Chelsea's crucial Premier League run-in looks set to be hindered as manager Carlo Ancelotti will have to return to Italy to give evidence in a court case.

The 50-year-old has been summoned by judges presiding over the criminal trial into Italy’s 2006 match-fixing scandal, Calciopoli, to give evidence from his time as AC Milan manager.

Ancelotti has been asked to attend the next hearing, which is set for April 20.

Chelsea are scheduled to face Tottenham Hotspur on the April 17, before Stoke City visit Stamford Bridge on the 25th. If the hearing goes ahead as scheduled, Ancelotti would almost certainly have to miss a number of training sessions between the two games — an unwelcome distraction as he aims to guide his side to a first title since 2006 and first double in the club's history.

Ancelotti is not accused of any wrong-doing in the case, although his club AC Milan were deducted points for their part in the scandal which saw Juventus stripped of two league titles and demoted to Serie B.

Juve's controversial former director, Luciano Moggi, caused a stir at Tuesday's hearing as his lawyers presented wiretap evidence that they suggested implicated the previously untarnished Inter Milan — who were awarded Juve's lost titles — in the scandal. Prosecutors refuted such suggestions, however.

Ancelotti's Blues currently sit a point above Manchester United in the league with a game in hand, and face Bolton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.