Massimo Carrera / Photo: © globallookpress.com
But if not for the accident, the Italian would not have come to Moscow and led the Red-Whites to the long-awaited trophy.
The story of coach Massimo Carrera in Russia is a real fairy tale. The Italian came as an assistant to the headquarters of Dmitry Alenichev, and at the end of the season he held the RPL trophy in his hands as the head coach of the most popular team in the country. Massimo plunged into the love of the fans, dedicating bright banners and chants to him, took two titles with a team that had not won anything for 16 years before him, and earned a wild popularity that was not there in his homeland.
In Italy, Carrera is remembered for another fact that hit his reputation very hard – a Mercedes driven by a coach killed two young girls to death. Largely because of this tragedy, Massimo was not invited to Chelsea along with Antonio Conte.
On the other hand, then Carrera would not have come to Moscow and made Spartak a champion.
Details of a terrible accident
On January 1, 2011, the then Juventus youth coach Massimo drove his Mercedes along a dark track. There was a small accident ahead, and people got out of the car to assess the damage. It was dark, the headlights of the parked cars were not on, and Carrera simply did not react to the girls standing on the road. Unfortunately, one of them died on the spot, the other doctors could not save. In May 2013, the Bergamo court issued a verdict on the coach’s imprisonment for 2.5 years, but then the punishment was changed to monetary compensation. Lawyers argued that the tragedy occurred due to poor lighting and sleet.
“Unfortunately, this can happen to anyone. Anyone can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t want anyone to experience this. To this day, when I talk about it, I get goosebumps. It will stay with me for the rest of my life,” Carrera admitted in an interview with “Championship”.
Massimo Carrera / Photo: Edgar Breschanov / Vasily Ponomarev / Sportbox.ru
As a result, Massimo flew past Chelsea
Of course, initially Carrera was not going to any Russia. The Italian was supposed to enter the coaching staff of Antonio Conte at Chelsea. But the British decided to abandon the coach because of his past.
— Yes, this (accident) also affected. But not only that. The Juventus coaching staff consisted of eight people. In addition, Chelsea already had three or four assistants from the club, and Antonio made a choice. He wanted to attract me to the last, but then I had an option with Spartak, and I said: “Don’t worry, don’t insist on it anymore. I will go to Russia.” We can say that Conte advised me with Gianluca Riommi to Spartak,” said Carrera.
So to speak, the tragedy allowed Massimo to be in Russia and become a champion with a team that had not won anything for 16 years, and also take the Super Bowl. On the other hand, Carrera could become the champion of England, though only as an assistant. Fate decreed that he earned his popularity with Spartak. What is better – decide for yourself.
When Russian fans found out about the Italian’s past, they reacted in different ways. Someone asked not to stir up the past, someone was very surprised and even changed their attitude towards the coach. CSKA fans reacted the brightest of all. In August 2018, at a home game against Arsenal, they displayed a banner reading “Carrera killed two girls”.
One way or another, Spartak fans are still grateful to Carrera. This is one of the first names, which is called as a candidate after the resignation of the next specialist. Massimo himself has repeatedly said that he is not opposed to returning to the team, but whether the club’s management wants this is a big question.
