Ancelotti urges Chelsea to relax

Carlo Ancelotti wants his Chelsea stars to take a break from the pressure of the title race by going to the cinema ahead of Sunday’s crucial clash against Stoke.

v as they watched Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes score a stoppage-time winner against Manchester City before Chelsea’s match at Tottenham later the same day.

Scholes’ goal increased the need for the Blues to win at White Hart Lane and they cracked under the strain, giving a lacklustre performance resulting in a 2-1 defeat that left United just one point behind Ancelotti’s side.

Ancelotti is keen to avoid a repeat this weekend as his team are not in action at home to Stoke until 24 hours after United play Tottenham at Old Trafford.

United can knock Chelsea off top spot if they win and, with that in mind, Ancelotti believes a Saturday afternoon at the movies would be the perfect way for his men to take their minds off football for a while.

Given the nature of the Blues’ title battle with United, Ancelotti joked that an appropriate choice would be Greek mythology film ‘Clash of the Titans’, starring Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes.

“We watched the United game last weekend and the result was not good for us. Maybe after the result the atmosphere went a little bit down. I don’t know if it affected them but after the result they were not happy,” Ancelotti said.

“The players feel the pressure because they are close to winning the title for the first time in three years.

“They are very close and maybe they feel more pressure but this is absolutely normal. It is better to have this than stay 10 points behind.

“But we are not interested in the other results. We only have pressure on our games.

“On Saturday we have training then in the afternoon we can go to the movies. There are fantastic films now, maybe ‘Clash of the Titans’!

“I don’t know what the players will do, but I prefer to go to the cinema alone.”

Ancelotti’s players have shown signs of being affected by the stress of the title run-in as an unconvincing win over Bolton was followed by the Tottenham defeat.

But the Italian insists he is relishing the prospect of a gripping final three weeks of the season as Chelsea try to win the Premier League for the time since 2006.

“It is a good thing to be top at this stage. I am excited in this moment. It is a very important moment, maybe the most important of the season. I am not afraid or worried because I know football very well,” Ancelotti said.

“I think the pressure is the engine of life for me. It is important to be under control when there is stress and pressure.”

While Ancelotti would never admit it publicly, he must know that, after crashing out of the Champions League to Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan, only winning the league will start to banish unfavourable comparisions with Mourinho, who won two titles in three years at Stamford Bridge.

Yet Ancelotti added: “Mourinho is not my ghost. He is a good coach. He is doing a very good job at Inter and he did a fantastic (Champions League) semi-final against Barcelona in mid-week.

“We have a great opportunity to win and so we have to stay calm and quiet and prepare well without emotion for the rest of the season.

“We have to stay composed and focused because we have to play three important games. Every game could be difficult but we have a very big opportunity to win and so we don’t want to miss this chance.

“We have one more point than the other teams and that could be enough. The title is in our hands.

“We can lose it with our mistakes but it is in our hands, we are not interested in the result of the other teams. We have to win our three matches to have the title.”