Wednesday 21 November 2012 16:51, UK
Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo has been sacked following a run of poor form.
Chelsea's defeat in Turin means they must beat Nordsjaelland in their final group game in a fortnight's time and hope Juventus lose to the already-qualified Shakhtar Donetsk in order to reach the last 16. Allied to a run of four Premier League games without a win, Di Matteo's position as manager at Stamford Bridge had come under increasing scrutiny just months after signing a two-year contract. Di Matteo was handed a permanent deal after leading the Blues to Champions League and FA Cup success having replaced previous boss Andre Villas-Boas in March. However, he has become the latest manager to fall victim to Roman Abramovich's axe after risking the owner's wrath by dropping record signing Fernando Torres for the Juventus game and radically overhauling his tactics. Di Matteo had taken more than an hour to emerge for his post-match press conference before taking full responsibility for the result. He said: "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." He added: "I'm responsible for positive and negative results. This is what I do."
