Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti and José Mourinho of Inter are box-office gold

Posted Saturday, December 19, 2009 by theguardian.com

For Carlo Ancelotti, it could hardly have been worse. One night in February a familiar figure will come striding through the portals of Stamford Bridge, smoothing down his latest winter coat and trailing clouds of sulphur. Ancelotti will find himself shaking hands with José Mourinho, the man whose achievements at Chelsea will provide the yardstick for all his successors until one of them finally achieves the one feat, victory in the Champions League final, that eluded the Portuguese controversialist.

The title of Sly & the Family Stone's 1976 comeback album could provide the opening line of Mourinho's address to his former fans: "Heard ya missed me, well I'm back." No doubt those fans will receive him with the warmth due to a man who brought them two Premier League titles, the FA Cup, two League Cups and the Community Shield, and whose brash disdain for the feelings of the outside world matched their own collective self-image.

But as long as Chelsea do not suffer some form of collapse over the next few weeks, Ancelotti will know that he has nothing unusual to fear.

His record as a player and a manager – two European Cups in each role – entitles him to a feeling of reasonable security when confronted with Mourinho's managerial record of one European Cup and victories in the championships of three national leagues.

The only previous meeting of the two clubs was in a pre-season tournament in Pasadena last summer, when Chelsea won 2‑0 with a long-range strike from Didier Drogba and a Frank Lampard penalty. In competitive games, the two men met twice in Serie A in 2008‑09, while Mourinho was winning the Italian title in his debut season with Internazionale and Ancelotti was in the last of his eight years with Milan. Ancelotti's team won their "home" fixture at San Siro, their shared stadium, by the only goal, a powerful header by Ronaldinho, while Inter took revenge in the return fixture, winning 2-0 with goals from Adriano and Dejan Stankovic.

It comes as no surprise that the two managers did not enjoy the warmest of personal relationships. Apart from the eternal rivalry between their neighbouring clubs, they are about as far apart in background and temperament as two managers of comparable eminence could be.

Ancelotti is the epitome of the old-fashioned football man, respectful of his players, his supporters, his employers and the game as a whole, including referees and their assistants. His sense of humour – in public, at least – is of the gently ironic variety. His record earns him an unquestioning respect among players, not least for his success in dealing with the egos of so many stars during his time with Milan.

Even more adroit was the way he managed to keep Silvio Berlusconi at bay, greeting the club owner's criticisms with a wry shrug and refusing to bend to increasingly plaintive requests to ensure that all the club's high-priced strikers were on the pitch at all times.

As English fans are well aware, Mourinho is not happy unless he is the protagonist in some sort of war of words, believing that his 100 proof charisma will carry him through the stickiest situation. Eventually Roman Abramovich tired of his habit of dragging the club into disputes, and of his endless railing against injustices real and invented.

When the Russian oligarch's patience finally snapped, he deprived Mourinho of the chance to take Chelsea beyond the last four. That job went instead to Avram Grant, and it is hard to imagine that the Portuguese would not have gone one better than the Israeli in Moscow 18 months ago. When Mourinho arrived in Italy, it was with the expectation that he would immediately improve on the performance of Roberto Mancini, under whom Inter had won the league three years in a row without managing to get beyond the last eight of the competition that is most dear to the heart of their owner, Massimo Moratti.

The son of the president of the club when they won the European Cup in 1964 and 1965, Moratti yearns to honour his father's memory by repeating the achievement. If the appointment of 14 managers in 14 years suggests a certain restlessness, then at least he seems to have calmed down a little in recent seasons. But he is said to be unhappy about Mourinho's undimmed volatility, which is less well regarded in Italy than it was in England.

At the time of yesterday's draw both clubs were leading their leagues, Inter by five points and Chelsea by three. Chelsea are going through a lacklustre patch, with questions being asked about a defence that, under Mourinho, often looked virtually bombproof. The Portuguese will have heard the whispers that Petr Cech, despite eight clean sheets in the league this season, is no longer a byword for consistency.

Despite their domestic dominance, Inter remain some way below Europe's very top level. But their chances of fulfilling Moratti's dreams have been significantly improved by the arrival of Wesley Sneijder, discarded by Real Madrid in the summer and now giving the midfield a new cohesion. Their other assets include the excellent Brazil goalkeeper Júlio César, his compatriot Lucio in central defence, the ageless Javier Zanetti, the experienced Samuel Eto'o and the powerful teenage striker Mario Balotelli.

With the phlegmatic, pragmatic Ancelotti in one dugout and the choleric, scheming Mourinho in the other, each straining to satisfy the demands of two owners sharing the same ambition, this tie is nothing short of box-office dynamite. Amid such tensions, even halfway decent football will be a bonus.