Ancelotti shies away from Mourinho jibe

AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti refused to rise to Jose Mourinho’s bait when asked about the Inter Milan boss’s claims that the ‘rossonero’ would win nothing this season.

In a midweek rant Mourinho hit back at his critics by claiming that his team’s main rivals Milan, Juventus and Roma would win nothing this season. But Ancelotti refused to be drawn into a war of words.

“No titles? I will refer to the words of the federal president who asks that we lower our voices,” he said.

“I shan’t lower my voice but will turn off the sound altogether and say nothing to avoid exacerbating this polemic.

“You can’t say that Mourinho’s words didn’t deserve a response because otherwise we’d spark a whole new issue.”

However Ancelotti did explain what would constitute success for his club given they have next to no hope of ending the season with silverware.

“Third place (in Serie A) is our aim. You can’t put that in the trophy cabinet but for this season that’s what we’re aiming for and that can be the building blocks for future success.

“I don’t want to make comparisons with what Inter win or what Mourinho said, we have our objectives and we are going to go after those.”

Milan host Atalanta on Sunday as they look to hold onto a top three place, which would give them direct entry into the Champions League group stages next season.