Source: Daily_Mail
Carlo Ancelotti insists Chelsea must at least reach Champions League final
Forget the mantra of taking each game as it comes. Carlo Ancelotti has set a minimum target of reaching the Champions League final during his first season in charge at Chelsea.
The Blues host Porto in their Group D opener, but Ancelotti already has his eye on next spring's knockout phase, saying he needs his side to get there fully fit, brimming with motivation and with a bit of luck on their side in order to fulfil their ultimate ambition.
He faces the first three games without in-form striker Didier Drogba, banned by UEFA after verbally abusing the referee in the semi-final defeat by Barcelona in April.
"The first objective is to arrive at the final," said Ancelotti, who won the Champions League twice as coach of his former club AC Milan. "It will not be easy but I think we have the possibility to do this."
Chelsea have come agonisingly close to lifting the European Cup so coveted by Russian owner Roman Abramovich since he bought the club in 2003.
They have reached the semi-finals in five of the last six years and made the final in 2008 before losing on penalties to Manchester United.
"It's not easy to win the Champions League, it's important to be a bit lucky," said Ancelotti. "I don't think there is a psychological problem, Chelsea have arrived very close and will do so again.
"It's important when the competition reaches the knockout stages in February and March to be in very good condition."
Central defender Ricardo Carvalho, who won the trophy with Porto before following coach Jose Mourinho to Stamford Bridge in 2004, said Chelsea needed to take each match as it came.
"We will miss Didier but better that we miss him now than later on in the knockout stages," he said.
Ancelotti added: "Porto have a lot of experience in this competition. They have won it and they have often got to the last eight. I think experience and tradition are very important in the Champions League."
Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira said his players were starting the campaign with their toughest match.
"Chelsea are the strongest team in England," he said. "They have players who are very mature, very experienced so that has to make them the strongest team in this phase for us.
VIDEO: Chelsea to call on youth for Porto test....
"(But) we believe we have a very strong team. We have to play the way we know."
Atletico Madrid and APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus are the other two sides in Group D.
