Watford manager Claudio Ranieri explains why he is cheering on Juventus against Chelsea tonight, while he reveals ‘Roman Abramovich would never have bought the club’ without his influence.
Ranieri was on the benches of both clubs during his lengthy career and they go head-to-head at Stamford Bridge this evening for top spot in the Champions League group.
Now living back in London for Watford, but told La Repubblica newspaper he is “too busy” to sit in the stands and watch the game tonight.
He will be viewing it on television and admits there is definitely a preference in his mind.
“If you called me for a comment every time two of my former clubs met, we’d talk every day!” joked Ranieri.
While he himself didn’t win any silverware during his spell at Stamford Bridge from 2000 to 2004, he did lay the foundations for what followed.
“Few remember this, but Roman Abramovich bought the club only after in my third year we qualified for the Champions League. Without that result, he would never have purchased Chelsea, and history would’ve been very different.
“Chelsea are now one of the strongest teams in the world, Thomas Tuchel arrived and sorted out the defence. It’s a different team if Romelu Lukaku is playing and if he isn’t, so an opposition coach like Max Allegri needs to prepare for two different eventualities.
“Chelsea do generally like to sit back and counter, yes. In Italy, we criticise that sort of thing now as ‘old-fashioned,’ but the truth is that Juve play to win, in their habitual way, and it can take a while to settle after working under three coaches with very different philosophies in the space of three years.
“Allegri might not win the Scudetto, but he’ll get a place in the Champions League. Juve are behind Chelsea at the moment, because they are rebuilding, so they aren’t starting on level terms.”
The big question for Ranieri was who he will be cheering on this evening, considering his history with both Chelsea and Juventus?
“I always support teams I coached and the Italian clubs in Europe, so tonight I’m behind Juve.”