Twenty-one years after they contested a Champions League tie against each other, two famous midfielders were on pitch together again when Carlo Ancelotti welcomed Dragan Stojkovic to Chelsea

This time it was the training pitches of Cobham rather than the turf of the San Siro or Belgrade's Little Maracana stadium that the two graced, with Stojkovic watching Chelsea's Tuesday training session intently.

The legendary former Yugoslavia international is now manager of Japanese side Nagoya Grampus Eight and had been invited by his Chelsea counterpart to study his methods and the facilities.

'I have been at Chelsea games before but this is the first time I came officially as a coach,' Stojkovic told the Official Chelsea website.

'I would like to thank Carlo who is my friend and Chelsea for giving me the chance to see a club who is one of the biggest in the world.

'I know Carlo because we played against each other when I was a player in Red Star Belgrade and we played in the European Cup against AC Milan. It was a very memorable game, we played 1-1 at Milan and in the return game in Belgrade we were winning 1-0 and 20 minutes before the end the fog came and the game was cancelled.

'So we were very close to eliminating AC Milan. We replayed the game and it was 1-1 and from penalty kicks AC Milan qualified. They won the Champions League after that, and the big Milan was born in that time, so I know him very well and he is a nice person.'

The 1989 European Cup win was the first for the revered Gullit-Van Basten-Rijkaard side with Ancelotti deep in the heart of the midfield.

'It was good to have my friend Stojkovic here at Cobham,' Ancelotti said today. 'He asked to visit and watch some of our training sessions. This is something I tried to do often a few years ago when I began in club football to give me a more rounded knowledge of the game.

'He is doing very well at Nagoya Grampus Eight right now and because it so far away, I don't mind sharing a few of my secrets with him.'

'It is the perfect facility to work,' said an impressed Stojkovic about Cobham. 'It is very peaceful and Carlo's disposition as a manager is very calm and this is a very important characteristic of a good club, to have peace. It is very impressive.'

During the visit Stojkovic spent time with compatriot Branislav Ivanovic whose career he has tracked when he worked for four years as president of the Yugoslav Football Association. Watch out for their thoughts on each other later in the week on Chelseafc.com.

He also gave his views on Chelsea's other Serb, Nemanja Matic.

'He has very good potential. In this moment it is very difficult to play because there are a lot of good players on the pitch but it is a very good future for the club and for him also. Physically he is very impressive and he has to wait for his chance but it is a good decision for him to come to Chelsea.'

Having lost to Ancelotti's Milan, Stojkovic did make the 1991 European Cup Final with Marseille when Chris Waddle was a team-mate, ironically losing to Red Star. He was on the bench when the French club won it two years later against Milan, by then without Ancelotti.

A winner of 84 international caps, his playing career ended in Japan at Grampus Eight, who invited him back to manage the team in 2008.

They went from mid-table to losing the title on the final day in the first season and made the Asian Champions League semi-final in the season just finished, as well as winning the domestic cup.

Stojkovic was at Stamford Bridge to see Chelsea versus Sunderland on Saturday.

'Chelsea play very modern football and the last game was practically perfect tactically, with quality movement. They respect everything from Carlo.

'I said to a friend who was close to me after five minutes, today Chelsea will score eight. He said I don't know, and they scored seven!'