From 2009 til 2011, Carlo Ancelotti was at the helm of Chelsea and it was a successful stint – during that time he won the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Community Shield, and a massive part of his success in the English top-tier was then co-captain and scoring midfielder Frank Lampard.The two will meet again tomorrow evening, conducting their squads from the dugouts. Lampard’s second tenure as Blues coach did not start well – a loss to Wolves at the weekend showed that Chelsea’s all-time top scorer turned gaffer still has some getting-to-know-his-roster to do. As well as some confidence boosting for the whole squad, especially for the attacking portion.At the moment it does not look good for the 44-year-old Englishman but his Italian much more experienced colleague is hopeful. Real Madrid’s head coach backed Lampard to do well as manager of his former side and ruled himself out of a return to the Premier League club ahead of the two teams’ Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.##NAJAVA_MECA_7171952##Ancelotti will come up against his former player at the Santiago Bernabeu in the midweek clash, after the Englishman was appointed Chelsea’s interim manager.Chelsea have dropped to 11th in the Premier League after a run of poor results, and have also been knocked out of the FA Cup and League Cup, despite spending almost 300 million pounds ($373 million) on new players in January.The Champions League is the English club’s last chance for silverware this season.”I feel sad (looking at Chelsea’s position in the table). I have a fantastic memory of this club, of the people that are still working there. I’m a supporter of Chelsea, because I spent two years there,” Ancelotti told reporters on Monday.”Will I go back (as coach)? No, I hope Lampard will be able to do a fantastic job with them… Lampard has been a great player who I coached for two years.”He knows these kind of games well and how to prepare his team. He has been here for a week, but he will do well in the time he is at Chelsea.”##EDITORS_CHOICE##Despite Chelsea’s poor run of form, Ancelotti urged his side to be wary of the English club, who have faced Real in the knockout stages of the last two Champions League seasons and beaten them twice in four games.”We suffered a lot last year,” the Italian manager said. “We have to respect the team and the club, they have very good players and even if they are not in a good moment they have great motivation and will bring out the best. It’s a squad of a very high level.”The team is excited and motivated to return to the Champions League and experience another magical night at the Bernabeu. We have to take advantage of the fact that we play the first game at home.”The Royal Club also had a bitter pill to swallow ahead of this clash – Villarreal took all three points from Bernabeu last Saturday. If the Blues can learn from the Yellow Submarine, they might have a chance.Ancelotti: “Lampard? I don’t think the experience I have, not luckily, is what happens, I’m 63 years old and he’s 44. But that’s not going to change tomorrow. He is a fantastic professional. He knows very well what can happen in this type of game and how to prepare.” pic.twitter.com/UJwKNEUX0o— Madrid Universal (@MadridUniversal) April 11, 2023
