Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti believes his side can still catch league leaders Manchester United, despite trailing Sir Alex Ferguson’s side by 6 points with just four games to go.
Chelsea have endured a difficult season, dropping out of the top four after a run of form over the Christmas period that threatened to spell the end of Ancelotti’s time at the club after winning the double in his first season.
But the Blues have managed to turn their from around and have moved past Arsenal into second place after Arsene Wenger’s side recent string a poor results, and now the Italian believes his side have an outside chance of retaining the title they won last year, and is relishing facing Ferguson in the title run-in.
“We want to keep the Premier League open until the last minute and have the possibility to do this,” the Chelsea manager said.
“We have to beat Manchester United and Tottenham but this is our aim. Maybe Manchester United will win the title but we want to fight to the last minute.” He added.
Ancelotti will have been relieved after seeing new signing Fernando Torres find the net on Saturday against West Ham after the Spaniard had failed to score since joining the club in January, and now Torres looks to be regaining his previous best form, Ancelotti admitted he was contemplating switching his formation to fit around the former Liverpool man and fellow striker Didier Drogba.
“My philosophy and opinion is when you have very good players you have to try to put them together. If players have skill and ability they are able to play together.” He said.
“Maybe they have to sacrifice something of their ability and skills but can play together and if can do that better for the team to reach better result. We tried this week to play them together.”
“It’s too early to take decision because have another session tomorrow. Will not be a surprise if they start together on Saturday.” He commented.
The former AC Milan boss will look to gain revenge after the league leaders dumped Chelsea out of the Champions League once more earlier this month, and will take heart from their 2-1 victory over United at Stamford Bridge earlier this season. The chance to win a betting bonus will be a temptation for punters after bookmakers were unable to pick a favourite for the two team’s game next month.