LONDON - Carlo Ancelotti believes Chelsea can follow their historic double by finally ending the club's long wait to win the Champions League.
LONDON - Carlo Ancelotti believes Chelsea can follow their historic double by finally ending the club's long wait to win the Champions League.
Ancelotti's side beat Portsmouth 1-0 in Saturday's FA Cup final at Wembley to become only the seventh English club to win the league and Cup in the same campaign.
It was the perfect end to a memorable first season at Stamford Bridge for Ancelotti, but the Italian knows Blues owner Roman Abramovich will never be truly satisfied until Chelsea are crowned kings of Europe.
Abramovich hired former AC Milan coach Ancelotti primarily because of his impressive track record in Europe's elite club competition.
But the Russian had to suffer the indignity of watching ex-Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, sacked by Abramovich after a bitter power struggle, knock out his old club with Inter Milan this season.
That round of 16 defeat still rankles with everyone at Chelsea, who have reached at least the semifinals of the competition five times in the past seven years, and Ancelotti is happy to make Champions League success his No1 priority.
"The Champions League is an important competition. We know Chelsea never won it and it will be one of our aims for next season," Ancelotti said.
"I will try to win the Champions League. We tried to win it this year but it didn't happen.
"The Premier League and FA Cup are also important but this team has the quality to win the Champions League without any changes."
After a season in which Chelsea hit a Premier League record of 103 goals and produced the kind of entertaining football Abramovich has always demanded, most managers would expect to have a job for life.
But Chelsea are a more political club than most - as a record of four managers in the past three years shows - and Ancelotti knows he must continue to produce this kind of success to remain in a job.
"Pressure is normal," he said. "We will start next season with the double and that will put more attention and pressure on us. We are proud to have this attention.
"We want to win again next year but the most important thing is to do our best." - Sapa-AFP
ANCELOTTI EYES THE BIG LEAGUE
LONDON - Carlo Ancelotti believes Chelsea can follow their historic double by finally ending the club's long wait to win the Champions League.
LONDON - Carlo Ancelotti believes Chelsea can follow their historic double by finally ending the club's long wait to win the Champions League.
Ancelotti's side beat Portsmouth 1-0 in Saturday's FA Cup final at Wembley to become only the seventh English club to win the league and Cup in the same campaign.
It was the perfect end to a memorable first season at Stamford Bridge for Ancelotti, but the Italian knows Blues owner Roman Abramovich will never be truly satisfied until Chelsea are crowned kings of Europe.
Abramovich hired former AC Milan coach Ancelotti primarily because of his impressive track record in Europe's elite club competition.
But the Russian had to suffer the indignity of watching ex-Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, sacked by Abramovich after a bitter power struggle, knock out his old club with Inter Milan this season.
That round of 16 defeat still rankles with everyone at Chelsea, who have reached at least the semifinals of the competition five times in the past seven years, and Ancelotti is happy to make Champions League success his No1 priority.
"The Champions League is an important competition. We know Chelsea never won it and it will be one of our aims for next season," Ancelotti said.
"I will try to win the Champions League. We tried to win it this year but it didn't happen.
"The Premier League and FA Cup are also important but this team has the quality to win the Champions League without any changes."
After a season in which Chelsea hit a Premier League record of 103 goals and produced the kind of entertaining football Abramovich has always demanded, most managers would expect to have a job for life.
But Chelsea are a more political club than most - as a record of four managers in the past three years shows - and Ancelotti knows he must continue to produce this kind of success to remain in a job.
"Pressure is normal," he said. "We will start next season with the double and that will put more attention and pressure on us. We are proud to have this attention.
"We want to win again next year but the most important thing is to do our best." - Sapa-AFP
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