Chelsea boss backs Nicolas Anelka to star in Champions League match
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has backed Nicolas Anelka to shine in the side’s UEFA Champions League clash against Marseille on Wednesday.
The striker will be playing in his homeland for the first time since the incident which saw him sent away from the France camp at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and effectively finished his international career.
It is a dead certainty that the 31-year-old will come in for verbal taunts from the Marseille supporters, but Ancelotti has tipped the forward to put such abuse out of his thoughts and help Chelsea continue
get their season back on track.
"Nicolas is always quiet. I don't think he will be afraid or scared because the game is on French television. He is in a fantastic moment and he will play for the team as he always does. He is able to
play in every position up front. For his kind of skills he is perfect to play up front because he has speed, he has quality and he can support the players who come back from midfield. He is a fantastic striker for this reason," the Italian told the club’s
official website.
Storming start to season halted
The match comes after the reigning English Premier League champions suffered disappointing defeats to Newcastle United in the Carling Cup and Manchester City — a result which put a halt to the Stamford
Bridge outfit’s 100 percent start in the league.
However, Ancelotti believes that his players do not need any further motivation to excel against the French Ligue 1 champions.
He said that: “I don't ask them to have a reaction. We just have to play our football. We have to pay attention and get the points from this game. I don't need to see a reaction from my players; they will
have a good game because it is an important game for us to arrive at the top of the group."
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