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There was a managerial flavour to yesterday's Fixture as we took a look at the job facing David Moyes with West Ham teetering on the fringes of the Premier League relegation zone. And there is a similar theme to today's offering with Carlo Ancelotti the focus of our attention. If Moyes has known increased pressure and scrutiny over the course of this season, it seems the Italian has dealt with it at every turn with Real Madrid faltering in the defence of their La Liga title – and, yet, he proceeds serenely through the football landscape – one of European football's biggest dogs but one with perhaps the quietest bark.

There is good reason for his equanimity, Ancelotti is answerable to no man – not even Florentino Perez, the omnipotent Real president, who has made known his displeasure at the persistence with the ageing Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in midfield. Has Ancelotti listened? You can guess the rest. If tonight's Champions League opponents, Chelsea, are preoccupied with the Todd Boehly regime's interference in team matters, their former manager has no such concerns.

Why should he? He is the first manager to win all five league titles in Europe's top leagues, he is also the first to have won the Champions League with four different teams. In November, he became the coach with the most wins in the competition when Real beat Celtic taking his tally to 103. He would have no shortage of offers.

Furthermore, while Real's title aspirations may lie in the gutter, they are still on course for a successful defence of their Champions League crown and are into the final of the Copa del Rey after beating Barcelona. Two out of three wouldn't be bad. Should Los Meringues see off Chelsea, as expected, in the second leg of their quarter-final at Stamford Bridge this evening, it would likely set them up for a semi-final rematch with Manchester City. Pep Guardiola's side will be pegged – as they usually are – as favourites. Certainly that was the case last season when the two sides met at the semi-final stage. 

History shows, however, that Real were far from done. The bullish sentiment that accompanied City prior to last year's semi-final appeared justified when they won the first leg 4-3 then established a two-goal overall advantage in the second with 17 minutes remaining. Indeed, they were just minutes from the final when Real staged one of the epic comebacks in the competition's history scoring three times in stoppage time.

Real's encounters with English teams in this year's competition (they beat Chelsea, City and Liverpool on their way to lifting the trophy) have followed the parallels of last season – albeit the order is different. They swotted aside Liverpool with contemptuous ease in their last-16 encounter and were they to account for Chelsea tonight – and City for Bayern – it would be Guardiola's side lying in wait. 

The Herald:

There is a general consensus that City will be too strong should the two teams face-off once more. So why might it be different this time? Well, there is nothing to suggest it will be. Real are formidable Champions League opponents simply by dint of their history in the competition and while Modric may be getting older he appears to be a timeless classic. He was the inspiration in that Liverpool win and against Chelsea in last week's first leg, he had the highest pass completion percentage of any player playing more than 80 minutes. Kroos, meanwhile, has been the second-ranked passer in La Liga over the campaign confirming that, sometimes, there is no substitute for age. Unsurprisingly, the dovetailing pair are on the brink of signing new contracts to keep them at the Santiago Bernabeu for yet another season when almost everyone agreed that this was likely to be their last in the Spanish capital. Instead they are staying.

So, too, is Ancelotti by all accounts. It had been widely predicted that this would be his last season at the club – despite him having a year left to run on his contract – with Julian Nagelsmann and Mauricio Pochettino linked to his job but the 63-year-old poured cold water on the suggestion at the weekend when he said that he will still be head coach next season despite Perez's grumbles about the persistence of him playing his elder statesmen in favour of the young French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga.

“I think so,” Ancelotti said on Friday when asked if he still had the support of Perez. “The president has always been very affectionate with me and he still is. We have to look forward. We will be here next season without a doubt because we are going to respect the contract.”

A double haul of trophies would likely go some way to confirming his stay.