The Argentina striker, once an Old Trafford favourite, insists that he won’t be celebrating if he scores against his old team-mates as City chase a return trip to Wembley.
Tevez received a less-than-rapturous welcome on his return for the clash in September from fans who had urged their manager to “sign him on” only months earlier as his loan deal wound down.
He admits: “I was disappointed, because I don’t think I deserved to be treated that way by the United fans. When I was there I was a hard-working and loyal player who gave my all. But that’s football. Sometimes these things happen.
“Obviously I’d be delighted if we could beat United and reach the final, because our ambition is to win trophies - as a new team still learning about each other, our final objective is to be successful and win things.
“But I still have some respect for the club and what they did for me, so I wouldn’t want to rub their noses in it.
I have a great deal of respect for United fans, and I won’t celebrate if I score against them
Carlos Tevez.
“Obviously, it will be a classic, we’re talking about two great teams. For me, the most important thing is for the best team to win. I hope that will be us.”
Carlos signalled that he was back at his best with the opening goal - his third of the competition and fifth of the season - to pave the way to the 3-0 quarter-final win over Arsenal.
But he said: “The most important thing was for us to win after so many draws. Beating Arsenal has given us the perfect lift before playing Chelsea, so in that sense it came at the perfect time.
“We’ll go into the game full of confidence and believing we can win. Our main objective is to finish in fourth place and get into the Champions League. So beating Chelsea would give us a huge boost in trying to achieve that objective.”
