The Inter boss has received a great deal of attention for his way with the media, but his Milan counterpart is not impressed.

“When people describe Mourinho they always refer to him as a ‘communicator,’ but that part of his personality frankly bores me, because he often says pointless things,” Ancelotti told L’Avvenire newspaper.

“Regardless of what happened in Manchester, in any case, he remains a great Coach and I am more intrigued by his working practices.”

Mourinho responded today by declaring "we are not like Milan. Our season isn't already over by March," but that drew further criticism from Ancelotti.

"I would advise Mourinho not to talk about Milan anymore."

The Rossoneri tactician has experience of being under fire, as the club has confirmed he will be fired if he does not take them to at least third place in Serie A this season.

“Milan are a family and if they want me to then I will stay. It is a difficult time, as I receive insults through the post or via text message. In the past some lunatics tried to send death threats to my children, at which point I called in the police.”

Ancelotti sees this heightened tension in the Italian sport as the main reason behind their Champions League exit to the Premier League sides.

“They have a different concept of sport. We still arrive for the match with our team bus surrounded by a police escort.”

Some of the tension was cranked up by the Calciopoli scandal of 2006, although many of the same errors are still being committed by referees.

“Something was there and it’s true the referees were under pressure and made mistakes. They still do it now, but only because they are young and inexperienced.

“Our referees and Coaches are always the most criticised, but looking at the statistics you discover they are the best in the world.”

There is good news for Ancelotti, as Kaka and Ronaldinho are back in the squad for tomorrow afternoon’s game with Siena.

Clarence Seedorf is still sidelined along with Daniele Bonera, Marco Borriello, Kakha Kaladze, Alessandro Nesta and Gennaro Gattuso.

Milan squad: Abbiati, Dida, Kalac; Antonini, Darmian, Favalli, Jankulovski, Maldini, Senderos, Zambrotta; Ambrosini, Beckham, Emerson, Flamini, Pirlo; Inzaghi, Kakà, Pato, Shevchenko, Ronaldinho.