Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has acknowledged that he wished that former club Chelsea were performing better on the pitch this season.
The two teams will head into the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday night having endured disappointing campaigns by their own high standards.
Real, the defending La Liga champions, are 13 points adrift of rivals Barcelona and appear to be on the brink of conceding their top-flight crown.
However, Chelsea currently occupy a spot in the bottom half of the Premier League table, putting the club at risk of missing out on European football next season.
In order to retain hope of qualifying for the 2023-24 Champions League, Chelsea caretaker manager Frank Lampard will have to topple former Blues boss Ancelotti at the last-eight stage.
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The Italian recorded 67 wins from 109 matches at the West London outfit, securing a Premier League and FA Cup double in his first campaign in 2009-10.
While the 63-year-old naturally wants to eliminate Chelsea from the Champions League, he has revealed that he is "sad" over his ex-team's current predicament.
As quoted by BBC Sport, Ancelotti said: "I am sad, yes. I have a fantastic memory of this club, of the people that are still working there.
"I'm a supporter of Chelsea, of course, because I spent two really nice years there."
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Ancelotti also took the opportunity to praise Lampard, someone that he managed at Chelsea and has already faced in the dugout when he was at Everton.
He added: "I hope that Lampard is able to do a fantastic job with them. He has 20 years less experience [than me], but that will not change what will happen in the game.
"He was a fantastic player, extraordinary, he knows very well what can happen in these games but experience, in these matches, I don't think counts for much."
The two managers have shared a win apiece when in opposite dugouts, their last encounter coming back in December 2020 when Ancelotti's Everton defeated Lampard's Chelsea by a 1-0 scoreline at Goodison Park.
Darren Plant
