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.”