By Tom Degun
November 21 – Chelsea have sacked manger Roberto Di Matteo after his side suffered a 3-0 away defeat to Juventus in the UEFA Champions League to put them on the brink of elimination from the competition.
The 42-year-old Italian had won the Champions League and FA Cup as caretaker manager last season and was given a two-year deal as permanent manager in June as a reward.
But following an impressive start to the season, Chelsea have won just two of their last eight games, causing owner Roman Abramovich to axe Di Matteo from the job.
“Chelsea Football Club has parted company this morning with Manager Roberto Di Matteo,” said the club in a statement.
“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.”
Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez (pictured below) has been installed as the early favourite to take over the manager’s job at Chelsea and has reportedly already been contacted by Abramovich about taking the position on a short-term basis until the end of the season.
The Chelsea owner’s long-term target is former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola but it is thought that the Spaniard will not take the helm at Stamford Bridge until next summer at the earliest after he said he wanted a sabbatical from football.
It means that Benítez could potentially only take the role until May to keep the seat warm for Guardiola; with another potential option said to be former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp.
Di Matteo becomes the eighth manager to have been sacked by Abramovich since the Russian billionaire took over the club in 2003.
He lasted just 262 days as Chelsea manage – a week longer than predecessor Andre Villas-Boas from whom he took the job.
The former West Bromwich Albion manager and Chelsea player, who had been working as assistant manager at Stamford Bridge under Villas-Boas, replaced him in March this year.
Di Matteo took over in the wake of Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat to Napoli in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
But they overturned that deficit with a 4-1 win at Stamford Bridge and later managed to defeat Guardiola’s Barcelona in the semi-final despite being huge underdogs to do so.
After beating Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup final, they beat Bayern Munich in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in the Champions League final to claim the trophy (pictured below) for the first time ever.
They finished sixth in the Premier League but qualified for the Champions League this season by virtue of being the holders.
Even so, Abramovich waited until June to give Di Matteo the job on a permanent basis.
But the defeat to Juventus leaves Chelsea in real danger of becoming the first holders of the Champions League to get eliminated in the group stages.
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