Ancelotti: Fans will play their part

Ancelotti: Fans will play their part

Published Mar. 14, 2010 8:41 a.m. ET

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."

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