Ancelotti sad because Chelsea decline
"It is true that I am very sad to see Chelsea fall," Ancelotti said on April 11 at a press conference before the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. "I have fond memories of this club, of the people who still work there. I'm a Chelsea fan, of course, because I had two really good years at the club."
In the summer of 2009, Ancelotti succeeded interim coach Guus Hiddink, and became the third Italian coach to lead Chelsea, after Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri. He spent his first season flourishing when he won the treble with the English Super Cup, Premier League and FA Cup. But Chelsea were empty-handed the next season, and Ancelotti was sacked after a 0-1 loss to Everton in the final round of the Premier League. Ancelotti led Chelsea to play 109 matches, draw 20, lose 22 matches and win 67, achieving a win rate of 61.47%.
Ancelotti - who has a year left on his contract with Real - accepts the possibility of returning to work at Stamford Bridge. "Back? No. I hope Lampard can do a great job," said the Italian coach.
This season, Chelsea fell when ranked 11th in the Premier League, soon eliminated from the FA Cup and League Cup. Therefore, the leader of Stamford Bridge has fired Graham Potter to appoint Lampard as an interim coach until the end of the season. The English player once led Chelsea from July 2019 to January 2021, but did not achieve success. He helped Chelsea finish fourth in the Premier League, finish second in the FA Cup and reach the eighth round of the Champions League in his debut season 2019-2020, and was soon fired the following season.
Having worked at Chelsea together, Ancelotti hailed Lampard as a fantastic, extraordinary player who knows what can happen in a big game. According to the Italian coach, having more experience in the chair will not make a difference through the two Champions League quarter-finals. "I'm 63 and Lampard is 44, so I have 20 years more experience than him. But that won't change what happens in the game," said the Real head coach. "Lampard has been back at Chelsea for less than a week, but has known many players and I think he will do well during his time at the club."
Ancelotti revealed Federico Valverde is training well and is ready to play despite the controversies related to the assault on Villarreal midfielder Alex Baena after the match in La Liga on April 8.
Sitting next to the Italian teacher, David Alaba expressed his support for his teammates. "Valverde is fine, and has all the support from the whole team. He trains well, looks sharp and focused for the next game. But I can't say more about what happened." Austrian guard expressed.
