Chelsea’s former coach and midfielder Roberto Di Matteo visited the team in training yesterday.The Italian who won multiple trophies and scored some famous cup final goals in the late 1990s and early 2000s and then returned to manage the club to their Champions League triumph in 2012, with an FA Cup added that year too, was able greet his compatriot Maurizio Sarri and his former team-mate Gianfranco Zola at our training ground.
As can be seen from these photos, he was also reunited with three of the players he managed while in charge of the Chelsea team – David Luiz and Gary Cahill, who were the central defence that night in Munich, and Cesar Azpilicueta who was signed the summer that followed.
Di Matteo was appointed assistant to André Villas-Boas, the new manager of Chelsea, on 29 June 2011. On 4 March 2012, following the dismissal of Villas-Boas, Di Matteo became caretaker manager of Chelsea until the end of the season. Shortly after his appointment, Di Matteo brought in former Chelsea teammate Eddie Newton to work as his assistant.
Di Matteo started his stewardship of Chelsea in winning form, with victories over Birmingham City, in a fifth round FA Cup match; Stoke City in a Premier League fixture; and Napoli in the last 16 second leg match in the UEFA Champions League, winning 4–1 to overturn the deficit in the first leg which Villas-Boas’ Chelsea had lost 3–1.
Di Matteo continued his form with Chelsea, by beating Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup semi-final 5–1 at Wembley and Benfica in the Champions League quarter-finals. On 24 April 2012, Di Matteo led Chelsea to a 3–2 aggregate win over holders Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League semi-final, winning 1–0 in the first leg at Stamford Bridge, and following this with a 2–2 draw in the second leg at the Camp Nou despite having captain John Terry sent off in the first half.
On 5 May, Chelsea won 2–1 against Liverpool in the 2012 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, to win their first trophy in the 2011–12 season.
On 19 May 2012, Di Matteo guided Chelsea to victory in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, defeating Bayern Munich at their own Allianz Arena. The match had ended 1–1 after extra time with Chelsea coming out victorious in the penalty shootout. This was Chelsea’s first Champions League title, and qualified them for the 2012–13 Champions League, in place of London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. With this win Chelsea also became the first London club to win the Champions League.
Your Comment Here …He was good Chelsea manager and that is why he lead the team to won champion league.