• Chelsea face reunion with former manager at Internazionale
• Beckham’s Milan meet Manchester United in draw for last 16
Carlo Ancelotti has vowed not to be provoked by José Mourinho’s trademark “mind games” after the draw for the knockout phase of the Champions League gave the Special One a mouth-watering return to Chelsea with Internazionale.
That is not the only reunion thrown up by the competition, with David Beckham due back at Manchester United with Milan, where the England midfielder will begin a loan spell from Los Angeles Galaxy next month. Yet it is Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge, where he won the club’s first league titles in half a century during a glittering three-and-a-half-year spell, that catches the imagination, particularly given the strained relationship he endured with Ancelotti, then at Milan, in Serie A last season.
The pair clashed verbally as Mourinho claimed the Serie A title for Inter but failed to secure the club’s principal objective, the European Cup. “There were some problems, some questions and discussions in the papers, but I like him as a coach,” said Ancelotti. “He’s a fantastic coach who won in Portugal, in England, in Italy. Everywhere. But I’m not able to discuss his character. I will speak of him as a coach and nothing else. It isn’t a problem that we don’t have a good relationship. This can be a good opportunity to improve that.
“It will be an emotional game for him. He did a fantastic job here, so to play against Chelsea won’t be easy for him. But this match is Chelsea versus Inter, a football match between two of the most important teams in Europe. Nothing else. I have experience [of what he'll try to do] but I’m not ready to play mind games. I never will be ready to play these games. I prefer to play football matches and I’ve never thought that a football game is a match between coaches. I will try and find a weakness in their team but not in a fellow coach.”
Ancelotti was more critical of Mourinho in his autobiography, Preferisco la Coppa, in which he referred to the Inter coach as “His Mourinhoness, comparing himself to Jesus” and “His Specialness”. The pair went head-to-head in pre-season, when Chelsea won 2-0 in a friendly in Pasadena yet both avoided talk of their frosty past. The Chelsea chief executive, Ron Gourlay, said the former manager’s return would be “spectacular” yet, for all that Mourinho will be afforded a tumultuous reception by fans, it could prove an awkward obstacle for the London side.
“Going back to Stamford Bridge will be an added motivation for Mourinho,” said the Inter president, Massimo Moratti, who had seen the Portuguese’s relationship with the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, steadily deteriorate. “It’s better to have those strong motivations and, against Chelsea, we’ll certainly have those.”
Beckham, too, will be relishing a return to old haunts having progressed through the youth ranks at Old Trafford to win six Premier League titles and a European Cup under Sir Alex Ferguson before leaving for Real Madrid in 2003. “He did a lot of great things for Manchester United and I want to say to him: ‘Welcome home’,” said United’s left-back Patrice Evra. “He is still one of the best right-footed players in the world. But I intend to make sure he doesn’t do very well.”
The Rossoneri have edged out United in all four two-leg ties between the sides, including three semi-finals, to offer an indication of the challenge ahead for Ferguson’s team. Arsenal’s smooth progress through the group phase has seen them given a tie against Porto, familiar opponents in recent Champions League campaigns, and the holders, Barcelona, confront Stuttgart.
Carlo AncelottiJose MourinhoChelseaInternazionaleChampions LeagueManchester UnitedDavid BeckhamMilanDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk
