Carlo Ancelotti has explained that his meeting with Wenger was purely about two friends catching up.
“I spoke with Arsene, he is a good friend of mine, when we had a meeting in Geneva in September, but not before,” he said. “I was not involved in the new era of Arsenal without Arsene. I sometimes talk with him but not about his replacement. We talk wine, food, Italian food, French food.”
Speaking about his last meeting with Wenger, when his Bayern team thrashed Wenger’s Arsenal 5-1, he said, “If I say I forgot it is not true,” Ancelotti said when asked about the tie. “I didn’t forget this but each game is a different story, imagine every season different clubs, different manager so it will a totally different story. That game with Bayern is only a good memory.”
Ancelotti also does not believe that the current Arsenal side cannot be compared to Wenger’s teams. “(It is) a totally different story,” he added. “They are different managers with a different style and a different team because new players arrived and so it is a new era.”
“But Arsenal is still competitive in the Premier League and in Europe, we have a lot of respect of this team, this club and we are honoured to play this quarter-final against them.”
“Unai Emery is, in my opinion, a fantastic manager with a lot of knowledge. He has experience of this kind of game and the fact he is on the bench of Arsenal will be more difficult for us.”
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