After attracting strong interest from Inter Milan, in mid-1979, Ancelotti transferred to Roma, and made his Serie A debut in a 0–0 draw against AC Milan on 16 September. Under manager Nils Liedholm, he was deployed as a winger or central midfielder and became one of the club's most important players in a team which featured the likes of Brazilian star midfielders Falcão and Toninho Cerezo, as well as Italian footballers Roberto Pruzzo, Bruno Conti, Agostino Di Bartolomei, and Pietro Vierchowod, immediately winning consecutive Coppa Italia titles in his first two seasons with the club. During his eight seasons at the club, he won the Coppa Italia a total of four times (1980, 1981, 1984, and 1986). After struggling with knee injuries, and managing second- and third-place league finishes in 1981 and 1982, Ancelotti helped lead the team to win a historic Italian championship in 1983, the club's second ever league title in their history. The following season, he even helped Roma to win another Coppa Italia title and reach the European Cup final in 1984, although missed the final through injury as Roma were defeated by Liverpool on penalties at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. He was named the team's captain in 1985 under new club manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, and served as a mentor to the young midfielder Giuseppe Giannini, as Roma won the Coppa Italia, but once again narrowly missed out on the league title during the 1985–86 Serie A season, finishing in second place behind Juventus.