Ancelotti: Fans will play their part
Mourinho returns to the Bridge for the first time since he was
sacked in September 2007 when his Inter Milan side face Chelsea in
the second leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday night. Inter take a
2-1 lead to London and Mourinho will be given a hero’s welcome when
he sets foot inside the club he guided to successive Premier League
titles, FA Cup and Carling Cup triumphs. But former AC Milan boss
Ancelotti, who continues to play down the feud with Mourinho during
their time as opponents in the San Siro, believes Mourinho will get
no favours from the fans who once idolised him. “It won’t be
difficult for the fans,” said Ancelotti. “Before the game Mourinho
will have a very good reception but after that Chelsea fans are
Chelsea fans. “I don’t have a problem with Mourinho. I have never
had a problem with him.” Ancelotti has won the Champions League
twice and Mourinho once – with Porto – but the Italian is
determined not to hype Tuesday’s contest into a clash between the
two coaches. “There is no advantage because it’s a game between
Chelsea and Inter, not me against Mourinho,” he added. “It’s a game
that will be a fantastic one. We want to show our best. I think if
Chelsea play at their best we win. “We know it will be a difficult
game against an excellent team, but I think we have a good
possibility to do our best to win and go forward. The atmosphere is
a good atmosphere to have before a game against Inter. “I think we
don’t have time to be worried. We have to stay concentrated, have
confidence, have courage, have personality, only with this can we
win the game. “I’m excited because it’s a fantastic game. All the
world will look at this game and this is a very good motivation for
me. It is my favourite competition. For Chelsea it is important,
but so is the championship. “It is important to stay calm. These
are the games that put a lot of pressure on us. We have to have
good control of this pressure because this is the right way to play
well.” Chelsea warmed up for the game with a 4-1 drubbing of
struggling West Ham on Saturday and in France winger Florent
Malouda, Ancelotti may have the key to beating the Italians.
Malouda made two and scored one in a sensational performance on the
left flank. His attacking skills were nullified in the first leg
against Inter when he was forced to play left-back because of
injuries to Ashley Cole and Yury Zhirkov. But Inter will face the
full force of Malouda at the top of his game on Tuesday. “That was
the best performance of Florent Malouda against West Ham,” said
Ancelotti. “He did very well, worked for the team, did fantastic
assists for goals and I hope that he will play like that on
Tuesday. He won’t play left-back.” Chelsea went ahead in the 15th
minute through Alex before Scott Parker levelled for West Ham on
the half-hour. But Didier Drogba restored Chelsea’s lead in the
55th minute before Malouda got on the scoresheet with 14 minutes
remaining. Drogba then completed the scoring in the final minute
with his 27th goal of the season. Struggling West Ham, who face
Arsenal away next, have won just one game all season on their
travels but coach Gianfranco Zola could still see positives from
their mauling by Chelsea. He left England striker Carlton Cole on
the bench until midway through the second half after the striker
had barely trained all week, but insisted there is no long-term
problem with his knee. “It is vital that you pay attention to the
positives,” said Zola. “That does not mean you turn your back on
the problems, we don’t do that. “All the team worked hard and gave
everything and Scott scored a cracking goal. I keep telling him he
should shoot more than he does. He played a fantastic game and
hopefully the goal is the first of many. “Carlton’s problem is no
big deal. This week he could not train properly, he just trained a
couple of days. So I thought it was an opportunity for me to make a
couple of changes. But it is nothing major and he will be back
soon. “We have another tough match against Arsenal coming up and I
don’t want to go there already beaten. I have told the players I’m
not going to give up on anything.”