Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed his respect for Claudio Ranieri's dignity in the face of unrelenting pressure but insisted he could show no mercy in tomorrow's all-English Champions League quarter-final tie.
Chelsea coach Ranieri is now facing up to the probability that he will not survive the end of the season in his job.
However, Wenger is himself approaching what he admits is the biggest fortnight in Arsenal's entire history while insisting that his club are not 'arrogant'.
There is therefore little room for emotion at Stamford Bridge tomorrow, even though Ranieri's only real hope of saving his job would seem to be winning the Champions League.
Wenger declared: "I respect Claudio Ranieri a lot. He has handled himself well and with dignity.
"That's all you can do when you're in that kind of situation as we have no job guarantees and you need a thick skin.
"The speculation is big but I can't be influenced by that. I have to keep in my mind that what is important is my team and our performance.
"I live in a bubble here and must take care of my team. It's not my job to interfere in Chelsea's affairs. They make their own decisions.
"I will just fight for my team and he'll fight for his team and that has to be respected as well."
Wenger added: "You can have sympathy but there's a difference between that and doing the maximum to win a game.
"When you play your wife at tennis, you can love her to death but you still want to beat her!"
Arsenal enter tomorrow's first leg with a distinct edge, having not lost to Chelsea in 16 previous meetings, including three 2-1 wins already this season.
But Wenger dismissed reported criticism from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in repeating last season's taunt from Sir Alex Ferguson that the Gunners are 'arrogant'.
The Arsenal boss insisted: "I don't feel we are 'arrogant'. I feel that to go unbeaten for 29 league games, you need confidence in your play but also humility.
"It's about respect for the game and the effort it takes. If you think that you can walk on water, then you will quickly sink."
After all, Wenger knows that Chelsea's players, who have retained their backing for Ranieri, could play their hearts out for their under-pressure manager.
"We just have to ignore it as we don't know if it will have a positive or negative impact on their side," argued the Arsenal boss.
"If this was an end-of-season game and Chelsea had nothing to play for then it could be disturbing for them but this game is so big that I don't think it will have a big influence."
Wenger will therefore go all out for victory in the first leg, with a full-strength line-up and recognising the importance of scoring away from home.
"We aren't under pressure as we were 99% out of the competition at one point. But we have confidence as we now know how to win in the Champions League," he stressed.
That was not quite the case three years when Arsenal last featured in the Champions League quarter-finals, losing to Valencia on away goals, but they have progressed a long way in the meantime.
Wenger declared: "It has been long enough for the players since then. This is a good occasion to show we have improved since then. I feel we have and our consistency shows that.
"Our confidence has never been as high as it is now. We have won five games on the trot in Europe and are doing well in the Premiership.
"You wouldn't find many times in the club's history that you would be chasing the title, in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup."
"But football is not predictable and Chelsea are a good side. A top-class performance will still be needed."
