Ancelotti: I owe it all to Zidane Serie A - Napoli Italian paid tribute to his former colleague

Few men in football have worked as closely with Zinedine Zidane as Carlo Ancelotti has, and the Italian remains in awe of the Frenchman.

The Napoli boss oversaw Zidane's first steps into management at Real Madrid, having coached him as a player at Juventus.

Ancelotti feels that the legendary midfielder had the biggest impact on his career due to his extraordinary talent.

"Zidane changed everything because I picked the team around him, I made a suit for Zizou's measurements," he wrote in Corriere dello Sport.

"I changed my style of football, I owe it all to him."

He also referred to his time working with him in the dugout as a highlight.

"The eight years at (AC) Milan were above the rest, but truthfully other than that it would be Real Madrid.

"Real Madrid are Real Madrid, every coach should have the chance to coach in a club and city like that."

It was working with Zidane that changed his career though.

"At Juventus, Zidane changed my idea of football," Ancelotti explained.

"Before, at Parma, I could have signed Roberto Baggio but I stopped it, I had a style of football that put players in the box with no playmaker, the role that Roberto wanted.

"If Baggio had come after the turning point of working with Zidane in my career, I would happily have worked with him.

"Baggio was one of the best talents in Italian football history, but I ruled it out because I had Enrico Chiesa and Hernan Crespo."

Zidane remains out of the game since leaving Los Blancos in the summer.