Ranieri made Blues a major force

Frank Lampard has insisted that it was Claudio Ranieri who laid the foundations to make Chelsea a leading European light.

Ranieri guided Chelsea to their first Champions League semi-final in his last season at Stamford Bridge and his Juventus side will provide formidable opposition when he returns to west London for their last-16 clash on Wednesday night.

Chelsea face Juventus for the first time in the competition at Stamford Bridge and although Ranieri was sacked by new owner Roman Abramovich in 2004, Lampard still has great affection for the man who signed him from West Ham for £11million.

Lampard was among a host of players signed by Ranieri including William Gallas, Emmanuel Petit, Damien Duff, Wayne Bridge, Joe Cole, Scott Parker, Glen Johnson, Hernan Crespo, Sebastian Veron and Claude Makelele.

"He should take credit," said Lampard. "He brought a lot of important players to the team.

"He signed good players even before the Roman Abramovich era. He elevated John Terry to captain and he's become one of the best in the world since.

"A lot of things have happened at this club, and Claudio is part of that history.

"He took Chelsea from a side that finished in the top six to one that finished in the top four.

"He should take credit for what he did in his time here. I'm looking forward to seeing him again very much. I don't think I would be sitting here if hadn't been for him.

"He spent £11m on me, which seemed a lot of money at the time. He's a great man as well as a great manager.

"I saw that as soon as I met him. He helped me develop from a West Ham player who maybe hadn't seen the real world in footballing terms, and he opened my eyes to things.

"I don't think Ranieri's going to be thinking about proving points. He'll be thinking about getting through to the next round of the Champions League, like us.

"Everyone respects the way he carried himself through his time here, particularly in the end. It'll be great to see him again."

Lampard does not believe that Ranieri was badly treated by the club when Abramovich removed him from the managerial hot seat in favour of Jose Mourinho after a season that saw Chelsea finish second - their best placing for 49 years.

The 'Special One' went on to lead Chelsea to their first domestic title for 50 years but failed to reach the final of the Champions League before departing in September 2007.

"I don't think he was harshly treated," said Lampard. "He enjoyed his time at Chelsea very much and saw the transition of the club from a good team who weren't challenging for the title to one that was.

"The fans appreciate him from the way he took the team on and got it performing here.

"Good luck to him. I don't think he's the kind of man who would look back and worry about those kind of things, anyway."

Lampard admits there is a special desire within the Chelsea camp to try and win the Champions League after they came so close last season.

The width of an upright prevented them from beating Manchester United in a dramatic penalty shootout in Moscow last May.

Terry's miss allowed United to go on and win their third European crown and Lampard admits the desire to go one better this season is very much in the ascendancy.

"There's an added incentive because of the manner in which we came so close last year," said Lampard. "You can't but help having that in the back of your mind after what happened.

"You want to go back and actually win it, whether this year or not. But so much can happen. Little moments can go either way on the way to the final, and you need that bit of luck to succeed.

"We're very determined, but after last year of course we want to win the Champions League."

It will be interim coach Guus Hiddink's first home game in charge and Lampard says the Dutchman has made an immediate impression on the squad following their 1-0 win against Aston Villa at the weekend.

"He has had a good impact," added Lampard. "You could see the start of that against Aston Villa. We were fortunate to have a long week training together last week, so we worked very hard in training.

"The lads, to give them credit, worked hard to try and get a fresh start and the right result against Villa. But now we need to carry on. It was only a start.

"Every coach has slightly different ideas, of course, but the one idea they all have is that they want to win. We haven't performed as well as we should this season, particularly in the last few months, and we should have done better."