Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti would like to avoid former club AC Milan in the knockout round of the Champions League.
A match against former rival Inter Milan wouldn’t be ideal, either.
“Obviously if we draw Milan it would be very emotional,” Ancelotti said in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport .
Ancelotti spent five years at Milan as a player and eight as a coach, winning two European titles in both roles. In his first season with Chelsea, Ancelotti said he still talks to his successor at Milan, Leonardo, regularly.
“I confess that I would prefer to avoid a face-to-face with Leo. But if it happens, no problem,” Ancelotti said. “Football is full of these situations. It already happened to Kaka, who faced Milan with Real Madrid in the group phase.”
Having won its group, Chelsea also has a chance of being drawn to face Inter on Friday.
“The only problem if we get Inter is that on technical terms it’s a great team,” Ancelotti said. “I think that of all the second-place teams, it’s the strongest.”
Ancelotti added that Chelsea doesn’t need to purchase any new players in the upcoming transfer window, despite four players leaving for the African Cup of Nations in January - Didier Drogba, John Obi Mikel, Solomon Kalou and Michael Essien.
Younger players could fill the absences. “I’m satisfied with the squad I have,” Ancelotti said. “I’ve got some very promising kids - like (Fabio) Borini and (Gael) Kakuta.”
