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| Wenger and Ranieri (right) during Arsenal's Champions League clash with Chelsea in 2004 |
CLAUDIO RANIERI built the Chelsea team that has become a force in world football, says Arsene Wenger.
Ranieri was sacked from his post at Chelsea in 2004 - despite finishing second in the Premier League behind Arsenal’s Invincibles.
He has since gone on to manage across Europe and led Greece for a brief spell after the 2014 World Cup.
His appointment at Leicester in place of Nigel Pearson in the summer raised eyebrows but the Foxes remain unbeaten on all fronts heading into their league clash at Arsenal tomorrow (3pm).
And Wenger recollected previous meetings with Chelsea’s former boss on the touchline.
“It was always difficult,” Wenger said. “Claudio Ranieri left Chelsea but he built the team that was so successful at the start.
“I remember in the Invincible year they finished second in the league with Claudio.
"They were the team that was upcoming, with the young Terry and Lampard who were good players and later contributed to the success of Chelsea.
“Of course I followed his career. First of all I have big respect for Claudio. He’s a great manager and a great man.”
Chelsea edged their last major meeting with he Gunners back in the 2003/04 season, when Ranieri’s Blues beat their London rivals in the Champions League quarter-finals.
But the Stamford Bridge club lost out in the semis to Monaco, who in turn fell in the final to Porto, whose boss Jose Mourinho would go on to take Ranieri’s job that summer.
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