GOAL

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos says he rates current coach Carlo Ancelotti better than Jose Mourinho, Fabio Capello and Vicente del Bosque.

The defender rates his current boss as one of the finest he's worked with after revealing the quality of his man-management skills

The Spain international has worked under some of the finest coaches in the modern game for club and country during his career so far, but says his current boss is among the very best.

The Italian won the Champions League and Copa del Rey in his first season in charge at the Bernabeu last term and Ramos revealed his personal touch sets him apart from his peers. 

"He notices how a player settles in, whether he makes an effort to open up to his team-mates or not," the Spain international told Fifa.com.

"He’s a coach who takes you aside, talks to you and makes everything as smooth as possible, both on a professional and personal level.

"That’s the key to success, which is why he’s a truly great coach. In my view, he’s one of the two best I’ve had in my whole career.

"It's hard to choose the other. There’s former Spain coach Luis Aragones, then you have former Sevilla coach Joaquin Caparros, who really believed in me when I was a nobody."

Ramos went on to reveal he never expected Spain’s complete domination of international football to last forever, but has challenged anyone to match their "extraordinary" achievements.

Spain shed their tag of perennial underachievers when they claimed two European Championship crowns and the World Cup between 2008 and 2012. But their unprecedented period of success ended abruptly last year when they were dumped out of World Cup 2014 in the group stage.

"We were able to enjoy a unique period and an extraordinary generation of footballers," Ramos added.

“We were crowned world champions and were twice European champions. Let's see if anyone else can match that.

“But football's a game and sooner or later the day that we would lose, that we'd get knocked out [of a major tournament], had to come."