Ancelotti calm as pressure mounts

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti refused to be downcast after his side slumped to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Marseille on Wednesday.

In the last match of the Champions League group stage, Chelsea – already qualified and assured of finishing on top of Group F – were outplayed by their French opponents as their miserable run of form continued.

Chelsea have now won just two of their last eight matches, with the pressure building on Ancelotti.

But the Italian is not alarmed and said while not yet firing on all cylinders, his side are not far away.

“Not 100 percent, but some things were good. The first half was good,” Ancelotti told Sky Sports.

“Defensively we did well, I think. We lost the possibility to counter-attack. We could have had a penalty in the first half.”

“Defensively there was tactical discipline and I asked for this from my players. We didn’t have a lot of opportunities to shoot and score, we need to be more clear with the final ball.”

Ancelotti insists his side need to regain their confidence, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham all around the corner in the English Premier League.

“We lost confidence up front, now we are a bit afraid to play football, we have to keep going, stay compact and prepare well for the next game,” he said.

“We have to improve to play against these teams, but we have a possibility to do this.”