(News & Photo From The Mirror)
Just six months after winning the Champions League, the
Italian has gone, with Rafa Benitez the early favourite to take over
Roberto Di Matteo has been sacked by
Chelsea, just six months after winning the Champions League with the club.
The Italian looked doomed after a
3-0 defeat at Juventus on Tuesday night left their hopes of progressing to the
knock-out stages hanging by a thread.
The club released a statement this
morning confirming the news: "Chelsea Football Club has parted company
this morning with Manager Roberto Di Matteo.
"The team's recent performances
and results have not been good enough and the owner and the Board felt that a
change was necessary now to keep the club moving in the right direction as we
head into a vitally important part of the season.
"The club faces a difficult
task ahead in qualifying for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League
as well as maintaining a strong challenge for the top of the Premier League
while competing in three other cup competitions. Our aim is to remain as
competitive as possible and challenge strongly on all fronts
"The owner and the
Board would like to thank Roberto for all he has done for the club since taking
over in March. Roberto helped guide us to an historic Champions League victory
and a seventh FA Cup. We will never forget the huge contribution he has made to
this club's history and he will always be welcome at Stamford Bridge.
"The club will be
making an announcement shortly regarding a new first team manager."
Di Matteo was under
pressure after a run of just two wins in their last eight games in all
competitions.
He then gambled by
leaving £50million striker Fernando Torres on the bench for the must-win
Champions League clash in Italy last night. The move backfired and Chelsea were
beaten 3-0.
Benched: Fernando
Torres of Chelsea looks on from the substitutes bench prior at Juventus on
Tuesday night
Clive Rose
That leaves the Blues
needing Juventus to lose at Shakhtar Donetsk next month to have any hope of
going through to the next round.
Emerging to talk to the
media after a 45-minute dressing-room inquest, Di Matteo conceded last night: “I’m
responsible for the result. I’m responsible for the performance.
“It’s a negative evening
for us. If anyone has to take the blame, it’s me.
“I selected a team I
was convinced was the right team to win against Juventus, or get at least a
draw, so the blame belongs to me.”
Asked to explain his
massive call on Torres, Di Matteo said: “I was convinced it was the right
selection which is why I decided that.
“I didn’t want to give
the centre-backs any point of reference. I’d rather have Eden Hazard, Oscar and
Juan Mata interchanging positions and trying to find the space.
“We did create some
problems for them. The first goal was fortunate for them. We had to take a few
more risks after that. But my conviction was 100% to go with this team.”
Roman Abramovich will
now step up his quest to lure former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola back into
football from his sabbatical in New York, with ex-Liverpool chief Rafa Benitez
the fall-back option.
Di Matteo took charge
of Chelsea in March after the club had sacked Andre Villas-Boas, initially on a
temporary basis.
He rescued the club's
ailing Champions League campaign and steered them against all odds to victory
over Bayern Munich in the final on the German team's home ground, having
already secured the FA Cup.
He was given a two-year
contract in June, but not before there had been major speculation over whether
Guardiola would take over.
Roberto
Di Matteo factfile
1970: Born May 29 in
Schaffhausen, Switzerland, to Italian parents.
1988: Starts career as
a midfielder with Schaffhausen.
1991: Joins FC Zurich.
1992: Joins FC Aarau
and wins the Swiss Super League in his only season at the club.
1993: Moves to Lazio in
Serie A.
1994: November - Makes
Italy debut as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat to Croatia in qualifying for Euro
96.
1996: Joins Chelsea,
then managed by Ruud Gullit.
1997: April - Scores
his first international goal in a World Cup qualifier against Poland which
Italy won 3-0.
May 17 - Scores what
was then the fastest ever goal in an FA Cup final, netting after 42 seconds
against Middlesbrough as Chelsea go on to win 2-0.
1998: March 29 - Scores
as Chelsea again beat Boro 2-0 to win the League Cup.
May 13 - Wins Cup
Winners' Cup with 1-0 win over Stuttgart in the final.
2000: May 20 - Scores
the only goal of the game against Aston Villa to win the FA Cup for a second
time.
2002: February -
Retires due to injury aged 31 after failing to recover from a broken leg he
suffered 18 months earlier in a UEFA Cup tie with St Gallen.
2008: July - Appointed
manager of MK Dons in League One.
2009: May - Misses out
on promotion as the Dons lose their play-off semi-final on penalties to
Scunthorpe.
June - Appointed
manager of Championship side West Brom.
2010: May - Wins
promotion to the Premier League as the Baggies finish second in the
Championship.
2011: February - Sacked
by West Brom.
June
2012: March - Named the
Blues' interim coach after Villas-Boas was sacked.
May 5 - Wins the FA Cup
as Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-1 in the final.
May 19 - Leads Chelsea
to the greatest achievement in the club's history as they win the Champions
League by beating Bayern Munich on penalties in Munich.
June 13 - Appointed
Chelsea's permanent manager and first-team coach on a two-year contract.
Nov 21 - Chelsea
announce they have parted company with Di Matteo, the night after a 3-0
Champions League defeat to Juventus makes their qualification out of the group
stages unlikely.
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