Ancelotti vows to end feud with Mourinho

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has promised to share a bottle of wine with Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho whatever the result of Tuesday’s Champions League grudge match.

Ancelotti had a fractious relationship with Mourinho during the pair’s time as cross-city rivals in Italy last season and the former AC Milan boss exchanged more barbs with his counterpart in the build-up to the first leg of Chelsea’s last-16 tie with Inter.

With former Chelsea coach Mourinho, whose side have a slender 2-1 lead to protect, desperate to inflict a painful defeat on the men that sacked him back in September 2007, the second leg clash at Stamford Bridge looks a potential powder-keg.

But Ancelotti is happy to bury the hatchet with Mourinho and insisted he would invite him for a post-match drink, even if Chelsea have been knocked out.

“For sure we will have a glass of wine,” Ancelotti said. “If he wins, after the game we can have a good conversation. This happens regardless of the result but I haven’t thought about what bottle to bring yet.”

Ancelotti knows Mourinho’s first return to Stamford Bridge is loaded with emotional significance for the Portuguese and Chelsea’s fans, who are certain to give their old hero a rapturous reception.

Many of Chelsea’s players were brought to west London by Mourinho, with the likes of Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard particularly fond of their old boss.

But Ancelotti is confident they will be able to ignore the fuss surrounding Mourinho and focus on knocking him out.

“They are not distracted by this. For him it will be a special match. I think the fans will give him a very good reception and he deserves this, but the match will be another thing,” Ancelotti said.

“The players are not involved in that. I think the Chelsea and Inter players are focused on an important game. They are not interested in the other things.

“I think Jose has great experience because he won the Champions League and a lot of titles in all the countries. Until now he did a fantastic career but I think it doesn’t make a difference.

“The difference will be the different players, confidence or courage that the team puts on the pitch. This can make the difference.”

While Mourinho was quick to dub himself ‘the special one’ on his arrival at Chelsea from Porto in 2004, he has yet to match Ancelotti’s impressive track record in the Champions League.

Mourinho has won Europe’s elite club competition once with Porto, while Ancelotti landed it twice as AC Milan boss and also lifted the trophy as a player.

When Ancelotti was brought to Chelsea by Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire made it clear European success was his top priority and the Blues manager admitted it would be a dream to fulfil that wish in his first season.

“It is a dream for me to bring the Champions League to Chelsea. We are working so this dream can be a reality,” he said.

“It is not easy to win but we have a possibility to do this. This would be an important step because Inter are a strong team.

“I think we have come out of the slight down-turn we experienced a couple of weeks ago.

“We have a couple of players back. We played well against West Ham and showed that physically we are up to the task. That game improved our confidence.

“But we know we have to show our best football, our best concentration. If we do this we can win.”

The high-stakes nature of the clash was underlined by Mourinho’s decision to train away from prying eyes in Italy rather than fly to London for a pre-match session at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho’s side have won just once in three matches since beating the Blues in the first leg, but they have never lost successive matches under the Portuguese.

“Inter never lost two games in a row under Mourinho? That is not good news but we are going to try to break that run,” Ancelotti said.

With Petr Cech both still injured Ancelotti admitted young goalkeeper Ross Turnbull will again start in goal after making his first Premier League appearance in Saturday’s win over West Ham.