Chelsea must win to placate Abramovich -Ranieri

By Mark Meadows

VINOVO, Italy (Reuters) - Chelsea must win the Champions League for owner Roman Abramovich to believe his project is on track, former coach Claudio Ranieri has said.

Chelsea meet Manchester United in the Moscow final next Wednesday having been beaten to this season's Premier League title by their northern rivals on Sunday.

Ranieri, who led Chelsea to the 2004 semi-finals of Europe's elite competition before being sacked, said Russian billionaire Abramovich will demand victory in the club's first Champions League final as he plots European domination.

"I believe in the end Abramovich has been able to reach an objective, to make the final, now he must win it as it is in his mind to carry the team to a higher level," Ranieri, now Juventus coach, told Reuters at the Italian club's training ground.

"He has spent a lot, however it must be said the squad is made up of many champions. In Italy we do not have the economic possibilities of other countries like Spain and England."

The Champions League is very much on Ranieri's mind given Juventus will be back in the competition next term after finishing third in their first season back in Serie A.

The Turin club were demoted from the top flight in 2006 for their part in Italy's match-fixing scandal but won immediate promotion under Didier Deschamps.

Ranieri, who took over last July after Deschamps fell out with club bosses, said aiming high was the key to success.

"At the start of the season the motivation was very high. We had said we wanted to try to win the scudetto, everyone knew it was very difficult but to be able to get into the Champions League you must aim for the maximum," he said.

"We have missed out (on the title) by two places but we've finished third. With a new coach, new players...it was hugely difficult."

NEW BATTLE

Ranieri remains cautious looking ahead to next season.

"When the other teams -- Roma, Milan, Inter, Fiorentina, Lazio -- were playing in European games, we trained so in the spring we were more fresh than the others and we picked up points that helped us get into the Champions League," he said.

"Now the new battle is really this -- to be able to make the same improvements while playing in the Champions League.

"The first aim is to enter the Champions League as we have preliminaries and we know they are particular and we need to be very, very careful."

Juventus go into the third qualifying round and must win a two-legged match to reach the Champions League group stage.

Ranieri remains confident that 33-year-old striker Alessandro Del Piero has done enough to win an Italy recall for Euro 2008, especially as club team mate Vincenzo Iaquinta is almost certainly out of the squad because of injury.

Del Piero, dropped by Italy coach Roberto Donadoni after a poor game against France in September, will be looking for goals in Saturday's season finale at Sampdoria in his bid to be the league's top scorer.

He has netted 19 goals and is joint highest scorer with team mate David Trezeguet and Marco Borriello of Genoa.

"Del Piero has had an exceptional championship. I can't say with certainty but I think Donadoni will call him up for Euro 2008 because a player of his quality, experience and skill can be useful for the Italian national team," Ranieri said.

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