Florent Malouda insists Jose Mourinho's emotional return to Stamford Bridge means nothing to Chelsea's players.
Many of Chelsea's current squad, including Malouda, were brought to west London by Mourinho, but the France winger is convinced they can ignore the fuss surrounding their old boss when he returns for the first time with Inter Milan in Tuesday's Champions League last 16 second leg clash.
Chelsea trail 2-1 from the first leg and Malouda believes any emotion generated by Mourinho's presence is irrelevant compared to the prospect of going out of the competition.
"I would say that it is more important for the fans than the players. We as players just want to beat Inter. As he is the Inter coach we want to beat him too," Malouda said.
"It is going to be an emotional game for him. As for us, you could see in the first game it was not disturbing for the Chelsea players.
"We are not thinking about history. What happened is in the past. We don't care. We are just looking to win and go through. I hope it will be a great result for Chelsea and our manager."
Malouda was one of Mourinho's last signings before the Portuguese coach was sacked in September 2007 and had only a short time to work with him.
Asked to describe the differences between Mourinho and current Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti, Malouda joked that the most obvious one was the comparison between the Italian and the rather more suave Inter chief.
"The physical differences? I can't say," he laughed before receiving a playful clip round the ear from Ancelotti.
"I didn't work with Jose for too much time but I appreciate both of them. I would say they both have a lot of experience as managers. As for the differences there are so many I can't answer.
"But both managers try to give the players confidence in their abilities and help use them at the right time.
"They are close to their players and help get the best out of you. That is what they try to do every day at training.
"There is nothing they say that suddenly makes you the best player in the world. It is just every day work."
Malouda has been in fine form of late, scoring once and setting up two goals in Saturday's 4-1 win over West Ham, and he believes his special relationship with Blues striker Didier Drogba could prove crucial against Inter.
The pair were together at French club Guingamp before being reunited at Chelsea and Malouda added: "We played together before and we are playing together now. There is a special relationship between me and him.
"Of course Didier's form could be important for us. In games of high intensity he is always really calm and focused. As for me I am just happy to set up my team-mates."
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