

1984 Does not feature as Roma lose to Liverpool on penalties in the European Cup final on their home ground

1987 Joins Milan

1988 Milan win the domestic title in Ancelotti's first season at San Siro

1989 Part of the Milan side who win the European Cup, beating Steaua Bucharest 4-0 in the final

1990 Milan retain European title with a 1-0 win over Benfica. Ancelotti is part of the Italy squad for the 1990 World Cup on home soil, where they lose in the semi-finals to Argentina

1991 Wins the last of his 26 Italy caps

1992 Milan win the Italian league title. Ancelotti retires from playing

1995-96 Takes up his first coaching post with Serie B side Reggiana. Leads the side to promotion to the top flight, before leaving to join Parma

1996-97 Leads Parma to second place in Serie A

1998 Appointed manager of Juventus

2001 After a fifth-place finish in his first season at the Stadio delle Alpi, steers Juve to consecutive second-place finishes in 1999-2000 and 2000-01

2001 Appointed manager of Milan in November, succeeding Fatih Terim who was sacked after five months at the helm

2003 Manages Milan to the Champions League as they beat Juventus on penalties in the final at Old Trafford

2004 Leads Milan to Serie A title

2005 Suffers major disappointment as Milan let a 3-0 lead slip to be pegged back to 3-3 by Liverpool in the Champions League final in Istanbul. Liverpool win on penalties

2006-07 Milan begin the season docked eight points for their part in the calciopoli match-fixing scandal

2007 Gains his revenge on Rafael Benítez as Milan beat Liverpool 2-1 in the Champions League final in Athens

2008 Pressure mounts on Ancelotti as Milan bow out of the Champions League in the last 16 to Arsenal and fail to finish in the top four of Serie A, missing out on Champions League qualification for the 2008-09 season. In May, Milan rebuff a reported approach from Chelsea to talk to Ancelotti about succeeding Avram Grant

2009 After overseeing a 2-0 win over Fiorentina on the final day of the Serie A campaign which secured Milan's place in the Champions League group stages next season, Ancelotti confirms his contract with the club has been mutually terminated. He denies that he has already agreed a deal with Chelsea, but signs a three-year contract with the London club the following day

guardian.co.uk